American filler on ITV (and to a lesser extent the Beeb and C4)

[George White]

I am not talking about dramas or US action shows per se, but stuff like Cinemattractions, Donahue, America's Top Ten, Christmas filler like the Stunt Awards with Lee Majors, documentaries like Classic Creatures: Return of the Jedi, Making of Star Wars, Man, Myth and Titans with Ray Harryhausen, THe Ultimate Stuntman - A Tribute to Dar Robinson, and not American but in the same mould - Ozploitation stunt docuemntary/Al Needham favourite Dangerfreaks...

[Glebe]

the Stunt Awards with Lee Majors

Actually I loved those making of Star Wars kinda docs as a kid. They'd show people behind the scenes building things and getting into costumes while the incidental music would be the ewok flute theme or summit.

[curiousoranges]

The Planets Funniest Animals.

[Magnum Valentino]

Actually I loved those making of Star Wars kinda docs as a kid. They'd show people behind the scenes building things and getting into costumes while the incidental music would be the ewok flute theme or summit.

Yeah those are great, think I must have seen them on the blu ray releases. I love that older style of making-of with loads of onset footage.

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

Sheriff John Bunnell, with his fucking stupid voice and his fucking stupid American face.

[George White]

Discovered that Leonard Nimoy's In Search Of... was only shown on ATV. Similarly, David Wolper's expensive mock-doc anthology fpr CBS Appointment with Destiny was only shown on STV IIRC

[thr0b]

The Planets Funniest Animals.

Sheriff John Bunnell

(Retired)

[Ballad of Ballard Berkley]

If you came of pub-going age in Scotland in the '90s, Sheriff John Bunnell (retired) is second only to the eternally thirsty Tom Weir in the pantheon of after midnight TV oddballs.

[beanheadmcginty]

"Due to the graphic nature of this programme, viewer discretion is advised"

[Glebe]

"Due to the graphic nature of this programme, viewer discretion is advised"

Some of those Star Wars specials were quite shocking.

[George White]

I am not talking about dramas or US action shows per se, but stuff like Cinemattractions, Donahue, America's Top Ten, Christmas filler like the Stunt Awards with Lee Majors, documentaries like CBS' Classic Creatures: Return of the Jedi, ABC's Making of Star Wars, Man, Myth and Titans with Ray Harryhausen, CBS' ET and Friends, ABC's THe Ultimate Stuntman - A Tribute to Dar Robinson, and not American but in the same mould - Ozploitation stunt docuemntary/Al Needham favourite Dangerfreaks...

WPIX's Battle of the Monster Trucks starring Claude Akins showed up on ITV's 1985 Christmas schedule.

CBS' Kenny and Dolly -  A Christmas to Remember showed up on the BBC.
George White's review published on Letterboxd:
Features a whole ludicrous playlet/music video with Kenny as a Yank in the RCAF and Dolly as a stranded showgirl turned pub singer in Bob Giraldi's idea of a 40s English pub/USO club during the Blitz. Seeing Big Ken in an RAF uniform is ludicrous.
Anthony LaPaglia's 'English flyer' puts the Ocker in the Cockernee.

[Rich Uncle Skeleton]

The Planets Filthiest Animals

[George White]

The BBC were still showing US variety tat in the 80s, e.g. the Mandrell Sisters.

[George White]

Discovered an obscure Canadian show from the early 70s used as BBC TV filler - Paul Sills' Story Theatre - US improv stars doing fairytales- Richard Schaal, Alan Alda, Richard Libertini, Avery Schreiber, Paul Sand, Valerie Harper, Gabe Dell, Bob Dishy, Melinda Dillon, Severn Darden, Hamilton Camp.

Also another BBC import- the NBC Story of Stuart Little, narrated by Johnny Carson, aired as part of Tales from Overseas.
Also Joan Micklin Silver's the Fur Coat Club.

Also from a BBC yearbook:
' Salty:  American series about a boy and his seal; Babar The
Elephant: two American films narrated by Peter Ustinov;
American cartoons: Goober and The Ghost Chasers;
Devlin; Star Trek; Charlie Brown; Felix The Cat; These
Are The Days; Inch High Private High;  Keepers
of Wild Life: Canadian Natural history film; Circus of Los
Muchachos: Spanish documentary; Paddle to The Sea:
Canadian film documentary; Nikko. Boy of Greece:
French documentary; Yao: French serial about an African
boy who travels from Senegal to North Africa.'

Also, GO USA (an NBC documentary series shown on Children's BBC in the 70s).
And
"Avengers of the Reef,; Eye
to Eye with Wild Animals; Guided by
the Ne Ne;   Fur Coat Club;
Dan Gibson's Nature Family; 

[George White]

BBC stuff

HBO
Mr. Preble Gets Rid of his Wife (1986)

Borderline - stuff billed on RT as 'A ____ Production' as if saying they are an indie production for the BBC, regardless if they weren't.
ABC
John Wayne (1977 tribute, possibly some involvement judging from the RT billing)
Roots (1977 - merely a Wolper production)
Victory at Entebbe (1977 - 'a Wolper production')
Perry Como's French Canadian Christmas (1983)


NBC
Hans Brinker (1969 - a European coproduction for NBC, with a British cast headed by the Ask).
The London Bridge Special (1972 - merely a Winters/Rosen Special)
Perry Como's Christmas in Austria (1976 - coproduced with ORF)
The Red Hand Gang (1978)
Holocaust (1978 - billed merely as a Titus production, mainly UK cast, possibly involved in the NBC-BBC exchange)

CBS
The American West of John Ford (1971)
Perry Como's Christmas in Mexico (1975 - in association with Televisa)
Joey and Redhawk (1978 - CBS afternoon kids serial shown by the BBC)

[gilbertharding]

The Wonderful World of Disney every Bank Holiday Monday - packaged as 'a treat' (with links flown in by a local, topical host), but it never was.

Disney Time was also usually an utter swindle - it was never, ever a cartoon, but always a nature documentary with a shmaltzy, factually inaccurate voiceover.

[George White]

Also regularly billed as a Disney production in the RT like it was being made for the BBC (DISNEY TIME was, but I mean the useless TV miniseries).

[George White]

Looking through the 1987 book Syndicated Television, full of these.


�C4
American Caesar (1980)
Coral Jungle with Leonard Nimoy (1976)

ITV
The Roots of Rock 'n' Roll  (1980s)
�Dave Bell Specials - Thursday specials (Angel Death, Lori Jean Lloyd)
David Frost's Global Village (1978) - Scared straight
Audubon Wildlife Theatre
That's Hollywood with Tom Bosley
Chuck Connors' Thrillseekers (1972)
David Niven's World (1970s)
Little Vic (1980)
�Reader's Digest's I am Joe's Stomach/I am Joe's Lung (1970s)

Tales from the Darkside (1985, technically a British copro as the UK VHS releases initially had added intros by Patrick Macnee for the UK market)

Screensport
Exciting world of speed and beauty


RTE showed these American/canadian shows not shown in UK
Wizards and Warriors
The Unknown War
New Wilderness
Nightmare Classics
Blood and Honor
Supertrain
A Gift to Last
Wilson's Reward

[Keebleman]

The Wonderful World of Disney every Bank Holiday Monday - packaged as 'a treat' (with links flown in by a local, topical host), but it never was.

Disney Time was also usually an utter swindle - it was never, ever a cartoon, but always a nature documentary with a shmaltzy, factually inaccurate voiceover.

Other way around, no?  Disney Time was the Bank Holiday compilation of clips from the cartoons (which in the 70s could only be seen in cinemas) which was lifelessly linked by a random celeb, eg Lulu.

The Wonderful World of Disney was an hour long show which I remember being on at Sunday lunchtime or in the mornings during school holidays.  They were usually live action dramas, but if Tinkerbelle appeared during the title sequence it would be a cartoon, several shorts on a theme with linking material featuring Ludwig Von Drake.

[curiousoranges]

I rember when the BBC would regularly chuck on an old repeat of "Father Dowling Mysteries" on a weekday afternoon.

[Sebastian Cobb]

If you came of pub-going age in Scotland in the '90s, Sheriff John Bunnell (retired) is second only to the eternally thirsty Tom Weir in the pantheon of after midnight TV oddballs.

Let's not forget these lads.



I unironically love World's Wildest Police Videos and SJB's hyperbolic alliteration where all roads lead to THE SLAMMER.

[thr0b]

Always loved the Sherriff John Bunnell (Ret) parody from the BES. Spot-on.

[Senior Baiano]

There's an American Robot Wars type thing comes on ITV4 in the early evening after Minder, that sort of thing?

[jamiefairlie]

BBC stuff

HBO
Mr. Preble Gets Rid of his Wife (1986)

Borderline - stuff billed on RT as 'A ____ Production' as if saying they are an indie production for the BBC, regardless if they weren't.
ABC
John Wayne (1977 tribute, possibly some involvement judging from the RT billing)
Roots (1977 - merely a Wolper production)
Victory at Entebbe (1977 - 'a Wolper production')
Perry Como's French Canadian Christmas (1983)


NBC
Hans Brinker (1969 - a European coproduction for NBC, with a British cast headed by the Ask).
The London Bridge Special (1972 - merely a Winters/Rosen Special)
Perry Como's Christmas in Austria (1976 - coproduced with ORF)
The Red Hand Gang (1978)
Holocaust (1978 - billed merely as a Titus production, mainly UK cast, possibly involved in the NBC-BBC exchange)

CBS
The American West of John Ford (1971)
Perry Como's Christmas in Mexico (1975 - in association with Televisa)
Joey and Redhawk (1978 - CBS afternoon kids serial shown by the BBC)

"The Red Hand Gang (1978)
Holocaust (1978 "

That was one hell of a "very special episode" two-parter. Quite a controversial end to the series.

[gilbertharding]

Other way around, no?  Disney Time was the Bank Holiday compilation of clips from the cartoons (which in the 70s could only be seen in cinemas) which was lifelessly linked by a random celeb, eg Lulu.

The Wonderful World of Disney was an hour long show which I remember being on at Sunday lunchtime or in the mornings during school holidays.  They were usually live action dramas, but if Tinkerbelle appeared during the title sequence it would be a cartoon, several shorts on a theme with linking material featuring Ludwig Von Drake.

You're absolutely right - and I looked this up myself after I posted, but couldn't be bothered to correct it.

I also found a list of people who presented Disney Time - which I vaguely hoped might magically transport me back to Just After Tea Time on Whitsun Bank Holiday Monday 1978 (Penelope Keith, as it happens) ... but it didn't.

The highlight of Disney Time, every time, was the clip of one of the Herbie films. Or the bit in the Jungle Book with the ape.

[thr0b]

You're absolutely right - and I looked this up myself after I posted, but couldn't be bothered to correct it.

I also found a list of people who presented Disney Time - which I vaguely hoped might magically transport me back to Just After Tea Time on Whitsun Bank Holiday Monday 1978 (Penelope Keith, as it happens) ... but it didn't.

The highlight of Disney Time, every time, was the clip of one of the Herbie films. Or the bit in the Jungle Book with the ape.

Or the bit at the end, when it finished and disappeared until the end of the next half term.

[mippy]

Not American, but every so often C4 would show a short documentary about people using photobooths whenever they had space to fill. Never been able to find it online, but some of them were art students who turned up with a bag of costumes.

[Jasha]

Sheriff John Bunnell, with his fucking stupid voice and his fucking stupid American face.

Wasn't there a version of him but with a bushy white moustache or was it the same guy?

[jamiefairlie]

"I also found a list of people who presented Disney Time - which I vaguely hoped might magically transport me back to Just After Tea Time on Whitsun Bank Holiday Monday 1978 (Penelope Keith, as it happens) ... but it didn't."

Maybe not but you saying "Whitsun Bank Holiday Monday" certainly did for me. Do they have Whitsun any more?