A History of Television in 100 Programmes

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Phil Norman. A History of Television in 100 Programmes

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INTRODUCTION

TELE-CRIME (1938–9) BBC. The original TV drama series

COOKERY (1946–51) BBC. The first celebrity chef

CAVALCADE OF STARS (1949–52) DuMont (Drugstore Television) Vaudeville begets the sitcom

CRUSADER RABBIT (1950–1) NBC (Television Arts Productions) TV’s first bespoke cartoon

THE BURNS AND ALLEN SHOW (1950–8) CBS. Still in its infancy, the sitcom goes postmodern

THE ERNIE KOVACS SHOW (1952–61) DuMont/NBC/ABC. TV’s visual gag pioneer

THE PHILCO-GOODYEAR TELEVISION PLAYHOUSE: MARTY (1953) NBC (Showcase) TV drama mines the mundane

SMALL TIME (1955–66) ITV (Associated-Rediffusion) Giants of children’s television assemble

THE PHIL SILVERS SHOW (1955–9) CBS. Sitcom comes of age

A SHOW CALLED FRED (1956) ITV (Associated-Rediffusion) Television comedy explodes

MY WILDEST DREAM (1956–7) ITV (Granada) The comedy panel show outstays its welcome

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS (1956–78) ITV (Associated-Rediffusion/ABC/Thames) The talent show girdles the globe

THE SINGING RINGING TREE (1957) BBC1 (DEFA) The garish Euro-fable that haunted a generation

SIX-FIVE SPECIAL (1957–8) BBC. TV’s first rock ’n’ roll smash hit

THE STRANGE WORLD OF GURNEY SLADE (1960) ITV (ATV) The sitcom eats itself

ARMCHAIR THEATRE: A NIGHT OUT (1960) ITV (ABC) The theatrical revolution reaches the front room

HANCOCK: THE BEDSITTER (1961) BBC. One man, one room, twenty-five minutes – comedy stripped bare

KINGSLEY AMIS GOES POP (1962) ITV (Associated-Rediffusion) TV’s introduces pop to high culture

THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS (1962–3) BBC. The establishment-shaking show that used the word ‘bum’ a lot

THE SUNDAY-NIGHT PLAY: A SUITABLE CASE FOR TREATMENT (1962) BBC. Drama drops out

THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JOHNNY CARSON (1962–92) NBC. The king of chat show kings

WORLD IN ACTION (1963–98) ITV (Granada) Current affairs go commando

PLAY SCHOOL (1964–88) BBC2. The BBC loosens its old pre-school tie

CROSSROADS (1964–88) ITV (ATV/Central) ‘Soap’ becomes a four-letter word

LE MANÈGE ENCHANTÉ (1964–1971) THE MAGIC ROUNDABOUT (1965–1977) ORTF/BBC One (Danot Films/BBC) The original cult children’s programme

WORLD OF SPORT (1965–85) ITV (ABC/LWT) The sports magazine that preached the three Rs: racing, wrestling, results

TALKING TO A STRANGER (1966) BBC Two. Television’s ‘first masterpiece’

THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS COMEDY HOUR (1967–9) CBS (Comedic Productions) Variety drops out

THE PRISONER: FALL OUT (1968) ITV (ITC/Everyman Films) TV collapses under the weight of its own splendid folly

IF THERE WEREN’T ANY BLACKS, YOU’D HAVE TO INVENT THEM (1968, 1973) ITV (LWT) Alf Garnett’s creator takes the race issue to its absurd conclusion

SESAME STREET (1969–) WNET/PBS (Children’s Television Workshop) The awakening of public service broadcasting produces monsters

THE OWL SERVICE (1969) ITV (Granada) Children’s drama reaches a whole new plane

NATIONWIDE (1969–83) BBC One. Television news lightens up – and never quite comes back down again

THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW (1970–7) CBS (MTM Enterprises) Women liberate the sitcom – a bit

MISS WORLD (1970) BBC One. The year the beauty contest fell apart as the world watched

COLUMBO (1971–8/1989–2003) NBC/ABC. A shabby revolution in crime

THE LARGEST THEATRE IN THE WORLD: THE RAINBIRDS (1971) BBC One. Drama goes off the rails

DUEL (1971) ABC (Universal Television) The TV movie beats the big screen

THE SPECIAL LONDON BRIDGE SPECIAL (1972) NBC/BBC One (Winters Hollywood) Big time variety makes a transatlantic trip – by bus

UN, DOS, TRES … (1972–2004) TVE1. TV’s first political allegory with cash prizes

INIGO PIPKIN/PIPKINS (1973–81) ITV (ATV) The puppet show that pulled strings but no punches

THE INDOOR LEAGUE (1973–8) ITV (Yorkshire) TV sport in its cups

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE LIKELY LADS? (1973–4) BBC One. The sitcom sequel that outdid its original

THRILLER (1973–6) ITV/ABC (ATV) The deluxe crime anthology

TISWAS (1974–82) ITV (ATV) Television gets the kids right

DON’T ASK ME (1974–8) ITV (Yorkshire) TV science goes populist in a big way

SUPERSONIC (1975–7) ITV (Thames) The glitter-strewn apotheosis of pop TV

THE THRILLA IN MANILA (1974) HBO (United Artists-Columbia) The dawn of pay-per-view sport

THE NORMAN GUNSTON SHOW (1975–9) ABC/ Seven/ BBC Two. The spoof interviewer arrives in the form of a little Aussie bleeder

PLAY FOR TODAY: DOUBLE DARE (1976) BBC One. Dennis Potter writes himself into a corner

PAULINE’S QUIRKES (1976) ITV (Thames) The foul-mouthed teatime scandal that pre-dated the Sex Pistols

I, CLAUDIUS (1976) BBC Two (BBC/London Films) The imperial phase of period drama

THE FALL AND RISE OF REGINALD PERRIN (1976–9) BBC One. The sitcom’s nervous breakdown

BBC NINE O’CLOCK NEWS (1976) BBC One. The year when information went showbiz

BATTLE OF THE NETWORK STARS (1976–88) STAR GAMES (1978–80) ABC/ITV (Trans World International) Celebrities start to be celebrated for what they can’t do as much as for what they can

ROCK FOLLIES (1976–7) ITV (Thames) A depression musical for the 1970s

TRANS AMERICA ULTRA QUIZ (1977–92) ULTRA QUIZ (1983–5) NTV/ ITV (TVS) The West laughs at those crazy masochistic Japs, then has a go itself

SOAP (1977–81) ABC (Witt/Thomas/Harris) The troughs of drama become peaks of comedy

ROOTS: THE SAGA OF AN AMERICAN FAMILY (1977) ABC (David L. Wolper) Network television’s black history week

LEAPFROG (1978–9) ITV (ATV) Educational programming goes in at the avant-garde deep end

THE BBC TELEVISION SHAKESPEARE (1978–85) BBC Two/PBS (BBC/WNET/Time-Life) The last hurrah of prestige single plays

CONNECTIONS (1978) BBC One/PBS (BBC/Time Life Films) The blockbuster science documentary grows too rich for many people’s blood

BLANKETY BLANK (1979-90) BBC One. The little game show that couldn’t

LIFE ON EARTH (1979) BBC Two (BBC/Warner Brothers/Reiner Moritz) The apex of the educational blockbuster

MINDER (1979–94) ITV (Euston Films) The comedy drama becomes a nice little earner

NOW GET OUT OF THAT (1981–5) BBC One. Personal incompetence becomes a spectator sport

ARTEMIS 81 (1981) BBC One. Christmas holiday viewing doesn’t get tougher than this

HILL STREET BLUES (1981–7) NBC (MTM) The cop show disintegrates, and reassembles

THE OXFORD ROAD SHOW (1981–5) BBC Two. When ‘youth’ TV tried far too hard

JANE (1982–4) BBC Two. The apotheosis of television’s flagship special effect

BOYS FROM THE BLACKSTUFF (1982) BBC One. The North rises, again

ST ELSEWHERE (1982–8) NBC (MTM Enterprises) The chance encounter of realism and whimsy on an operating table

THE TUBE (1982–7) Channel Four (Tyne Tees Television) The music show that talked itself off the air

M*A*S*H: ‘GOODBYE, FAREWELL AND AMEN’ (1983) CBS (20th Century Fox Television) The sitcom takes its final bow seriously

SATURDAY NIGHT AFFAIRS (1984) BBC One. In which television is made by sticking some stars in a room, and then doing nothing

THREADS (1984) BBC Two. The bleakest television programme ever made

EVER DECREASING CIRCLES (1984–9) BBC One. The sitcom becomes, in the best sense of the word, pathetic

HEIMAT: EINE DEUTSCHE CHRONIK (1984) WDR/SFB (Edgar Reitz Film) The TV novel reaches epic proportions

MOONLIGHTING (1985–9) ABC (ABC Circle Films) The quirk factor goes through the roof

POB’S PROGRAMME (1985–7) Channel Four (Ragdoll) The threadbare origins of a children’s television empire

THE MAX HEADROOM SHOW (1985–7) Channel Four/HBO (Chrysalis Visual Programming) Enter the pop video, exit the pop presenter

A VERY PECULIAR PRACTICE (1986–8) BBC Two. Allegory goes peak time

THE COMIC STRIP PRESENTS … PRIVATE ENTERPRISE (1986) Channel Four (Comic Strip/Michael White Productions) TV gives alternative comedy carte blanche

NIGHT NETWORK (1987–9) LWT (Night Network Productions) British television finally gets to stay up late

MAHABHARAT (1988–90) Doordarshan (BR Films) All-singing, all-dancing, all-retina-burning dramatisation of the Indian epic poem

DEF II (1988–94) BBC Two. The last stand of ‘youth’ TV

TWIN PEAKS (1990–1) ABC (Lynch/Frost Productions) The cult blockbuster takes America

ABROAD IN BRITAIN (1990) BBC Two. The arts documentary becomes art itself

THE REAL WORLD (1992–) MTV (Bunim/Murray Productions) Reality television takes off

COME ON DOWN AND OUT (1993) Channel Four (Kudos Productions) Television’s most righteously cool channel starts confusing ends with means

FRASIER (1993–2004) NBC (Grub Street/Paramount) Highbrow America in all its glorious stupidity

OUR FRIENDS IN THE NORTH (1996) BBC Two. Drama thinks big

THIS MORNING WITH RICHARD NOT JUDY (1998–9) BBC Two. Existential satire and blasphemy finally reach Sunday afternoons

THE SOPRANOS (1999–2007) HBO (Chase Films/Brad Grey Television) US drama finally reaches critical mass

PEOPLE LIKE US (1999–2001) BBC Two. The mockumentary at its peak

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (2004–9) Sci Fi (NBC Universal) Big, dumb science fiction smartens itself up

FORBRYDELSEN (2007–12) DR1 (Danmarks Radio) European drama finally takes on the world

APPLE ACTION NEWS (2009–) Apple Daily/YouTube (Next Media Ltd.) The slightly silly dawn of virtual journalism

LOUIE (2010–) FX (Pig Newton Inc) Comedy reaches new heights of philosophical rigour and infantile seediness

HOUSE OF CARDS (2013–) Netflix (Media Rights Capital/Panic Pictures) Television outgrows the television set

ENDNOTES

About the Author

Also by Phil Norman:

About the Publisher

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I, Claudius (1976)

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