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| Richard and Judy axed after 21 years; Fell from 3 Million Viewers to 8000 | |
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| Topic Started: May 21 2009, 04:48 PM (169 Views) | |
| TickTock | May 21 2009, 04:48 PM Post #1 |
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I Fckt Riverwide N Da Azz Real Hard Again
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By COLIN ROBERTSON Published: 09 May 2009 RICHARD and Judy's talk show was finally axed last night - as The Sun told you. The couple had a contract until December but bosses used a get-out clause to pull the plug on the struggling show early. The pair had already made it clear it was their last chat show together after 21 years. The move will cost them about �600,000 as they have only completed about 80 per cent of their �3million deal with digital channel Watch. Richard Madeley said in a joint statement with Judy Finnigan: "Some you win, some you lose." And the gutted couple last night admitted they never managed to make the axed show work. They said: "We couldn't get this one to fly." Richard and Judy admitted the decision to take their hit formula to a new, little-known channel may have doomed it from the start. They said: "It became obvious it wasn't the right fit with a brand new pay-for-view digital channel. "Many former viewers have told us they simply couldn't find us there." Richard & Judy's New Position launched on Watch in October 2008 after the pair quit Channel 4, where they'd been since 2001. Initially it won 100,000 viewers but ratings soon fell as low as 5,000. UKTV, which owns the Watch channel, will screen the last show on July 3. But in a statement released last night, Richard, 52, said that while the axing was "a shame", he and wife Judy have no regrets. He said: "TV is all about taking risks and that means sometimes you fail. It was a really worthwhile experiment and we don't regret it at all. We wanted to get ahead of the curve, as British TV goes digital. "We were a bit too far ahead of the curve. Perhaps a bridge too far." The husband and wife team added: "We're going on to other projects, together and separately." They will continue to present their Book Club series and Judy, 60, is keen to write books. Richard hopes to make documentaries and move into radio. A source close to the star said: "Richard is still bursting with energy and keen to carry on being in the limelight. "He's got several ideas planned and is talking to production companies about other things." But Judy is expected to massively scale back her telly work. She has admitted: "If I hadn't been working with Richard all these years I would no longer be working in television. "My family comes miles ahead of my career." Richard has already vowed the couple will never do another chat show together, although they had hoped to continue the Watch series until December. He said recently: "We feel we've done pretty much all we can as a partnership in terms of talk shows. "I think we both feel the need to diversify." The two have worked on telly together since 1988 when they began a 13-year run as the original hosts of ITV's This Morning. The show was a monster hit, winning around three million viewers and numerous telly awards. At one in 2000 Judy accidentally flashed her bra while accepting their gong. They also became a talking point for bizarre antics like Richard's impersonation of Ali G in 2000. The pair were poached by Channel 4 in 2001 for a teatime series, again winning millions of viewers. Last night UKTV chief Matthew Littleford praised the pair, and said the axing was a "mutual decision". http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/article2419197.ece |
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8:20 AM Jul 11