Living, 8pm (and +1)
When this was filmed, it was just another of Living TV's shows about the lifestyles of D-list celebs. Now it forms part of a rather uncomfortable week of shows about Jade Goody, as she approaches the end of her life. Celebrity Deathwatch, you might say.
It is, of course, utterly appropriate that Goody's cancer should be played out as a reality TV exercise, but it feels callous to say so. There is an argument that this most public of endgames (Pope John Paul II got more coverage, but not a lot more) is helpful to those in a similar situation. If it does mean more people will get themselves screened for cancers (if that is possible in today's NHS); if it does help others to know how to talk to their children about losing their mother; then maybe it's a good thing. But there is a faint whiff of Living TV trying to squeeze every last drop out of their deal with Goody.
The reason Mad Dog won't be watching any of these programmes, however (apart from the fact that it's the University Challenge final tonight) is that it would be hypocritical to join in the mourning for someone most of us have sneered at for years. For most of the media, the Jade Goody who came out with "Can you see my kebab?", "Shilpa Poppadom" and a fragrance that could have been used for chemical warfare, that Jade Goody is already gone. She has been replaced by "brave, tragic Jade". And while Mad Dog would not wish this fate on anyone he didn't actively hate (and one has to be more than just a little mad to actively hate minor celebrities), he has to confess that his first reaction to Goody's illness back in September was, "Oh, damn, does that mean we can't take the piss any more?"
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