And Round the Twist!
"have you ever, ever felt like this?"
Was just about to say that! Also Press Gang and Johnny Briggs.
Gameshows: Take It Or Leave It, Chain Letters, Turnabout. It bombed in the ratings and with the critics, but I really liked The Colour Of Money.
The Two Of Us was always a cut above the other sitcoms, I thought. I also liked Some Mothers Do 'Ave 'Em, but I doubt it would work now. In fact, thinking about it, it could be quite awkward as, whilst we all just saw Frank as a loveable idiot, his character did exhibit a lot of signs of what would now be identified as learning difficulties.
Central Weekend Live - I used to absolutely love that! It was a bit like Jeremy Kyle, but without the nastiness and exploitation. They would cover a serious, often traumatic, issue and then, after the break, go on to something utterly silly. I remember they had a bonkers couple once who liked to live as gnomes. They had them dressed up and sitting on toadstools in the studio and people were far more angry about their harmless hobby than any of the serious issues preceding their section!
Going for Gold with Henry Kelly was ace...but it would be interesting to see whether it could even happen after Brexit.
I loved that, but I always thought it was unfairly weighted in favour of the British and Irish contestants, though; even though most of the contestants had flawless English, the added pressure of the buzzer and the clock when it wasn't their native language.
I seem to remember reading that they were going to bring back Jim'll fix It with Jimmy Carr - probably before it all hit the fan about JS. For all of his acerbic manner on his usual programmes aimed at adults, on the occasion when I've seen Jimmy Carr relating to children on the telly, he's really kind and gentle with them. I think the basic premise could work well, but everything else would have to be completely different - and deliberately NOT presented by somebody called Jim/Jimmy/James. They could call it 'I Wish' or 'My Dream Come True' or something like that, maybe have a small panel of presenters instead of just one and make it about the format rather than the personality. They could even have it in the run-up to Christmas and make it much more Santa than JS.
Not for me Only Fools & Horses. It was great, but it went on far too long. I actively avoid repeats of it now because I just got so sick of it. However, the very underrated Dear John, also written by John Sullivan - now I'd gladly see that come back.
As for That's Life. It was my absolute favourite programme when it was on, and the basic format of it could work, but absolutely not with the same main presenter. I completely went off her when it came to light that she had, shall we say, had connections with somebody I've already mentioned.
I don't think This Is Your Life would work now, in the days of the internet. I heard that they used to dig up all sorts of info about their subjects and carefully winnow it down to remove all of the negative bits - no getting away with that now! I suppose we sort of have something along the same lines (albeit without the surprise element) with Who Do You Think You Are.