So Graham Norton is a British television chat show hosted by Irish personality Graham Norton. It aired on Channel 4 from 3 July 1998 to 1 March 2002.
Theme The show was primarily adult-orientated, with host Norton dishing out many sexual innuendos and stories. A staple of the show is the beginning of the programme, which involved large amounts of audience participation (named "So . . .", with the blank filled with a different adjective every show). Audience members would usually share embarrassing stories (nearly always of a sexual nature), and Norton would then sometimes use the same audience members for later games, with real prizes. Also, a recurring lightweight segment included Norton looking for people on the Internet with different fetishes, including balloons, gloves.
Format (timeframe) The entire series consisted of 5 series. In the later series, the run started around October and ran all the way to February or March. There were shows broadcast during Christmas and New Year's weeks and there was also a millennium special.
Guests The guests were not typical talk show guests. Most of them were not there to promote their latest project, but were there at Norton's behest. For example, John Waters only flew to England because he had been invited to appear on the show by Norton, since Norton chose the guests himself. Generally, these were the people that Norton grew up with. There were reality show stars, gay icons, old American television stars and soap stars. There were not many musicians, and those who did make an appearance, with exception of S Club 7, were not there to sing.
Recurring themes A running gag on the programme is Norton's obsession with Tarzan, the Ape Man star Miles O'Keeffe. Norton has a framed photo of O'Keeffe as Tarzan and O'Keeffe would often be phoned by Norton.
Betty Hoskins (2 August 1922 – December 2019) was an elderly woman who first appeared on the show as a contestant in one of the mini-games. She was a dinner lady at the drama school that Norton attended. Hoskins featured in many episodes of the show as well as on Norton's subsequent programmes.
Future The show was a success and was ultimately extended to five nights a week under a new name V Graham Norton.
Episode guide Series 1 Date Episode Number Guests 3 July 1998 1 Ivana Trump, Kathy Burke, and Sooty 10 July 1998 2 George Melly and Ulrika Jonsson 17 July 1998 3 Honor Blackman and David Blaine 24 July 1998 4 Linford Christie and Nanette Newman 31 July 1998 5 Grace Jones and Judith Chalmers 7 August 1998 6 Stephen Fry and Lorraine Kelly 14 August 1998 7 Kylie Minogue and Ian McCaskill 24 December 1998Christmas special 8 Pam St Clement and La Toya Jackson
Series 2 Date Episode Number Guests 5 February 1999 1 Sophie Dahl and Bo Derek 12 February 1999 2 Sandie Shaw and Alexis Arquette 19 February 1999 3 Brenda Blethyn and Gloria Hunniford 26 February 1999 4 Ursula Andress and Julie Hesmondhalgh 5 March 1999 5 Jan Leeming and Jason Orange 12 March 1999 6 Kate O'Mara and Roy Scheider 19 March 1999 7 Anne Robinson and Miles O'Keeffe 26 March 1999 8 Joan Collins and Marc Almond 2 April 1999 9 Katie Price and Billy Zane 9 April 1999 10 Roger Moore and Philippa Forrester 16 April 1999 11 Fern Britton and Stephanie Beacham
Series 3 Date Episode Number Guests 19 November 1999 1 Lee Majors and Liz Smith 26 November 1999 2 Twiggy and Huey Morgan 3 December 1999 3 Jackie Stallone and Glenda Jackson 10 December 1999 4 Terry Wogan and Carrie Fisher 17 December 1999 5 Gilbert and George and Adam Rickitt 24 December 1999Christmas special 6 Valerie Singleton, Goldie, and The She Boom Drummers 31 December 1999Millennium special 7 Ivana Trump, Sandra Bernhard, and Raquel Welch 21 January 2000 8 Georgia Taylor, Martin Hancock, Sharon Gless and Tyne Daly 28 January 2000 9 Michael Learned and Trude Mostue 4 February 2000 10 Joan Rivers and Boy George 11 February 2000 11 Jason Priestley and Mo Mowlam 18 February 2000 12 Catherine Deneuve and Zandra Rhodes 25 February 2000 13 Bea Arthur and Stefanie Powers 3 March 2000 14 Julie Goodyear and Patsy Palmer 10 March 2000 15 Lynda Carter and Leslie Nielsen 17 March 2000 16 Naomi Campbell and Jilly Goolden 24 March 2000 17 Richard Wilson and Joan Collins
Series 4 Date Episode Number Guests 3 November 2000 1 Molly Ringwald and Davina McCall 10 November 2000 2 Lauren Bacall, Natalie Cassidy and Jack Ryder 17 November 2000 3 Patrick Duffy and Sheena Easton 24 November 2000 4 Jane Horrocks and Richard Chamberlain 1 December 2000 5 Macaulay Culkin and Kyle MacLachlan 8 December 2000 6 Hannah Gordon and Barbara Windsor 15 December 2000 7 Marianne Faithfull and Laurence Llewellyn-Bowen 22 December 2000Christmas special 8 Carrie Fisher, Roger Moore, and Nigella Lawson 29 December 2000 9 Jane Seymour and Carol Smillie 12 January 2001 10 Richard Madeley, Judy Finnigan and Sinéad O'Connor 19 January 2001 11 Sarah Brightman and Amanda Donohoe 26 January 2001 12 Martin Kemp and Jane Birkin 2 February 2001 13 Lindsay Wagner and Charlie Dimmock 9 February 2001 14 Melanie Brown and Anneka Rice 16 February 2001 15 Sophia Loren and Ben Fogle 23 February 2001 16 Dolly Parton and Alan Halsall 2 March 2001 17 Richard E. Grant and David Ginola 9 March 2001 18 Elton John and Kim Wilde 16 March 2001 19 William Shatner and Craig Doyle 23 March 2001 20 Lulu and Lynda Bellingham 30 March 2001 21 Ricki Lake and Stephen Gately 6 April 2001 22 Christopher Lambert and Jane McDonald 13 April 2001 23 Donny Osmond and Jacqueline Bisset 20 April 2001 24 Geri Halliwell and Lynn Redgrave 27 April 2001 25 Shannen Doherty and Vicky Entwistle
Series 5 Date Episode Number Guests 2 November 2001 1 Cher, Jessie Wallace, and Andrea Corr 9 November 2001 2 Jackie Collins and Brian Dowling 16 November 2001 3 Olympia Dukakis and Claire Sweeney 23 November 2001 4 Gérard Depardieu, Anne Robinson, and Belinda Carlisle 30 November 2001 5 Morgan Fairchild, Antoine de Caunes, and Emma Bunton 7 December 2001 6 Jerry Hall and Sylvia Kristel 14 December 2001 7 Dolph Lundgren, Matthew Modine, and Loretta Swit 21 December 2001Christmas special 8 Martine McCutcheon, Alison Moyet, Kate Beckinsale, and S Club 7 18 January 2002 9 Linda Hamilton, Anne Kirkbride, and Eddie Irvine 25 January 2002 10 Natalie Imbruglia and Simon Cowell 1 February 2002 11 Liza Minnelli and Helena Christensen 8 February 2002 12 John Waters, Helena Bonham Carter, Will Young and Gareth Gates 15 February 2002 13 Victoria Beckham and Matthew Kelly 22 February 2002 14 David Hasselhoff, Gaby Roslin and Charlie Brooks 1 March 2002 15 Cilla Black, Cybill Shepherd and Orlando Bloom
Home media A VHS cassette with the title The Best of So Graham Norton, was made available on VHS cassette in 2000. This was followed by a DVD with the same title in 2004.
References
External links