Suspension
The show was suspended on 29 October 2008 by the BBC when Ross and Brand were both suspended from their TV and radio shows, in the events after the The Russell Brand Show prank telephone calls row. The guest lined up for the broadcast were David Attenborough, Miley Cyrus, Frank Skinner, The Killers, and Alesha Dixon. He was later given an additional 12-week suspension, and released a statement, reading:
"I am deeply sorry and greatly regret the upset and distress that my juvenile and thoughtless remarks on the Russell Brand show have caused. I have not issued a statement previously because it was my intention and desire to offer an apology to all those offended on my Friday night programme. However, it was a stupid error of judgement on my part, and I offer a full apology." - Jonathan Ross' apology, taken from BBC News.
The comedy stand-up show Live at the Apollo was shown in the 22:35 Friday night slot during Ross's absence. A new series of the popular comedy stand-up show was quickly commissioned to fill the slot, which featured films for four weeks after the suspension.
Friday Night with Jonathan Ross returned on 23 January 2009. The show's return was watched by 5.1 million viewers, and received 25 complaints (protesting the show's return), and 3 messages of support for Ross. Ironically, there were fewer than 25 complaints made about the original incident prior to its reporting in the media.
Read more about this topic: Friday Night With Jonathan Ross
Famous quotes containing the word suspension:
“Leonid Ivanovich Shigaev is dead.... The suspension dots, customary in Russian obituaries, must represent the footprints of words that have departed on tiptoe, in reverent single file, leaving their tracks on the marble....”
—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
“That willing suspension of disbelief for the moment, which constitutes poetic faith.”
—Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772–1834)
“There are two kinds of liberalism. A liberalism which is always, subterraneously authoritative and paternalistic, on the side of one’s good conscience. And then there is a liberalism which is more ethical than political; one would have to find another name for this. Something like a profound suspension of judgment.”
—Roland Barthes (1915–1980)