More popular than Jesus he was "very big on Christ. I've always fancied him. He was right." In 1978, he thanked Jesus for an end to the Beatles' touring, saying "if I hadn't said [that] and upset the very Christian Ku Klux Klan, well, Lord, I might still be up there with all the other performing fleas! God bless America. Thank you, Jesus." In 1993, Michael Medved wrote in "The Sunday Times" that "today, comments like Lennon's could never cause controversy; a contemptuous attitude to religion is all but expected from all mainstream pop performers." In 1997, Noel Gallagher claimed that his band Oasis
A Quiet Word With ... had interviewed anyone on television, and the first time he interviewed anyone by himself in twenty years. Some time later Martin viewed an "infuriating" interview with American comedian and actor Will Ferrell on the Nine Network's "A Current Affair" that involved the reporter attempting to get Ferrell to repeat catchphrases from the film "" rather than containing anything of substance; Martin regarded this interview as an embarrassment to the nation. These two factors gave him the idea for a more substantive interview program, and inspired him to create "A Quiet Word With ...". The first episode, featuring Martin conversing with