MICHAEL PARKINSON - BRITAIN'S "PARKEY" TO STEP DOWN

BRITAIN'S "PARKEY" TO STEP DOWN

Legendary British television interviewer Michael Parkinson announced today (Wednesday) that he plans to step down after next season. "After 25 years of doing my talk show I have decided that this forthcoming series will be my last," he said in a statement on Tuesday. Paul Jackson, director of entertainment and comedy for ITV, where Parkinson's show has aired for the past three years (it was previously carried by the BBC), said that Parkinson "has defined the talk show in British television and no one has come near to equaling his record. His name is synonymous throughout the English-speaking world as a benchmark for integrity and quality in the talk show genre."

27/06/2007