Saturday, December 22, 2007

An ambition never to be realised

Although some people hated him, and despite the fact that in the later years his guests became less starry and more "am I supposed to have heard of them?" Parkinson on a Saturday night was one of those fixtures that though I might not watch it, I'd at least check to see who was on. In ye olden days, Parkinson was part of the Saturday night routine - make a pot of tea, have tea and biscuits while watching Parky interview some Hollywood superstar (and this was in the days before Hello, Trash, Crap, and all those other intrusive magazines for stupid people). In this way, I got to have a tiny glimpse of my early heros such as James Stewart and David Niven (yes, I really am that old). When Parky did the famous interview in 1971 with Muhammad Ali, it was a time when our village didn't get telly very well, but my sister's friend's house had reception - so we all went round there to watch the show.

Anyway it used to be a sign that "I've made it" - the thought of being on the Parkinson show was something to aim for. And now he's retired, so I'll never get to walk down those stairs to a theme tune chosen just for me, and have a flirty interview with a cricket and film obsessed Yorkshireman. Tonight's programme was a reminder of the spectacular guests he used to get on the show, and I so wanted to be one of them.

Oh well. Need to think of a new ambition.

5 Comments:

Blogger Scribe LA said...

Hey Sal,
Happy holidays to you as well! And thank you for your kindness. Peace be the journey in 2008.
Best,
Scribe

1:50 am  
Blogger Jen said...

I agree completely - the prospect of ending up on the sofa of Jonathon Woss is not quite the pinnacle of success that Parky would have been.

I bet he was gutted that he had to retire before having the opportunity to interview us. Poor Parky.

X

7:58 am  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I too was really sad to hear that Parky was hanging up his interviewing suits. He's a national treasure. I remember him announcing it, and I seem to think the reason was he basically felt too 'old fashioned'.

It is definitely the end of an era.

12:18 pm  
Blogger potdoll said...

I must confess I have been interviewed many times by Parky over the years. All in my head and he asked some very tough questions, and of course I gave some very hilarious answers. Bless him.

Merry Christmas to you Sal and all the very best for 2008. Your theatre reviews, especially, always inspire me. X

1:02 pm  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

I don't know if this will be a consolation to you, but thought you might like to know that Parky's been made Sir Parky in the Queen's New Year's Honours list.
:o)

4:20 pm  

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