Tiswas: Difference between revisions

The inventor of the [[ITV]] [[Saturday Morning Kids Show]] format, and probably the most anarchic of them all. Famous for the [[In the Hood|Phantom]] [[Covered in Gunge|Flan Flinger]] and starting off Chris Tarrant's career. ''[[Tiswas]]'' ran from 1974 to 1982, although in the first year it consisted more of short links between cartoons and other programmes, with less of its own identity, while 1982 was much more sedate than the classic years after many of the presenters left in 1981.

On any given Saturday morning, there would be a studio full of overexcited children, some there to show off a talent or do a competition, some as the audience. (Many of their parents would be locked in a cage at the back of the set, intermittently getting buckets of water thrown over them by the presenters.) [[Lenny Henry]] would be impersonating a newsreader; a pre-''[[Doctor Who]]'' Sylvester McCoy would be roaming around as a werewolf, biting the audience; bands would play (not just kid-friendly groups -- [[Status Quo (band)|Status Quo]], for example, turned up), or be interviewed by Sally James ([[Periphery Demographic|showing off the garters]] she had been sent from Royal Navy ships); there would be comedy sketches, done by anybody from [[Monty Python|Michael Palin]] to Bernard Manning; [[Consulting Mister Puppet|Spit the Dog]] would live up to his name; John Gorman would be roaming around in character as a cleaner asking if he had died in two world wars in order to put up with a studio this messy; a five-year-old boy in a rabbit suit would sing "Bright Eyes"; at least one item would go completely off track; and everyone would end up getting custard pies thrown over them.

It was very tied in with popular culture. There were the bands, and lots of impressions and parodies of other shows; but also they accidentally launched a dance craze ("The Dying Fly") and the presenters had a number one hit with "The Bucket Of Water Song".

Incredibly influential on other [[Saturday Morning Kids Show|SaturdayMorningKidsShows]]s –-- ''[[Dick and Dom in da Bungalow]], [[SMTV Live]], [[Ministry Of Mayhem]]'', even ''[[Live And Kicking]]'' would not have been the same without ''Tiswas''. (Arguably, even late-night zoo programmes like ''[[The Word]]'' drew on it). One noticablenoticeable difference from its followers, however, is that most presenters since have tended to be cheeky big brother types in their teens or early twenties, while all the ''Tiswas'' presenters except [[Lenny Henry]] were in their thirties at least. Watching fully-fledged adults being completely childish has a relish all its own.

* [[Ascended Extra]]: Several comedians started as one-off guests and became regulars (eg Jim Davidson, Frank Carson). Also the "Bright Eyes" kid, Matthew Butler (he even ended up going on the Four Bucketeers tour with them.)

* [[Covered in Gunge]]: theThe show had a credited custard-pie maker.

* [[Expository Theme Tune]]: “Saturday, Saturday, Saturday is ''Tiswas'' day!”

* Fun with Acronyms: TitleThe title stood for "This is Saturday, wake and smile."”

* [[Keep Circulating the Tapes]]: Most of the early shows were wiped by ITV. There is a ''Best of Tiswas'' DVD featuring clips from the later seasons.