has set the agenda for the BBC. It's a huge shame. In fact it's pityful that outside forces should have such sway. The BBC should have more bollocks.

radio show was pretty entertaining at times but that's about it. Nothing he ever did was essential to me at any rate. I think he is talented, no question, but I also think his schtick was spread too thin by the BBC which seems to be their way. He seems neutered on Film 200? which goes against his style. He was much more interesting when he covered stuff like comic books and film genres.

Parkinson, as I recall, just did Parkinson in his 70s heyday and therefore his show was an event in the schedules. With Ross his show was no longer an event because his ubiquity negated its impact.

It's the BBC that needs to look at its creative management and scheduling rather than Ross needing to look at what he does and how.

when she said he had turned into a chubby, dirty old man.

It used to be required listening in our house - I was even a contestant on his quiz once - but now I can't be bothered. Perhaps a new slot for the Candyman?

I agree with the above. Ross is good on Radio 2 and is a natural radio performer. He is one of the few people who can make you laugh out loud while driving. Like every performer, the more you see of them the less they entertain. You can only stretch talent so far. I would like him to pop up on the radio some where else but preferably with a more prickly, assertive co-presenter. His producer on Radio 2 slips perilously close to Baldrick territory.

Do we get a rebate on the TV licence now then?

...to his radio show for a couple of years. The problem with all 'personality' DJs is once they lose their edge or start repeating themselves, you're bored with them. You'd hardly listen for the musical content.

Smug git

it probably seemed a good idea at the time his huge contract has probably killed his career.

Just as the main thing people will now associate Tiger Woods with is not golf and if you think of Jacqui Smith you just think of dodgy porn, so you think of Ross and you think of the huge contract.

I wonder whether the bright young comedians will still want to be his friend when all he's doing is shuffling round his mansion in his slippers.

I'm guessing that this was all agreed at the time of Manuelgate. The deal was probably that he'd get his job back but his contract would not be renewed, and that this would be 'announced' later on when all the fuss had died down.

Hopefully it'll be Clarkson next.

BTW, I think Mrs Rimmer and Five Centres (both above) have absolutely nailed it.

But he can be replaced. Give Kermode the film programme, shove Norton onto Friday nights, see if, once Joe is available again, Adam and Joe can do Saturdays on radio 2. Job done.

Jonathan Ross still has a quick wit (even if we are all now blasé towards it), has a genuine enthusiasm for film and he is only matched as a compere/awards presenter by Stephen Fry. But what does he do next?

As ITV seem to regard Piers Morgan as having the charm and screen presence to do a variety of stuff, then I guess they'd bite JR's hand off. But it'd bound to be shite and Ross will know that. Maybe he can return to edgy C4 kind of shows, but he's a little old. Sky can't have anything to offer surely?

With no flagship radio show slots available, I genuinely can't see what is next for him.

my simultaneous post above covers most of my views but here's the thing for a man who's been involved in tv since the late 80's (?) what would be on his tribute roll?

Parky got 2 or 3 half hour shows from his back catalogue and even Richard Whitely got bitten by a Ferret!But after all this time filling up the screen what would be of Ross'; a grainy internet clip of him being an arse and another of him looking uncomfortable while Julian Clary stalls his own career at the comedy awards?

Now I know it's not all about legacy but it is quite telling how little he has left behind his shows barely trouble the endless freeview channels on my box, even Dave the "home of witty banter" (his supposed USP) doesn't show him. So which clip of his career is a keeper?

Anyone else notice how the careers of JR and CE seem to be related to each other through a reciprocal function? If one is on the up it is a sure thing the other is on the way to becoming a social pariah. Maybe the Uk can only handle one cheeky monomaniacal motormouth at a time.

Can't believe he has to state that his decision is not "financially motivated". I should f*cking well hope not.

...cos he thought he was more interesting than his guests - its the same format with many name shows. Don't normally tune in but you see a name in the listings and think that will be interesting only to be disappointed because the presenter wants to shoehorn in some "great joke" at the expense of the interview.
Going with the above thread of which clips to keep - when I remember Parkinson it was the guests and their entertainment value that I remember - David Niven always comes to mind.

... more interesting than his guests.

There are no famous people these days who can talk like David Niven, Peter O'Toole, Peter Ustinov, Mohammed Ali or any of the others regularly featured to prove that Parky is a superior interviewer to Ross.

When faced with people like Robbie Williams, Tom Cruise, Keira Knightly or Adam Sandler than, I'm sorry, Mr Ross is definately more interesting than his guests.

Terry Wogan, Chris Evans, Frank Skinner all achieved big success, and inevitably suffered from over-exposure.

They then wisely the kept their heads down for a long enough time that most people could forget why they got tired of them, before making successful comebacks. Remember what a fool Chris Evans appeared in the post Radio 1 years?

Going away for a while is the smartest move he can make - and he should know, he’s been through this process before (remember his frankly baffling tenure at the ITV in the early nineties?). Let’s not forget Ross had to crawl his way back through the panel shows (They Think Its All Over etc) before he became Mr BBC, he worked hard for the status – the size of the pay cheque says more about the then-starstruck BBC. No matter what the haters say, he reached great heights in recent years because a large number of people liked what he did. Though I wont deny the Sachs thing was indefensible.

His R2 show was a joy to listen to in the early part of this decade, yet he has lost all enthusiasm since it became a pre-record, and it’s been inessential since. The same can be said for the chat show. A few years on the bench will give him time to reflect. He is far to talented a broadcaster to disappear forever.

seem to be ones that everyone remembers. Are they ever repeated in their entirety - I think I have only seen clips, such as Muhammad Ali losing his temper, on nostalgia shows.

I think the original run finished in 1982 and then he came back in the late 1990s. I was as impressed by the originals as everyone else, but stopped watching the second run. I'm not sure if it was because perhaps Parkinson was not as good an interviewer as we remembered and there were other people we could compare him with, or just that we had already seen so many of the guests on other shows, as a chat show circuit had been established.

He can be a great interviewer but chose not to be most of the time.

Adam and Joe for Saturday mornings. Or Danny Baker even.

Ross would be a very good chat show host and excellent radio presenter. When people talk about Parky, we tend to forget that back then there only 3 TV channels, 'stars' were able to control much better the kind of PR they got and there were less opportunities to see and hear them. Ross suffers to an extent because today they'll appear on umpteen shows in one day, tell the host what must and what must not be mentioned and it's all a blatant plug for their latest outing.

There was a good piece about Chris Evans in The Sunday Times recently and he made the point that he'd love to see Ross apply himself to doing something like an American-style nightly chat / entertainment / topical show. I wonder if he knew something...

(... as I head swiftly coatwards!)

Never listened to his radio show,I'm a radio 4 man myself.Always struck me as a smug self-aggrandising twat.Won't miss him a bit.Perhaps I'll be able to watch Film 2010 now.That would be nice.Pip Pip.

he did a good job on the Film shows. Hope Kermode gets it now.

.

A few years ago the teenage son of a friend was suffering from terminal cancer, and his mother was determined for him to get as many experiences as possible before the inevitable happened.
He was big fan of Ross's Friday chat show, so she got on the phone, explained the situation, and received some tickets.
When the day of the filming arrived, the boy was too ill to attend, so he missed out.
A few days later Ross turned up at their house unannounced with a portable DVD player and a stack of films for the lad. He stayed the afternoon and only left when the boy fell asleep.
I've never seen his TV show and don't listen to the R2 show, so have no strong feelings about Ross either way, but I offer this story simply because it was a genuine act of selfless kindness from a man a lot of people seem to think is only about the money.
Of course, it has no bearing on whether he is any good at his job or not.

It's interesting that the slant that commentators on 6Music are putting on it is that the JR TV show is the only place that up and coming (and not so up and coming) indie type bands can get wide TV exposure and that they noticed the gap when he was suspended. It had not occurred to me before, I suppose Later isn't watched by passers by and a lot of people need to have their new music introduced to them alongside other non music "entertainment".

Never been able to stand Woss.
He's a ranker.
The music radio equivalent to John Terry and Madonna.

Two things:
1. I definitely read somewhere that Brian Matthew's 60s show gets one million more listeners than Woss's.
Can that be true and, if so, why is he paid so much?

2. Was the Brand incident responsible for the temporary slaying of Lamarr's rock 'n' roll show and complete slaying of his 'Alternate 60s' show?
If so, gee thanks Wossy, you're a pal.

than he ever has been. Compare that clip of him with Julian Clary to recent shows, he has certainly honed his broadcasting skills.

He is pretty funny when not being indulgent and certainly makes guests more entertaining. He seems nice enough.

The problem is that he is completely a creature of the media, and so if one objects to things about the way culture is currently created on television it is impossible not to have reservations about him. He is nowhere near as annoying as Simon Cowell or Clarkson but he is cut from the same cloth, he has lived by the same advantages and is as dependant as they are on a homogeneous and reductive popular culture that irons out interest and revels in the mundane.

Why hasn't the production editor that left the Sachs stuff in that PRE-RECORDED Russell Brand show been dragged through the streets like the artists were.
It was the BBC's decision to air the segment.
If, during a taping, one of the presenters goes to the toilet with a 'live' microphone absent-mindedly attached and some unpleasant, rude sounds are heard, but the editor leaves them in, who loses their gig?
The artist?
For taking a crap?
Brand and Ross were both hired and handsomely rewarded for their element of danger - that 'never know what he might say next!' factor.
The same quality they were eventually punished for.
Ross's radio show is edited now.
And, poorly, I might add.
It doesn't have the spontaneous crackle it used to have.
No matter whose idea it was, it was time for the BBC and JR to part ways.
He'll be better for it.

No, not you Mr. Ross. You can and will go off and get well paid somewhere in TV land. And thats fine. Let the young bucks in.
Chris Evans should stay at Radio 2 for as long as they`ll have him. I always liked him but after reading his book I can vouch that he has great humility and is an ordinary (but talented) guy who made good and probably got a bit carried away by it all. But at his core is a really good man.
Frank Skinner should do the same, but maybe with different reasons. I always liked him too but haven`t read any books by him or about him. All I know is that he is amazingly funny on his Absolute radio shows/ podcasts. And thats enough for me.
Danny Baker is as good as it gets for me. Don`t spoil it by jumping over to TV. But you know this anyway.

I'm always surprised that Jonathan Ross *isn't* liked by more people - I find him one of the most likeable presenters on TV and radio, but there's something about him that rubs people up the wrong way, and I just can't figure it out.

I think it's a big own-goal for the Beeb if they've let him walk away if he wanted to stay, though... I doubt they'll find a suitable replacement any time soon.

I'm not his greatest fan and he is a bit up his own at times but I genuinely think he is as quick witted and funny in real life as he seems on screen and that's a big plus in my book. He seems to me like a natural talent and pretty genuine in comparison with a lot of his peers.

I firmly believe that British media would have been the poorer over the last 10 years without him.