Category: Sketch Shows

  • Smith, Jones And Philips
    Smith, Jones And Philips

    In 1982 VisionHire once again teamed with Philips to bring new models of their TVs and VCRs to rental and retail stores throughout the UK. And they enlisted the help of Mel Smith and Griff Rhys Jones to do so. Here’s one of the TV spots. And here’s a remarkable curio (from the excellent Neil…

  • Pauline’s Quirkes
    Pauline’s Quirkes

    The late 1970s seemed to provoke a lot of outrage at the output of children’s television. Grange Hill is the obvious example, but ITV didn’t escape the ire either, not least with Thames Television’s afternoon sketch show Pauline’s Quirkes. The show was devised as a vehicle for Pauline Quirke, who together with Linda Ronson and…

  • The Lenny Henry Show
    The Lenny Henry Show

    The Lenny Henry Show enjoyed a very rare repeat last night on BBC Four, and it’s still up on iPlayer. It’s remarkable that this series isn’t more widely available, or available at all. The title has been used in a number of different ways through the years, on TV as the sketch show, and then…

  • Michael Palin’s Teeth
    Michael Palin’s Teeth

    Here’s a radio advert for Monty Python’s Life Of Brian. And here’s a review of the exclusive performance they mention, from the next day (9th November 1979) in the Daily Mirror.

  • Fast Forward x 2
    Fast Forward x 2

    Fast Forward was an Australian sketch show that ran on the 7 Network for 74 episodes between 1989 and 1994. It’s worth quoting Mark Lewisohn in full from his excellent Radio Times Guide To TV Comedy: An earthy and funny sketch show, spoofing film and television and featuring, in its original version at least, some…

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  • Nineteen 90s Shows
    Nineteen 90s Shows

    I wrote another book about television. I like television. I like television so much that the first thing I modelled and printed on my new 3d printer was this … I made some more after that too. There’s a few more, including TVS, ATV, and HTV, but I bought you here to talk about my…

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  • Re-Casting Keanu
    Re-Casting Keanu

    Keanu Reeves is 56. That makes him eight years older than Clive Dunn was when he was first cast in Dad’s Army. But don’t panic, Clive Dunn was always playing much older characters than his own age. Keanu Reeves is 56. That makes him seven years older than Stephanie Cole was when she was first…

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