Paxman in Popular Culture
Paxman became a focus of media attention in his own right in October 2000 when the stolen Enigma machine, which had been taken from Bletchley Park Museum, was inexplicably sent to him in the post. He had it returned to its rightful location.
Charlie Brooker once opined in his Screen Burn columns that one of his new policies for the BBC were he put in charge would be to "let Paxman actually hit people", describing this as "self-explanatory". Similarly, Graeme Garden suggested on I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue in 1994 that one way to increase Newsnight's ratings would be to "arm Jeremy Paxman".
Paxman and his presenting style were also frequently parodied by comedian Chris Morris in the satirical TV series The Day Today and Brass Eye. Harry Enfield also parodied Paxman in his short-lived Sky series, Harry Enfield's Brand Spanking New Show.
Read more about this topic: Jeremy Paxman
Famous quotes containing the words popular and/or culture:
“You seem to think that I am adapted to nothing but the sugar-plums of intellect and had better not try to digest anything stronger.... a writer of popular sketches in magazines; a lecturer before Lyceums and College societies; a dabbler in metaphysics, poetry, and art, than which I would rather die, for if it has come to that, alas! verily, as you say, mediocrity has fallen on the name of Adams.”
—Henry Brooks Adams (1838–1918)
“Nobody seriously questions the principle that it is the function of mass culture to maintain public morale, and certainly nobody in the mass audience objects to having his morale maintained.”
—Robert Warshow (1917–1955)