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RockitRon
Joined: 07 Dec 2006 Posts: 7646
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Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2007 10:54 am Post subject: Lenny The Lion |
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I know he was 50s/60s television rather than radio, but I'm sure some of us will remember Terry Hall and Lenny The Lion, in some ways a precursor to our beloved Jonathon Ross, because he couldn't pwonounce his aars either. Ventriloquist Hall has just died after a long illness and there's a nice obituary of him in today's Telegraph http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?view=DETAILS&grid=&xml=/news/2007/04/12/db1202.xml
I seem to remember Lenny used to sing at least once on each show, and I suspect someone somewhere will have an LP. I've never seen one, but there is a track on EMI's Merry Christmas Children Everywhere collection - All I Want For Christmas Is A Hippopotamus - it's priceless!
Good to know Lenny will continue to be looked after by his widow. _________________ Ron |
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Behind Geddon's Wall
Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 1553 Location: Kingston Upon Hull/ The Cloud Factory
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Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2007 11:14 am Post subject: |
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A gentler time when funny was funny and jokes were aimed inward rather than at sections of the community.
Greatly missed by those of us that are of an age to remember a good entertainer. _________________ Geddon
You simply mustn't blame yourself -- the days were perfect
And so were exactly what I was born to spoil
For I am the Rider to the World's End
Bound across the cinder causeway
From the furnace to the quarry
Through the fields of oil |
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Ian Robinson Site Admin
Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 3609 Location: Chorley, Lancashire
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Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2007 11:53 am Post subject: |
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I remember him well from the 70s, he was great. My mum loved him. |
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Mark Mayhew
Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 2897
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Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2007 12:07 pm Post subject: |
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I don't remember Lenny the Lion but I do remember Bernie the Bolt.
Is that his brother. |
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Minx
Joined: 09 Dec 2006 Posts: 4088 Location: France/Spain/Peterborough/Tenerife
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Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2007 2:51 pm Post subject: |
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I used to like Basil Brush. (Boom Boom) |
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Gus Honeybun
Joined: 25 Mar 2007 Posts: 47 Location: A Burrow on Bodmin Moor
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Posted: Thu Apr 12, 2007 3:05 pm Post subject: |
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Personally, I think the children's character on Westward TV / TSW was much better............
............. even if he did have to suffer that lady's hand up his, er,...... to make his ears waggle and his eyelids wink!
Gus _________________ Augustus J. Honeybun will press the Magic Button on YOUR Special Birthday! |
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PJ in Kent
Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 1102 Location: Go on, guess!
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Posted: Fri Apr 27, 2007 11:36 pm Post subject: |
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Basil Brush was the boss....
Anyone remember Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop? Great stuff _________________ He's not the Messiah- he's a very naughty boy! |
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SantaFefan
Joined: 07 Dec 2006 Posts: 11258 Location: top of the cliffs in Norfolk
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Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2007 7:46 am Post subject: |
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I do, american lady - big eyelashes. I preferred Muffin the Mule.......
I remember Lenny the Lion but I liked the posh drunk, was it Lord Charles??
Sal'right? sal'right! |
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PJ in Kent
Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 1102 Location: Go on, guess!
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Posted: Sat Apr 28, 2007 12:24 pm Post subject: |
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SantaFefan wrote: | I do, american lady - big eyelashes. I preferred Muffin the Mule.......
I remember Lenny the Lion but I liked the posh drunk, was it Lord Charles??
Sal'right? sal'right! |
Muffin the Mule is a criminal offence isn't it Boom Boom!
Ah, Lord Charles, "Silly arse!"
Ray Allen was the 'vent' wasn't he? _________________ He's not the Messiah- he's a very naughty boy! |
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seymourwhitebits
Joined: 31 Mar 2007 Posts: 560 Location: Birmingham
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Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2007 7:30 am Post subject: |
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It always spoilt it for me that Terry used to hide his mouth behind Lennys head a lot. but saying that, who was that guy ( he used to be on in the late 70's / Early '80's and definately on with Des O'Connor ) who sat blatantly moving his lips but he had the most hilarious "society" lady who would be perched on the back of the sofa with "muppet" arm levers who wore her hair up and would always end up tugging it all down to seduce the interviewer?
-Seymour was always partial to a bit of Nookie as well- _________________ "Timpani!, Timpani!, They've all got it Timpani!"- All drummers know the pain of skin trouble. |
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Lord Evan Elpuss
Joined: 10 Dec 2006 Posts: 3417 Location: Cloud Cuckoo Land
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Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2007 7:50 am Post subject: |
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seymourwhitebits wrote: |
-Seymour was always partial to a bit of Nookie as well- |
You mean Nookie the bear?! _________________ Lord Evan Elpuss, Your ideal job is a Lumberjack. |
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seymourwhitebits
Joined: 31 Mar 2007 Posts: 560 Location: Birmingham
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Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2007 8:00 am Post subject: |
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you've been watching animal farm again haven't you
this guys well worth a look
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DnNBgIKOvr4
the godzilla skit is superb _________________ "Timpani!, Timpani!, They've all got it Timpani!"- All drummers know the pain of skin trouble. |
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PJ in Kent
Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 1102 Location: Go on, guess!
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Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2007 5:21 pm Post subject: |
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That guy is gifted.... in the good sense _________________ He's not the Messiah- he's a very naughty boy! |
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seymourwhitebits
Joined: 31 Mar 2007 Posts: 560 Location: Birmingham
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Posted: Sun Apr 29, 2007 7:02 pm Post subject: |
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yeah he's not bad is he
just wish I knew the name of the bloke with the dowager puppet cos it's really bugging me now _________________ "Timpani!, Timpani!, They've all got it Timpani!"- All drummers know the pain of skin trouble. |
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PJ in Kent
Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 1102 Location: Go on, guess!
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Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2007 9:21 pm Post subject: |
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seymourwhitebits wrote: | yeah he's not bad is he
just wish I knew the name of the bloke with the dowager puppet cos it's really bugging me now |
Honestly can't think who you mean.... Sure it's not a memory induced by "herbal" means in your youth? _________________ He's not the Messiah- he's a very naughty boy! |
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mcl
Joined: 04 Feb 2007 Posts: 127 Location: Somewhere in the South
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Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2007 10:53 pm Post subject: |
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PJ in Kent wrote: | Anyone remember Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop? Great stuff |
I obtained a couple of tapes of her 1970s work recently, and by gum she was talented! The cross-talk between Shari and Lamp Chop is technically brilliant - and unlike many vents, Shari was equally entertaining without the puppets. A very underrated talent, I think. _________________ "....you're wearing a plywood bow tie with Dundee United on it?" |
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PJ in Kent
Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 1102 Location: Go on, guess!
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Posted: Mon Apr 30, 2007 11:12 pm Post subject: |
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mcl wrote: | PJ in Kent wrote: | Anyone remember Shari Lewis and Lamb Chop? Great stuff |
I obtained a couple of tapes of her 1970s work recently, and by gum she was talented! The cross-talk between Shari and Lamp Chop is technically brilliant - and unlike many vents, Shari was equally entertaining without the puppets. A very underrated talent, I think. |
Thanks MCL,
Even when I was a kid I used to think she was under-rated. Could never understand why she wasn't on TV more. Glad I'm not alone _________________ He's not the Messiah- he's a very naughty boy! |
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mcl
Joined: 04 Feb 2007 Posts: 127 Location: Somewhere in the South
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Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 1:07 pm Post subject: |
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I believe Ronni Ancona (of Alistair MacGowan's Big Impression fame) rates her very highly as well, so it's not just us!
Since Shari's death, her daughter's taken over Lamb Chop - she's got the voice right, apparently, but I'm told there's a bit of hiding behind the puppet's head on tricky words! _________________ "....you're wearing a plywood bow tie with Dundee United on it?" |
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PJ in Kent
Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 1102 Location: Go on, guess!
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Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 2:25 pm Post subject: |
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Tricky words!
Those tapes you got of Shari- were they audio or video? _________________ He's not the Messiah- he's a very naughty boy! |
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seymourwhitebits
Joined: 31 Mar 2007 Posts: 560 Location: Birmingham
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Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 5:26 pm Post subject: |
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PJ in Kent wrote: | seymourwhitebits wrote: | yeah he's not bad is he
just wish I knew the name of the bloke with the dowager puppet cos it's really bugging me now |
Honestly can't think who you mean.... Sure it's not a memory induced by "herbal" means in your youth? |
only if vic's vapour rub counts!!
well it made my chest red if nothing else _________________ "Timpani!, Timpani!, They've all got it Timpani!"- All drummers know the pain of skin trouble. |
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PJ in Kent
Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 1102 Location: Go on, guess!
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Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 10:20 pm Post subject: |
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The herbs I was thinking of require a packet of rizla's and a lighter
Groovy, man _________________ He's not the Messiah- he's a very naughty boy! |
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seymourwhitebits
Joined: 31 Mar 2007 Posts: 560 Location: Birmingham
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Posted: Tue May 01, 2007 10:23 pm Post subject: |
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i was thinking of parsley the lion when you said the herbs _________________ "Timpani!, Timpani!, They've all got it Timpani!"- All drummers know the pain of skin trouble. |
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PJ in Kent
Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 1102 Location: Go on, guess!
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Posted: Wed May 02, 2007 12:26 am Post subject: |
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Now there was a show! _________________ He's not the Messiah- he's a very naughty boy! |
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mcl
Joined: 04 Feb 2007 Posts: 127 Location: Somewhere in the South
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Posted: Wed May 02, 2007 2:25 pm Post subject: |
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PJ in Kent wrote: | Those tapes you got of Shari- were they audio or video? |
Video. That's just reminded me of Peter Brough, the radio ventriloquist of 'Educating Archie' fame, actually....... _________________ "....you're wearing a plywood bow tie with Dundee United on it?" |
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PJ in Kent
Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 1102 Location: Go on, guess!
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Posted: Wed May 02, 2007 3:11 pm Post subject: |
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mcl wrote: | PJ in Kent wrote: | Those tapes you got of Shari- were they audio or video? |
Video. That's just reminded me of Peter Brough, the radio ventriloquist of 'Educating Archie' fame, actually....... |
Possibly the greatest oxymoron of the modern age...."Radio Ventriloquist" _________________ He's not the Messiah- he's a very naughty boy! |
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seymourwhitebits
Joined: 31 Mar 2007 Posts: 560 Location: Birmingham
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Posted: Wed May 02, 2007 5:56 pm Post subject: |
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PJ in Kent wrote: | mcl wrote: | PJ in Kent wrote: | Those tapes you got of Shari- were they audio or video? |
Video. That's just reminded me of Peter Brough, the radio ventriloquist of 'Educating Archie' fame, actually....... |
Possibly the greatest oxymoron of the modern age...."Radio Ventriloquist" |
That must have been great to listen to...with your nan in the corner saying "he's good isn't he?"
"and now it's time for our special guest......Jerry the Juggler"
ah! the halcyon days of radio past _________________ "Timpani!, Timpani!, They've all got it Timpani!"- All drummers know the pain of skin trouble. |
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PJ in Kent
Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 1102 Location: Go on, guess!
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Posted: Wed May 02, 2007 6:01 pm Post subject: |
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seymourwhitebits wrote: | PJ in Kent wrote: | mcl wrote: | PJ in Kent wrote: | Those tapes you got of Shari- were they audio or video? |
Video. That's just reminded me of Peter Brough, the radio ventriloquist of 'Educating Archie' fame, actually....... |
Possibly the greatest oxymoron of the modern age...."Radio Ventriloquist" |
That must have been great to listen to...with your nan in the corner saying "he's good isn't he?"
"and now it's time for our special guest......Jerry the Juggler"
ah! the halcyon days of radio past |
And every act dressed in a dinner jacket and dickie bow _________________ He's not the Messiah- he's a very naughty boy! |
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H
Joined: 23 Jan 2007 Posts: 42
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Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 7:15 pm Post subject: |
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I remember Terry Hall and Lenny the Lion as well.I watched them for years on TV but the last time I ever saw them on stage was way back in 1980, at the old Opera House in Scarborough-now sadly demolished-when they were playing a summer season-remember them?-with The Grumbleweeds.
All this talk of ventriloquists brings me also to the fact that I recently saw Ray Alan and Lord Charles in a "Good Old Days" production at the City Varieties in Leeds and what a superb act it was.In my view, Ray Alan is, as one vociferous gentleman sitting to the side of me kept calling out, a genius!
The whole show was a complete throwback to the days when, as another poster has put it elsewhere on this thread, "funny was funny".But if it was a throwback then perhaps it was also a nod to the future as well, because if loud applause from a live audience for a show which had clearly gone extremely well in all departments is any indication of what the public likes, then this sort of entertainment-not necessarily The Good Old Days itself although that would not be unwelcome at least by me, but VARIETY-should be back on television and in its own prime time slots, not just in some sort of History of Light Entertainment type series.
In that show funny was funny and nowhere more so than in James Casey and Eli Woods closing the first half of the show with one of their classic sketches "It's In The Box" aided and abetted by Ray Alan who fulfilled the role that the late great Roy Castle used to fill with the same act in the 1970s.I know, because I was told by someone who went to the afternoon show, that some of their apparently spontaneous-and in any case damn funny-ad libs were not as spontaneous as I might have thought, but that just made me think of Morecambe and Wise and the documentary I once saw about Eddie Braben their writer which revealed that nearly every apparently spontaneous throwaway word that came from either of those two was carefully scripted.It's all in the delivery, and James Caset and Eli Woods delivered perfectly and earned rapturous applause for doing so.
One other thing.The show was complemented by a group of boy and girl singers/dancers from a local stage school-quite near to me infact-who filled the role that used to be taken by members of the Players Theatre on the TV version of the Good Old Days.
These fine young people-two boys and three or four girls-did a couple of spots of their own, and during the second half when they were not required on stage, they occupied one of the boxes by the front of the stage above the chairman's podium.
These youngsters were no more than about 16 or 17 years old.Ray Alan and Lord Charles have not appeared on TV in a new show since about 1984 and yet, although they had obviously seen the show before, because it had played the evening and afternoon prior to when I saw it, one look at those youngsters made it perfectly clear that they were enjoying the great comedy of Ray Alan and Lord Charles every bit as much as everyone else there.
If I had been a television executive sitting in that audience I would have gone home thinking long and hard about that.
John H |
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PJ in Kent
Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 1102 Location: Go on, guess!
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Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 7:47 pm Post subject: |
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The problem John, is that we (meaning all us normal people) love variety type acts- the fact that most of them are still working the clubs and theatres is proof of this.
However in TV-Land, variety is a dirty word- it's not "hip", "trendy", "in" or "cool"
TV is now run by media-studies graduates who have not the faintest idea of what entertainment is- following the holy watch-words, "fresh" and "ground-breaking" to the letter in the hunt for acts. Sadly, neither of these phrases take into account what the punters consider to be entertaining and funny.
Hence, bums on seats at shows like the one you went to, and less and less people watching the insufferable bilge on television. _________________ He's not the Messiah- he's a very naughty boy! |
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H
Joined: 23 Jan 2007 Posts: 42
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Posted: Tue May 15, 2007 10:16 pm Post subject: |
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To be fair, I am not condemning television completely.There is a lot on that I do watch and enjoy, and nearly 70 box sets of DVDs of TV programmes of varying vintages and hundreds of videos are testament to that.
But I do mourn the lack of variety shows on TV.You're right PJ in Kent it is a dirty word and it should not be.
In my ideal world, there would be far less reality programming, far fewer cheap phone in game shows, and a great deal more quality drama, comedy and variety.
But that seems to be my fantasy world at the moment.
John H |
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PJ in Kent
Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 1102 Location: Go on, guess!
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2007 6:21 pm Post subject: |
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Also, refering to John's post above-
The phone-in shows and grotty reality shows are very cheap to organise and run, whilst at the same time time making huge profits for the production and screening companies involved... No wonder these types of show are never off the telly.
They also get huge viewing figures because the average brain-dead (so it appears nowadays) Brit doesn't need to employ any sort of intellect to enjoy watching some no-mark wannabe flirt and/or fight with other wannabe's, while dialling a premium rate phone number to vote for their "favourite"
I despair _________________ He's not the Messiah- he's a very naughty boy! |
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Cherskiy
Joined: 08 Dec 2006 Posts: 3701 Location: near Amble, Northumberland
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2007 6:36 pm Post subject: |
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Well, PJ, it's just a matter of time before Chav TV comes to a Freeview box near you, its schedules filled with non-stop "nuts and sluts" programmes like Jeremy Kyle and Trisha.... _________________ Author: “To the Ends of the Earth: A Snapshot of Aviation in North-Eastern Siberia, Summer 1992”
(Free to read via Kindle Unlimited) |
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PJ in Kent
Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 1102 Location: Go on, guess!
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Posted: Wed May 16, 2007 6:56 pm Post subject: |
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I fear you may well be right, Cher.
Chav TV, Burberry FM and The Hoodie Roadshow..... Shoot me now, I can't take the dumbing down anymore _________________ He's not the Messiah- he's a very naughty boy! |
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Behind Geddon's Wall
Joined: 11 Dec 2006 Posts: 1553 Location: Kingston Upon Hull/ The Cloud Factory
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Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 7:41 am Post subject: |
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It's already here - it's call daytime commercial telly. ITV, Channel 4 and 5. The digital channels succombed a long time ago. _________________ Geddon
You simply mustn't blame yourself -- the days were perfect
And so were exactly what I was born to spoil
For I am the Rider to the World's End
Bound across the cinder causeway
From the furnace to the quarry
Through the fields of oil |
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H
Joined: 23 Jan 2007 Posts: 42
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Posted: Thu May 17, 2007 9:47 am Post subject: |
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In reply to PJinKent, according to a report I have read on Teletext this morning, ITV's profits are down sharply on phone in quizzes by some twenty per cent, in the wake of the recent scandals.
Personally, I would want to see these programmes off the air completely, and I want to see talented presenters like Nigel Mitchell, Debbie King and Tim Dixon working on other shows.
John H |
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