TVGoHome - remember that?

[Barry Admin]

It just popped into my head there, as a relic of the old internet.

A few questions: do you think it would succeed these days? As a standalone website it seems archaic as fuck. The idea of a TV guide parody is odd too, now.

Did you like it at the time?

[Small Potatoes]

I loved it at the time. still have the book, although admittedly the humour has aged a bit. Less said about the TV adaptation the better, mind.

[MigraineBoy]

I thought it was great - I think Select magazine may have tipped me off to it in their monthly internet round-up.

[king_tubby]

Yep, loved it at the time and I still have the book somewhere. The viciousness of 'Cunt' was a joy, and a big reason I didn't think Nathan Barley was much cop was because the viciousness was so diluted.

Bits from the book still pop in to my head and make me laugh. 'foetid mimsy' for example. Or the fat man what done a guff.

[Alberon]

The TV Guide format is obviously from a bygone era, as is individual websites for the most part.

These days it'd probably tweeted in mocked-up Netflix listings or something.

It was monumentally good though, as was the book of it.

[shiftwork2]

Loved it.  Even now, every time I see Mick Hucknall on the telly I think about those pink pancakes.

[Dr Marbles]

I loved it as well - reading back through a few of them I think it actually holds up pretty well as a harbinger of the future. Brexit Britain is pretty much Daily Mail Island come to pass, and some of the game shows are not a million miles away from some of the dreck on TV today - that clip that went round earlier this week of the dating show where the rejected girl is dropped through a trap door, for example.

Something which always endeared it to me was the fact that the layout was *exactly* like the real Radio Times (even the 'Subtitles: 888'). This gave it a real 'this is proper stuff, not the first thing that fell out of our heads' vibe.

[phantom_power]

The only thing that really sticks in my mind from the website is Mick Hucknall's Pink Pancakes. Make of that what you will

Oh, and Wanking for Coins, ditto

[Blumf]

Had the book, but looks like I've lost it. Not happy.

The viciousness of 'Cunt' was a joy, and a big reason I didn't think Nathan Barley was much cop was because the viciousness was so diluted.

Yes, this 100%. Nathan Barley was too little, too late.

The TV Guide format is obviously from a bygone era, as is individual websites for the most part.

These days it'd probably tweeted in mocked-up Netflix listings or something.

https://liartownusa.com/tag/netflix/ (and most of these are from half a decade ago)

A particular favourite:
https://liartownusa.com/marvels-dour-hallway-punch-up-episode-0101-dark/

[Ignatius_S]

I think one of the biggest challenges doing it  (or something similar) now - and IIRC, this was a reason that Brooker cited for calling time - is the difficulty of satirising television shows in this way; as time went on, actual shows were along the lines of the fake ones listed. If something is beyond parody, how can it be satirised? Or is there any point.

Round-ups of TV to watch are very much a thing, even though listings publications aren't as much as they are, and these are something that could be sent-up. However, I suspect there is probably more mileage in satirising the way they are written, rather than programming itself.

Personally, I liked TVGoHome a lot - there were some listings that I particularly enjoyed, but overall it was written to very nice standard. It's also something that I suspect people think is simple to do, but is actually hard to do well.

[dr beat]

Something which always endeared it to me was the fact that the layout was *exactly* like the real Radio Times (even the 'Subtitles: 888'). This gave it a real 'this is proper stuff, not the first thing that fell out of our heads' vibe.

I always liked the thought given to which actors were cast in the listings. 

I still have my first edition somewhere, I believe its worth a bit now?

[Cuellar]

Loved it as a kid. I remember it was one of the few naughty websites you could see at school because it was just an image file, there was no actual text for any censors to scan.

[Rizla]

As a relative latecomer to the internet I think it was one of the first websites I ever really saw, that and rotten.com. The speculation and eventual reveal of authorship was highly intriguing at the time. Nicky Campbell's Swimming With Cats and Brass Head Hilltop Bergerac were my faves. Cunt was really something special for the time, with "the Kilroy team would like to hear from you" bits.

Hallo Hugh.

[Video Game Fan 2000]

Best thing he ever did. So funny I could barely sit at my desk when I read it.

"The Nazis : A Growing Sense of Grudging Admiration"

[QDRPHNC]

I still have the book somewhere. I'm also pretty certain that one of the Cunt entries alludes specifically to something of mine, but I have only circumstantial evidence of this.

One that sticks in my head is the (I think) Seven Tasks of One-Armed One-Legged Hercules: Standing on a hammock trying to open a bag of crisps.

[Norton Canes]

Imperious. I mean, just pick one at random. What's not perfect?

[BeardFaceMan]

Did Chris Morris contribute to this? I have a vague notion of him doing some Cunt columns but I might just be confusing that with Nathan Barley.

[Barry Admin]

Baynham contributed too.

[McChesney Duntz]

He (CM) did. One of his contributions went like this:

"11.39 (deckbang). A crack-crazed Yardie sprays an Uzi round the top deck of a number 23 bus; as the mortally-wounded passengers writhe in the blood, smoke, dribble and spilt bags, their moments of eye contact provide cues for fantasy porn vignettes in which they have sex with the person whose dying face they've just glimpsed. Music by Goldfrapp."

[Johnny Yesno]

Yep, loved it at the time and I still have the book somewhere. The viciousness of 'Cunt' was a joy, and a big reason I didn't think Nathan Barley was much cop was because the viciousness was so diluted.

I still have the book too. In Nathan Barley, Jonatton Yeah? turned out to be more like how I imagined the Barley in Cunt to be than Barley himself.

[poodlefaker]

Seem to remember TVGoHome arrived just as my open-mouthed admiration for The Onion was wearing  off a bit.

[sevendaughters]

some of the jokes wouldn't be considered acceptable these days I guess, like 22.30 WHO SAID THAT? Game show with four hosts and two schizophrenic guests

[Video Game Fan 2000]

Cheggers Plays God and Daily Mail Island

[Elderly Sumo Prophecy]

I liked the little Viz-esque fake adverts. This one spoke to me.

[Video Game Fan 2000]

"look, we don't mind if you have sex with the dog"

[Catalogue Trousers]

The Kilroy team would like to speak to you.

Oh, and I don't know what Brooker had/has personally against Ralph Fiennes, but the Widdleplop Farm trilogy is a work of childish, spiteful comedy genius.

[Small Man Big Horse]

Weirdly I've seen the book in two different charity shops in the past month, whereas beforehand I hadn't seen it for years. I bought one copy for my Sister's birthday too and read a few bits and it still made me laugh, though I had no urge to get the second copy for myself and I can't explain why.

[Neville Chamberlain]

God, I loved TVGo Home. I honestly think I hadn't laughed as long and as hard at anything as I had before I encountered TVGoHome way back in, what, the mid 2000s? The book's been sitting on my shelf right under my nose for years. Think I'll take a look at it again this weekend.

[Cuellar]

I liked the little Viz-esque fake adverts. This one spoke to me.

I think in that same one there was something like 'a weekend of nihilistic shouting in a cave in Wales' and simply 'PLEASE come to Dunstable' both of which have stuck with me.

[shiftwork2]

I honestly think I hadn't laughed as long and as hard at anything as I had before I encountered TVGoHome way back in, what, the mid 2000s?

A few years earlier than that, wasn't it?