Editing Graham Norton (section)

===Channel 4===
In 1992, Norton's stand-up comedy drag act as a tea-towel-clad [[Mother Teresa of Calcutta]] in the [[Edinburgh Festival Fringe]] made the press when [[Scottish Television]]'s religious affairs department mistakenly thought he represented the real Mother Teresa.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Turpin |first=Adrian |title=Festival Eye |work=[[The Independent]] |page=24}}</ref> His first appearances in broadcasting were in the UK, where he had a spot as a regular comedian and panellist on the [[BBC Radio 4]] show ''[[Loose Ends (radio)|Loose Ends]]'' in the early 1990s, when the show ran on Saturday mornings.

He was one of the early successes of [[5 (British TV channel)|Channel 5]], winning an award as stand-in host of a [[The Jack Docherty Show|late-night TV talk show]] usually presented by [[Jack Docherty]].<ref>{{Cite news |title=Graham Norton: Naughty but nice |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/3322069.stm |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170906004421/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/3322069.stm |archive-date=6 September 2017 |access-date=4 December 2011 |work=BBC News}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |last=Robinson |first=James |title=Summer stand-ins steal the limelight |url=https://www.theguardian.com/media/2005/aug/14/broadcasting.business |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131227191520/http://www.theguardian.com/media/2005/aug/14/broadcasting.business |archive-date=27 December 2013 |access-date=4 December 2011 |work=[[The Observer]]}}</ref> This was followed by a comic [[quiz show]] on Channel 5 called ''[[Bring Me the Head of Light Entertainment]]'', which was not well received as a programme but enhanced Norton's reputation as a comic and host. In 1996, he co-hosted the late-night quiz show [[Carnal Knowledge (TV series)|''Carnal Knowledge'']] on [[ITV (TV network)|ITV]] with [[Maria McErlane]].

Between 1996 and 1998, Norton played the part of [[Father Noel Furlong]] in three episodes ("[[Hell (Father Ted)|Hell]]", "[[Flight into Terror]]", "[[The Mainland (Father Ted)|The Mainland]]") of the [[Channel 4]] series ''[[Father Ted]]'',<ref>{{Cite news |last=Rainey |first=Sarah |date=10 May 2013 |title=Graham Norton: the making of a national treasure |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/baftas/10049417/Graham-Norton-the-making-of-a-national-treasure.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171019140558/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/baftas/10049417/Graham-Norton-the-making-of-a-national-treasure.html |archive-date=19 October 2017 |access-date=13 October 2017 |work=The Daily Telegraph |issn=0307-1235}}</ref> which was set on the fictional [[Craggy Island]] off the west coast of Ireland. Father Furlong was often seen taking charge of the St Luke's Youth Group.

After this early success, Norton moved to Channel 4 in 1998 to host his own chat shows, including the weekly ''[[So Graham Norton]]'' (1998–2002), followed by the daily weeknight show ''[[V Graham Norton]]'' (2002–03). In January 2003 Norton was listed in ''[[The Observer]]'' as one of the 1,000 funniest acts in [[British comedy]]. (Though Norton is Irish, the bulk of his television career has been in the UK.) In January 2004, he was named the [[Radio Times's Most Powerful People in TV Comedy|most powerful person in TV comedy]] by ''[[Radio Times]]''.<ref name="2004 list">{{Cite news |date=12 January 2004 |title=Norton tops comedy list |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/news/norton-tops-comedy-list-7229205.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170913232521/https://www.standard.co.uk/news/norton-tops-comedy-list-7229205.html |archive-date=13 September 2017 |access-date=13 September 2017 |work=[[Evening Standard]] |location=London}}</ref>

Also that year he was the subject of controversy in the United Kingdom when, on his Channel 4 show, he joked, "I bet [[Maurice Gibb]]'s [[heart monitor]] was singing the tune of '[[Stayin' Alive]]'", referring to the recent death of the [[Bee Gees]] singer. Gibb's brother [[Robin Gibb|Robin]] described Norton as "scum", threatened to "rip his head off" if he saw him, and demanded an apology from him, the show's producers, and Channel 4.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Day |first=Julia |date=10 February 2003 |title=Bee Gee lashes out over Norton jokes |url=http://www.theguardian.com/media/2003/feb/10/broadcasting.channel4 |work=[[The Guardian]]}}</ref> The [[Independent Television Commission]] investigated after complaints about this insensitivity were received and eventually Channel 4 had to make two apologies: one in the form of a caption slide before the show, another from Norton in person.{{citation needed|date=June 2021}}

In summer 2004, Norton ventured into American television. ''[[The Graham Norton Effect]]'' debuted on 24 June 2004, on [[Comedy Central]], and was also broadcast in the UK on [[BBC Three]]. In the midst of controversy surrounding [[Super Bowl XXXVIII halftime show controversy|Justin Timberlake and Janet Jackson's Super Bowl performance]], Norton was wary of moving into the market.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Norton |first=Graham |title=So Me |publisher=Hodder & Stoughton |year=2004 |isbn=0-340-83348-3 |pages=326–333}}</ref>