Feeling Sorry for Jill Franks...

[Autumn]

l didn't say they're all sycophants, l said the critics are outnumbered by about 20 to 1. As for those praising JF - why? She was just doing her job, it's what she's paid a lot of money to do - to handle live tv and all it can bring. If she couldn't deal with it she shouldn't be in the job.

Jill Franks isn't paid to have to deal with a drunken leech , Ive never been a Jill franks fan however she handled the situation brilliantly and kept control of the show under very difficult circumstances , We are all quick to criticize when a presenter does wrong so its only fair to give them praise when they have done good.

 

[neelia]

l didn't say they're all sycophants, l said the critics are outnumbered by about 20 to 1. As for those praising JF - why? She was just doing her job, it's what she's paid a lot of money to do - to handle live tv and all it can bring. If she couldn't deal with it she shouldn't be in the job.

Because doing your job well is praise worthy. Because she dealt with him well and we choose to say so?

 

[Scout]

Jill Franks isn't paid to have to deal with a drunken leech , Ive never been a Jill franks fan however she handled the situation brilliantly and kept control of the show under very difficult circumstances , We are all quick to criticize when a presenter does wrong so its only fair to give them praise when they have done good.

It's live TV, she's paid a great deal of money compared to most to deal with whatever happens. That's what live TV is about - like Sue Lawley dealing with demonstrators invading the studio while she's reading the news - you're paid a lot to handle it well. lf you can't you shouldn't be in the job. All she did was what she's paid to do. l think people are so used to her doing her job badly that they're showering her with praise for doing it adequately for once.

 

[jaydeen]

I never saw the hour and I can't see the video's so I can't comment on it. I wonder what it would have been like to see him on with Anne Dawson, because she always seems really over the top too?

I am not trying to stereo-type here either but is that guy really married?

 

[donna255]

Scout you dislike JF and seem outraged that others are praising her all of a sudden. She is paid to do her job you said, so if you dislike someone and they performance brilliantly in a situation at work, we should not say 'Well done, you did great'?

Unfortunately that is making you come across as petty and narrow-minded.

Reading this thread and others even people who dislike JF are singing her praises in this situation. You will just have to accept in this situation 99.9% agreed JF did a brilliant job and Lenny was a total prat.

 

[Vienna]

That`s life in TV isn`t it ? Whether Lenny was drunk/ill/high on meds is irrelevant. His behaviour was off the wall even for Lenny. It`s a five minute wonder, no more, no less. Praise where praise is due though. JF handled him well and that should work both ways ie. you get guests who are loud and badly behaved and need to be reigned in by the presenter but you also get presenters who behave badly and should be reigned in by the guest. I`d love to see a guest take control when JF and other presenters are being rude, loud and constantly interrupting and no doubt everybody would be praising the guest then. TBH the whole thing has been blown out of all proportion if you ask me.

 

[Weathergirl]

I disagree, I didn't see it at all - I just saw par the the course for when he's on -

I first read your post as if you hadn't seen the show. But I assumeyou meant that you saw it differently. I have seen Lenny on air lota of times and this was worse than usual for him, whatever the cause. It is right to praise Jill. By the way I have never criticised Jill on this forum, I usually ignore threads like that. I think Q has obligations to the staff but more so their reputation They should have whisked him away rather than risk the show descending into a car wreck.

 

[Boris Bear]

They should have whisked him away rather than risk the show descending into a car wreck.

That's what I thought too, someone should have taken responsibility and they should have gone to a break and got him out of the studio.

 

[Scout]

Scout you dislike JF and seem outraged that others are praising her all of a sudden. She is paid to do her job you said, so if you dislike someone and they performance brilliantly in a situation at work, we should not say 'Well done, you did great'?

Unfortunately that is making you come across as petty and narrow-minded.

Reading this thread and others even people who dislike JF are singing her praises in this situation. You will just have to accept in this situation 99.9% agreed JF did a brilliant job and Lenny was a total prat.

I'm not outraged Donna, l'm just amazed that people think that merely doing your job the way you should always do it is doing it "brilliantly". No wonder we get such bad service everywhere nowadays if that's the accepted standard.

lf disagreeing with the majority is considered to be "petty and narrow-minded" by the majority, then that says more about the majority than it says about me. I'm not a sheep and if l disagree l shall say so. l don't consider people petty, narrow-minded or anything else if their opinion differs from mine - this is a discussion forum and that is discussion, nothing more and nothing less. I'm not sure how you think name-calling contributes to the conversation.

Lenny always behaves like a total prat, that's just Lenny.

 

[neelia]

Some of us thing that JF was doing her job (in circumstances that IMO, she should not have been subjected) brilliantly. I have, on occasion, done my job brilliantly. It was still doing my job. Even if the behaviour was something that she should have been expected to encounter, I am still of the opinion that she dealt with it brilliantly. Her degree of competence in handling this behaviour where we could not be sure how far he would go ON CAMERA, with no escape and no option (on her part), to lead him away or tell him to get a grip (was going to say "catch himself on" but probably only Donna would get that one), did IMO go into the "brilliant" category.

Just because something is part of someone's job doesn't mean that they cannot legitimately be considered brilliant at it.

 

[thatu]

The bottom line is that QVC has a duty of care and no presenter should be in the position that Jill Franks found herself in. Having got into a situation not of her making, she did handle it brilliantly, whether she's paid or not and whether she's been trained to handle difficult clients or not. I'm not her biggest fan, but I still give credit where credit's due. Same applies in any job. You're paid to do it. If you do it badly, you need to be told so that your performance can improve. If you do it well, you deserve praise.

 

[Julius]

It seems that some of the American guests tend to be a little more hyper. QVC attracts lots of campy fashion types that can be a little loud overbearing. There's Maaaaaaaaally from Maaaaaly Byooooty shrieking her head off like a Philippina banshee! Lenny Feinberg has a Neil Sedaka / Big Bird from Sesame Street voice! I remember some years ago a guy called Harvey Taubman was on with Jilly Halliday flogging some eye cream. I actually called into Customer Services to ask them to get him to shut up! He was so overbearing. My current hit list of guests / presenters is:

1) Lulu - Lying old witch!
2) Sarah Shurety - Another lying old witch!
3) Mally - far too loud!
4) Lenny Feinberg - camp as tits but slightly lecherous. Maybe he swings both ways and turns into a pumpkin at midnight!
5) That young Liz Earle clone woman. I forget her name. Can't stand her!
6) Chloe Everton - Nothing against her personally. Just don't like her manner / the way she comes across grates on me.
7) Simon Wilson - the Bitch of Kitsch that wears brooches as big as a dinner plate and thinks it looks avant-garde!
8) Leighton Denny - Can't stand his stereotypically camp voice. If he wants to have sex with men - fine! But why does he have to speak like that? He can't even pronounce the word "jojoba" correctly.
9) Alison Young - Screechy and harsh on the ear. Not much better on the eye. Looks like Kermit the Frog's wife has inflated herself with a bicycle pump and donned a purple, shoulder-padded maternity dress!
10) That horrid little man that demonstrates sweepers / vacuums cleaners and the like. I just cannot ABIDE him!

 

[Scout]

Clearly we all have different standards. l saw nothing 'brilliant'. Standing with your hands over your face saying "hilarious" and "oh my gosh" is far from brilliant. Have no doubt that Julia or Dale would have taken it in their stride and this thread wouldn't have even been started. Someone mentioned "car crash tv" - people need to realise that producers love this because it makes people watch and talk about it. All publicity is good publicity. No TV company would hesitate to put their presenters in difficult positions if it gets publicity. And no presenter worth their salary would expect to be protected from something so tame as an over the top guest. That's just basic Presenting 101.

 

[Akimbo]

The production staff had the power to deal with that particular show. How many times do they cut to the pack shot when someone has a coughing fit or an earring gets dropped; they chose to keep rolling.

 

[Julius]

Serves Jill Franks right for being an annoying cow! Can't stand Lenny either! Someone should bang their heads together!

 

[MinxyKitten]

I just watched the two first videos and saw nothing wrong with Lenny whatsoever. What I did think, however, is that he seemed tired. I don't know if the other videos get worse, I can't be bothered to watch them all right now! If I had to speculate, I would say this is more likely to be a medication issue than an alcohol one. Maybe he takes 'uppers' to keep him going and they had worn off....pure speculation - I know nothing about drugs/meds!

 

[Sydney Starlett]

How absurd we are all arguing so heatedly about it! Everyone is entitled to their opinion and in the scheme of things it 'aint that important.

 

[thatu]

If we talked only about things that are important in the scheme of things, this forum wouldn't exist!

 

[Weathergirl]

I don't come on here to talk about important stuff. I have that in my normal family and working life. On here is a bit if respite.

 

[donna255]

Well I demand that Panorama do full investigation!:mysmilie_10: I want the truth!