There are some headlines destined for a place in the newspaper hall of fame. “Super Cally Go Ballistic Celtic are Atrocious” is one. “Zip Me Up Before You Go Go” another.
The occasion for the latter: pop megastar George Michael had been arrested for a public order offence in a men’s toilet in Beverly Hills, Los Angeles, or as the Sun put it “nicked for sex act in loo”. The tabloids had been speculating about the star’s sexuality for years, but never went further. With the arrest it looked like open season could now commence.
Except hold that phone. As set out in George Michael: Outed (Channel 4, Monday-Tuesday, 9pm), events did not go that way. Instead of retreating into his corner, Michael came out fighting with appearances on the biggest chat shows of the day plus of course, releasing that song, Outside, and THAT video.
Outed is a tale of showbiz excess and tabloid cunning, one that put the media up against George Michael and asked the public to choose. Then, as now, everybody loved George and he went on to ever greater success. He is still missed.
READ MORE: The Piano, series one, episode three: Alison's review
Writer-director W. Kamau Bell was enjoying that moment between finishing a documentary and sending it out into the world. His film was about the jailing of Bill Cosby for sexual assault. The comedian and actor, known as “America’s dad” for his family-friendly roles, had been sentenced to three to ten years. Case closed, or so it seemed.
But after two years Cosby was unexpectedly released, his conviction overturned by the court. Kamau Bell was not the only observer left scratching his head. Cosby appeared to have defied the odds once again.
So it was back to the start for Kamau Bell and his film, and this time there were even more questions to be asked. What was going on? What was it about this man that he figured so largely in the lives of many Americans? The allegations against him - were they true? If they were, why did it take so long for complaints to be made?
The result is the four-part documentary We Need to Talk About Cosby (BBC2, Sunday, 9pm). In the early 1960s Cosby, a college dropout, was working as a bartender. Always the guy with a joke, someone suggested he try his hand at stand-up comedy. He was soon spotted and rose to prominence just as fast.
He broke the mould for black actors when he was cast in the television show I Spy, a secret agent caper. Cosby’s character was smart, handsome, and the equal of his white peers – quite a breakthrough in the segregated America of the times.
While on the show Cosby also brought to an end Hollywood’s grisly habit of using white stunt men made up to look like black actors.
By the mid 1960s he seemed to have it all, great career, marriage, a family, Grammy-winning albums of his comedy. It was in the albums that some would later detect the beginnings of the trouble to come. All those yarns about tampering with women’s drinks. Even with the hideous misogyny of the day, something felt “off”.
By the time episode one ends, Kamau Bell is up and running. Some terrific footage has been assembled and the talking heads are uniformly excellent. Even if you think you know Cosby’s story, Kamau Bell has something important to say, not least about the corrupting power of celebrity and the dangers of believing the hype.
READ MORE: Review: Peaky Blinders: Redemption of Thomas Shelby, Festival Theatre
Yon Alan Carr can put in quite the shift. The comedian and chat show host has only recently finished helping Amanda Holden bring a house back to life in Sicily, and now he is back with a new series of Interior Design Masters with Alan Carr (BBC1, Tuesday, 8pm).
The successful format is the same, ten amateurs competing against each other for the ultimate prize of an interior design contract. The endlessly stylish Michelle Ogundehin, a woman you just know has a cashmere throw on her sofa, returns as chief judge.
The first task is the usual “do up a show home”, in this case new flats for rent in a chi-chi new block at Elephant and Castle. Each pair of designers is given a brief they must work to, for example, mature couple in their 40s (“Is that mature now?” asks Alan), family with one child, and so on. There’s a budget of £1800 and two days to finish the job. If that seems impossible, there are tradespeople on hand to help.
There’s a nice vibe to Interior Design Masters, much of it generated by Carr but the friendly bunch of contestants helps too.
Last year’s winner, Banjo Beale, based in the Hebrides, has parlayed his success into an additional career as a television presenter. He was a poacher turned gamekeeper judge on Scotland’s Home of the Year, and there is a new makeover challenge show. Designing The Hebrides, arriving later this year.
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