Beadle's About. OMG how did we laugh at this?

[Sparklingbrook]

It's currently on an obscure Sky Channel and i remember thinking it was hilarious.
Can you imagine it being made now?

Hated Beadle’s About and House Party.
Loved Dennis Pennis though. It seemed different because he was puncturing the over inflated egos of actors. the reason they fell for it was largely because they didn’t even notice he was a caricature of a Showbiz Reporter, due to their heads being stuck so far up their own backsides.

I remember it but I can't remember if it was funny. As I was young and innocent, I didn't understand that the 'bleeps' were to cover up swear words.

I remember the first Reality show on my radar was Maureen and Driving School, and now look how many there are. I do think that appetitie for that sort of stuff is waning slightly. X Factor and BGT etc.

@Saucery

Hated Beadle’s About and House Party. Loved Dennis Pennis though. It seemed different because he was puncturing the over inflated egos of actors. the reason they fell for it was largely because they didn’t even notice he was a caricature of a Showbiz Reporter, due to their heads being stuck so far up their own backsides.

I have never been able to watch Dennis Pennis. I get that he was taking the piss out of big celebrities but he was such an unlikeable character with it and thought he was so clever. Well whoever the actor was that played him.

There was so much terrible TV in the 80s and 90s. To think that millions of people tuned in every Saturday teatime to watch Noel's frigging House Party. Even just a clip of that trash makes me wince.

There were a lot fewer channels / satellite TV then so much less to choose from (hence 'Sod it, shall we see what's in the video shop?'). People were pretty much at the mercy of the channels & planners. Awful when you think of it now.

@Sparklingbrook

There's so much that hasn't aged well on the TV. DH has been watching some old sit coms that I remembered as funny but they aren't or never were, I don't know really.

Butterflies is quite upsetting to watch now. as a child I thought it was funny but now I can see that Ria was probably clinically depressed.

I used to love One Foot in the Grave thought it was hilarious but doesn't as much of a smile these days. Allo Allo also isn't funny as I remember. Although the candle with the handle, the drug in the jug, the pill in the till scene is still brilliant.

I watched it but didn't like the ones where people were made to get angry. Of course people get angry when their garden gets dug up for a new bus stop! There's nothing odd or funny about that.
The one I always remember was a young woman starting a new job and her boss's toupe kept slipping. The toupe was hilarious and so was she, desperately trying to keep a straight face and be professional. I wonder if it would be as funny today!
Not the Nine O'Clock News did a brilliant spoof on Beadle. Must see if it's on YouTube.

@iklboo

There was so much terrible TV in the 80s and 90s. To think that millions of people tuned in every Saturday teatime to watch Noel's frigging House Party. Even just a clip of that trash makes me wince.

There were a lot fewer channels / satellite TV then so much less to choose from (hence 'Sod it, shall we see what's in the video shop?'). People were pretty much at the mercy of the channels & planners. Awful when you think of it now.

That's true, people were at the mercy of 6 channels of whatever it was. But to think that Mr Blobby and his molesting ways became a popstar too, just by wobbling about singing 'Blobby, Blobby, Blobbyyyyyyyyy'. Maybe even more than once?

Wot were people thinking?!

I used to hate it. My dad thought it was funny, he's always had an unpleasant sense of humour.

Noels house party used to freak me out (I was a child) when it got to the part where the camera would switch on to someone’s living room and they had no idea they were being filmed. I would always panic that someone had done it to our house. The thought that someone could be in our home without us knowing. Obviously in reality the persons partner or whatever had arranged it but as a child I didn’t know that.

I hated the show where the guy bellowed into his giant sized mobile phone in a quiet place.

What was the actual point? Did anyone in those locations think it was anything other than an obvious set-up?

@MaryAndGerryLivingInDerry

Noels house party used to freak me out (I was a child) when it got to the part where the camera would switch on to someone’s living room and they had no idea they were being filmed. I would always panic that someone had done it to our house. The thought that someone could be in our home without us knowing. Obviously in reality the persons partner or whatever had arranged it but as a child I didn’t know that.

Oh yes I remember that. There was one show (might have been HP or maybe SNT) where they removed someone's whole bedroom and built it in the studio. That must have been with agreement from family members but I would have been mortified.

Pretty bad genre, but an honourable mention for Trigger Happy TV.

French for hooligans

m.youtube.com/watch?v=okHMgiPZmTQ

One millionth sex shop customer

m.youtube.com/watch?v=u-KY1CbP2M0

@Justleaveitblankthen

I hated the show where the guy bellowed into his giant sized mobile phone in a quiet place.

What was the actual point? Did anyone in those locations think it was anything other than an obvious set-up?

Dom Jolly! Urgh. I hated that show. The adverts for it were bad enough.

You definitely have to be a certain type of stupid to like it as I did.

The Dennis Pennis actor has popped up in a few things just lately. Can't remember his name but he was in The Stranger on Netflix & he's the new pathologist on Vera.
The 80s & 90s were very different times, it all seemed so funny back then but certainly not now!

Dennis Pennis=Paul Kaye

It was essential family viewing in our house. My dad has a very similar (slightly cruel) sense of humour and found it utterly hilarious. One prank that sticks in my mind was when this man was on a Dover/Calais car ferry. He parked his car on the car deck then went upstairs.
Beadles team drove his car up into the back of a van parked in front of it and moved all the other cars in that row up a space so to all intents and purposes the car had quite literally disappeared.
Bloke comes back to the car deck as they dock in Calais and of course he can’t find his car. He can’t get his head round how it could vanish cross channel whilst hemmed in by all these other cars! That was quite funny IIRC!!

Dennis Pennis was great. I loved him asking Demi Moore whether, if it was essential to the plot and tastefully done, she would consider keeping her clothes on in a movie. Her Ladyship was Not Amused.

He also mentioned to Mel Gibson that his last movie was playing a long-haired barbarian and was he worried, as an Australian, he'd be typecast?

Childish but so funny.

I remember Hugh Grant, Pierce Brosnan and Cher were completely good-natured about his red carpet roastings, and my esteem for them shot up about 3838374%.

I couldn't stand the second hand embarrassment I'd feel when watching Dennis Pennis, even if the person he was taking the piss out of was a twat.

You've Been Framed was another one. It's just videos of people hurting themselves! Makes me cringe.

YBF is very much still a thing. Dc watch it and they are still advertising for new videos

I would imagine Dennis Pennis would not gain access to the celebrities these days.

@StrychnineInTheSandwiches

I couldn't stand the second hand embarrassment I'd feel when watching Dennis Pennis, even if the person he was taking the piss out of was a twat.

Same here.

I remember the episode with the aliens landing in the person's garden. It was so cruel because the person was SO happy and amazed. And then it was all fake. They were clearly so disappointed but had to pretend to be amused. It made me cry 😭

Horrible!

I thought it was hilarious 😳😳