What's Up Doc? 1993
A long clip, including the titles to the show that was like a long-running advertisement about how wonderful Warner Bros. cartoons were. Lasting for a quite short 1992-1995 run, it wasn't just a "safe" product placement show. The titles of the show featured, a quite exciting all-new animation of the famous "Looney Tunes" characters, with Bugs Bunny being the lead star, pretty much the "Mickey Mouse" of the rival cartoon firm, but with more biting wit. Bugs Bunny rides on a witch's broom as he rushes about the famous Warner Bros. studios.
The show opens up with gruff-voiced puppets "Bro and Bro" 2 wolf brothers voiced by Don Austen and John Eccleston. In a surprise showing, it's not the regular presenters who appear, but pop boyband "Take That", who were practically everywhere in 1993. The soon-to-be rebel of the group Robbie Williams dominates proceedings, but he was clearly the most colourful and charismatic of the group. He interviews the regular presenters almost, taking a dig at Pat Sharp's mid-atlantic twang, radio DJ accent. Then a preview of what was to come, including the popular cartoons of "Tazmania" and "Batman: The Animated Series". The we see Bro and Bro in a studio, static Taxi with Gary Glitter. It's hard to take in now, he appeared on alot of entertainment programmes in his 90's "oh-look-how-pantomine-his-acts-is-mirth", before his 1997 arrest, being convicted of storing child pornography on his computer. In pretend style, the Taxi ends up through the newly built Channel Tunnel and end of in France, and 2 Frenchmen appear, and for no apparent reason, a Frenchie with a Hitler hair and moustache.
We then see the now vanished anarak-spoof character "Norm" or Simon Perry, played by Stephen Taylor Woodrow, looking grotesque with shaving cuts and balaclava. The presenters read off mail from child viewers, in the old days before emails and such came along.
Showing posts with label 1993. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 1993. Show all posts
Saturday, 6 February 2010
Sunday, 24 January 2010
Virtual Reality? Sorry Mate, You're About 30 Years Too Early!
Cyber Zone Game Show
For our first videogames affiliated post, we are recalling back to an obscure 1 series gameshow on the BBC, BBC 2 I think. Remember all the virtual reality craze back in the 90's? This was when 3D graphics had just become mainstream in 1992, when you had a film like "The Lawnmower Man" coming out.
I remember seeing in shopping malls and libraries cordoning off sections, for people to experience this "VR" in huge chunky helmets You might've got this in fairgrounds too. As the show looks, way too excitable, about what seemed like very limited games with compared to now, really awful graphics! Presented by Red Dwarf's Craig Charles, bringing the crowd to fever pitch, like he would do in "Robot Wars". This was laughable though, but back then, OK it's no Sonic the Hedgehog, but it may be start of a new revolution. No it was not! We are 17 years later down the road, and yes, games have become more interactive such as the Nintendo Wii, but that's different. That was a success, and what's more, it doesn't immerse you into the screen like VR helmets too, it's just the biting arm movements that count, and that doesn't count as virtual reality for me. You're looking at a screen. That's why I'm saying 30 years, on a betting but safe side, as I'm sure games will become even more interactive, than what you get with the Wii, and alot can change in a decade.
So anyway, Craig Charles televisual side-kick is called "Thesp", looking like an American cowboy but with a British accent. The games were basic and more like, what some early 90's kids would reagard as boring, which was the reputation it used have, which is PC games. One game was like a flight simulator, and one was like simply to find you're opponent and shoot them with an arrow...that was it, not collecting over 100 rings or beating up tens of guy to get to a level boss. The concept was lost in many viewers, because the console games of even that age, could crap all over this.
Obviously, the show never came back after 1 series and 10 episodes. However, it's always stood out for me, as it was the only virtual reality show of it's kind. It was the world's first VR gameshow, so let's end on a positive note!
For our first videogames affiliated post, we are recalling back to an obscure 1 series gameshow on the BBC, BBC 2 I think. Remember all the virtual reality craze back in the 90's? This was when 3D graphics had just become mainstream in 1992, when you had a film like "The Lawnmower Man" coming out.
I remember seeing in shopping malls and libraries cordoning off sections, for people to experience this "VR" in huge chunky helmets You might've got this in fairgrounds too. As the show looks, way too excitable, about what seemed like very limited games with compared to now, really awful graphics! Presented by Red Dwarf's Craig Charles, bringing the crowd to fever pitch, like he would do in "Robot Wars". This was laughable though, but back then, OK it's no Sonic the Hedgehog, but it may be start of a new revolution. No it was not! We are 17 years later down the road, and yes, games have become more interactive such as the Nintendo Wii, but that's different. That was a success, and what's more, it doesn't immerse you into the screen like VR helmets too, it's just the biting arm movements that count, and that doesn't count as virtual reality for me. You're looking at a screen. That's why I'm saying 30 years, on a betting but safe side, as I'm sure games will become even more interactive, than what you get with the Wii, and alot can change in a decade.
So anyway, Craig Charles televisual side-kick is called "Thesp", looking like an American cowboy but with a British accent. The games were basic and more like, what some early 90's kids would reagard as boring, which was the reputation it used have, which is PC games. One game was like a flight simulator, and one was like simply to find you're opponent and shoot them with an arrow...that was it, not collecting over 100 rings or beating up tens of guy to get to a level boss. The concept was lost in many viewers, because the console games of even that age, could crap all over this.
Obviously, the show never came back after 1 series and 10 episodes. However, it's always stood out for me, as it was the only virtual reality show of it's kind. It was the world's first VR gameshow, so let's end on a positive note!
Wednesday, 6 January 2010
The LAST TIME All the Greatest Darters Were Under One Roof...
The Lakeside - 1993
As we currently have the BDO Darts tournament at Lakeside on the box right now, here's a blast from the past highlight reel of the 1993 tournament. Been watching the Lakeside Darts over the recent years? Noticed it's just not somehow got that same magic feeling? No Phil Taylor, no Eric Bristow and no Raymond Van Barneveld? Well, the 1993 Embassy tournament at Lakeside was probably the last undisputed World Darts championship, before, an unprecented split occured, as an army of some of the most well-known players including an impressive embargo of all previous active Embassy champions, who left to join the PDC. This was in reflection that the BDO (British Darts Organisation), was not doing enough to modernise the pub sport into an international professional sport, and we're not talking about forcing darter's to downsize their beer bellies. Also ratings were down, and the image of the beer drinking/smoking Darts "athlete", was thought to be perhaps the cause.
By the time of this 1993 tournament, the 16 unsettled professional Dart players were refused to wear the logo of their newly formed inner-faction the "World Darts Council" on their shirts. The BDO, rather bullish and old-fashioned, banned the players from BDO competition, as they complained of their Council not being recognised. The 16 players were Phil Taylor, Dennis Priestley, Rod Harrington, Alan Warriner, Peter Evison, Richie Gardner, Jocky Wilson, Eric Bristow, Keith Deller, John Lowe, Bob Anderson, Cliff Lazarenko, Kevin Spiolek, Jamie Harvey, Mike Gregory and Chris Johns.
So they set up their own Darts organisation called the PDC, and their first World Championship would be televised on Sky Sports in 1994. Since then, the PDC have risen from peak to peak, now over-taking the BDO in talent. However, the BDO are still regarded by all, that it is the Government body of UK Darts.
The song in this compliation is the appropiately title of Queen's "The Show Must Go On". I know for fact, this is not a fan-made compiliation, but it featured in the BBC's 1996 Embassy coverage, as a historical montage, rather random though.
As we currently have the BDO Darts tournament at Lakeside on the box right now, here's a blast from the past highlight reel of the 1993 tournament. Been watching the Lakeside Darts over the recent years? Noticed it's just not somehow got that same magic feeling? No Phil Taylor, no Eric Bristow and no Raymond Van Barneveld? Well, the 1993 Embassy tournament at Lakeside was probably the last undisputed World Darts championship, before, an unprecented split occured, as an army of some of the most well-known players including an impressive embargo of all previous active Embassy champions, who left to join the PDC. This was in reflection that the BDO (British Darts Organisation), was not doing enough to modernise the pub sport into an international professional sport, and we're not talking about forcing darter's to downsize their beer bellies. Also ratings were down, and the image of the beer drinking/smoking Darts "athlete", was thought to be perhaps the cause.
By the time of this 1993 tournament, the 16 unsettled professional Dart players were refused to wear the logo of their newly formed inner-faction the "World Darts Council" on their shirts. The BDO, rather bullish and old-fashioned, banned the players from BDO competition, as they complained of their Council not being recognised. The 16 players were Phil Taylor, Dennis Priestley, Rod Harrington, Alan Warriner, Peter Evison, Richie Gardner, Jocky Wilson, Eric Bristow, Keith Deller, John Lowe, Bob Anderson, Cliff Lazarenko, Kevin Spiolek, Jamie Harvey, Mike Gregory and Chris Johns.
So they set up their own Darts organisation called the PDC, and their first World Championship would be televised on Sky Sports in 1994. Since then, the PDC have risen from peak to peak, now over-taking the BDO in talent. However, the BDO are still regarded by all, that it is the Government body of UK Darts.
The song in this compliation is the appropiately title of Queen's "The Show Must Go On". I know for fact, this is not a fan-made compiliation, but it featured in the BBC's 1996 Embassy coverage, as a historical montage, rather random though.
Tuesday, 29 December 2009
Emmerdale - THAT Plane Crash Disaster Episode - 4 Main Characters Die
EMMERDALE - PLANE CRASH 1993 PART 1
Sound and video quality isn't very good, as it's just recorded off the TV screen. It's something anyway, and it's one of the soap's most seminal and defining moments, since it began as "Emmerdale Farm", back in 1972. Before this event, Emmerdale was known to be a more genteel soap to the more gritty Eastenders, Brookside and Coronation Street. Due to falling unimpressive viewer ratings, and having made a previous effort to make it appear more up-to-date with the times (dropping "Farm" from the title), this was a shocking change in direction. The episode pulled in an astonishing 18 million viewers.
Sound and video quality isn't very good, as it's just recorded off the TV screen. It's something anyway, and it's one of the soap's most seminal and defining moments, since it began as "Emmerdale Farm", back in 1972. Before this event, Emmerdale was known to be a more genteel soap to the more gritty Eastenders, Brookside and Coronation Street. Due to falling unimpressive viewer ratings, and having made a previous effort to make it appear more up-to-date with the times (dropping "Farm" from the title), this was a shocking change in direction. The episode pulled in an astonishing 18 million viewers.
As for the variant of the disaster, it trailed along sensitive ground, bearing a resemblance to the 1988 Lockerbie disaster. The Emmerdale characters that died were: Leonard Kempinski (played by Bernard Archard), Elizabeth Pollard (played by Kate Dove), Mark Hughes (played by Craig McKay) and Archie Brooks (played by Tony Pitts). This is how Chris Tate, son of Frank Tate, ends up in the wheelchair. Also, the stables were burned amongst a huge fireball, as result of the crash and the Woolpack's windows were blown in.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)