ITV Schools - The English Programme - A Question Of Talk (1987) 1/3
The golden age of Schools TV may've been the late-70s and early-80s, but taken from some serious proof here, Schools TV in the late-80s could still being in the big boys, an almost star-studded episode by Schools TV standards, with "The English Programme" in a one-off gameshow about "A Question of Talk" presented by gameshow presenter Robert Robinson (of "Ask The Family" and "Call My Bluff" fame), along with team captains Bill Oddie, who used to be quite synonymous for appearing on kids TV in the 70s and 80s, and BBC Radio 1 DJ and "Top of the Pops" presenter Janice Long.
Showing posts with label 1980's. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1980's. Show all posts
Monday, 22 March 2010
Sunday, 21 March 2010
A Look Into Indian Subcontinent Culture...
Bharatanatyam by Alarmel Valli Spirit Of Asia
"Spirit of Asia" was a documentary series narrated and presented by David Attenborough. Long known for his wildlife programmes, started exploring human culture from the early 1971 documentary film "A Blank n the Map". This long-ish clip shows aspects of India's long-established dance and thatre culture. The very elaborate theatrical dance is Kathkali, which is a dance-drama which plays out stories of the Hindu Gods Rama and Krishna.
The solo female dancer is Alarmel Valli, who specialises in the dance form of Bharatanatyam, and is India's interpretation of ballet.
"Spirit of Asia" was a documentary series narrated and presented by David Attenborough. Long known for his wildlife programmes, started exploring human culture from the early 1971 documentary film "A Blank n the Map". This long-ish clip shows aspects of India's long-established dance and thatre culture. The very elaborate theatrical dance is Kathkali, which is a dance-drama which plays out stories of the Hindu Gods Rama and Krishna.
The solo female dancer is Alarmel Valli, who specialises in the dance form of Bharatanatyam, and is India's interpretation of ballet.
Thursday, 18 March 2010
Quite a Creepy Sketch...
Les Dennis Laughter Show - Thunderbirds
It's the legendary "The Les Dennis Laughter Show"! At the height of his career when impressionist sketch comedy was booming, Dennis was also presenting the popular gameshow "Family Fortunes", soon becoming the longest-running presenter on the show after such illiuminaries of the comedy game such as Bob Monkhouse and Max Bygraves. Les had been a budding stand-up in the 70s and 80s, and was always seen tied-to-the-hip with Russ Abbot series of comedy sketch shows such as "Russ Abbot's Madhouse" and later "The Russ Abbot Show", so this was the apprentice, as you might say, coming into his own. However, it just wasn't as funny, but "The Laughter Show" in it's first form, began in 1984, and ran until 1991. It was a good run to say the least, and it's fair to say that alot of this type of impressionist comedy was starting to fizzle out after 1991, with the likes of "Little and Large", Bobby Davro and "Cannon and Ball" steering away from the limelight.
In this edited clip, it's been 20 years since the life-size puppet children's Sci-fi "Thunderbirds" came on our screens, so how would they look and act like now? Featuring all the favourite characters of the show like Lady Penelope, Parker (in his boxers), Jeff Tracy and Brains. It's still a great upload here. I'm still waiting for his mavis impression to appear, in the full gear!
It's the legendary "The Les Dennis Laughter Show"! At the height of his career when impressionist sketch comedy was booming, Dennis was also presenting the popular gameshow "Family Fortunes", soon becoming the longest-running presenter on the show after such illiuminaries of the comedy game such as Bob Monkhouse and Max Bygraves. Les had been a budding stand-up in the 70s and 80s, and was always seen tied-to-the-hip with Russ Abbot series of comedy sketch shows such as "Russ Abbot's Madhouse" and later "The Russ Abbot Show", so this was the apprentice, as you might say, coming into his own. However, it just wasn't as funny, but "The Laughter Show" in it's first form, began in 1984, and ran until 1991. It was a good run to say the least, and it's fair to say that alot of this type of impressionist comedy was starting to fizzle out after 1991, with the likes of "Little and Large", Bobby Davro and "Cannon and Ball" steering away from the limelight.
In this edited clip, it's been 20 years since the life-size puppet children's Sci-fi "Thunderbirds" came on our screens, so how would they look and act like now? Featuring all the favourite characters of the show like Lady Penelope, Parker (in his boxers), Jeff Tracy and Brains. It's still a great upload here. I'm still waiting for his mavis impression to appear, in the full gear!
Tuesday, 16 March 2010
Come Aboard the Toy Monorail Folks...
ITV Schools - Physics In Action
Been quite hard to find the year and even the decade for this, but I think it's from the 1980s. This short clips talks about the laws of motion, involving these gliding magnets along a railing, something like a minature monorail. Narrated by Charles Foster, "Physics In Action" as far as I know was still being made for ITV Schools in the late-80s.
The presentation of the show is eerily similar to the 2000s spoof 70s/80s schools series "Look Around You".
Been quite hard to find the year and even the decade for this, but I think it's from the 1980s. This short clips talks about the laws of motion, involving these gliding magnets along a railing, something like a minature monorail. Narrated by Charles Foster, "Physics In Action" as far as I know was still being made for ITV Schools in the late-80s.
The presentation of the show is eerily similar to the 2000s spoof 70s/80s schools series "Look Around You".
Monday, 15 March 2010
Welcome, to the Magical World of SAW Land, Still Stuck in the 80s as of This Post
The Hitman and Her at Sheffield, 1989 (intro)
This seems a good time to wheel out "Hitman and Her", a now obscure joy, after Pete Waterman's recent step back into the limelight as the "make-a-hit-song-in-15-mins" powerhouse steps to back to claim why he comandeered the biggest wealth of UK Single No.1's in the 80s! Yep with another 80s song for the Eurovision this year, 2010.
We'll talk about Waterman in a later edit, but let's focus on this long clip from this show in Sheffield. Waterman and children's presenter Michaela Strachan host the show, which tours around different nightclubs each Saturday night. As Waterman was behind a producing trio of record producers and song writers Stock, Aitken and Waterman (SAW). So no surprise, many of the hits played were played came from SAW, artists as famous as Kylie Minogue to one-hit wonders like "The Reynold Girls". They all appeared, questionably live. We hear a remix of Minogue's "Never Too Late" hit. The feautured dancers are on the stage, who play a role as cheerleaders for the clubbers to follow, and visual entertainment, for the half-stewed audience back home. Denim is everywhere, bleeding denim jackets (with thick perms) and all the women are wearing denim shorts, a la, Daisy Duke, and not forgetting that one vital 80s ingredient...lycra! They are lead by "Wiggy", a black dancer wearing a white wig, all the time, every time. Wonder if he goes to bed in that?
There's some unintentional humour in this clip. Surely the 2 male clubbers interviews are parodies? The first guy, as said in a Youtube comment on the video, talks like and has the sleaziness to be Keith Lemon, a 2000s comedy characters invented by comedian Leigh Francis. The second guy, swirling his hips throughout his on-screen appearance, the Chuckle Brother, really thinks he's a hit with the ladies, or will be. The first woman interviewed, Jeanie a part-time glamour model, who looks like American "The Fly" actress Geena Davis. Very classy looking for a glamour model compared to today, that's shocking that. Today it would be a bucketload of eye liner, and the Grand Canyon screaming at you're face!
"The Hitman and Her" ran continuously on Sunday early,early mornings for 4 years from 1988-1992, on the ITV's "Night Time" schedule.
This seems a good time to wheel out "Hitman and Her", a now obscure joy, after Pete Waterman's recent step back into the limelight as the "make-a-hit-song-in-15-mins" powerhouse steps to back to claim why he comandeered the biggest wealth of UK Single No.1's in the 80s! Yep with another 80s song for the Eurovision this year, 2010.
We'll talk about Waterman in a later edit, but let's focus on this long clip from this show in Sheffield. Waterman and children's presenter Michaela Strachan host the show, which tours around different nightclubs each Saturday night. As Waterman was behind a producing trio of record producers and song writers Stock, Aitken and Waterman (SAW). So no surprise, many of the hits played were played came from SAW, artists as famous as Kylie Minogue to one-hit wonders like "The Reynold Girls". They all appeared, questionably live. We hear a remix of Minogue's "Never Too Late" hit. The feautured dancers are on the stage, who play a role as cheerleaders for the clubbers to follow, and visual entertainment, for the half-stewed audience back home. Denim is everywhere, bleeding denim jackets (with thick perms) and all the women are wearing denim shorts, a la, Daisy Duke, and not forgetting that one vital 80s ingredient...lycra! They are lead by "Wiggy", a black dancer wearing a white wig, all the time, every time. Wonder if he goes to bed in that?
There's some unintentional humour in this clip. Surely the 2 male clubbers interviews are parodies? The first guy, as said in a Youtube comment on the video, talks like and has the sleaziness to be Keith Lemon, a 2000s comedy characters invented by comedian Leigh Francis. The second guy, swirling his hips throughout his on-screen appearance, the Chuckle Brother, really thinks he's a hit with the ladies, or will be. The first woman interviewed, Jeanie a part-time glamour model, who looks like American "The Fly" actress Geena Davis. Very classy looking for a glamour model compared to today, that's shocking that. Today it would be a bucketload of eye liner, and the Grand Canyon screaming at you're face!
"The Hitman and Her" ran continuously on Sunday early,early mornings for 4 years from 1988-1992, on the ITV's "Night Time" schedule.
Monday, 8 March 2010
An 80s Song You Can Still Freely Admit to Liking...
Big Audio Dynamite-E=MC2
Former "The Clash" guitarist and singer Mick Jones made a strong start with his new band "Bad Audio Dynamite", with this bouncy hit from the mid-80s, which apart from the obvious synth chorus, has dated quite well, especially from the period it's taken from. The mid-80s was not only the centre of the decade "That taste forgot", but it was in music terms the softest, mushiest and cheesiest part of the decade. The grittiness of Punk music and ska was fading fast, as the economy grew on both sides of the Atlantic, and there was a hell of a lot to be angry about. Also, it was shortly before the likes of rap and house came to the mainstream. You had light pop music called Euro-disco, coming from the likes of Stock, Aitken and Waterman acts like Dead or Alive and Bananarama. Rock music even at this point, appeared cartoonish and over-blown like faux rock chick "Cyndi Lauper", "Heart" and "Bon Jovi". However, "Bad Audio Dynamite" or "BAD", did not fit into this mid-80s mould.
Mick Jones was fired from "The Clash" after much in-fighting and tension between himself and lead singer Joe Strummer. He never returned. However Jones did collaberate with Strummer on the second BAD album in 1986's "No. 10, Upping St.". However, one of their best songs seen here, "E=MC2" is from their 1985 debut album "This Is Big Audio Dynamite". The original group members, also seen in the video, consisted of Mick Jones, Don Letts(sound effects & vocals), Dan Donovan (keyboards), Leo Williams (bass & vocals), Greg Roberts (drums & vocals).
The song is known as the first example of "highly defined sampling technologies". The song uses talking samples from a a film known as 1970's "Performance" directed by English film director Nicholas Roeg. The music video also contain film clips from various other Roeg movies. The song reached a peak high of No.11 on the UK Singles chart. However the album didn't do as well, peaking at No.27. in the UK album charts. Their second aforementioned album performed better, at No.11. By 1990, Mick Jones reformed his band with a completely new set-up, with only himself the original member. So BAD II, got off to an even better start, with a No.1 hit single in the US charts "Rush", well, only the modern Rock US charts. The feel of the band was more like "The Clash", consisting of Nick Hawkins (guitar and background vocals), Gary Stonadge (bass and background vocals) and Chris Kavanagh (drums and background vocals).
The band slightly changed it's name to "Big Audio" for a short while, but hasn't achieved any real amount of success. In 1998, their record label Radioactive Records, refused to release their "Entering a New Ride" album after disagreements. The band released it for free from their website. Pretty much years before Radiohead or Prince released an album for free.
Former "The Clash" guitarist and singer Mick Jones made a strong start with his new band "Bad Audio Dynamite", with this bouncy hit from the mid-80s, which apart from the obvious synth chorus, has dated quite well, especially from the period it's taken from. The mid-80s was not only the centre of the decade "That taste forgot", but it was in music terms the softest, mushiest and cheesiest part of the decade. The grittiness of Punk music and ska was fading fast, as the economy grew on both sides of the Atlantic, and there was a hell of a lot to be angry about. Also, it was shortly before the likes of rap and house came to the mainstream. You had light pop music called Euro-disco, coming from the likes of Stock, Aitken and Waterman acts like Dead or Alive and Bananarama. Rock music even at this point, appeared cartoonish and over-blown like faux rock chick "Cyndi Lauper", "Heart" and "Bon Jovi". However, "Bad Audio Dynamite" or "BAD", did not fit into this mid-80s mould.
Mick Jones was fired from "The Clash" after much in-fighting and tension between himself and lead singer Joe Strummer. He never returned. However Jones did collaberate with Strummer on the second BAD album in 1986's "No. 10, Upping St.". However, one of their best songs seen here, "E=MC2" is from their 1985 debut album "This Is Big Audio Dynamite". The original group members, also seen in the video, consisted of Mick Jones, Don Letts(sound effects & vocals), Dan Donovan (keyboards), Leo Williams (bass & vocals), Greg Roberts (drums & vocals).
The song is known as the first example of "highly defined sampling technologies". The song uses talking samples from a a film known as 1970's "Performance" directed by English film director Nicholas Roeg. The music video also contain film clips from various other Roeg movies. The song reached a peak high of No.11 on the UK Singles chart. However the album didn't do as well, peaking at No.27. in the UK album charts. Their second aforementioned album performed better, at No.11. By 1990, Mick Jones reformed his band with a completely new set-up, with only himself the original member. So BAD II, got off to an even better start, with a No.1 hit single in the US charts "Rush", well, only the modern Rock US charts. The feel of the band was more like "The Clash", consisting of Nick Hawkins (guitar and background vocals), Gary Stonadge (bass and background vocals) and Chris Kavanagh (drums and background vocals).
The band slightly changed it's name to "Big Audio" for a short while, but hasn't achieved any real amount of success. In 1998, their record label Radioactive Records, refused to release their "Entering a New Ride" album after disagreements. The band released it for free from their website. Pretty much years before Radiohead or Prince released an album for free.
Saturday, 6 March 2010
Great Idea! Let's have a Wife-beater Advise Kids on Strangers!
Strngr Dngr!
Gotta love the 80s, eh? "Punch", of "Punch and Judy" fame, advises the kid audience to never trust strangers, demonstrating this, by not climbing into the Crocodile's motor. The West country voiced policeman warns the children if knowing where they are, when alone, and not to take rides from strangers, otherwise your a "naughty, naughty, naughty man"! The Crocodile sounds a bit like the other puppet croc from CITV's late-80s show "Round the Bend".The PIF was made in 1980, and does, even then seems a bit dated to be using such a politically incorrect technique. But that's why we love that age!
Gotta love the 80s, eh? "Punch", of "Punch and Judy" fame, advises the kid audience to never trust strangers, demonstrating this, by not climbing into the Crocodile's motor. The West country voiced policeman warns the children if knowing where they are, when alone, and not to take rides from strangers, otherwise your a "naughty, naughty, naughty man"! The Crocodile sounds a bit like the other puppet croc from CITV's late-80s show "Round the Bend".The PIF was made in 1980, and does, even then seems a bit dated to be using such a politically incorrect technique. But that's why we love that age!
Perhaps the Coolest or the Creepiest Schools TV theme...
BBC Schools - Zig Zag
Another landmark BBC schools series that began in 1983, replacing "Merry-go-round" that focused on historical content. This was a series of programmes that focused on the early middle ages and the Normans in 1985. Continuity is shown first, much to type, for TV was much slower paced in those days. We see the old striped 70s/80s BBC2 ident, and then we're off to an intro of Tron-like proportions at 1 mins 5 seconds in. Very 80s, with creepy sounding 80s synth, and wire-frame computer technology. The robotised voice at the end, was to creep you out further with rapid interjections of "Zig Zag!".
The educational programme is still repeated today, and new programmes were being made right up to the 2000s, focusing on Tudor history and ancient history.
Another landmark BBC schools series that began in 1983, replacing "Merry-go-round" that focused on historical content. This was a series of programmes that focused on the early middle ages and the Normans in 1985. Continuity is shown first, much to type, for TV was much slower paced in those days. We see the old striped 70s/80s BBC2 ident, and then we're off to an intro of Tron-like proportions at 1 mins 5 seconds in. Very 80s, with creepy sounding 80s synth, and wire-frame computer technology. The robotised voice at the end, was to creep you out further with rapid interjections of "Zig Zag!".
The educational programme is still repeated today, and new programmes were being made right up to the 2000s, focusing on Tudor history and ancient history.
Thursday, 4 March 2010
Argggggghhhhhhh!
Grace Jones Citroen CX Car Advert
Well I was looking for a certain Grace Jones chat show interview (but was open to others though) on Youtube, but when I came across this, I had to add this. The truth is, Grace Jones, wants to scream you into submission to buy this Citreon CX, and if you don't, she will devour you. Knowing her, that wouldn't be far from the real truth. If that type of advert was produced now, you would have the likes of Cheryl Cole charming the pants off you, but no, back in the 1980s, this was the age of power walking, power napping and power women. The banshee like howls from Jones wants to grab your attention...by the balls.
This advert was alledgedly too pertrifying for some countries, and the advert was banned. It's not only Grace Jones impeccable manners, but the large winding, turning head model of Grace Jones with headlights for eyes, is pretty damn creepy, and the mouth opens so much, gold splits from her sides, and then it burps, obviously some computer trickey going on there. The advert is actually quite cool though perversely bizarre.
Grace Jones was a larger-than-life character of Jamaican-American origin, who became firstly a model, then a singer and then as an actress in some high-profile movies like "Conan the Destroyer" and James Bond's "A View to a Kill" as villain "May Day". Jones sported a very iconic "flat-top" haircut beginning in 1985, and together lumped with her 5'10" athletic frame, she appeared adrodynous in nature, and very scary looking. This where she achieved her greatest fame in the UK with her 1985 album "Slave to the Rhythm", which also, by coincidence or not, has a distorted looking Grace Jones on the front cover with a large mouth very extensive up and down, like the mechanical head in the advert. The album reached No.12 in the UK album charts. Maybe as no surprise as to why it did well, this album having been produced with a British edge, produced by Trevor Horn. Jones had started her singing career in the late 70s, and had already had a major American hit in 1981 with "Pull up to the Bumper", staying at No.2 in the Billboard US charts for 7 weeks.
The Citreon CX actually appears in the music video for the single "Slave to the Rhythm".
Well I was looking for a certain Grace Jones chat show interview (but was open to others though) on Youtube, but when I came across this, I had to add this. The truth is, Grace Jones, wants to scream you into submission to buy this Citreon CX, and if you don't, she will devour you. Knowing her, that wouldn't be far from the real truth. If that type of advert was produced now, you would have the likes of Cheryl Cole charming the pants off you, but no, back in the 1980s, this was the age of power walking, power napping and power women. The banshee like howls from Jones wants to grab your attention...by the balls.
This advert was alledgedly too pertrifying for some countries, and the advert was banned. It's not only Grace Jones impeccable manners, but the large winding, turning head model of Grace Jones with headlights for eyes, is pretty damn creepy, and the mouth opens so much, gold splits from her sides, and then it burps, obviously some computer trickey going on there. The advert is actually quite cool though perversely bizarre.
Grace Jones was a larger-than-life character of Jamaican-American origin, who became firstly a model, then a singer and then as an actress in some high-profile movies like "Conan the Destroyer" and James Bond's "A View to a Kill" as villain "May Day". Jones sported a very iconic "flat-top" haircut beginning in 1985, and together lumped with her 5'10" athletic frame, she appeared adrodynous in nature, and very scary looking. This where she achieved her greatest fame in the UK with her 1985 album "Slave to the Rhythm", which also, by coincidence or not, has a distorted looking Grace Jones on the front cover with a large mouth very extensive up and down, like the mechanical head in the advert. The album reached No.12 in the UK album charts. Maybe as no surprise as to why it did well, this album having been produced with a British edge, produced by Trevor Horn. Jones had started her singing career in the late 70s, and had already had a major American hit in 1981 with "Pull up to the Bumper", staying at No.2 in the Billboard US charts for 7 weeks.
The Citreon CX actually appears in the music video for the single "Slave to the Rhythm".
Hey You! Nicholas Parsons' Dancing at 2:47
No. 73: Series 5: Programme 4: TXN 23.2.85
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVv2ZAX9smQ
Here is a small clip of an episode of ITV's "No.73" from 23rd February 1985. Although alot less hyper and anarchaic from it's predecessor "Tiswas", this was still a ground-breaking Saturday morning live kids show. Featuring Danish-born English comedienne, author and presenter Sandi Toksvig starring as Ethel Davis, who is jolly well excitied about going skiing, delivers much japes and puns in a show that was mostly improvised. We first come across the 2nd theme for the show with "Hey You" as the stand-out feature, featuring stock footage of wacky stunts such as jousting knights, cycling monkey's and black and white clips of ridiculous inventions.
After Toksvig's witticisms, we come to the end of the show (edited highlights?). Wondering who the reggae/ska band is? Well, it is Jamaican reggae and dancehall music artist Barrington Levy with the song "Under Mi Sensi". He achieved his best performing singles in Britain at this time in 1985. The rest of the No.73 cast join in coming down the stairs, to dance to the musing sounds. By this point, the other chracters were Andrea Arnold as roller-skating Dawn Lodge, Nick Wilton as Tony Deal, a local call man and Nick Staverson as the amazing mullet-haired Harry Stern. Look at Nicholas Parsons dancing with that wild look of open-mouthed joygasm on his face.
Also, there a brief of clip of Nick Wilton as the con-man sitting on top of Rani the Elephant. Anyway, the show by this point was increasing in it's popularity. The show was set in the home abode of No.73, an ordinary setting in a coastal town by the sea, however the main character Ethel Davis (Sandi Toksvig) had started off as an old woman in the first series but gets younger in each series. Harry Stern was the nephew. Dawn Lodge, believe it or not, was a lodger. We also had inventor Percy Simmonds (Patrick Doyle) playing as Ethel's love interest. Local con man Tony Deal was a new character from the 1984 series. I this 1985 series, there was also a mini series within entitled "Roman Around" set in Ancient Rome. This was also played for laughs, presented by Ethel's fictional theatre company "Front Door Productions". It also starred a young Neil Buchanan, who would later present in Saturday morning's "Motormouth" and more famously in CITV's "Art Attack" in the 90s.
The show lasted from 1982-1988. In the last series (1987-88), the name of the show was changed to "7T3". The show was now set in a mock western setting with the saloon doors conveying "7T3". Maybe the show had lost the plot by now. "Motormouth" replaced it in September '88.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oVv2ZAX9smQ
Here is a small clip of an episode of ITV's "No.73" from 23rd February 1985. Although alot less hyper and anarchaic from it's predecessor "Tiswas", this was still a ground-breaking Saturday morning live kids show. Featuring Danish-born English comedienne, author and presenter Sandi Toksvig starring as Ethel Davis, who is jolly well excitied about going skiing, delivers much japes and puns in a show that was mostly improvised. We first come across the 2nd theme for the show with "Hey You" as the stand-out feature, featuring stock footage of wacky stunts such as jousting knights, cycling monkey's and black and white clips of ridiculous inventions.
After Toksvig's witticisms, we come to the end of the show (edited highlights?). Wondering who the reggae/ska band is? Well, it is Jamaican reggae and dancehall music artist Barrington Levy with the song "Under Mi Sensi". He achieved his best performing singles in Britain at this time in 1985. The rest of the No.73 cast join in coming down the stairs, to dance to the musing sounds. By this point, the other chracters were Andrea Arnold as roller-skating Dawn Lodge, Nick Wilton as Tony Deal, a local call man and Nick Staverson as the amazing mullet-haired Harry Stern. Look at Nicholas Parsons dancing with that wild look of open-mouthed joygasm on his face.
Also, there a brief of clip of Nick Wilton as the con-man sitting on top of Rani the Elephant. Anyway, the show by this point was increasing in it's popularity. The show was set in the home abode of No.73, an ordinary setting in a coastal town by the sea, however the main character Ethel Davis (Sandi Toksvig) had started off as an old woman in the first series but gets younger in each series. Harry Stern was the nephew. Dawn Lodge, believe it or not, was a lodger. We also had inventor Percy Simmonds (Patrick Doyle) playing as Ethel's love interest. Local con man Tony Deal was a new character from the 1984 series. I this 1985 series, there was also a mini series within entitled "Roman Around" set in Ancient Rome. This was also played for laughs, presented by Ethel's fictional theatre company "Front Door Productions". It also starred a young Neil Buchanan, who would later present in Saturday morning's "Motormouth" and more famously in CITV's "Art Attack" in the 90s.
The show lasted from 1982-1988. In the last series (1987-88), the name of the show was changed to "7T3". The show was now set in a mock western setting with the saloon doors conveying "7T3". Maybe the show had lost the plot by now. "Motormouth" replaced it in September '88.
Wednesday, 3 March 2010
Wonderfully Weird Gameshow...
The Adventure Game - The main puzzle (episode 1)
A clip of the main presenters - or shape-shifting dragons- setting up the main puzzle for the celebrity and non-celebrity contestants in this wonderfully bizarre gameroom puzzle gameshow. An ingeniously, contrived and convoluted layout of this puzzle is explained by the presenters, in this masterhood of trickery, all this talk about left-handed screws, left-handed Grandfather clock, just layer upon layer of intricacy, it goes on and on. Snatch the key from the clown's face on the blue door to unlock the red door, ohhh, it's just nuts, then all three contestants have to stand in certain spots to allow ping pong balls in a tube/funnel levitate. ohhh, I'm getting a headache.
This was a pre-cursor to "The Crystal Maze", and whatever it lacked in budget compared to the latter, damn was it hard for a kid's show. Screened from the 1980-1986 on the BBC, the plot is, 2 celebrity contests and one normal person land on a spaceship on a planet called "Arg", and to travel through different rooms with different puzzles. Produced by Patrick Dowling, the show was inspired by the "Dungeons & Dragons" board game. The sci-fi element was implemented by Douglas Adam, famed for his radio series "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy".
So on this planet Arg, were the shape-shifting dragon race of the Argonds. Maybe to look less ridiculous with men in suits, mostly they were in human form. In this clip we see BBC newsreader Moira Stuart, who was then an actress, playing as one of the Argonds. Argonds, by the way, was an anagram of "dragon". Moira starred as Darong, another anagram of the same word. Another famous face, or rather the face-behind-the-robot, was "Star Wars" R2D2 controller Kenny Baker controlled a talking and moving spider plant in later series, which was the ruler of the planet Arg, Rangdo. The butler in the clip was Gandor (Chris Leaver) was half-deaf and could only hear when he was earing his glasses. I'm sure the other actress is Charmian Gradwell playing Gnoard. The most famed piece of the show was the final round of cat-and-mouse-like proportions "The Vortex". This did not appear until the second series.
A clip of the main presenters - or shape-shifting dragons- setting up the main puzzle for the celebrity and non-celebrity contestants in this wonderfully bizarre gameroom puzzle gameshow. An ingeniously, contrived and convoluted layout of this puzzle is explained by the presenters, in this masterhood of trickery, all this talk about left-handed screws, left-handed Grandfather clock, just layer upon layer of intricacy, it goes on and on. Snatch the key from the clown's face on the blue door to unlock the red door, ohhh, it's just nuts, then all three contestants have to stand in certain spots to allow ping pong balls in a tube/funnel levitate. ohhh, I'm getting a headache.
This was a pre-cursor to "The Crystal Maze", and whatever it lacked in budget compared to the latter, damn was it hard for a kid's show. Screened from the 1980-1986 on the BBC, the plot is, 2 celebrity contests and one normal person land on a spaceship on a planet called "Arg", and to travel through different rooms with different puzzles. Produced by Patrick Dowling, the show was inspired by the "Dungeons & Dragons" board game. The sci-fi element was implemented by Douglas Adam, famed for his radio series "The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy".
So on this planet Arg, were the shape-shifting dragon race of the Argonds. Maybe to look less ridiculous with men in suits, mostly they were in human form. In this clip we see BBC newsreader Moira Stuart, who was then an actress, playing as one of the Argonds. Argonds, by the way, was an anagram of "dragon". Moira starred as Darong, another anagram of the same word. Another famous face, or rather the face-behind-the-robot, was "Star Wars" R2D2 controller Kenny Baker controlled a talking and moving spider plant in later series, which was the ruler of the planet Arg, Rangdo. The butler in the clip was Gandor (Chris Leaver) was half-deaf and could only hear when he was earing his glasses. I'm sure the other actress is Charmian Gradwell playing Gnoard. The most famed piece of the show was the final round of cat-and-mouse-like proportions "The Vortex". This did not appear until the second series.
Monday, 1 March 2010
Where's Richard and Judy Then Love?
Scottish Television in-vision continuity & closedown - 1987
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRyXvVGCEWo
One of the more memorable continuity videos I've seen on Youtube. Read on, and you'll find out what I mean by the title...
This is from the Scottish ITV (or rather STV) for the Scotland Central region, including Glasgow and Edinburgh. We have some of static idents at the beginning of the video, but hold tight, there's an in-vision announcer to come, introducing the TV schedule for the next day (Tuesday). In-vision announcing was a staple of British TV from the beginning, but became phased out gradually region-to-region in the 1990s.
In this video, Scottish keeps a firm identity in it's idents, with a block 80s-style 3D graphic of a thistle, an icon of Scotand. 1987 is the year the region celebrates 30 years of broadcasting. Then we have a clock ident, which was a mainstay in it's many forms for BBC and Channel 4, but these style of idents have all dissappeared now. So we turn to Liz Kristiansen, who tells us the main highlights of tomorrow. Taking from the fact, Liz is discussing a programme about the "Fringe Festival" in Edinburgh, this must be August, and the shedule look summer holiday-ish, with children's programmes running in the morning like "Rainbow" and "Captain Scarlet", and not at lunchtimes. So it's basically, your highlights, then the schedule in full with some nice luminous 80s pink/blue graphics, then reminders of catching your local radio stations tomorrow, Radio Clyde for the west, Radio Forth for the east. However, what is strange about this clip?
Yes, over a year before "This Morning" reached our screens with Richard Madeley and Judy Finnegan, here is a prototype to the "This Morning" theme song, which sounds even more dated and 80s than the future one. The song comes in, when the full schedule is announced. No over-the-top saxophone here I'm afraid, but there is a little sax, and it gets a solo too. It doesn't sound like the theme at first, but you hear a little more, and a little light comes on, and aha! So...
Anyone for Netball World Championship on the box?
Scottish Television got rid of in-vision announcer in October 1991. If you don't live in the Ulster region, then the only sort of in-vision announcers you will be see, will be for children's programmes like CBBC and "yoof" TV in the form of "T4" on channel 4.
Liz Kristiansen remained on Scottish as an off-screen announcer after 1991. Her career on Scottish spanned from the mid-80s to 1994.
And how could I forget! At the end of the video is our Queen Liz, still-frame, and our prestigious national anthem is played, as the channel is over and out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lRyXvVGCEWo
One of the more memorable continuity videos I've seen on Youtube. Read on, and you'll find out what I mean by the title...
This is from the Scottish ITV (or rather STV) for the Scotland Central region, including Glasgow and Edinburgh. We have some of static idents at the beginning of the video, but hold tight, there's an in-vision announcer to come, introducing the TV schedule for the next day (Tuesday). In-vision announcing was a staple of British TV from the beginning, but became phased out gradually region-to-region in the 1990s.
In this video, Scottish keeps a firm identity in it's idents, with a block 80s-style 3D graphic of a thistle, an icon of Scotand. 1987 is the year the region celebrates 30 years of broadcasting. Then we have a clock ident, which was a mainstay in it's many forms for BBC and Channel 4, but these style of idents have all dissappeared now. So we turn to Liz Kristiansen, who tells us the main highlights of tomorrow. Taking from the fact, Liz is discussing a programme about the "Fringe Festival" in Edinburgh, this must be August, and the shedule look summer holiday-ish, with children's programmes running in the morning like "Rainbow" and "Captain Scarlet", and not at lunchtimes. So it's basically, your highlights, then the schedule in full with some nice luminous 80s pink/blue graphics, then reminders of catching your local radio stations tomorrow, Radio Clyde for the west, Radio Forth for the east. However, what is strange about this clip?
Yes, over a year before "This Morning" reached our screens with Richard Madeley and Judy Finnegan, here is a prototype to the "This Morning" theme song, which sounds even more dated and 80s than the future one. The song comes in, when the full schedule is announced. No over-the-top saxophone here I'm afraid, but there is a little sax, and it gets a solo too. It doesn't sound like the theme at first, but you hear a little more, and a little light comes on, and aha! So...
Anyone for Netball World Championship on the box?
Scottish Television got rid of in-vision announcer in October 1991. If you don't live in the Ulster region, then the only sort of in-vision announcers you will be see, will be for children's programmes like CBBC and "yoof" TV in the form of "T4" on channel 4.
Liz Kristiansen remained on Scottish as an off-screen announcer after 1991. Her career on Scottish spanned from the mid-80s to 1994.
And how could I forget! At the end of the video is our Queen Liz, still-frame, and our prestigious national anthem is played, as the channel is over and out!
Sunday, 28 February 2010
Take Your Earmuffs out, It's a Johnathan Ross-Free Zone, it's Film...with Barry Norman
Barry Normans Films of the 80s part 1
UK TV Nostalgia on Youtube's first foray into film via Barry Norman's Film (followed by whatever year it is, be it '89 or '90). This is an end of decade special, featuring Norman's critique on what he believes to be the Top Ten movies of the 1980s. So it's a 5 part feast of fine film quality and cinematography. I'm not going to give anything away, but you can bet actors like Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman will feature. Norman presents the show in comfy looking pink V-collar jumper, in his usual soothing vocal tones. This was broadcasted on the last week of the decade, now over 20 years ago. Makes you feel old.
The full title of the show is "The Film Programme", as to describe the show as a whole. It began in 1971 with a range of TV presenters including Barry Norman, hence "Film '71". "Thinking Man's Crumpet" Joan Bakewell, also presented in the early days of the show. However, Norman became the full-time host from 1974, onwards to his retirement from the show in 1998. Since then, the programme has been presented by Johnathan Ross, who, alright, is a more calmed down version of what he is on his chat show, and is fanatical about film himself. He is set to quit the BBC this year (2010) and, the most likely replacement I think is Mark Kermode, who already does similar material on BBC2's "The Culture Show".
Barry Norman transferred to Sky and had a brief film review show on one the Sky Movies channels. I recall it being a rather muted affair, as Sky wouldn't want to curse their own products to hell and back. Norman still appears on TV as a "talking head" for movie chart shows, like the 100 best *insert genre* movies ever, ever. Has appeared on recent daytime chat shows like ITV's "Loose Women" and BBC's "The ONE Show".
UK TV Nostalgia on Youtube's first foray into film via Barry Norman's Film (followed by whatever year it is, be it '89 or '90). This is an end of decade special, featuring Norman's critique on what he believes to be the Top Ten movies of the 1980s. So it's a 5 part feast of fine film quality and cinematography. I'm not going to give anything away, but you can bet actors like Robert De Niro and Dustin Hoffman will feature. Norman presents the show in comfy looking pink V-collar jumper, in his usual soothing vocal tones. This was broadcasted on the last week of the decade, now over 20 years ago. Makes you feel old.
The full title of the show is "The Film Programme", as to describe the show as a whole. It began in 1971 with a range of TV presenters including Barry Norman, hence "Film '71". "Thinking Man's Crumpet" Joan Bakewell, also presented in the early days of the show. However, Norman became the full-time host from 1974, onwards to his retirement from the show in 1998. Since then, the programme has been presented by Johnathan Ross, who, alright, is a more calmed down version of what he is on his chat show, and is fanatical about film himself. He is set to quit the BBC this year (2010) and, the most likely replacement I think is Mark Kermode, who already does similar material on BBC2's "The Culture Show".
Barry Norman transferred to Sky and had a brief film review show on one the Sky Movies channels. I recall it being a rather muted affair, as Sky wouldn't want to curse their own products to hell and back. Norman still appears on TV as a "talking head" for movie chart shows, like the 100 best *insert genre* movies ever, ever. Has appeared on recent daytime chat shows like ITV's "Loose Women" and BBC's "The ONE Show".
Saturday, 27 February 2010
A Feast of Lycra and not-so Lycra Men/Women in Snow and Ice 1972-2002
Alright, we end our Winter Olympics special with this rough, but brilliant highlighting music video of recent Winter Olympics bar 2006 and 2010, of course. Some really good footage of the earlier Olympics which are hard to find on Youtube. The Sports genre will take a break, but we'll be back to good ol' football and more.
List of Winter Games shown:
1972 -Sapporo, Japan
1976 - Innsbruck, Austria
1980 - Lake Placid, USA
1984 - Sarajevo, Yugoslavia (now Bosnia and Herzegovina)
1988 - Calgary, Canada
1992 - Albertville, France
1994 - Lillehammer, Norway
1998 - Nagano, Japan
2002 - Salt Lake City, USA
It's a very good highlights video with small clips of each Games opening ceremonies, and the features the most awe-inspiring and most excelled athletes of the games, so we see the likes on Torvill and Dean for '84, Alberto Tomba for '88 and so on. Also, period music of the time from each Olympics, If you want to know what the songs are, well, I'm horribly bad at naming these earlier ones. I've heard the 1972 one loads of times, I just can't put a name to it?
1972 -???
1976 -???
1980 -???
1984 - Irene Cara - What a Feeling
1988 -Erasure -Give a Little Respect
1992 - Snap - Rhythm Is A Dancer
1994 - Whigfield - Saturday Night
1998 - ???
2002 - James Williams - Call of the Champions
Thursday, 25 February 2010
What is this Mess?
Fiona Corke & Peter Vroom on Motormouth
A star-filled, Pantomime-themed quiz section of the -I think- second series of ITV's Saturday morning "Motormouth". Here we see Andy Crane, sneakily jumping ship from the BBC Broom Cupboard to CITV, dressed as a pirate, talking to Yvette Fielding, no it's not, it's Fiona Corke (you may know her as Gail Robinson, nee Lewis, main squeeze of Paul Robinson at the time, from Australian soap "Neighbours"). So Corke and "Home and Away" actor Peter Vroom (played Lance Smart) against Frank "That's a cracker!" Carson and yes it's a man in drag impersonating Margaret Thatcher, how distinctly accurate. That man was Steve Nallon, who voiced the Maggie Thatcher puppet in the adult political satire "Spitting Image" in it's 80s heyday. Gameshow "God" and "Krypton Factor" presenter Gordon Burns asking the questions. A quite anarchaic, good-humoured mallett-chugging quiz ensues between the main presenters of the show. The celebrities hit the presenter on the head with a mallett if they get the questions wrong, it seems. A little under-utilised on the celebrities behalf, and done much better by Timmy Mallett...Bleurgh.
The main presenters of the show we see participating are Gaby Roslin, who would go onto greater fame presenting with Chris Evans on Channel 4's "Big Breakfast", Steve Johnson and Neil Buchanan, who in the same year of 1989 piloted a little-known show called "Art Attack".
"Motormouth" was a successful ITV Saturday morning show which ran for 4 series, between 1988-1992. The show took it's name from the motorised large mouth, which featured on the set. Coming after the axed "No.73", it ran on a schedule from Autumn to Spring. It wasn't as set-in-the-stone as the BBC's "Going Live!" was in terms of format, as it evolved and improved in later series. It had however, a great set of American-made cartoons, the ones that bribe your parents to buy the toys, like "The Real Ghostbusters", "She-Ra: Princess of Power", 60s favourite "Scooby Doo" and the Japanese parody of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles "Samurai Pizza Cats".
A star-filled, Pantomime-themed quiz section of the -I think- second series of ITV's Saturday morning "Motormouth". Here we see Andy Crane, sneakily jumping ship from the BBC Broom Cupboard to CITV, dressed as a pirate, talking to Yvette Fielding, no it's not, it's Fiona Corke (you may know her as Gail Robinson, nee Lewis, main squeeze of Paul Robinson at the time, from Australian soap "Neighbours"). So Corke and "Home and Away" actor Peter Vroom (played Lance Smart) against Frank "That's a cracker!" Carson and yes it's a man in drag impersonating Margaret Thatcher, how distinctly accurate. That man was Steve Nallon, who voiced the Maggie Thatcher puppet in the adult political satire "Spitting Image" in it's 80s heyday. Gameshow "God" and "Krypton Factor" presenter Gordon Burns asking the questions. A quite anarchaic, good-humoured mallett-chugging quiz ensues between the main presenters of the show. The celebrities hit the presenter on the head with a mallett if they get the questions wrong, it seems. A little under-utilised on the celebrities behalf, and done much better by Timmy Mallett...Bleurgh.
The main presenters of the show we see participating are Gaby Roslin, who would go onto greater fame presenting with Chris Evans on Channel 4's "Big Breakfast", Steve Johnson and Neil Buchanan, who in the same year of 1989 piloted a little-known show called "Art Attack".
"Motormouth" was a successful ITV Saturday morning show which ran for 4 series, between 1988-1992. The show took it's name from the motorised large mouth, which featured on the set. Coming after the axed "No.73", it ran on a schedule from Autumn to Spring. It wasn't as set-in-the-stone as the BBC's "Going Live!" was in terms of format, as it evolved and improved in later series. It had however, a great set of American-made cartoons, the ones that bribe your parents to buy the toys, like "The Real Ghostbusters", "She-Ra: Princess of Power", 60s favourite "Scooby Doo" and the Japanese parody of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles "Samurai Pizza Cats".
Top to Bottom, Up and Over
Words and Pictures - Noisy Neville - Part 1
Great uploads from a Youtube user here, uploading quite a few "Words and Pictures" full episodes from mid-80s era of presenter Vicky Ireland along with her animated sidekick Charlie, set in a book library. This, along with "Look and Read" was one of the BBC Schools flagship shows, and the most fondly remembered too. The series would later focus on phonics, and use and sound of certain letters, however, here there is a focus on one letter and a themed around a word that starts with that specific letter. Here it is "N" and the theme is "Noise".
Of course, the iconic part of the show was "The Magic Pencil". It was a floating pencil with a sort of guiding light at the very end, slowly showing how a letter should be written, but all that "flick" nonsense, isn't completely neccessary! However, here it is "Top to Bottom, Up and Over" as voiced by the homely Vicky Ireland off-screen for that part of the show, as the orange levitating pencil - nobody holding it, honest-in a black background.
Charlie is the little man who will pop out of nowhere to talk to Vicky or associate himself with the group of strongly multi-ethnic children. The fluidity of the animation on his face now seem rather strange, it doesn't look computer generated or stock animation, you just know it's been developed slowly in any case. This era of "Words and Pictures" was superior to what followed, which feels more detached with less child attachment and no Charlie. Vicky Ireland would later be replaced by Stuart Bradley and cat puppet Nutmeg in 1990, followed by Sophie Aldred in 1992, of "Doctor Who" fame, and the animation sections were made by the same people (Alan Rogers which brought you the early 80's children's classic "Pigeon Street".
The show began in 1970 under the guidance of Gabriel Woolf and under a different name entitled "Up in the Attic". Gabriel would summon a magic lamp to bring out various puppet characters. Then it came under another name from 1972-73, called "Sam on Boffs' Island", a 20 episode storytale about little puppet men named Boffs, a huge host of characters like What-Boff, Paper-Boof, Sell-Boff. This also starred a young Tony Robinson and Miriam Margolyes. By 1975, it was "Words and Pictures" presented by Henry Woolf and the beginning of the Magic Pencil.
This website is my reference here, and there is alot of information about those early years of the show especially. I'll add this website to my blog links soon.
http://www.broadcastforschools.co.uk/site/Words_and_Pictures
The show still runs in some form, with it's last series screened on the satellite channel "CBeebies" in 2006 named "Words and Pictures: Fun with Phonics". It also has it's own BBC interactive website. Why do you want to see it, heehee, the average age of people coming here is probably 30! It is still a widely used material used by schools today.
Great uploads from a Youtube user here, uploading quite a few "Words and Pictures" full episodes from mid-80s era of presenter Vicky Ireland along with her animated sidekick Charlie, set in a book library. This, along with "Look and Read" was one of the BBC Schools flagship shows, and the most fondly remembered too. The series would later focus on phonics, and use and sound of certain letters, however, here there is a focus on one letter and a themed around a word that starts with that specific letter. Here it is "N" and the theme is "Noise".
Of course, the iconic part of the show was "The Magic Pencil". It was a floating pencil with a sort of guiding light at the very end, slowly showing how a letter should be written, but all that "flick" nonsense, isn't completely neccessary! However, here it is "Top to Bottom, Up and Over" as voiced by the homely Vicky Ireland off-screen for that part of the show, as the orange levitating pencil - nobody holding it, honest-in a black background.
Charlie is the little man who will pop out of nowhere to talk to Vicky or associate himself with the group of strongly multi-ethnic children. The fluidity of the animation on his face now seem rather strange, it doesn't look computer generated or stock animation, you just know it's been developed slowly in any case. This era of "Words and Pictures" was superior to what followed, which feels more detached with less child attachment and no Charlie. Vicky Ireland would later be replaced by Stuart Bradley and cat puppet Nutmeg in 1990, followed by Sophie Aldred in 1992, of "Doctor Who" fame, and the animation sections were made by the same people (Alan Rogers which brought you the early 80's children's classic "Pigeon Street".
The show began in 1970 under the guidance of Gabriel Woolf and under a different name entitled "Up in the Attic". Gabriel would summon a magic lamp to bring out various puppet characters. Then it came under another name from 1972-73, called "Sam on Boffs' Island", a 20 episode storytale about little puppet men named Boffs, a huge host of characters like What-Boff, Paper-Boof, Sell-Boff. This also starred a young Tony Robinson and Miriam Margolyes. By 1975, it was "Words and Pictures" presented by Henry Woolf and the beginning of the Magic Pencil.
This website is my reference here, and there is alot of information about those early years of the show especially. I'll add this website to my blog links soon.
http://www.broadcastforschools.co.uk/site/Words_and_Pictures
The show still runs in some form, with it's last series screened on the satellite channel "CBeebies" in 2006 named "Words and Pictures: Fun with Phonics". It also has it's own BBC interactive website. Why do you want to see it, heehee, the average age of people coming here is probably 30! It is still a widely used material used by schools today.
Wednesday, 24 February 2010
Le Resistance on Le Wogan with Nasty Gerries!
'Allo 'Allo on Wogan
A rare stage-version of the classic British comedy sitcom "'Allo 'Allo" featuring on the biggest chat show of the 1980s, "Wogan" presented by Irish radio & TV broadcaster funnyman Terry Wogan, who never seems to disappear from Britain's screens! This sitcom was set in France during the Second World War created by David Croft, who had produced a few other very successful, war-themed sitcoms like "Dad's Army" and "It Ain't Half Hot Mum". The show lampooned the French and German stereotypes, along with nods to British and Italian stereotypes. Cue silly accents from a British cast, and humour taken from culture differences. Although the subject matter of it being the Second World War and the Nazi's fascist regime and grief they caused for real, the humour did not step over the line, but was something all the family could enjoy.
Here we see a small part of the live stage version of the show, featuring the main couple of the show, René Artois (Gordon Kaye) and wife Edith (Carmen Silvera) staying in character talking to Wogan, posing with a faux French moustache. Also featuring are the Artois arch enemies Herr Otto Flick (Richard Gibson) and Private Helga Geerhart (Kim Hartman) who amuse the audience with some great but odd physical comedy in the form of dance. Herr Flick pulls out a wicked breakdancing move at one point! Near the end, we hear the cast out-of-character, with their natural English accents, which of course feels odd, if you've grown up with it.
A rare stage-version of the classic British comedy sitcom "'Allo 'Allo" featuring on the biggest chat show of the 1980s, "Wogan" presented by Irish radio & TV broadcaster funnyman Terry Wogan, who never seems to disappear from Britain's screens! This sitcom was set in France during the Second World War created by David Croft, who had produced a few other very successful, war-themed sitcoms like "Dad's Army" and "It Ain't Half Hot Mum". The show lampooned the French and German stereotypes, along with nods to British and Italian stereotypes. Cue silly accents from a British cast, and humour taken from culture differences. Although the subject matter of it being the Second World War and the Nazi's fascist regime and grief they caused for real, the humour did not step over the line, but was something all the family could enjoy.
Here we see a small part of the live stage version of the show, featuring the main couple of the show, René Artois (Gordon Kaye) and wife Edith (Carmen Silvera) staying in character talking to Wogan, posing with a faux French moustache. Also featuring are the Artois arch enemies Herr Otto Flick (Richard Gibson) and Private Helga Geerhart (Kim Hartman) who amuse the audience with some great but odd physical comedy in the form of dance. Herr Flick pulls out a wicked breakdancing move at one point! Near the end, we hear the cast out-of-character, with their natural English accents, which of course feels odd, if you've grown up with it.
Tuesday, 23 February 2010
Feel the rhythm! Feel the rhyme! Get on up, its bobsled time! COOL RUNNI...Did they Actually Say That Though?
Jamaica Olympic Bobsled team 1988
We now enter Bobsleigh territory in our Winter Olympics season, once again from the Calgary 1988 games. Yes, it's the first ever Jamaican bobsleigh team, a tropical country with no snow/ice whatsoever, that became famed for their glorious failure (which could've turned to tragedy, mind you) which embodied the spirit of "The taking part" under the Olympic banner, not just winning that counts. Of course, the event would be even more well-known after the based 1993 film "Cool Runnings" starring one of my favourite North American actors, Canadian comedy actor John Candy. Anyway, this is perhaps a good time to seperate fact from fiction..later on.
The sport of Bobsleigh (made a winter sport in 1924) is a trecherous, horrendously fast slide down narrow ice chutes that turn and slope, reaching possible speeds of 118 mph. There are 3 divisions of Bobsleigh in the Winter Olympics, the 4-man bob, 2-man bob and 2-woman bob.
First of all, it's annoying to find out, the Jamaican bobsleigh team were not setting the standard before they crashed. No world record pace here. They did though impress, with some fast starts. However, real footage was of the crash was shown on the film "Cool Runnings". The Bobsleigh goes to one side, and one or the men could've broke their neck as the their helmets are hitting the ice as it continues to slide around 2 more turns pretty fast! But they were lucky.
The four men were not accurately portrayed in the film, but they were sprinters, just not Olympic-standard ones, but from the army. However, the idea of a Jamaican Bobsleigh team was inspired by pushcart racers, from which the American backers of a Jamaican team saw. The names of the real Jamaican Bobsleigh team were Devon Harris, Dudley Stokes, Michael White and Samuel Clayton. They had a team of coaches, not just one coach. John Candy's Irving 'Irv' Blitzer was a fictional character, and there was no connection to any cheating scandal, and there was no hot rivalries from other countries. Everyone wanted to see the Jamaicans do well.
They didn't carry the Bobsleigh to the finish line like you see in the clip. Would be too heavy I guess. Instead it slid to the finish line, with the men walking along. But what about some of the catchphrases of the film like "Feel the rhythm! Feel the rhyme! Get on up, its bobsled time! Cool Runnings!" they guys' chant as they begin to dash with the Bobsleigh? What about one of the characters who kissed a lucky egg? Did they sing "Jamaica have a Bobsleigh Team!"? Still unanswered questions, but I think it's likely to be from the film only!
We now enter Bobsleigh territory in our Winter Olympics season, once again from the Calgary 1988 games. Yes, it's the first ever Jamaican bobsleigh team, a tropical country with no snow/ice whatsoever, that became famed for their glorious failure (which could've turned to tragedy, mind you) which embodied the spirit of "The taking part" under the Olympic banner, not just winning that counts. Of course, the event would be even more well-known after the based 1993 film "Cool Runnings" starring one of my favourite North American actors, Canadian comedy actor John Candy. Anyway, this is perhaps a good time to seperate fact from fiction..later on.
The sport of Bobsleigh (made a winter sport in 1924) is a trecherous, horrendously fast slide down narrow ice chutes that turn and slope, reaching possible speeds of 118 mph. There are 3 divisions of Bobsleigh in the Winter Olympics, the 4-man bob, 2-man bob and 2-woman bob.
First of all, it's annoying to find out, the Jamaican bobsleigh team were not setting the standard before they crashed. No world record pace here. They did though impress, with some fast starts. However, real footage was of the crash was shown on the film "Cool Runnings". The Bobsleigh goes to one side, and one or the men could've broke their neck as the their helmets are hitting the ice as it continues to slide around 2 more turns pretty fast! But they were lucky.
The four men were not accurately portrayed in the film, but they were sprinters, just not Olympic-standard ones, but from the army. However, the idea of a Jamaican Bobsleigh team was inspired by pushcart racers, from which the American backers of a Jamaican team saw. The names of the real Jamaican Bobsleigh team were Devon Harris, Dudley Stokes, Michael White and Samuel Clayton. They had a team of coaches, not just one coach. John Candy's Irving 'Irv' Blitzer was a fictional character, and there was no connection to any cheating scandal, and there was no hot rivalries from other countries. Everyone wanted to see the Jamaicans do well.
They didn't carry the Bobsleigh to the finish line like you see in the clip. Would be too heavy I guess. Instead it slid to the finish line, with the men walking along. But what about some of the catchphrases of the film like "Feel the rhythm! Feel the rhyme! Get on up, its bobsled time! Cool Runnings!" they guys' chant as they begin to dash with the Bobsleigh? What about one of the characters who kissed a lucky egg? Did they sing "Jamaica have a Bobsleigh Team!"? Still unanswered questions, but I think it's likely to be from the film only!
Sunday, 21 February 2010
Weekday Morning TV Finds a Pulse...Helped by 917 Pigeons in Trafalgar Square
the 1st tv am
From the 1st February 1983, TV-AM breaks onto our screens, 2 weeks after the BBC's first ever foray into plush, cosy sofa and woolly jumpers which was "Breakfast Time. Before then, there was absolutely nothing on daytime TV, never mind breakfast TV! In the very early days it was blank, then came along the test cards and ceefax pages. It felt almost brain dead, not forgetting the no-frills Open University programmes, perhaps interesting for bores like me, but terribly twee and boring for some.
In this clip, it's genuine continuity featuring a long version of the TV-AM theme. If you want to to just go to the iconic TV-AM intro, go to 2 mins 15 secs into the youtube video, and also see those first words by one of 5 presenters for the show, the main, main anchor of the show, David Frost. The team of five were interviewers David Frost and Michael Parkinson and newscasters Angela Rippon, Anna Ford and Robert Kee. The famous five were also shareholders in the TV-AM franchise, believe it or not. The intro is done on a large scale, really pinning down the fact this is a must-see evolution/revolution of Breakfast TV. Frost gives us a lowdown on all the particiapants that helped form the slogan of TV-AM "Good Morning Britain". Parachutists/sky divers, the people of Bristol, the British Navy and "917 pigeons of Trafalgar Square". How do they know that? And how did they get them to form the word "Morning"? Alright, probably carefully designed metal cased lettering frames with snacks in them. Mystery solved.
Now, there is no Anne Diamond or Nick Owen here at this point! This first version of the show was well, you couldn't say a flop with such distinguished stars of the show, but there was no chemistry between the presenters, and Parkinson and Frost, perhaps too stuffy for what was suppoesed be a more relaxed form of news and lifestyle output. TV-AM ran from 6am-9.15am originally, but extended to 9.25 am later.
4 of the 5 presenters were dumped, the exception being David Frost, who would be moved from main presenter to the more familiar territory of Politics. TV-AM still struggled financially and with ratings but gradually improved in 1984 under Diamond's and Owen's chemistry. The best Breakfast TV shows always seem to be the ones where the main male and female are good at fabricating themselves as a married couple, bickering but never awkward for a moment together.
So this is when TV-AM improved, with of course Roland Rat and later Timmy Mallett's "Wacaday" for the kids, and you had a real good cast of some strong presenters like Richard Keys, keep-fit extradinaire Lizzie Webb, Chris Tarrant in the summer, creepy Jeremy Beadle in his "Today's the Day" section, David Icke in the sports department, before he went mad, the bubbly Lorraine Kelly near the end of the franchise's run, Ulrika Jonsson as the weather girl, and who can forget cheerful, mustached Mike Morris, who seems to have disappeared from TV since TV-AM lost the right to broadcast, after being outbidded by GMTV (Good Morning TeleVision)?
TV-AM lost their franchise beginning from New Year's Day in 1993, their last edition the day before. This was also the day Thames Television lost their franchise of ITV's London region, but whose programmes were also known nationally, replace by Carlton Television. The result of this also saw a more centralised ITV as some regional TV regions were merged or their output was reduced.
I hear it all the time, many say TV-AM would've been doing a much better job than GMTV, which is now less news-focused and more about showbiz and entertainment news, but it is now a long time ago over 17 years since TV-AM, when "zleb" culture did not carry about the "famous for nothing" mantle. Who knows?
From the 1st February 1983, TV-AM breaks onto our screens, 2 weeks after the BBC's first ever foray into plush, cosy sofa and woolly jumpers which was "Breakfast Time. Before then, there was absolutely nothing on daytime TV, never mind breakfast TV! In the very early days it was blank, then came along the test cards and ceefax pages. It felt almost brain dead, not forgetting the no-frills Open University programmes, perhaps interesting for bores like me, but terribly twee and boring for some.
In this clip, it's genuine continuity featuring a long version of the TV-AM theme. If you want to to just go to the iconic TV-AM intro, go to 2 mins 15 secs into the youtube video, and also see those first words by one of 5 presenters for the show, the main, main anchor of the show, David Frost. The team of five were interviewers David Frost and Michael Parkinson and newscasters Angela Rippon, Anna Ford and Robert Kee. The famous five were also shareholders in the TV-AM franchise, believe it or not. The intro is done on a large scale, really pinning down the fact this is a must-see evolution/revolution of Breakfast TV. Frost gives us a lowdown on all the particiapants that helped form the slogan of TV-AM "Good Morning Britain". Parachutists/sky divers, the people of Bristol, the British Navy and "917 pigeons of Trafalgar Square". How do they know that? And how did they get them to form the word "Morning"? Alright, probably carefully designed metal cased lettering frames with snacks in them. Mystery solved.
Now, there is no Anne Diamond or Nick Owen here at this point! This first version of the show was well, you couldn't say a flop with such distinguished stars of the show, but there was no chemistry between the presenters, and Parkinson and Frost, perhaps too stuffy for what was suppoesed be a more relaxed form of news and lifestyle output. TV-AM ran from 6am-9.15am originally, but extended to 9.25 am later.
4 of the 5 presenters were dumped, the exception being David Frost, who would be moved from main presenter to the more familiar territory of Politics. TV-AM still struggled financially and with ratings but gradually improved in 1984 under Diamond's and Owen's chemistry. The best Breakfast TV shows always seem to be the ones where the main male and female are good at fabricating themselves as a married couple, bickering but never awkward for a moment together.
So this is when TV-AM improved, with of course Roland Rat and later Timmy Mallett's "Wacaday" for the kids, and you had a real good cast of some strong presenters like Richard Keys, keep-fit extradinaire Lizzie Webb, Chris Tarrant in the summer, creepy Jeremy Beadle in his "Today's the Day" section, David Icke in the sports department, before he went mad, the bubbly Lorraine Kelly near the end of the franchise's run, Ulrika Jonsson as the weather girl, and who can forget cheerful, mustached Mike Morris, who seems to have disappeared from TV since TV-AM lost the right to broadcast, after being outbidded by GMTV (Good Morning TeleVision)?
TV-AM lost their franchise beginning from New Year's Day in 1993, their last edition the day before. This was also the day Thames Television lost their franchise of ITV's London region, but whose programmes were also known nationally, replace by Carlton Television. The result of this also saw a more centralised ITV as some regional TV regions were merged or their output was reduced.
I hear it all the time, many say TV-AM would've been doing a much better job than GMTV, which is now less news-focused and more about showbiz and entertainment news, but it is now a long time ago over 17 years since TV-AM, when "zleb" culture did not carry about the "famous for nothing" mantle. Who knows?
Friday, 19 February 2010
Lovely Christmas Day Viewing in Famed Eastenders Fare
Arthur has a breakdown on Christmas Day - EastEnders - BBC
In the last of our Eastenders appreciation during it's 25th anniversary celebrations(and now after), here is another unforgettable and iconic moment from it's early days. It's from the same episode of the "Den's Divorce Papers", and it the aftermath is featured in this clip. Forgive me for not vastly expanding time periods of the clips in our Eastenders special, but I have never seen someone who is virtually at the end of their tether so brilliantly performed by Bill Treacher, who plays the honest-working but suffering Arthur Fowler. Hassled by the law, wife Pauline (Wendy Richards) and mother-in-law Lou Beale (Anna Wing).
Arthur suffers a mental breakdown as he is flailing to support the family and his health deteriorates. In his desperation, although known for being warm and reliable, he steals the residents Christmas Club money. The "Chritsmas Club" was a programme stemmed by bank sing the 1930s Great Depression, a desposit for savings to be unleashed and spent every Christmas. Anyway, this was a brilliant slow-burning storyline that results in Arthur, completely losing his rag and everything in that living room needs postage for air mail. This was watched by 30.1 million viewers, a soap all-time ratings best.
In the last of our Eastenders appreciation during it's 25th anniversary celebrations(and now after), here is another unforgettable and iconic moment from it's early days. It's from the same episode of the "Den's Divorce Papers", and it the aftermath is featured in this clip. Forgive me for not vastly expanding time periods of the clips in our Eastenders special, but I have never seen someone who is virtually at the end of their tether so brilliantly performed by Bill Treacher, who plays the honest-working but suffering Arthur Fowler. Hassled by the law, wife Pauline (Wendy Richards) and mother-in-law Lou Beale (Anna Wing).
Arthur suffers a mental breakdown as he is flailing to support the family and his health deteriorates. In his desperation, although known for being warm and reliable, he steals the residents Christmas Club money. The "Chritsmas Club" was a programme stemmed by bank sing the 1930s Great Depression, a desposit for savings to be unleashed and spent every Christmas. Anyway, this was a brilliant slow-burning storyline that results in Arthur, completely losing his rag and everything in that living room needs postage for air mail. This was watched by 30.1 million viewers, a soap all-time ratings best.
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