The Simpsons has given us some brilliant (read: ridiculous) fictional TV shows over the years, from 'Knightboat' to 'The Mattel and Mars Bar Quick Energy Chocobot Hour' but special mention must go to 'Ben'. Its premise is simple: take Gentle Ben, the beloved American black bear from children's books and the Sixties TV series, and give him his own talk show. Of course, what with him being a bear and all, there isn't much in the way of conversation and so he is reduced to wandering around the set wearing a microphone-mounted helmet and patiently standing beside audience members as they put across their views. He may look out of his depth but nevertheless, he's doing a perfectly good job. That is, until he becomes distracted by the studio's snack table... It takes five armed guards, each wearing a uniform emblazoned with 'Ben Control', to tranquillise poor Ben and restore calm to the studio. Admittedly, this doesn't present the best argument for animal-fronted talk shows but let's not scrap the idea after the first try, eh?
Yorkshireman (hence the surname). Often spotted sacrificing sleep and sanity for the annual Leeds International Film Festival. For a sample of (fairly) recent film reviews, please visit whatsnottoblog.wordpress.com.
