May 10, 1998 16:14

NEVER MIND THE BOLLOCKS, HERE'S [I]ROTTEN TELEVISION[/I]

[a]John Lydon[/a] will host a weekly TV show for music channel VH1...

John Lydon is to host his own weekly television show for music channel VH1, reports Billboard.

The series of half-hour programmes has the working title Rotten Television and will use a magazine show format. Content is to concentrate upon modern cultural topics such as music, fashion, sports, movies, television and computer software. The former Sex Pistol will intersperse his pre-taped 'editorials' by interviewing studio guests. His manager, Eric Gardner, claims Rotten Television will be the "anti-Christ of magazine shows."

Lydon himself boasts: "I'm going to tell it like it is - straight, bare-faced, honest. I'm going for anything and everything. I'm not out to make friends and I'm not out to make enemies, but there is enough lies and bullshit out there that can make for good commentary. I'm going to reach the millennium properly by deposing iconism. I intend to burn and destroy many aspects that people hold so dear."

A London spokesperson for the VH1 network, which reaches 10,000,000 homes in Europe, told NME that the Lydon show was still at the pilot stages in the US. The channel was hoping to be able to broadcast the show in the UK and Europe at a later date dependent upon content and clearances, he added.