Actually, Tiswas was rubbish, but lots of people suffer False Memory Syndrome and apparently remember it being really good. Then they watch a clip of it.
Me, I still have memories of thinking that 'Three Of A Kind' was an amazingly funny show... and I'm the only one, from what I read or hear.
>Me, I still have memories of thinking that 'Three Of A Kind' was an amazingly funny show... and I'm the only one, from what I read or hear.
I'm afraid not...I went as far as buying the Three Of A Kind LP (BBC Records, 1983) - look I was only 13, OK, and there wasn't a Not The Nine O'Clock News album out that Christmas (for the first time in four years). Dredged it out not long ago - and oh dear.
Mind you, also found the Radio Active LP (Angus Deayton's beard....he certainly wasn't Radio's Mr Sex) which has held up remarkably well. Even the songs are still pretty funny (Hymen & Carbuncle, Ches & Des).
Anyone fancy deluging Radio 4 for repeats?
Am I the only person that remembers the ealy-ninties weirdfest that was Paralel 9? The first series was surely one of the weirdest things to be on kid's TV.
Also there was a pretty awful one called (I think) On The Waterfront. It had only one good bit, a (as far as I can recall) very funny foriegn TV show called The Flashing Blade overdubbed like those FT.com ads and that BBC 2 show that came a few years after.
Parallel NiiiiiiIIIiiiiine!
I remember that.
Mainly because I'm a Rick-Adams-watcher, and it was where I first saw him.
But, of course, the first series of No. 73 was made by TVS Southampton SO9 5HZ (before Vinters Park at Maidstone was up and running).
>Parallel NiiiiiiIIIiiiiine!
>
>I remember that.
>
>Mainly because I'm a Rick-Adams-watcher, and it was where I first saw him.
Don't rememeber him being on it, but I do remember it must have been popular cos anyone with slightly dodgy eyebrows was called whatever the name of the old guy with the bushes in it was called.
The only names I rememeber from it were Steal for the woman who'd wear a different hairband everyweek and the Tope for that weird thing the people would beam down on.
Apart from that all I rememeber was the cartoon on it was Toxic Crusaders, the cast of Red Dwarf appeared a few times in character to help out, and it had the most amazingly elaborate and bizzare set (like an atomic bomb had gone off in the Crystal Maze studio) or at least that's what I thought at the time.
But yes, subbes, at last someone else remembers - I thought I was going mad or something!
GET FRESH was good cos GILBERT THE ALIEN used to always swear and stuff.. once he asked ASWAD to roll one up
>anyone with slightly dodgy eyebrows was called whatever the name of the old guy with the bushes in it was called.
That should have read "old guy with the bushy eyebrows", of course. What was I thinking of?
Oh, and so far I've failed to mention that when I was a kid (but sadly no more) I had a Number 73 annual!!
"Let's boogie in the basement!"
>GET FRESH was good cos GILBERT THE ALIEN used to always swear and stuff.. once he asked ASWAD to roll one up
I'm pretty sure that Gilbert was voiced by Phil Cornwell (Stella Street) - which might explain why he'd start doing Mick & Keef impressions in the middle of interviewing Westworld, or whoever...
While I'm here....
Saturday morning series from Granada in 1979 called The Mersey Pirate, starring club comedian Duggie Brown (who may have been in Brookside years later?). Additional material (as they say) by one Alan Bleasdale. The run was cut short by the ten-week ITV strike, but it was set on a boat on the Mersey, and it was given the thumbs-up by, of all people, Jimmy Pursey of Sham 69 on the basis that he hated Tiswas ("If there's one thing I hate, it's getting a custard pie in my face", he was quoted as saying in Look-In at the time).
Only lasted one series - replaced the following year by Fun Factory, with a theme tune by Billy Joel and featuring a beardless Jeremy Beadle. It was rubbish, but even at the time, I remember thinking there was no money in the project.
Still, you've got to hand it to ITV - at least they tried to do different things rather than merely reheat the Chris Bellinger formula at the Beeb. Get Fresh wasn't bad, really - even No 73 had its moments, am I dreaming or did The Smiths appear in the basement one week? I do remember Lloyd Cole on the Sandwich Quiz, though.
>Am I the only person that remembers the ealy-ninties weirdfest that was Paralel 9? The first series was surely one of the weirdest things to be on kid's TV.
>
>Also there was a pretty awful one called (I think) On The Waterfront. It had only one good bit, a (as far as I can recall) very funny foriegn TV show called The Flashing Blade overdubbed like those FT.com ads and that BBC 2 show that came a few years after.
...which was called "The Staggering Stories of Ferdinand DeBargos". I enjoyed that immensely at the time, although if I saw it again now it would probably be a let-down. If you're feeling nostalgic, the set from Parallel 9 is currently replicated in Quasar/LaserQuest venues across the country...
But do they have Rick Adams in them?
COMPOST CORNER
I remember Parallel 9 - The guy with the eyebrows' name was Mercator, and there were two dinosaurs from Rotherham, it was trippy, yet cool. I remember the woman was a supporter of one or other of the Sheffield teams, cos they had a show on the same day as the cup final when Utd played Wednesday. That may help people to place it in time.
On The Waterfront was ok as I recall, it was Scottish (?) and showed Thundercats and The Bionic Six, but then there was a cartoon called Pole Position about a family of racing drivers, which was crap.
I know it's a bit mainstram, but I really must stick up for Going Live, with the wonderful Gordon the Gopher, and all those games ("Left, left, splat!")-Parallel 9's big gimic was that u could play there games using the buttons on ur phone -yippee!
Finally - Am I the only person who remembers Breakfast Serials? It had lots of sketches which were really bizarre - for example
1-Woman with finger in nose, staring into camera saying "What are you looking at?"
2-Nicechap - a cartoon character who came to life and helped in the battle between Cosycomics and the evil Megacomics
3-Take-off of Howard's Way
4-Word of the week "This is a bap, I have a bap - this is a burger, it has no bap - it is bapless" and so on.
Oh!And it was presented by a tomato and a carton of milk.
>>Finally - Am I the only person who remembers Breakfast Serials? It had lots of sketches which were really bizarre - for example
>1-Woman with finger in nose, staring into camera saying "What are you looking at?"
>2-Nicechap - a cartoon character who came to life and helped in the battle between Cosycomics and the evil Megacomics
>3-Take-off of Howard's Way
>4-Word of the week "This is a bap, I have a bap - this is a burger, it has no bap - it is bapless" and so on.
>Oh!And it was presented by a tomato and a carton of milk.
Breakfast Serials was class. I especially liked the weird psychological thriller they used to have on. I think it was called "Runners", because it was about people running away from something. There was also a tin can that claimed to had a former career as the spaceship in Button Moon.
I think it says a lot about that show that I can still remember it with (some) clarity ten years later, whereas "On the Waterfont", for example I can barely remember at all. Probably because it was pants.
Didn't Craig Charles used to present a Saturday morning show called "It's Wicked"? It may also have featured Jenny Powell, but I'm not too certain.
>It may also have featured Jenny Powell, but I'm not too certain.
She gets everywhere - You can see some of her early exploits (dungarees and all) in Two by Two, an old kids animal show now being repeated on CBBC on Choice during daytime.
>I remember Parallel 9 - The guy with the eyebrows' name was Mercator, and there were two dinosaurs from Rotherham, it was trippy, yet cool. I remember the woman was a supporter of one or other of the Sheffield teams, cos they had a show on the same day as the cup final when Utd played Wednesday. That may help people to place it in time.
The first series was between the penultimate and ultimate series of Going Live. In the second series they introduced a 'normal' presenter - some bloke off Neighbours and Home & Away who everyone's forgotten now. He was replaced after a few episodes for being crap. They got that woman who played Melanie (the one with the annoying laugh) to do it for a while. I remember one yer man was so bad at reading out the address that one of the dinosaurs had to do it again, later on!
Mind you, in the first series, the address was given as Parallel 9 ... LONDON (postcode) EARTH.
They stopped this after a while. Maybe the post office complained! It didn't really make any sense to include EARTH unless you were watching outside of it! And if you were, it might be a good idea to include UK in the address also!
>
>On The Waterfront was ok as I recall, it was Scottish (?) and showed Thundercats and The Bionic Six, but then there was a cartoon called Pole Position about a family of racing drivers, which was crap.
>
>
>I know it's a bit mainstram, but I really must stick up for Going Live, with the wonderful Gordon the Gopher, and all those games ("Left, left, splat!")-Parallel 9's big gimic was that u could play there games using the buttons on ur phone -yippee!
>
>Finally - Am I the only person who remembers Breakfast Serials? It had lots of sketches which were really bizarre - for example
>1-Woman with finger in nose, staring into camera saying "What are you looking at?"
>2-Nicechap - a cartoon character who came to life and helped in the battle between Cosycomics and the evil Megacomics
>3-Take-off of Howard's Way
>4-Word of the week "This is a bap, I have a bap - this is a burger, it has no bap - it is bapless" and so on.
>Oh!And it was presented by a tomato and a carton of milk.
Ahhh, parallel nine. It was brilliant if you took it with a big enough pinch of salt.
...or if you only watched it for the presenters. *scurries away*
up2u was shite
>up2u was shite
second series was better.
The only things I really remember from it was that spanish guitar theme tune (available anywhere?) and the time when there was that postal strike so they had to make all their competitions phone-ins.
Saturday morning TV trivia:
TX (on ITV, 1985-6) was presented by the woman who played and still plays Elizabeth Archer in The Archers.
Central's replacement for Tiswas was The Saturday Show. It was originally going to be called Big Daddy's Saturday Show, but the famous wrestler pulled out quite late, leaving Isla St Clair to do the show. I think it lasted just one series.
The Saturday Banana was Southern TV's networked effort, presented by Bill Oddie. Southern even had a giant banana outside its Southampton HQ.
Ah yes... the perfect start to the weekend, waking up with a scream to Bill Oddie's face.
Uuuurgh.
SMTV LIVE IS THE BESYT AT THE MOMENT BUT I THINK THE BEST EVER WAS WAC-A-DAY
>SMTV LIVE IS THE BESYT AT THE MOMENT BUT I THINK THE BEST EVER WAS WAC-A-DAY
You actually watch something with Ant and Dec in it? Why?
(O U R Radio, O U R....)
I thought the only amusing thing about SM:TV was the title.
I would like to nominate 'See Hear'.
Does anyone remember an edition of TVS' Motormouth where they cut open a massive pumpkin with a big saw? It's the only episode that I remember.
hmm what a debate which rages in my heart all year round...
it's a definate toss up, between Frank Sidebottom era Motormouth (when the guy was quite the show stealer, imagine a more intelligent Mr Blobby with a pretend hand puppet and a Timperley fetish) or What's Up Doc? the ill fated show which combined Andy "retch" Crane, Pat "i can't do decent frank spencer but i have the hat impression" Sharp and Yvette "i'm up the duff" Fielding
the reason what's up doc is even mentioned is because of the sheer cheese of the presenters, you know they were pants yet that was part of the entertainment, the fact that it had Tazmania and the batman cartoon with Harleyquinn is a side bonus
but then again Mr Sidebottom did release a spiffing cd with 56(!) tracks on it.
It had only one good bit, a (as far as I can recall) very funny foriegn TV show called The Flashing Blade overdubbed like those FT.com ads and that BBC 2 show that came a few years after.
I don't think it was foreign - just dubbed. The BBC 2 show was 'The Staggering Stories of Ferdinand de Bargos'
>Does anyone remember an edition of TVS' Motormouth where they cut open a massive pumpkin with a big saw? It's the only episode that I remember.
TVS made a networked kids program
Yes, TVS made No73 as well.