Kids' TV

[Spaced Cadet]

Dick & Dom in da Bungalow is great. I love it. Especially when they play Bogies. It's like a modern day Tiswas only without Tarrant, thank fuck.

[Lt Plonker]

I remember a really bizarre BBC Kid's drama about a giant clock that connected two worlds. One was modern-day Australia and the other was some scary dimension ruled by a TV show. Can anyone give me the name of it?

I have vague memories of that! Don't know what the hell it was though.

I love Sooty too. I have the Sooty: Wet 'n' Wild DVD. I was in hysterics watching it a few months ago. Genuinley good fun.

What about Pugwall, anyone?

[Mr Flunchy]

I think 'My Parents Are Aliens' has its moments.  One episode that sticks in my head is when the parents decide they need to know more about each others sex.  Which results in the mother getting all testosterony and hairy, and the Dad growing two huge breasts.

Which he later shows to the son while he inflates and deflates them.  The look of horror on the child's face is priceless.

Plus I think it's written by Paul Rose of Digitiser fame.

[monkhouse terror]

Boobah - the Teletubbies for people who can't understand the Teletubbies. There appears to be no discernable plot to speak of, it's just a load of coloured blobs prancing around making soft noises to ambient music, with interspersed footage of over-enthusiastic actors being crap. Ideal if you're on LSD or you're under 1. Oh, and it's made by GMTV, so it's evil.

I mentioned them earlier, then found this little flash thingy which is based on the boobahs. Be afraid. The thing that disturbs me the most is the noise they make, it sounds like they are being stamped on very hard.

[thomasina]

Don't see much kids TV these days, as my baby is 14.  However, the stuff that was on when she was little was a million miles better than what I grew up with.  Yes, i had the Clangers and Mr Benn, but those were tiny oases in the desert.  She had Postman Pat! Sesame Street! Knightmare! Chucklevision!
No comparison.

[Blue Jam]

I love Sooty too. I have the Sooty: Wet 'n' Wild DVD. I was in hysterics watching it a few months ago. Genuinley good fun.

I remember reading an interview with Ian Mculloch of Echo and The Bunnymen where he said he watched Sooty until he was about sixteen, just because he thought it was funny. A few years ago I saw the Sooty Show for the first time in ages and was laughing at it too. I'm glad to see that this is "normal" ;)

That Boobah's flash animation is genuinely disturbing- they do sound like small rodents being tortured, don't they?. Someone in Select magazine once said that making successful children's television is like opening a surrealist dictionary at random, and I think they're right- why the fuck have they got an armchair poppoing out of a parcel? And people and dogs growing out of handbags? That's frightening like the Cadabra ride at Cadbury's World.

[monkhouse terror]

I imagine that it's like being inside Vic Reeves' head.

[Dr. Gizmonic]

Oh, anyone remember The Ink Thief? It was a great series starring Richard O' Brian, half-musical, half terror. Must've been on 1993/4.

[Blue Jam]

The Ink Thief... ...starring Richard O' Brian, half-musical, half terror.

Was this the series he did where two children used to visit his "world" through a secret passage in their house, and he'd do experiments and sing songs? I was trying to remember what this was called the other day- I remember him singing a song called "I'm Only Human", about longing to be human like the two children, as being human would be better than being a ghost or an alien or whatever he was. Anyone else remember it? I think it was on CITV, but earlier than 1993. It was probably a completely different series, actually.

[Cerys]

Was that the one with Toyah Wilcox as a dog?  You have to ask yourself what casting meeting came up with that one....

[Blue Jam]

Was that the one with Toyah Wilcox as a dog?  You have to ask yourself what casting meeting came up with that one....

Probably the same one that are currently working on this.

Toyah Wilcox as a dog? That rings a bell, Cerys... and indeed you are right. Fucking hell, that surrealist dictionary analogy is pretty accurate...

[Dr. Gizmonic]

He did sing a song called 'Only Human', And oooh what luck, I found a website with it on:

I'm not what I should be
Not yet, anyway.
I'm not what I could be
But soon, anyday.

You see I've been praying
For the day I find a way
Praying for the day
When I can say
I'm only Human.
Only Human.

I'm not like you
And you're not like me.
But a lot like you.
I've just got to be.


I'll use what I have
Until I get more
Am I on the right path
Will I ever be sure?

Cause I've been praying
for the day in any way
Praying for the day
When I can say
Oooooohh...I'm only Human
Only Human

The first time I say it,
I'll probably cry.
But soon I will
Like a regular guy

Cause I've got a heart
And I've got a soul
And I've got a head start
Yeah, I'm on a roll

And I've been praying
Praying!
(praying for the day when I can say)

Oooooh.....I'm only human
(only human)
Just a human
(only human)
I'm only human
(only Human)
A simple Man.

I don't remember the details of the show, just the name, the machine that sucks the ink out of books and the effect it had on my development. I still wet the bed for days after seeing a bald goth.

[Cerys]

You have to ask yourself what casting meeting came up with that one....

Probably the same one that are currently working on this....

Nooooooo!  Heresy! Blasphemy! etc.

[Dr David V]

Christ, I remember The Ink Thief! That was a brilliant show, O'Brien was great in it I recall. I think it was later than 1993 though, because I remember seeing it in our current house, which I moved into in 1994. Possibly 95/96 though?

Oh, and what about Bad Influence, or Gamesmaster for kids? That was really good, and I seem to remember once they had Fred Dineage as that ugly hacker guy who gives out all the cheats. Brilliant stuff.

[dan dirty ape]

Remember Richard O'Brien playing Gulnar, an evil wizard in 'Robin Of Sherwood'? He scared the living shit out of me in that.

[imitationleather]

What was that kids' show that Sylvester McCoy presented? I can't remember anything other than that because it was on at that stage in my youth where nothing made sense... Also known as "my teenage years!"

Hehehehe, I'm on fire today. Anyway, does anyone remember it? I think it was on in 1992/3.

[twatloops]

I mentioned them earlier, then found this little flash thingy which is based on the boobahs. Be afraid. The thing that disturbs me the most is the noise they make, it sounds like they are being stamped on very hard.

That flash thing's great!  Top dj remixing session on the music page.

[Rubbish Monkey]

I (still) like Roobarb and Custard all the old episodes are on the BBC site, which is nice They are making Roobarb and Custard too Here's a taste from the offical site.. www.roobarbandcustard.co.uk/
Thundercats is still a favourite of mine. Where's the DVD?

[levitica]

Boobah - the Teletubbies for people who can't understand the Teletubbies. There appears to be no discernable plot to speak of, it's just a load of coloured blobs prancing around making soft noises to ambient music, with interspersed footage of over-enthusiastic actors being crap. Ideal if you're on LSD or you're under 1. Oh, and it's made by GMTV, so it's evil.

That scares me so much.

I hate button moon.  I do like the Rosey and Jim.  And postman pat.

[no_offenc]

Ah, the Ink Thief was fucking boss.

Something that's been troubling me for a while......does ANYBODY AT ALL remember a gameshow on CBBC from the very early 90s (or late 80s) called, I think, "Knock Knock Who's There"?  All I remember is it involved pelican crossings and binbags getting thrown at kids.  I remember the theme tune, but nobody seems to remember it at all, and I doubt I dreamed it up because the themetune has drums and synths in it, as well as people shouting "Knock knock?  Who's there?!?" over the top.

No?

[Frinky]

I do like the Rosey and Jim.  And postman pat.

When I was a nipper I saw Rosey and Jim being filmed in my local Tesco... it was the oddest thing, people lying on thier backs controlling these puppets with all the lights and stuff. The weird thing was, people were staring at the puppets, not the puppeteers, giving them the same regard as a real person, which for some reason really, really freaked me out, and it's stuck with me to that day.

[5 Knuckle Shuffle]

For no_offenc The only one I could find that was relatively close to your description was this, but I suspect that it's not.

TX (1985)
ITV

VERY EIGHTIES kiddie miscellany with TONY SLATTERY, ALISON DOWLING and First Post's SUE ROBBIE. Mainly remembered for game show segment KNOCK YOUR BLOCK OFF, about which Simon Wagstaff will tell us more..."KYBO was presented by STEVE BLACKNELL, famous(?) for interviewing Phil Collins on Concorde whilst flying from London to Philadelphia for Live Aid. I know this because I was a contestant on the aforementioned gameshow. The point was to knock out three blocks of the same colour on your own wall to win a prize, without letting the Gold Blocks hit the floor, at the same time trying to knock the Gold Blocks off your opponents wall via a "Bean Bag Attack". The teams consisted of a Brains (answered the questions) and a Bodger (brick-bodger/bean-bag thrower). KYBO was made by Central in their Nottingham studios. We were given a KYBO plastic lunchbox and flask. They turned out to be a Snoopy Lunchbox and Flask with a KYBO sticker. Cheap bastards."

[imitationleather]

Does anyone remember that pre-SM:TV Saturday morning show presented by Mark Speight? It was fucking dire. Anyway, I saw it being filmed once in central London, but rather bizarrely they were doing it infront of a backdrop so it looked like they were still in the studio.

Talking of Saturday mornings on ITV, anyone recall Diggit? It used to be presented by precocious mockney tweenagers.

[no_offenc]

Does anyone remember that pre-SM:TV Saturday morning show presented by Mark Speight? It was fucking dire. Anyway, I saw it being filmed once in central London, but rather bizarrely they were doing it infront of a backdrop so it looked like they were still in the studio..

Scratchy & Co.?

Yerse.  It got better when it changed from the Max Headroom oddness to the live-action studio thing.  Not much better, but still.

[imitationleather]

no_offenc, you seem to be a bit of a mid-90s kids' TV expert. So, what was the name of that CITV sitcom about the fast food restaurant? I remember really liking it, but no doubt it was bollocks.

[monkhouse terror]

Talking of Saturday mornings on ITV, anyone recall Diggit? It used to be presented by precocious mockney tweenagers.

Even though I was only about 12 at the time, and he was a bit older, I would have fucking twatted that shit if I'd ever met him. And he was always letching over that older bird who was obviously ever-so-slightly disgusted by him.

[imitationleather]

Who was he?! I always found Diggit far far too confusing to watch, as well as it being on really early and chock-full of dodgy cartoons.

The only thing I don't like about Dick and Dom in da Bungalow is that nearly an hour of it is cartoons. I've never liked cartoons, I just can't see the appeal of them, and as you might expect, their appeal has lessened even more over the years.

[5 Knuckle Shuffle]

no_offenc, you seem to be a bit of a mid-90s kids' TV expert. So, what was the name of that CITV sitcom about the fast food restaurant? I remember really liking it, but no doubt it was bollocks.

I think it was called Spatz

http://hometown.aol.co.uk/neelds/Spatz.htm

[monkhouse terror]

Who was he?! I always found Diggit far far too confusing to watch, as well as it being on really early and chock-full of dodgy cartoons.

The lead 'mockney twat' who presented it. I still remember him, only because I took such a dislike to his face. I didn't really watch it, I just remember that kid and nothing else. I'm like sooooo aggressive.

[imitationleather]

Yes, I know you meant him, it was a rhetorical question. It was so funny how he was such a wideboy even at his tender age. I seem to remember him wearing a gold chain and having a gelled centre parting, which all the Essex boys had in the mid-90s.

I wonder what he does these days.