The Paul O'Grady Show | |
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Also known as | 'The New Paul O'Grady Show (2006–07) |
Genre | Entertainment |
Presented by | Paul O'Grady |
Voices of |
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Theme music composer | McFly (2013–15) |
Opening theme | "The Paul O'Grady Show" |
Ending theme | "The Paul O'Grady Show" |
Country of origin | United Kingdom |
Original language(s) | English |
No. of series | 15 (7 on ITV and 8 on Channel 4) |
No. of episodes | 769 |
Production | |
Executive producer(s) | Brendan Murphy (2004) Sue Andrew (2004–06) Paul O'Grady (2005–09, 2013–15) Robert Gray (2006–09) David Hall (2013) |
Location(s) |
The London Studios (2004–05, 2007, 2013–15) BBC Television Centre (2006–07) |
Running time | 60 minutes (inc. adverts) |
Production company(s) |
Granada Television (ITV: 2004–05) Olga TV (Channel 4: 2006–09; ITV: 2013–15) |
Release | |
Original network |
ITV (2004–05, 2013–15) Channel 4 (2006–09) |
Picture format |
576i 16:9 (SDTV) (2004–09) 1080i 16:9 (HDTV) (2013–15, 2017–) |
Audio format |
Stereo (2004–09) Dolby Digital 5.1 (2013–15) |
Original release |
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Chronology | |
Related shows |
The 5 O'Clock Show Paul O'Grady Live |
External links | |
Website |
The Paul O'Grady Show is a British comedy chat show presented by comedian Paul O'Grady, first shown on 11 October 2004. The programme is a teatime chat show consisting of a mixture of celebrity guests, comic stunts, musical performances, and occasionally viewer competitions.
The format was originally devised by Granada Television and was broadcast on ITV until December 2005, before moving to Channel 4 in 2006, where the show was produced by Olga TV. The show originally ended in 2009 when O'Grady announced a move back to ITV, adapting his format to prime-time for Friday nights at 9pm, hosting Paul O'Grady Live from 2010. However the show underperformed in the ratings, averaging just over 3 million viewers, and ended after two series in 2011 amongst reports O'Grady was "keen to move on".
Three years later, the original teatime format returned to ITV on 11 November 2013, airing at its traditional time of weekdays at 5pm. It concluded its twelfth run on 13 December 2013. It returned for a thirteenth series on 28 April 2014, which ended on 30 May 2014. The programme has averaged 2 million viewers in its 5pm slot. A third and final revived series began airing on 20 April 2015 on ITV, which ended on 29 May 2015.
The show runs on weekdays, Monday to Friday, for one hour from 5:00 pm. Each episode follows O'Grady being introduced, walking to his desk with one of his pet dogs; originally Buster, a Shih Tzu and Bichon Frise cross, until his death shortly before the show originally ended in 2009, and Olga, a Cairn Terrier who has regularly appeared since the series returned in 2013. O'Grady reads out viewers' letters, sometimes with disgust at the things viewers have sent (which included vibrating soap, a viewer's dead goldfish wrapped in tissue and children's letters asking if Paul wears a wig or dentures).
The remainder of the programme consists of interviews with two or more celebrity guests. Children were also featured in segments of the show such as reviewing toys, games and films, or demonstrating skills (such as speed cup stacking). The show is broadcast live from The London Studios.