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Really doesn’t work when Nick Luck isn’t in the saddle.
Lesley Graham might be a lovely woman, but it’s like someone’s auntie has been asked to present it. Soooooo amateurish it’s not true.An hour has just gone by and i think there was five minutes of discussion on todays races, plus some useless betting information – which they repeat during the live programmes by telling us the positives and negatives ten seconds before a race starts.
There’s more to racing than betting, guys.
She’s not that bad Mark but I know what you mean.
Luck is definitely the star turn at the minute.
I wouldn’t call her amateurish, but i would agree that Luck really brings the big race feeling to his reviews and general presentation.
Any idea why he wasn’t there?
Perhaps he got a Lucky 15 up yesterday and went on the beer?
I've stumbled on the side of twelve misty mountains
I've walked and I crawled on six crooked highwaysI wouldn’t call her amateurish, but i would agree that Luck really brings the big race feeling to his reviews and general presentation.
Any idea why he wasn’t there?Nick Luck doesn’t miss many Saturdays on the Morning Line. He has been there for the big recent Saturdays so I suspect that, along with many professionals who work in the industry, including broadcasters, he is taking a welcome day off from the Morning Line before the excitements of the Cheltenham Festival.
A lot of journalists slip in their holidays during "quiet weeks" and low-profile Saturdays such as this one.
Even Nick has to take some time off and Channel 4 also have to find slots to give Lesley Graham one of her all-too-rare appearances. She seems to fill in on these quiet Saturdays on the Morning Line, although she did, unusually, pop up on the main programme a few weeks ago.
Racing journalists and broadcasters often slip in the quiet weeks between the Derby and Royal Ascot for their holidays, days off etc as well. Many of them obviously plan their time off for the few quiet weeks between major race days.She’s not that bad Mark but I know what you mean.
Luck is definitely the star turn at the minute.
Would one of the networks allow Alan Partridge to present Football Focus or Match Of The Day ?
Lovely woman – just should not be presenting that programme. The same tired faces and characters and without Luck to orchestrate them, it’s a dire format.
Luck, McGrath, Holt…all articulate people who can discuss horses and racing. McCririck is a buffoon. And there’s too much airtime awarded to odds and exchanges.
It was certainly a very lacklustre programme today.
I hate it that Lesley Graham still insists on grinning like a Cheshire cat after she has said her bit and has linked to the videotape or whatever.
The stable visit features and top news stories of the week feature have been quite good but they were certainly scraping the bottom of the barrel for the main guest. The guest tests have become even worse, with even supposedly knowledgeable guests scoring very few points. Why they haven’t dropped those, I don’t know.
McCririck managed to show his usual impatience with the lame tips of the guest but you can hardly blame him.I’m not totally impressed with Nick Luck…..I find him smug and oily slick despite knowing his stuff.
Did anyone else notice the moment last week when the tired bunch of cronies had an even more ‘in’ joke than usual that looked like it had more than a little to do with Irish hack Brian Gleason who had voiced over a piece and when they returned to the studio Francome was teasing Luck about being invited to attend a Gleason hosted Irish Cheltenham preview night -the feeling that there was no love lost between Gleason and Luck was clear………one of the more interesting moments in what has become ‘a why do I bother to watch this?’ type of show.
It’s not a program me that you could recommend to a newcomer or someone who wanted to get into Racing and it should be.
I find The Morning Line extremely boring, just going through the motions week in week out with tedious presenting, picking a different horse each in every race and guests who don’t give the impression that they want to be there. I had to laugh at Francombe’s supposedly big race analysis of the Greatwood Gold Cup, finishing with a rhetorical question after discussing each horse – what good is that? And dont get me started on their ‘Charity’ bets, posh bird went for an 8/11 at Lingfield shot which got turned over! Give me Matt Chapman on ATR any day, at least he makes it exciting!
I’m not totally impressed with Nick Luck…..I find him smug and oily slick despite knowing his stuff.
He certainly is smug. One of the reasons the Morning Line has become so predictable, lacklustre and often boring is because, for nearly every Saturday of the year apart from the few "quiet" weekends when Lesley Graham makes her limited appearances, you know it is always going to be Nick Luck.
He is very professional, knows his stuff and is held in high regard by many, not least because he has won the broadcaster of the year title so many times, but the programme has become very formulaic and tired.
The biggest problem is actually that he does present it virtually every week, making it a slight variation of the same diet every time. At least in the old days, with different presenters taking turns, with their varying styles, there was a bit of variety, even though it was probably more shambolic.
Now it’s just the same old thing every week. Even the quality of the guests seems to have declined, making the guest test quiz even more tedious. The whole thing’s dire.I think Lesley Graham is wholly underused on the main C4 coverage. From a presenting point of view she is streets ahead of Alice Plunkett. And has better dress sense!! Does anybody know why Plunkett wears them wide bodied clown pants(minus the braces) with welly boots??? Is she taking after mc cririck??
How can a programme that is previewing different meetings, races and horses each weekend succeed in being predictable, lacklustre and boring? Because they don’t spend enough time focussing on what matters – the horses. Too much time is spent on betting news and silly quizzes instead of properly assessing the afternoon action. It’s lazy broadcasting.
They have some great racing knowledge in that studio but we hear precious little of it.
I used to tape it as it clashes with Peppa Pig which my 2 year olds cannot miss under any circumstances. I don’t bother anymore.
"this perfect mix of poetry and destruction, this glory of rhythm, power and majesty: the undisputed champion of the world!!!"
I used to tape it as it clashes with Peppa Pig which my 2 year olds cannot miss under any circumstances.
Quite frankly, I’d struggle to tell the difference between the two.
Mike
Unsure of the problem , if the programme irritates then dont watch it , I gave up on it years ago
I would think they do their best , and after all its ch4 ‘s bir to promote racing , for good or for bad
Just turn it off , and enjoy life
Ricky
I used to tape it as it clashes with Peppa Pig which my 2 year olds cannot miss under any circumstances.
Quite frankly, I’d struggle to tell the difference between the two.
Mike
Peppa Pig has more informed comment on horse racing Mike.
How can a programme that is previewing different meetings, races and horses each weekend succeed in being predictable, lacklustre and boring? Because they don’t spend enough time focussing on what matters – the horses. Too much time is spent on betting news and silly quizzes instead of properly assessing the afternoon action. It’s lazy broadcasting.
They have some great racing knowledge in that studio but we hear precious little of it.
I used to tape it as it clashes with Peppa Pig which my 2 year olds cannot miss under any circumstances. I don’t bother anymore.
Course it is, because too few of them can talk about the races.
Graham even got into a flap over the quiz cards !
Maybe they’re trying to copy Top Gear, but horse riding wasn’t financially viable due to insurance, so they settled for a quiz. Pity, because " a circuit of the course on our reasonably priced horse " is audience friendly.
And is there any need to analyse the betting more than once during the programme ? " Well it’s quiet in the offices at the moment, Nick " Of course it bloody is – it’s 8.00am
And those Dubai adverts are awful. They need to transform Flintoff and Klass into Leonard Rossiter and Joan Collins.
Easy, tired, boring.
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