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TV – Michael McIntyre’s Big Show and PJ and Duncans Saturday Night Takeaway are the closest to the TV of my youth and honestly, that’s not saying much; don’t get me wrong, the shows are perfectly good and certainly have their moments but in comparison to what I used to watch? They don’t come close.
I have vivid memories of Saturday telly (we’ll talk about morning shows in the future) and the choices as a family we would make. For example, my mum would begin closing the shop at around 5pm while dad did the money at his desk. In the background he would have the football results showing on the Beeb, with it’s ticking sound and slow moving cards moving up the screen.
This was incredibly boring for me so would often play with whatever toys I had taken with me to the shop or had bought from the various cheap shops that day (another future post!). We’d all then cram in to the van (often with my brothers and I unrestrained in the back of the luton back..) and head to the Chip shop for our dinner.
Once home, mum would dish up dinner and the family TV could begin.
Gladiators
How can we not start with this classic? As a kid I was certain that I could keep up with the adults and win. Travelator? Not a problem, I’d conquer that. As an adult, I now realise how ripped some of those people were.
Big Break
Jim Davidson is a racist son of a bitch and it’s about time that he just disappeared however, he did host a show I adored as a child back in the 90s. Big Break not only had a great theme tune but was genuinely fun to watch. The premise of the show was simple, three contestants got three professional snooker players assigned to them, questions were asked and balls were potted eventually leading to one contestant getting a chance to win the night.
There is one specific episode I shall never forget – the deaf contestant winning the top prize of am expensive stereo system, the look of anger in his face was priceless. I honestly can’t understand how the Beeb managed to make that mistake.
Beadles About
Watch out, Beadles About.. Another bloody amazing theme song to a show that really poses the question – shouldn’t we still feature heavy Saxophone use in TV themes still?
Younger me didn’t quite grasp what was going on and would just laugh at the same time everyone else in the room did. Watching it back now shows exactly how evil and upsetting to some people this show was. I might be a horrible person as I really did laugh out loud at what some people got tricked with. To give you an idea of what the show was, Jeremy Beadle would set up a hidden camera scene and then cause someone terribly emotional damage in some way ranging from destruction of their brand new car through to making contact with alien life. Eventually, Jeremy would come in to the scene disguised to add to the pain of the person before pulling his microphone out. Such japes.
Casualty
What do you get if someone drops a rolling pin accidentally while walking along a fast moving bypass? Most likely, some over the top accident seen where several cars flipped over and the rolling pin would penetrate someones thoracic cavity.
Ok, so that isn’t quite a scene from Casualty but for those of you who have watched it know how silly some of the setups really were. The stories weren’t wonderful but the show was pretty damn awesome for a kid like me.
P.S yet another show with a great theme song.
Bugs
Not many people remember this show but for me, it was a huge highlight of Saturday Nights. An action show revolving around tech, Bugs saw a group of crime-fighting technology experts thrown into different stories each week, often full of explosions and very cool tech ideas. The budget must have been pretty big as almost weekly helicopters, explosives and fast cars were featured.
You can pick up all four seasons on Amazon for cheap, go do it now.
I could talk for hours about various other shows but for now, I’ll leave it at these classics. Log on to YouTube, jump on the search bar and have a good evening!
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