Brilliant TV Shows That Noone Apart From Me Appears To Have Seen

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Everyone has seen at least one TV show that, when they tell their friends about it, gets blank looks of non-recognition. here are two of mine:

Sifl & Olly - Very short, 30 second clips of two sock puppets talking to each other and singing songs, shown inbetween trailers and videos on MTV Europe. The most stupid thing MTV has ever done, and probably the best as well. I pissed myself with laughter at them. I later learnt they made two series of shows featuring these puppets, which were shown on US MTV but not on MTV Europe. Gits.

Cult Toons - Radical, almost avant garde cut ups and edits of old Hanna Barbera / Warner Bros / MGM cartoons, with added bits of 70's Blaxpolitation movies. Rather dull cartoons like Help! It's The Hair Bear Bunch! and the apalling Penelope Pitstop were transformed into dadaist masterpieces. One episode had the Super Furry Animals as guest stars, and another replaced the name "Penelope" in Penelope Pitstop with a clip of a caricature of Humphrey Bogart saying "ham sandwich". Shown on Cartoon Network UK.

Does anyone here have anything to add?

― Croooooow, Saturday, 23 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

You people look to me as if you've had nothing stronger than a cider lolly or a Junior Disprin in your short, self-congratulatory lives.

― Greg, Saturday, 23 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Thanks Greg, but it's all Haliborange round my way.

1) The Secret Life of Walter Kitty: Loosely based on the Thurber/Danny Kaye film, except an animation about a daydreaming cat. Years ahead of its time in terms of genre playfulness and reflexivity. Did I dream it?

2) Marine Boy: now, lots of people remember this, but I was completely OBSESSED with the lil fella and all my pre-school books are defaced with my primitive sketches of the boy. And I can't seem to find a THING about him on the modern interweb.

― stevie t, Saturday, 23 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Rude Awakenings - Sherilyn Fenn in rude as all fuck comedy wiht no laugh track about a bunch of recovering addicts.

― Geoff, Saturday, 23 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Holy fuck, that sounds like the best show ever. Sifl & Olly's great, duh. My friends won't stop talking about Zim or Johnny the Homocidal Maniac or some shit. I liked Relativity cuz I'm sappy, It's Like You Know cuz it had Chris Eigeman.

― Otis Wheeler, Sunday, 24 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I saw that particular edition of Cult Toons once. And its a great sadness to me that I've never been able to see it again. Such fabulous silliness.

― Ed Lynch-Bell, Sunday, 24 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Sifl and Olly was wonderful. I guess being in the States, my idea of shows no one has ever seen would be entirely different from yours. I mean, no one over here watched Red Dwarf. People look at me strangely when I mention it. Other shows that no longer exist and people seem not to remember: The State and The Young Ones.

As far as Zim, that is Invader Zim, it is on Nickelodeon. It's a wonderful, off beat cartoon made by the guy who writes the comic Johnny the Homicidial Maniac.

― michele, Sunday, 24 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

stevie t: didn't marineboy show in a sandwich with another cartoon, abt three foax with wack superpowers (coilman who was tall and skinny and turned into springs or something — and one of them was fat...): I think I *fancied* one of them, but (luckily) cannot remember which...!!!

I also remember getting into a scientifickal debate with my dad about (a) the possibility of oxygum, and (b) and fact that coilman should actually be called "springman" or something...

― mark s, Sunday, 24 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Has anybody ever heard of a 70s made-for-TV called 'Bad Ronald'?
I'm told there's a cult audience for 'Riptide', I thought I was the only one.

― tarden, Sunday, 24 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Psi Factor. It's the Canadian X Files. It's hosted by an Ackroyd, and it's got the bloke from Max Headroom in it. And no one except me has ever seen it!

― masonic boom, Sunday, 24 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The Critic: I can't say enough good things about this one. At it's best, I think it toppled even the mighty Simpsons. One of the best animated series ever. Probably failed commercially because it contained just a bit more self-deprecation and wit and irony than American audiences can stomach. In the last few they produced, they attempted to make uber-loser Jay Sherman a little nicer and more lovable. It still didn't sell. Anyway, it was amazingly great and frequently perfect.

― Mitch Lastnamewithheld, Sunday, 24 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The Critic will go down as one of the greatest unseen television shows ever. Shows that have rapid fire pop culture references (like Family Guy) never seem to make it. Humor and wit that require one to be at least semi intelligent to get also makes for a low rated show. Remember the episode with the kids from Easter Island? How many people actually got that joke?

― michele, Sunday, 24 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Wasn't the Easter Island thing a running joke in The Critic? I swear I've seen them reference that at least four times. The two things that I laughed hardest at were Star Trek Hee Haw and the Orson Welles peas commercial.

I enjoyed The State as well. It's been quite depressing to see where the old cast members have ended up. I read that Michael Ian Black is now hosting a reality-based/Candid Camera-type deal. I've also seen one of the others doing really bad commercials. Too bad.

"I'm outta heee-urr."

― Andy, Sunday, 24 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Ludvig? - odd 2d animation about an egg with prosthetic limbs (was set in the victorian era?)
I used to dread the pre-news 6 o'clock slot it shared with the similar, but more disturbing, Ivor-the-Engine (which everyone must know). I've never recovered from the haunting predictability I felt watching it, like a kids book I'd felt I'd been read a hundred times. A challenge, I'd force myself to watch it, afraid I'd be trapped in eerie pauses and lonely setting, linear and murky. Imagine life in that shallow world with those characters, their mad sing song voices, stuttering up and down a cross-section of the valleys.

― K-reg, Sunday, 24 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Mention of Ivor segways us neatly into a weird sub-theme of mid-60s kids TV: child abduction!! In the first (second?) season of Pogles Wood, their newborn infant, Pippin, was taken from them by a witch, and they spent the entire season getting him back. And in Noggin the Nog (masterpiece of Ivor and Bagpuss creator Oliver Postgate), wasn't Noggin and Nooka's child seized (by a giant bird?) and taken somewhere, where many adventures had to be endured before he was returned?

Noggin and Nooka = pioneer cross-cultural marriage hurrah!! But what was the child called?

(PS Award for general stand-out groundbreaking PC excellence in BBC kids TV: Joe, whose working class parents ran a Midlands roadside cafe, with black cook Abel.)

― mark s, Sunday, 24 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Prince Knut?

Oh, and my answer: "Look, Stranger" (BBC2 1970-1976).

― Robin Carmody, Sunday, 24 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Crooooooow: I appreciate your MST3K reference.

― JM, Sunday, 24 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Sifl & Olly was the best thing MTV EVER did, that show was fanfuckingtastic. Rude Awakenings isn't that great. I had such high hopes, what with Sherilyn Fenn and all. Oh well.

Everyone looks at me funny when I talk about News Radio or Dr. Katz, but I really don't understand that. We're talking network tv, people, get with the goddamned program.

― Ally, Sunday, 24 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Stevie, re: Marine Boy, you're not trying hard enough:

http://www.yesterdayland.com/popopedia/shows/saturday/sa1130.php http://members.tripod.com/~absoluteanime/marineboy/ http://www.flexnet.net/~midi/Marine.html http://www.alphalink.com.au/~roglen/marine.htm

― Nick, Monday, 25 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Dr. Katz is one of the most underated shows ever. A lot of people didn't like it because of the shaky animation style, but I think that was just a cover. They just don't want to admit that they didn't get most of the jokes.

― michele, Monday, 25 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"Psi Factor" is frequently unintenionally hilarious. I've never seen Dan Ackroyd look so earnest.

I was devastated when they too "The Critic" off the air. Thank God Comedy Central shows reruns of it! Two other grand shows of old: "Manimal" and "Misfits of Science".

― Dan Perry, Monday, 25 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Parker Lewis Can't Lose?

― JM, Monday, 25 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

am i drunk, or is the Japanese name for 'Marine Boy' ('Marine The Sea Bottom Boy') quite funny?

(from http://www.alphalink.com.au/~roglen/marine.htm )

― m jemmeson, Monday, 25 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

My answer was about Vids, which is brilliant. It's not exactly a secret but not many people seem to have heard of it when me and my friend Mark do impressions of Nige and Stef.

"The ear incident had fans apparently running from the stadium in fear. Why? Did they imagine an outbreak of ear biting taking hold? But the interesting thing about the biting was a bunch of psychologists having to assess whether Tyson was emotionally fit to fight... just how would they go about that? 'Mr Tyson, you've said you want to take your opponent's heart, liver, blood and spleen. You've also said you want to drive an opponent's nose up into his brain. Under normal circumstances this would be quite unforgivable but given that you're a heavyweight boxing champion of the world we'll let it go this time...destroy them but don't bite - it's not fair...'"

― Greg, Tuesday, 26 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"But you're a four-way arse! A four-way arse GOD!"
Vids is the best programme ever, quite possibly. This is the third damn time I've ranted about it on here, please don't encourage me.

― DG, Tuesday, 26 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Rather pointlessly to post then, but the name escapes me: A Detroit-area dance show a la Soul Train in the early 1990s. A fellow named Touche was one of the Djs, it played "Whoop! There It Is" about a year before it broke and, much to my pleasure, "Time for the Perculator" almost every episode.

Andy? Nicole?

― scott p., Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Damn! I remember Touche now that you mention him, but I have completely forgotten the name of the show --- it rocked.

Rock To the Top -- now there was a great cable access music program. Hair metal up the wazoo. And then they interviewed a bewildered Radiohead (back in 1993). I would give an arm and a leg for a tape of that now, it was hysterical.

― Nicole, Thursday, 28 June 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

one month passes...

Scott P., I wanted to answer your comment about the Detroit- based "Soul Train". Being that I live in Detroit, and watched the show, I can tell you the name of the show is . . . "The New Dance Show".

"Whoop-There It Is!"

The host, RJ Watkins.

Surprising, it STILL comes on (in reruns of course). I don't know if you remember "The Dance Show", but that was even more GFab (GhettoFabulous) than "TNDS". But, that's Detroit: Wonderfully Tacky.

Other shows I've seen no one cares I watch(ed):

Sifl and Olly: ROCK! (It was mentioned already, but I had to add my 2 cents)

Buzzkill: Jackass' Redheaded Stepchild (Although Buzzkill was first, it never "hit" Jackass' cruelty level)

MTV Live: With MTV VJ Toby (Remember him?). They used to show this slow-motion tape of a little dog humping the CRAP out of a teddy bear, and it was the funniest thing I've ever seen.

The Critic: Comdey Central plays the reruns now, but during it's first run, I think I was the only one that kept the show on the air.

Drop the Beat: Although I live the States, due to the fact I live in Detroit, I watch CBC. It was a great Hip Hop show that never get its just desserts. *sigh* This Spring, it was cancelled.

Cleopatra 2525: I don't even want to talk about it. Ok, maybe a little--Girls kicking ASS! Girl Power, WHAT??

The Downer Channel: New show on NBC. It's my kind of comedy, and I feel, because I like it, it will be cancelled.

Maximum Exposure: Intense Real Events shown at 11pm. Who could ask for anything more?

I could add more, but now I'm beginning to believe that I have no life, and that TV has sucked the life out of what's left. *Ho-hum* :)

― pv313, Saturday, 4 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

i remember watching parker lewis can't lose, though i remember nothing about it.

electric company.

read all about it. a spookily brilliant tv ontario show.

― sundar subramanian, Sunday, 5 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

The Chimp Channel!

― Kris, Sunday, 5 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Captain Noah, Philadelphia's version of Captain Kangaroo.

― Tadeusz Suchodolski, Sunday, 5 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

"Marine boy" jogs my memory.

MARK THE FISH-MAN.

Mark the Fish-Man was a live action show about a superhero, basically like Aquaman, who solved mysteries, etc. in beachy locales. His achilles heel: too much time out of the water and he dies. My enduring memory is of a malicious villain killing Mark slowly by suspending him in a cage over a swimming pool... ooh! Mean! NO ONE apart from my parents remembers this show... the Interweb feigns ignorance.... my only clues are: 1977, 8pm (my bedtime, from which I wuz deliciously exempted each time my parents thought to tell me it was on).

― Tracer Hand, Monday, 6 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

> The Chimp Channel!

That would be CNN nowadays (All Bush, All the Time).

― Tadeusz Suchodolski, Monday, 6 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Monkey Magic? It had a sort of martial arts theme, and there was a character called Pigsy and he was quite full of rage if I recall correctly. And someone else had a small stick behind their ear that would turn into a large stick for fighting with if it was breathed on. And it was chinese with english dubbed over. Please tell me if you have seen this, my boyfriend thinks I am making it up.

― rainy, Monday, 20 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

MONKEY! You remember MONKEY! This was not obscure and yr boyfriend is — excuse me for saying — deeply culturally illiterate!!

― mark s, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Monkey = number one 'not as good as I remember it from my childhood' TV show.

― Andrew L, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Yes, I am afraid he is Dumb as Box of Hammers but he's such a Handsome Guy. Please tell me more about Monkey Magic, i can only remember small weird things, Please tell me more! Tell me about the small Chinese Boy?Girl?

― rainy, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

I'm intrigued by this "Monkey Magic" show, too. I'd love to hear more about it. Never seen it, of course, but I'd love to hear about it.

― Tadeusz Suchodolski, Tuesday, 21 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Check out my site dedicated to the old 60s kids tv show called "The Forest rangers" that no Americans seem to remember even though it was shown on their tv sets. Its a Canadian classic. http://www.geocities.com/forestrangers1965/

― Clayton Self, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Monkey Magic in US, but in UK just plain old Monkey

― mark s, Wednesday, 22 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Nobody outside of Spain, Japan and maybe Italy seems to known Mazinger Z, the greates 70s style manga big robots kick arse show ever. And not in a silly way, loadsa people would die in this series, total Greek tragedy stuff for an 8 year old kid.

― Omar, Thursday, 23 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

Born from an egg on a mountain top?

― Greg, Thursday, 23 August 2001 00:00 (twenty-four years ago)

three months pass...

i am very fond of invaderzim myself. it really pisses me off that nickelodeon only shows it once a week. if any of you like invader zim i would suggest looking into the comic, johnny the homocidal maniac" by the same guy who does invader zim. i would give everyone his name, but i have no idea how to spell it.

― anna, Friday, 21 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Come on you Canucks, join me in celebrating the affront to civilisation that was 'Bizarre', that was on CTV in the early 80s. I tried starting a thread about it once and got 0 replies.

― dave q, Saturday, 22 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

can i just take this opportunity to say, yet again, LANCELOT LINK, SECRET-MUTHFUCKIN-CHIMP

come on...he was a monkey secret agent! he played in a monkey psyche band called LANCELOT LINK AND THE EVOLUTION REVOLUTION. I WANT THIS ALBUM MORE THAN LIFE ITSELF.

― ohhhhhh, lancelot, Saturday, 22 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"Come on you Canucks, join me in celebrating the affront to civilisation that was 'Bizarre', that was on CTV in the early 80s. I tried starting a thread about it once and got 0 replies."

The birthplace of Super Dave Osborne, yes? "Bizarre" was on ITV over here in the mid-80s. Apart from Super Dave, I'm ashamed to say that I only remember the 'speed bumps = bra tester' sketch.

― Michael Jones, Saturday, 22 December 2001 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

two weeks pass...

does anyone know if "The New Dance Show" is still on in Detroit-Ann Arbor?

Thanks

― al, Wednesday, 9 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Monkey is HUGE in Australia. I mean, really big.

Nobody but me ever seems to remember Metal Mickey. I miss that show.

― electric sound of jim, Wednesday, 9 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Monkey is totally righteous. Being a sad indie completist I felt compelled to purchase all 39 episodes, which I don't regret at all. They are all classic. "Monkey: A Tale from China" is a theatre production based on the ancient tale of this holy pilgrimage from China to India, and that kicks ass as well, incorporating real swords, lots of FITES, banging soundtrack, dragons, demon cannibals, gods, pigs, monkeys, FITES, fish. Getting your mitts on anything remotely Monkey is a cultural MUST.

― Trevor, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Lancelot Link. Secret Chimp. *faint*

― Sarah, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

b-b-b-but i remember Metal Mickey! "METAL MICKEY" was my childhood war-cry as i jumped into the bath, soaking everyone and everything in sight.

― katie, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Surely Metal Mickey is one of those shows that everyone sodding remembers. Even that half wit from Suede.

― N., Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

blast that Mickey Dolenz. Supergran was miles better anyway.

― chris, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

God, I totally forgot about watching Bizarre!

In other Canadiana, what about Four On the Floor? My sister had a Mr. Canoe Head club at her school! Not as funny as SCTV to be sure, but it has its place.

I also love The Funky Squad, a short-lived Aussie spoof of 70's crime shows. 100% fabulous - they used to show it late on CBC in the mid 90's. Wish I could buy it somewhere!

― Elisa K, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

― Tim, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Yes I can remember the theme tune too. There was also some adult male guy with a sword who helped him. And the start involved one of those inca temples with a thin door filling up with white light. Yes I remember that one.

― Ronan, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

The mysterious cities of gold (la,la-la-la-la, someday we will find, the cities of go-old). My friends dad looks like Mendoza but he hasn't got a flying golden condor.

― Jonnie, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

mysterios cities of gold? featuring a kid called Esteban? was amazing at the start but got slightly trippy towards the end. IIrc then TV cream has a lot of stuff on it.

― chris, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

It was one of those cartoon series that never seemed to end though, like Around the World with Willy Fog. I was so disappointed when he got back to London and he just ended up getting married or something.Great theme tune though (Fog is my name, and I can play with my life in any way, that's what they say).

― Jonnie, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

"Eighty days around the world, we'll find a pot of gold, and stick it up a tradesman's entrance." As the playground version went.

― Trevor, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Yeah I hate that and some smug bastard at school would always lie and say he'd seen the last one. Jason and the Wheeled Warriors. Will he ever find his dad? I saw the one where he did. No, honest.

― Ronan, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

all you ever wanted to know about < A href="http://www.whimsy.demon.co.uk/gold/">mysterious cities of gold

― chris, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

fucking html, it's shit. anyway, the address in that shoddy bit of html is the mysterious cities of gold website. sorry

― chris, Thursday, 10 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Cult Toons-the best show ever! 'Help help! Here come the (edit) Furry Animals (/edit) Help help! Here come the (edit) Furry Animals (/edit) Help help! Here come the (edit) Super Furry Animals (/edit) Let's split!'

And then they'd have that BRILLIANT 10 second Gary Coleman show afterwards- 'Hey hey! Looks like all the kids are present and accounted for-(Edit) (Gary explodes) (Testcard)' 'This exercise sure is hard work!' 'What she talking about? this jogging stuff is a breeze! (Edit) (Gary explodes) (testcard)' I used to have 2 episodes of that,but they were wiped over. :(:(:(

― Billy Hicks, Tuesday, 22 January 2002 01:00 (twenty-three years ago)

five months pass...

try this one (cartoon)....

theres a man sitting at a table with an egg. He begins to tap the top with the back of his spoon....just as he taps, there is a knock at the door....."Just a minute, I'm a coming", he says in a italianish accent. He gets up, goes to the door....there is no one there. He returns to the chair and is back at tapping his egg. ::KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK, at the door again. "Who is it?" he says, "Just a minute, I'm a coming"....He is clearly frustrated to fing no one at the door..... Back to tapping on the egg...each tap puts a crack in his ceiling until finally the roof caves in and the cartoon fades with a scream...............

― rc, Monday, 24 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

ronan LIES! I just tort they never made it... i saw one where he finds his dad but then he turns out to be a plantguy.

also: ulysses 31

― Bob Zemko, Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

*Peter Noone joke to thread*

― Pete, Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Did anyone like Dark Skies? Fot the uninitiated, imagine the paranoia of the X-Files, multiply it by a lot, add in some counterfactual history and sprinkle with some J.T. Walsh. Shame it only lasted one series. Very good brain candy.

― Nathan Barley, Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I liked it but it took too long to get going - and always be wary of a TV show which has four decades of history to get through and only deals with two years in its first series (it was a bit JFK and Jackie O in the Invaders as well).

― Pete, Tuesday, 25 June 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

None of my mates remember Terrahawks. Am I the only one, or are they just missing some part of their memory..? I totally heard of Monkey, despite being too young to have ever seen it, I think they even reviewed Monkey on Vids.. 'Ah but it is the sacred turd of truth'

'Away, Steffy Boy!'

― Chris Makin, Tuesday, 2 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Totally life-changing kid's cartoon: The (Seven?) Cities Of Gold - about a boy who inherits a mysterious half-medallion that is a partial key to the ancient Inca cities etc. etc. with flying golden crane-plane and alien guys with wings in their heads. Does anyone remember this?
I totally remember this one, except I think my memory is heightened by the fact that my mother made me take ipecac because I'd just downed an entire container of cold medicine--I watched the "Seven Cities of Gold" as I was anticipating an entire day-long vomiting fest. As for television shows, I remember for years I used to wish I could revisit some series (or movie) called UNICO, then about five years later I found a video for sale. Anyone else remember UNICO?

― Mandee, Tuesday, 2 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Umm, hello people, Strangers with Candy? Excellent. Amy Sedaris, sister of David Sedaris, is a demented comedic genius. I think Comedy Central shows reruns of it Sunday nights at 2am, well, they used to.

I'd like to give props to my Nickelodeon favorites: Pete and Pete (The N has started showing reruns) Salute Your Shorts Hey Dude (with Ben Stiller's wife, whoever that nitwit is)

I also miss Parker Lewis Can't Lose, the Critic, Dr. Katz, and especially News Radio with my man Dave Foley. All of these fond TV memories are breaking my heart.

― Lindsey B, Tuesday, 2 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

Salute your shorts and Hey Dude are two different shows.

― Lindsey B, Tuesday, 2 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

mandee, surely thats 'the mysterious cities of gold', the one with esteban and, um, tia?

― gareth, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

yep parker lewis - that was cool, odd tom petty fixation that all the kids had

gruey on bbc - that was good

the harlem globetrotters cartoon

sport billy (thought id imagined that one so many people looked at me with blank faces)

― born clippy, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

I was was listening to Herbie Hancock's 'Fat Albert Rotunda' alb yesterday - anybody ever seen the cartoon show? Not sure it's ever been shown in the UK...

― Andrew L, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

does anyone remember the show starring chainsaw from summer school about aliens coming down to earth and trying to get laid?!!?

― chaki, Wednesday, 3 July 2002 00:00 (twenty-three years ago)

two months pass...

Does anyone remember a program with "Chatter" the chimp? It had a theme song with the line "...Chatter! What's the matter with you?"

Saw it only when living in Detroit. Could it have been a Canadian program?

― Ray, Sunday, 8 September 2002 00:29 (twenty-three years ago)

Chatter chatter

― N. (nickdastoor), Sunday, 8 September 2002 10:04 (twenty-three years ago)

How about a cartoon set in some European mountains with a boy and a big white-ish dog called Sebastian? I was obssessed with it - WHAT IS ITS NAME???

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Sunday, 8 September 2002 11:09 (twenty-three years ago)

Har har.

― N. (nickdastoor), Sunday, 8 September 2002 12:17 (twenty-three years ago)

vids is a program that none of the people i know seem to have heard of. it was class. does anybody know if it's coming back, because i'd rather have it than the other shite that they plonk on c4. i saw nigel doing a review of a film on the sci-fi channel. does this mean the end? also knife and wife was great (by none other than mr biffo of digi fame. (whats happened to it recently, it's become as monged as bernard mannings shitsleeve.

― cunty elliot spamjavelin, Tuesday, 10 September 2002 13:30 (twenty-three years ago)

Tim Tyler: the boy who lost his smile (traded with the evil baron, eventually recovered with help from a nun and a chef - was dubbed); Patrick Packard (ridiculously complex - also dubbed); Chocky; Chocky's Children; some forerunner of the Crystal Maze where they had to cross 'the vortex' and would disappear if they stepped on the wrong 'square'; Vicky The Viking; Dance Energy with Normski.

― michael w., Tuesday, 10 September 2002 13:50 (twenty-three years ago)

The Welsh bloke from Vids was doing an Edinburgh Festival round up show on ITV recently.

― N. (nickdastoor), Tuesday, 10 September 2002 13:54 (twenty-three years ago)

Spaced. I love this show but apparently I'm the only person on the PLANET who has seen it.

― toraneko (toraneko), Tuesday, 10 September 2002 13:59 (twenty-three years ago)

michael: the crystal maze thing is The Adventure Game, which I can't believe hasn't had a thread of its own.

Also on the Chocky/Chocky's Children vibe was a New zealand sci-fi for kids series called Children Of The Dog Star.

toraneko: I'm not sure that stuff you can buy DVDs of on Amazon counts. Of course, with the massive nostalgia, maybe you can buy all of these now.

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Tuesday, 10 September 2002 14:08 (twenty-three years ago)

Um, it's on ABC on Saturday nights at 11:10 pm. It's just that everyone else goes out on Saturday nights and so they miss it.

― toraneko (toraneko), Tuesday, 10 September 2002 14:10 (twenty-three years ago)

spaced has a big following here. there's a web site and a yahoogroup dedicated to it. start a thread if you like. i could probably goss about it for a bit, esp as Jessica S is on my wife list.

― Alan (Alan), Tuesday, 10 September 2002 14:12 (twenty-three years ago)

http://www.spaced-out.org.uk/

― Alan (Alan), Tuesday, 10 September 2002 14:13 (twenty-three years ago)

nice one, andrew. it was one of those shows that you go through life thinking you may have dreamt.

― michael w., Tuesday, 10 September 2002 14:15 (twenty-three years ago)

I cannot watch it because of its video effect dishonesty.

― N. (nickdastoor), Tuesday, 10 September 2002 14:21 (twenty-three years ago)

i have vague recollections of this:
http://www.btinternet.com/~sarsen/children/index.html
spooky childrens thing about standing stones. scared me silly.

and on saturday mornings before Swap Shop (i mean before they'd thought of Swap Shop rather than 'before' if you see what i mean) they'd have things like Flashing Blade (badly dubbed drama about, er, french people), White Horses (badly dubbed drama with great theme tune), Robinson Crusoe (badly dubbed drama), Heidi (badly dubbed drama). and programmes about Fencing called something like Cut and Thrust. and horse riding.

andy
all this was fields...

― koogs, Tuesday, 10 September 2002 14:35 (twenty-three years ago)

Flashing Blade was scripted by Russel T Davies! it was meant to be funny. (i might be misremembering this). Children of the Stones scared me shitless for months afterwards. I saw it again about 4 years ago (friend has it on video) -- it is v funny and still a teensy bit scary. I think gareth thomas might have been in it.

― Alan (Alan), Tuesday, 10 September 2002 14:43 (twenty-three years ago)

No one else in the world was a Mighty Max obsessive.

― Graham (graham), Tuesday, 10 September 2002 14:47 (twenty-three years ago)

"it's right to fight for what you want/to live the way you please/for life and love and happiness/and all that you believe"

was no one thinking OF THE CHILDREN?

― mark s (mark s), Tuesday, 10 September 2002 14:48 (twenty-three years ago)

Kevin Spencer

There's something wrong with that kid

Kevin Spencer

His head don't work, it never did

Kevin Spencer

He's a schizophrenic alcoholic teenage sociopath!

This cartoon was brilliant! For a few short weeks, it was broadcast out of Ottawa late on Saturday nights & then just as suddenly as it appeared, it was gone (*puff*) without a trace.

― Miss Laura, Wednesday, 11 September 2002 07:24 (twenty-three years ago)

Sunday afternoons, autumn outside and it's The Ghosts of Montley Hall about 3 or 4 ghosts trapped in a stately home and unable to leave. Don't remember too much about it and no one else remembers it. On after Glen Michaels Cavalcade in Scotland.

― mms (mms), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 07:36 (twenty-three years ago)

No-one I know watched Rule The School, in which a bunch of real-life teachers were taught young people stuff (e.g. text messaging, playing pooter games) by a bunch of teenagers. It was top quality. THe amazing thing was how quickly the kids started acting like adults and the adults started behaving like children.

It finished with the teachers (as Teech-urz) performing a *fantastic* version of "Teenage Dirtbag" at the end of term show.

― Tim (Tim), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 07:39 (twenty-three years ago)

it still is on on comedy central, kevin spencer that is

― anthony easton (anthony), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 07:39 (twenty-three years ago)

Mark: Motley Hall.

Tricky blighter, Johnny Memory.

― Tim (Tim), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 07:42 (twenty-three years ago)

anything chris morris does is adored by me and ignored by everybody else in my school, but maybe that's to do with the fact i live in Wales, where they love rugby and the buggery of lambs, the sick fools.

― novsa, Wednesday, 11 September 2002 09:35 (twenty-three years ago)

graham i was a mighty max obsessive!!!

― simon trife (simon_tr), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 09:46 (twenty-three years ago)

Does anyone else remember 'Nobody's House'? It featured Kevin Moreton as a spooky Victorian street urchin haunting a 1970s house, and scared me witless.

― Jerry the Nipper (Jerrynipper), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 09:53 (twenty-three years ago)

Flashing Blade was only supposed to be funny when it was reddubed by starange Brando referencing Saturday morning kids show On The Waterfront. Kate Copstick = not funny.

― Pete (Pete), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 10:03 (twenty-three years ago)

ON the waterfront! that was the Russel Davies redubbed Flashing Blade thing I was thinking of. http://tv.cream.org/arksat.htm

― Alan (Alan), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 10:07 (twenty-three years ago)

I don't know, as a kid I found the name "Kate Copstick" hilarious.

Oh, I see. Point taken.

― Rebecca (reb), Wednesday, 11 September 2002 12:42 (twenty-three years ago)

I once saw the greatest pilot episode in the history of mankind. It was called "Lookwell" and it starred Adam West as Ty Lookwell an acting coach who fancies himself a private detective. I later found out it was written by Conan O'Brien and some other semi famous guy. Completely rib f*************** tickling. About ten minutes into the thing I said to myself "this is the only episode that'll ever be aired why aren't I taping this?" So I taped the last 20 minutes and carried it with me everywhere. My life changed dramatically after that, food tasted better, I had more energy etc.

― lawrence kansas, Wednesday, 11 September 2002 14:07 (twenty-three years ago)

also knife and wife was great (by none other than mr biffo of digi fame. (whats happened to it recently, it's become as monged as bernard mannings shitsleeve.

Last year Biffo was ordered to make Digitiser boring and normal like Ceefax's useless computer games section, as they thought old style Digi wasn't "proper" or something. However! Following falling viewing figures, Teletext Ltd have decided to allow Biffo to be funny again, and Digi will relaunch soon as its old self, hopefully.

― Christopher Lyons, Thursday, 12 September 2002 07:51 (twenty-three years ago)

hey i got reminded on this on the citizen kane thread! what about EARTHWORM JIM which was an hilariously funny cartoon about a normal earthworm who gets a SUPER SUIT and becomes a super hero, battling the likes of Queen Slug-for-a-butt with his faithful sidekick Peter the Puppy! anyone?

― katie (katie), Wednesday, 18 September 2002 11:56 (twenty-three years ago)

sure katie, Earthworm Jim is pretty well known, lots of Earthworm Jim video games too. it's pretty funny stuff.

― Alan (Alan), Wednesday, 18 September 2002 12:03 (twenty-three years ago)

it's supergrebt but every time i explain it to people they look at me as if i am bonkers or summat.

― katie (katie), Wednesday, 18 September 2002 12:07 (twenty-three years ago)

i get that regardless

― Alan (Alan), Wednesday, 18 September 2002 12:14 (twenty-three years ago)

awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww alang!

― katie (katie), Wednesday, 18 September 2002 12:19 (twenty-three years ago)

ok, i've got the trump card: HR Pufnstuf. with the bowl-headed cockney boy, jimmy, trapped in an oz-style world populated by living clocks/candles/watches/etc. he had a magic flute, was being chased constantly by a witch and was protected by the mayor - pufnstuf - who was the weirdest looking huge puppet thing you've ever seen. it always ended with a big sing-song: "hr pufnstuf, he's your friend when things get rough" or something, and jimmy would come out on stage getting down like james brown or usher. potentially life-affirming, potentially nightmare-inducing, like all the best kids t.v.

― michael wells (michael w.), Wednesday, 18 September 2002 14:46 (twenty-three years ago)

I'll be patron saint of the Semi Cool Animated Show here, and say that "Downtown", "Space Ghost Coast To Coast" and "Home Movies" (this last one done by the same ppl as Dr.Katz I believe) are sorely underrated.

"Home Movies" features Brendon Small, an eight year old obsessed with making movies- the two best episodes: the one where Brendon's idea to make "Louie Louie", a movie featuring Luis De Funnes and Luis Pasteur, is rapidly losing popularity due to the competition's musical about Kafka; and the one where his frustration at not being able to do good in history class led to him producing a sci-fi movie with George Washington as the main foe (W also inexplicably has a sidekick called Mr.Paws, who has his own Run-D.M.C.ish theme song- "my name's Mr.Paws, and have a nice day!") The film ends with the hero's inspiring speech that "we will fight evil, wherever it may reside- even if it is our forefathers...or foremothers"

Most endearing semi-obscure TV show EVAH: "Yu-Gi-Ooh", or something like that (japanese anime show.) It's about fighting battles using "Magic:The Gathering" type cards.

Sample dialogue, as remembered by me:

"Oh, Yu-Gi-ooh, if only I could be better at playing cards, I'd be the most popular kid in school!"

"Well, I have an uncle who could maybe teach you..."

"Oh, please, please, please!"

"But playing cards is not for everyone..."

They then go to their uncle, who delivers a long winded speech about how much "rigorous training" and "personal sacrifice" one needs to be good at playing with little dumb battlecards. I cannot even begin to conceive how geeky one must be to have created such a show.

― Daniel_Rf, Wednesday, 18 September 2002 23:11 (twenty-three years ago)

Vinyl Justice, Action! and Get a Life. I think other people saw them, just not enough of them thought they were funny.

― felicity (felicity), Wednesday, 18 September 2002 23:26 (twenty-three years ago)

"The Uglliest Girl in Town" (1968) "Short lived (four months) show about Timothy Blair, a Hollywood talent agent. He falls in love with Julie Renfield, an English starlet, when she is was making a Hollywood film. After the film is completed, she returns to England but Timothy does not have the money to follow her. Through some convoluted story, he dresses as a woman and is sent to England on an photo shoot so he can be with Julie."

Thanks, IMDB. Was this the first drag sitcom? I have no recollection of the trip to England, but I definitely remember the fella dressed up as a gal. I was seven.

― Arthur (Arthur), Thursday, 19 September 2002 02:38 (twenty-three years ago)

Duckman!

― Rembrandt Q. Einstein, Thursday, 19 September 2002 03:31 (twenty-three years ago)

one month passes...

I remember 'The Ugliest Girl in Town.' I remember thinking he was cuter than Marlo Thomas. I also remember 'T.H.E Cat' at least I think that was the name of it. It was like 'It Takes A Thief' meets 'Man From Uncle.' Some former cat burglar all dressed in black using a grappling hook and rope to fight crime and uncover espionage. Always jumping from rooftops and such. Another fave was 'My World and Welcome To It' based on James Thurber. I think the star was the same guy that kamakazied a Federation shuttle craft into a giant ice cream cone that ate planets on Star Trek.

― Pretty Boy Freud, Wednesday, 13 November 2002 02:14 (twenty-two years ago)

eight months pass...

Yes loads!

- Japanese looking toon, called Watu-Watu - it began at the bottom of the sea with these bird-fishes that came out of shells (giant scallop shells) and they would help people out on the surface with various things.

- also remember The Cartoon Network dada style montages - they were amazing, did you see the "and that Sun is - Velma!" ones where Velma out of Scooby Doo was the link between all these different cartoons...

- on Glen Michaels Cavalcade - a toon about cars and motorbikes and other vehicles that had eye-headlamps etc and they drove themselves about & The Hunter - the detective doggy & one with similar characters to Pole Position but there were loads more of them and they did more than just race.

Rude Dog and the Dweebs + the in-between toon with the rhyming cats on rollerskates

The Red Hand Gang

Timmy's Super T-Shirt

Stookie

Cities of Gold - that was on for so many weeks that I'm amazed anyone of a certain age group with a TV could possibly have failed to see it!
Remember how Mendoza would jump off the top of a Galleon and land okay onto the paved port below?

Remember - Around the World with Willy Fogg? And he was a lion?

The song 'Mr.Bobdobalina' that was on America's Top Ten with Casey Casem a few times.

Euro cartoon with big St.Bernard dog was none other than -

Belle & Sebastian, like the band called themselves after.

I also watched Dark Skies - that was good that. I think there were a few extra episodes, or different versions of some episodes of that series. I identified with Frank Black (why did they name him after The Pixies?).

Parker Lewis was definitely a class show. Don't make 'em like that these days.

A Roswell High rip-off, Atlantis-something, on UK Channel 5 not long ago (not even old!) - sarcastic version, pretty funny.

Terrahawks - for sure. The Zeroids were well cool, those silvery spherical dudes.

And the Fat Abbot show - that was great.

― Tesla, Sunday, 10 August 2003 13:08 (twenty-two years ago)

I remember Ludwig! I had a Ludwig book when I was a kid! The only two things I get confronted with "are you a mentalist?"-type stares when mentioning are Kinvig (strange sub-Doctor Who bollocks starring Maxine's mum off Coronation Street) and The Space Sentinels.

― ailsa (ailsa), Sunday, 10 August 2003 13:35 (twenty-two years ago)

I just remembered about this:

galaxy high.

― RJG (RJG), Sunday, 10 August 2003 13:47 (twenty-two years ago)

i also remember Ludwig, it was part of the Sunday morning kids strand on ITV along with Yakari, What's News and that thing with the mole

― stevem (blueski), Sunday, 10 August 2003 23:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Parker Lewis!!

― s1utsky (slutsky), Monday, 11 August 2003 00:48 (twenty-two years ago)

The Beatles cartoon. They'd run about getting up to hijinks, and Ringo would always chuckle like a dopehead - "huhuhuhuh! yyeaahhh."

I've met maybe 2 people who remember that one.

― Trayce (trayce), Monday, 11 August 2003 01:19 (twenty-two years ago)

Maximum Exposure: Intense Real Events shown at 11pm. Who could ask for anything more?

I watch this one too! In fact, I'm gearing up to watch the program tonight, at surprise, 11 p.m.

Also:

Vinyl Justice, The Naked Cafe: I know the former was mentioned earlier. Remember these two VH1 programs? I used to love to watch these programs as well.

The Voyage of the Mimi: A young Ben Affleck (whom I wanted to befriend as a little girl) tools around in a working ship with his gruff grandfather. It was the perfect viewing for a very young child. No one else seems to have stumbled onto this program purely for entertainment purposes. Shame.

― Just Deanna (Dee the Lurker), Monday, 11 August 2003 01:21 (twenty-two years ago)

I've seen the Beatles cartoon. I don't remember much about it, except that it was weird.

― Chris P (Chris P), Monday, 11 August 2003 01:31 (twenty-two years ago)

does anyone remember that doom and gloom post apocalyptic 1970s british programme "the Survivors" or Survivor? it was screened in nz sometime in the 1970s...

― hellbaby (hellbaby), Monday, 11 August 2003 04:14 (twenty-two years ago)

Nowhere Man, anyone?
The Good Life? (US where Drew Carrey co-starred)

― Leee (Leee), Monday, 11 August 2003 05:36 (twenty-two years ago)

The Music Scene, hosted by David Steinberg and featuring musical guests (not surprising), and The New People, about a plane or boat crash on an uninhabited island -- Lord of the Flies with college age students. Both were 45 minutes long and played back-to-back in the late 60s or early 70s. It's likely that neither were brilliant, but they were two of my most-looked-forward-to series then.

― nickn (nickn), Monday, 11 August 2003 05:45 (twenty-two years ago)

anyone remember Backup and The Cops? why did The Cops not continue? it was one of the first shows in the UK to use the documentary/dodgy camera technique in a fictional series wasn't it?

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 11 August 2003 09:33 (twenty-two years ago)

re "the survivors" i remember having huge argts at school the day after the ep where they executed the mentally subnormal guy for raping someone, except then it turned out to not to be him

― mark s (mark s), Monday, 11 August 2003 09:38 (twenty-two years ago)

'mr. bobdobalina' by del da funky homosapien (sample from the monkees)

you can download the title sequence from ludwig here
http://tv.cream.org/themes/themes3.htm

things i vaguely remember:
nora & nellie - weird cartoon, set on an ark?
the owl service - children in wales with magical plates.
rentaghost - before it had the meekers and madam popov and that
bloody pantomime horse, i've got recollections of a quite
different kind of show, three ghosts living in a hotel and being
quite evil and scary.
oh, and kelly monteith. he had a show on bbc2?

― joni, Monday, 11 August 2003 09:43 (twenty-two years ago)

http://www.sausagenet.co.uk/prog/pizzacats/pizzacats_2.jpg

― Sommermute (Wintermute), Monday, 11 August 2003 10:36 (twenty-two years ago)

RJG-- thanks for the link...i've been describing that show to people for ages and they thought i was making it up. (or that it was some combo of 'kid video and master blaster' and 'jem and the holograms)

not so long ago shows that i loved:
'it's like, you know'-- chris eisenberg playing his crabby (wondeful) self, and jennifer grey playing jennifer grey. the worst part was the running gag about people kind of recognizing JG but not quite getting it until she said 'nose job.' still, a great show.

'two stupid dogs'. was on cartoon network and was so so so funny. i don't think it's on anymore, and the only other person i knew that liked it was my friend rob.

― colette (a2lette), Monday, 11 August 2003 13:15 (twenty-two years ago)

anyone remember the Great Space Coaster?
http://briansworld.nova.org/pix/gnu1.jpg

― Chris V. (Chris V), Monday, 11 August 2003 13:39 (twenty-two years ago)

I'll be patron saint of the Semi Cool Animated Show here, and say that "Downtown", "Space Ghost Coast To Coast" and "Home Movies" (this last one done by the same ppl as Dr.Katz I believe) are sorely underrated.

Oh, I was big Downtown buff. Me and my flatmates used to watch it every thursday, but no one else seems to know about it. I remember me and my flatmate having discussions about how we totally related to the characters: I was like the shy bespectacled dude and she was like the not-so-social Chinese girl. That show was a million times more credible than any live-action show about "young adults".

Does anyone remember this: "Cap-tain Pla-net, he's a he-ro!" Did Captain Planet have the best eighties-style mullet or what:

http://www.turner.com/planet/static/graphics/captain.gif

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Monday, 11 August 2003 14:28 (twenty-two years ago)

When I was a kid I really liked this cartoon called "The Galaxy Rangers" which was prolly very ahead of its time (a bit violent with people getting killed occasionally).

I've seen The Great Space Coaster... always hated it.

I remember watching this game show all the time where kids play video games and have to score a certain amount of points in 60 seconds or something. It was on USA and no one ever knew what I was talking about, but I saw it on the Video Game Channel (or whatever) when I had digital cable. So I didn't make it up!

― Aaron W (Aaron W), Monday, 11 August 2003 14:41 (twenty-two years ago)

First Class in the UK had a couple of rounds where the schoolkid contestants had to play Paperboy or that old skateboarding game

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 11 August 2003 14:42 (twenty-two years ago)

Those sound like the most boring TV shows ever.

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Monday, 11 August 2003 14:43 (twenty-two years ago)

I vaguely remember this show in the early 80's about gangs being crime fighters or something. I think it may have been called the Warriors or Nighthawk or something. I also think it was on Friday nights.

― Chris V. (Chris V), Monday, 11 August 2003 14:48 (twenty-two years ago)

Nighthawk... Wasn't that one sort of a Knight Rider ripoff, but with a motorcycle instead of a car?

― Tuomas (Tuomas), Monday, 11 August 2003 14:58 (twenty-two years ago)

ok there was this programme that was set in a morris minor garage. they had these stoopid escapades and shit. it was sort of 4.00 pm time. i think it was just called 'morris minor' or something. i am almost i was dreamt this though, becasue no one has ever been able to verify my story. i've never had a tv, so i just have hazy memories of watching it at a friends house, hence the confusion

― ambrose (ambrose), Monday, 11 August 2003 15:08 (twenty-two years ago)

Ambrose, you've just jogged some kind of memory in me there. Wasn't it Tony Hawks (not the skateboarding one, the one who played Moldovans at tennis and went round Ireland with a fridge) and that's where the Stutter Rap came from. Or they might have got a show on the back of the record. Or am I making my nostalgia up?

Yikes, Kelly Monteith. He was shit.
The thing on the ark was Noah and Nelly (hence the ark) - she used to knit everything, including (I think, but my mind may be playing tricks again) the smoke out of the funnel. Do arks even have funnels?

The Cops was utterly fuXoring great :)

― ailsa (ailsa), Monday, 11 August 2003 18:36 (twenty-two years ago)

Tuomas you're thinking of Street Hawk

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 11 August 2003 19:30 (twenty-two years ago)

only i watch Ed and enjoy it it seems

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 11 August 2003 19:53 (twenty-two years ago)

Does anyone remember this: "Cap-tain Pla-net, he's a he-ro!"

I don't think I saw more than a couple episodes of this, but I was a big fan cos I thought Capt. Planet was a turquoise Macguyver with superpowers.

― Leee (Leee), Monday, 11 August 2003 20:24 (twenty-two years ago)

its the NEW ZOO REVIEW comin right at YOU!
http://www.otmfan.com/graphics/lyric/NZR.jpg

― chaki (chaki), Monday, 11 August 2003 20:38 (twenty-two years ago)

Am I the only one who saw any episodes of "Action" ? it ran briefly on Fox a couple years back, nobody watched it, got cancelled - I caught perhaps two shows and thought it was genius, esp. Jay Mohr. Maybe it's just my puerile sense of humor or the fact that I like jerks.

I'd read that upon finding out the show was cancelled they hurriedly shot a final episode in which the lead character has a heart attack and dies. Wonder if that ever aired..

― daria g (daria g), Monday, 11 August 2003 21:16 (twenty-two years ago)

Action was great. I sort of understood why it was cancelled -- you could see the potential it was working up to but hadn't reached yet, and I guess they weren't patient enough -- but I wish they'd waited.

I haven't read the entirety of upthread. Anyone mention On the Air, the summer replacement sitcom Mark Frost and David Lynch did after Twin Peaks? Probably even stranger as a sitcom than Twin Peaks was as a soap opera.

― Tep (ktepi), Monday, 11 August 2003 21:21 (twenty-two years ago)

i'd forgotten about Action - it was weird

― stevem (blueski), Monday, 11 August 2003 22:40 (twenty-two years ago)

Oh! I just remembered two more, both on MTV a long time ago. One was called Pirate TV and the premise was that these pirate broadcasters stole MTV's signal. I think it was a comedy. All I remember was that there was this character who lived in the galley and when he said, "STOP YOUR YAMMERING!!!" I would crack up.

The other show was by that Alex Winters guy who was either Bill or Ted, I forget. The only sketch I remember wasn't very funny, but he played a "flying gimp."

― Aaron W (Aaron W), Wednesday, 13 August 2003 17:51 (twenty-two years ago)

Am I the only one who saw any episodes of "Action" ?

Nope. I absolutely loved that show and went so far as to burn all 13 episodes to VCD

I'd read that upon finding out the show was cancelled they hurriedly shot a final episode in which the lead character has a heart attack and dies. Wonder if that ever aired..

It was the last one aired on Fox, but there were four more episodes that Trio aired when they reran the series last year. Oh, and the lead character survived the heart attack.

― Chris Barrus (Chris Barrus), Wednesday, 13 August 2003 18:03 (twenty-two years ago)

More from the annals of CBC's 'East Germany' era - 'Homemade Television', a show so cheap that it once featured a televised table-hockey game

― dave q, Wednesday, 13 August 2003 18:10 (twenty-two years ago)

'Parker Lewis' - was that the show that was done really arty '3 O'Clock High' style?

― dave q, Wednesday, 13 August 2003 18:11 (twenty-two years ago)

Even better was a pilot with the actor from "Parker Lewis" called "What's Alan Watching?" It was executive produced by Eddie Murphy and he had all these cameos playing TV characters. I had it on tape and used to watch it all the time.

― Aaron W (Aaron W), Wednesday, 13 August 2003 18:15 (twenty-two years ago)

The other show was by that Alex Winters guy who was either Bill or Ted, I forget.

I'm pretty sure that was called The Idiot Box, but that was the name of the course I taught on television, so I might be mixing. It was close, though (and it was Bill, yeah). That had a lot of good moments.

I kinda sorta vaguely remember the pirate thing ... almost.

Oh, my next entry: PROFIT, for the love of God. (Another one Trio's done, I know, but I've never had Trio available).

― Tep (ktepi), Wednesday, 13 August 2003 18:21 (twenty-two years ago)

I forgot about Jossy's Giants!

Children's BBC.......

"we're called Jossy's Giant's

football's just a branch of science"

lol!

― Tesla, Friday, 15 August 2003 14:17 (twenty-two years ago)

re. ambrose and ailsa messages -

did you mean 'Morris Minor and the Majors' song Stutter Rap?

"well no-one's ever seen what I mean

from the age of ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-ni-nineteen..."

They had another release, I think it was the same band anyway, 'John Kettley is a weatherman, a weatherman, a weatherman,

John Kettley is a weatherman

and so is Michael Fish!

and so is Ian McKaskill!"

etc.

― Tesla, Friday, 15 August 2003 14:26 (twenty-two years ago)

Nah, that wasn't Morris Minor And The Majors, was it?

They *did* have another song, though. It went:

This is the chorus
It goes around and around, and gets into your brain
This is the chorus
And thirty seconds from now, you'll hear it again

― caitlin (caitlin), Friday, 15 August 2003 14:41 (twenty-two years ago)

Yes it was them! The Stutter Rap was in the charts in the UK, so it should be indicated in the usual Top 40 single releases.

I'm pretty sure the John Kettley is a Weatherman was their song too.

Never heard of the chorus one tho'. But they obviously had other releases and B sides, etc.

From what I recall they looked like a sort of spoof of The Beastie Boys and Public Enemy during that time.

― Tesla, Friday, 15 August 2003 17:35 (twenty-two years ago)

John Kettley song definitely not by Morris Minor - i think caitlin meant this

'John Kettley Is A Weatherman' was credited to Tribe Of Toffs - i vaguely recall them on TOTP, and the singer didn't resemble Tony Hawks at all - they sounded Scottish anyway

― stevem (blueski), Friday, 15 August 2003 17:50 (twenty-two years ago)

The Voyage of the Mimi: A young Ben Affleck (whom I wanted to befriend as a little girl) tools around in a working ship with his gruff grandfather.

B.Aff was in that?? We watched that in 5th-grade science class!!

― jaymc (jaymc), Friday, 15 August 2003 17:58 (twenty-two years ago)

Holy Shit New Zoo Review, I was addicted to that as a child, and I even had all the characters as finger puppets.

― anthony kyle monday (akmonday), Friday, 15 August 2003 18:27 (twenty-two years ago)

Mr Don and Mr George own this thread. Ignoring fourteen imperatives on the way.

― Matt (Matt), Friday, 15 August 2003 21:46 (twenty-two years ago)

"John Kettley is a Weatherman" was by A Tribe of Toffs - F**k all to do with Morris Minor & the Majors

― ailsa (ailsa), Saturday, 16 August 2003 02:09 (twenty-two years ago)

Ayrton Senna's got the voice of a tenor
Peter Snow sings very low
Mark Barano is a soprano
and John Kettley, John Kettley, John Kettley
is a weatherman

John Kettley is a weatherman
a weatherman
a weatherman
John Kettley is a weatherman
and so is Michael Fish

Simon Parkin's always larkin
Eric Lane is the same
Jonothan Ross collects moss
and John Kettley, John Kettley, John Kettley
is a weatherman

Lester Piggot couldn't dig it
David Icke rides a bike
Richard Keys has got no knees
and John Kettley, John Kettley, John Kettley
is a weatherman

Debbie Thrower's got a lawnmower
Johnny Marr he plays guitar
David Steele lives in Keele
and John Kettley, John Kettley, John Kettley
is a weatherman

Chuck Knox has blue socks
Andy Crane has got no brain
Bernard Davy left the navy
and John Kettley, John Kettley, John Kettley
is a weatherman

John Kettley is a weatherman
a weatherman
a weatherman
John Kettley is a weatherman
and so is Michael Fish
and so is Billy Giles
and so is Ian McGaskill
so is Wincy Willis

― ailsa (ailsa), Saturday, 16 August 2003 02:14 (twenty-two years ago)

three months pass...

early eighties BBC Scotland drama called 'Maggie': 'Maggie, so far , so far, so good', went the theme song.

― james nope, Tuesday, 9 December 2003 11:45 (twenty-one years ago)

I get confronted with "are you a mentalist?"-type stares when mentioning are Kinvig (strange sub-Doctor Who bollocks starring Maxine's mum off Coronation Street)
-- ailsa August 10th, 2003 3:35 PM. (ailsa)

Big shout out back in time to ailsa -- there is a listing on TV Cream so we're not hallucinating. It bugs me that nobody remembers this - it was Nigel Kneale (Quatermass fella) attempting what felt like a sitcom and it had Rula Lenska in it too.

― Jaunty Alan (Alan), Tuesday, 9 December 2003 11:51 (twenty-one years ago)

I too had a tape of "What's Alan Watching" and thought it was the shit. Don't remember much about it now. Eddie Murphy did some James Brown impersonations.

I loved:
The Mighty Orbots (cartoon. I knew it was silly, but I liked it. And the way the robot team ran when they were heading for action was funny and I would mimic it to entertain myself)

Clyde the Frog (bizarre frog marionette with a strange woman's voice. public television. often on around midday when i was home sick from school. clyde would always fuck up and use the opposite of good judgment and by doing so would teach the kids a lesson. Like he'd get cocky and decide not to use hand signals while riding his bike and end up being mangled by a car. It all looked so strange. wish i had a tape.

― andrew m. (andrewmorgan), Tuesday, 9 December 2003 17:40 (twenty-one years ago)

eight years pass...

Fans of Action should check out the Illeana Douglas episode of Jay Mohr's podcast where they tell all the inside stories about the show and how messed up things were behind the scenes.

― Elvis Telecom, Friday, 21 September 2012 00:17 (thirteen years ago)

omg was Crooooooooow our first sock puppet - and none other than Ned Raggett at that?!

― free-range chicken pox (Matt P), Friday, 21 September 2012 02:50 (thirteen years ago)

a sock puppet is not a person who posts regular things without any false persona under a handle taken from the name of a famous puppet

― some dude, Friday, 21 September 2012 02:59 (thirteen years ago)

I can totally believe that this thread has no mention of RUBICON on it. still sad that AMC cancelled it after one season

― El Tomboto, Friday, 21 September 2012 03:01 (thirteen years ago)

tbf this thread has only had like 5 posts since Rubicon aired

― some dude, Friday, 21 September 2012 03:15 (thirteen years ago)

well RUBICON

― El Tomboto, Sunday, 23 September 2012 02:58 (thirteen years ago)

four years pass...

Really happy to discover that the complete run of both Pasadena (Mike White's dark soap opera loosely based on the LA Times Chandler family) and East Side West Side (1963 gritty drama with George C. Scott as a social worker) are up on YouTube.

― Elvis Telecom, Monday, 26 September 2016 06:55 (nine years ago)

Psi Factor. It's the Canadian X Files. It's hosted by an Ackroyd, and it's got the bloke from Max Headroom in it. And no one except me has ever seen it!
― masonic boom, Saturday, June 23, 2001 5:00 PM (fifteen years ago)

i used to make the radio promo spots for this show

― sarahell, Monday, 26 September 2016 17:38 (nine years ago)

i didn't think Pasadena was that great when it was on. i might have been wrong though.

― scott seward, Monday, 26 September 2016 17:43 (nine years ago)

just makes me wish they'd put China Beach on Hulu or Netflix.

― scott seward, Monday, 26 September 2016 17:44 (nine years ago)

four years pass...

idk about brilliant but INTERBANG‽ def made an impression growing up & ive never heard anyone else mention it

― The 💨 that shook the barlow (wins), Sunday, 27 June 2021 18:03 (four years ago)

one year passes...

I remember 'The Ugliest Girl in Town.' I remember thinking he was cuter than Marlo Thomas. I also remember 'T.H.E Cat' at least I think that was the name of it. It was like 'It Takes A Thief' meets 'Man From Uncle.' Some former cat burglar all dressed in black using a grappling hook and rope to fight crime and uncover espionage. Always jumping from rooftops and such. Another fave was 'My World and Welcome To It' based on James Thurber. I think the star was the same guy that kamakazied a Federation shuttle craft into a giant ice cream cone that ate planets on Star Trek.

This post otm. Found it whilst thinking about starting a thread about It Takes a Thief, which I still may do.

― Think Fast, Mr. Mojo Risin’ (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 13 March 2023 10:52 (two years ago)

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