December 01, 2005

TISWAS - If you grew up in the Southern UK in the 70s-80s, you know exactly what Tiswas was was, and images of The Cage, the Phantom Flan Flinger, Lenny Henry, Chris Tarrant, Sally James' tits, people covered in gunge, and Sylvester McCoy pre-Dr Who dressed as a sunflower getting doused in horse shit or having nails driven into his nose while gurning spring instantly to mind. If you're from anywhere else in the world, you will have no idea, and trying to explain this Saturday morning kids' show to you will be largely like me trying to explain what was so good about that acid trip I took in 1986 when I mind-melded with a herron.

Background. The cast. It was insanity, and made Noel Edmonds' Swap Shop look like utter tosh. Tiswas Online does not have enough photos to convey the madness.

posted by Chyren 18 years ago
  • This is what they pay their licence fee for! Bloke I shared an office with at the time was a big fan, and he didn't even have children as an excuse. I reckon OTT was a mistake - they should have just put Tiswas on later.
  • This is what we want! I still say that in times of enthusiasm. Agreed about OTT.
  • i liked the inflatable elephant that would inexplicably fall onto the set every so often. my sister wrote to tiswas to ask where we could purchase an similar inflatable elephant. i think we planned to have it fall into our living room on a random schedule.
  • I forgot to mention poor old David Rappaport who went on to play Randall on Time Bandits etc. Green Nigel. hehe
  • Spit the Dog! Damn, I loved that programme. Grand post, Chy. *flings flan*
  • Grand? That's one of mine. You see, I've started a campaign to bring that back into usage, I say it to people. They look at me.
  • I used to watch it for the chaos. My dad used to watch it for Sally James. COMPOST CORNER!!!!!
  • OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO- KAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY! "Brideshead" "Revisited" fantastic stuff. TV Cream is a real goldmine. Excellently funny, well written and very evocative. *eats condensed milk sandwich*
  • Southern UK? Surely it was nationwide? And it's not the sort of thing we pay our license fee for, since it was on ITV, not the BBC. Never watched it myself, actually. I was out on a Saturday morning playing cubs football. And losing horribly.
  • Chy Dude thats was one awesome show. Loved it. Still do. Thanks
  • Bloody sporty spod! He's right though - it was nation wide. I'm from oop noorth and we got it.
  • in 1986 when I mind-melded with a herron I think you mean a herring. A Great Blue Herring.
  • Sally James' Legendary Pop Interviews... I remember the one with Kevin Rowland SJ: So how did you get the name Dexy's Midnight Runners? KR: Well, you know what dexy's are... World stops revolving for a split second SJ: So, when's the album coming out
  • It wasn't nationwide at first. I don't think.
  • How doth a herren different from a heroine? Why is a raven like a writing desk. [And what the heck is an unwriting desk like?]
  • beeswacky's holding!!!
  • Hey, where have you been? :)
  • > Surely it was nationwide? international. i watched it in ireland.
  • "Surely it was nationwide?" It was. And don't call me Shirley.
  • It looks like TISWAS didn't make it to the colonies, even though a number of other UK shows did. I have very fond memories of The Goodies, Doctor Who, The Kenny Everett Video Show, some science-fictioney thing called "The Tomorrow People" (I think?), Dad's Army, Are You Being Served, Fawlty Towers, It Ain't Half Hot Mum, Monty Python's Flying Circus, The Not The Nine O'Clock News Show [are Mel Smith or Griff Rhys Jones doing anything onscreen these days?], Benny Hill, The Dick Emery Show, The Two Ronnies, Morecambe And Wise, and a host of others (On The Buses, Robin's Nest, Ripping Yarns, Yes Minister [testimony to the UK's mastery of superbly dry humor] and...and... No, seriously, I'm going to stop now). Does anyone know the show that was set in a family home where the father was a cartoonist and used to draw his cartoons using a puppet that he would have conversations with? I can see the faces of the caste quite clearly, but for the life of me can't remember the name of the show at all.
  • Corking post Chyren. Spit the Dog is still my hero. "The Goodies", "Dr Who", "Monty Python" .. incomparable! "Benny Hill" left me completely unmoved, other than the occasional cringe.
  • Benny Hill was definitely cringeworthy, but I remember it as being one of those shows my whole family used to watch together, so for that reason alone it brings back pleasant memories.
  • "..father was a cartoonist and used to draw his cartoons using a puppet that he would have conversations with?" Oh, I know the one but I forget the name, too. It was one of those forgettable sitcom names.
  • After a little bit of poking around in Google, I think it might have been Keep It In The Family.
  • If Benny Hill had just used Beethoven and been a bit more explicit, he'd be considered as brilliant as Kubrick. :)
  • >>Does anyone know the show that was set in a family home where the father was a cartoonist and used to draw his cartoons using a puppet that he would have conversations with? I can see the faces of the caste quite clearly, but for the life of me can't remember the name of the show at all.<< Wasn't that "Too Close for Comfort," with Ted Knight, where the daughters lived downstairs with a rainbow painted on the wall? Or were you thinking of a British show? (Ted Knight's puppet was Cosmic Cow.)
  • It seems Too Close For Comfort was based on the UK show, Keep It In The Family. See Wikipedia for a list of other shows remade for US television from British shows.