Line #12 Recap/ITVInTheFaceS1E3FromHellToBreakfast


1	Franchise: Breakfast Television\
2	Companies: TV-AM
3
4	!!Provides examples of:
5	* AmazinglyEmbarrassingParents: Timmy Mallett's contribution to ''Itsy Bitsy Teenie Weenie Yellow Polkadot Bikini'' is likened to "your dad down the disco."
6	* CastFullOfWriters: The original "Famous Five" presenters weren't just the onscreen talent but shareholders and executive directors in the TV-AM company.
7	* ChannelHop (InUniverse):
8	** Angela Rippon ended up leaving her earlier job at Creator/TheBBC to set up TV-AM.
9	** Roland Rat eventually left TV-AM for his own SpinOff series on Creator/TheBBC.
10	* CuttingCorners:
11	** After the channel gave up on hard news, they scraped by with an extremely reduced news service consisting of not much more than a presenter reading out headlines against a single chromakey backdrop. They mostly managed with this until they got caught out by the 1984 bombing of the Brighton Grand Hotel, where they couldn't do much more to cover the event than shout questions at an on-location reporter calling from a phonebox in Brighton.
12	** Bruce Gyngell was known for being as tightfisted as he could possibly get away with. While this was able to keep the channel afloat when it had been anticipated that it would fail, this [[OutOfTheFryingPan backfired]] when the cost-cutting resulted in 220 technical staff declaring a 24-hour strike. Gyngell responded by [[BadBoss firing the strikers]] and stepping in to direct ''Good Morning Britain'' himself while drafting in the station's auxiliary staff such as receptionists and canteen workers to fill in the gaps in the crew.
13	* EatingTheEyeCandy: Harris acknowledges in the narration that he finds Anna Ford very attractive.
14	* ExcitedKidsShowHost: Timmy Mallett’s a type 2 on ''Wacaday''.
15	* TheEighties: The network serves as a tale of excess that typified the decade. A summing-up on this theme is delivered in a {{Montage}} soundtracked by the theme from ''Film/RequiemForADream.''
16	* ForgotToPayTheBill: Within seven weeks of going on air, the company was so strapped for cash that they received a final notice from the London Electricity Board. At another time, they ended up in debt to their local newsagent.
17	* HeAlsoDid (InUniverse): Prior to taking over from Peter Jay, Jonathan Aitken had worked for ITV before as a presenter on Yorkshire Television's ''Calendar''.
18	* {{Nepotism}}: As an MP, Jonathan Aitken was actually legally prohibited from running a TV station, so he was quickly replaced by his cousin, Timothy.
19	* NetworkDecay: TV-AM started out under David Frost with ''Good Morning Britain'' serving up hard news and discussion. In a little under a decade, it gradually became a vehicle for cheap celebrity gossip and low-effort kids' programming.
20	* PopStarComposer (InUniverse): The theme to ''Good Morning Britain'' was composed by Jeff Wayne.
21	* RecycledInSpace: The original expectation for BBC's ''Breakfast Time'' was that it was going to be "''Series/{{Newsnight}}'' with cornflakes."
22	* SnarkyNonHumanSidekick: Roland Rat was added to the lineup of presenters since Greg Dyke and Anne Wood realised that kids were potential demographic the show could attract, particularly during the summer holidays.
23	* TextualCelebrityResemblance: Supposedly part of ''Breakfast Time's'' draw for audiences was Selina Scott's resemblance to Princess Diana.
24	* TheRival: TV-AM was forever in competition with Creator/TheBBC for ratings after the Beeb managed to pip them at the post by getting ''Breakfast Time'' on the air several months before TV-Am was originally due to start broadcasting.
25	* RoleEndingMisdemeanor (InUniverse): At one point the narration alludes to the HookersAndBlow scandal that ended ''Breakfast Time'' presenter Frank Bough's career at Creator/TheBBC.
26	* VacationEpisode: Greg Dyke pioneered the "summer roadshow" format that would become popular with many British TV shows out of [[ImprovisationalIngenuity a need to for a relatively inexpensive gimmick to boost ratings]].
27	* ShoutOut:
28	** Frost was the onscreen frontman in the first incarnation of ''Good Morning Britain'', with other faces of the programme being described as "the Pips to his Music/GladysKnight."
29	** Offscreen executive Peter Jay is described as TV-AM's equivalent of [[Series/TheLeagueOfGentlemen Jeremy Dyson]], save for the fact that Creator/MichaelSheen hasn't played him in a movie yet.
30	** TV-AM's "mission to explain" is described as having been "accomplished only in the George W. Bush sense of the word."
31	** Greg Dyke left the company for TVS when they were about to enter their "[[Film/Scarface1983 Tony Montana in Act Three phase]]" of their lifespan as a company.
32	** A clip from ''Wacaday'' shows Timmy Mallett starting the show by singing the theme from ''Film/{{Goldfinger}}''.
33	** "Industrial action - have you forgotten how good it tastes?" is based on a {{Tagline}} from an Angel Delight advertising campaign.
34	** ''Series/{{Flipper}}'' and ''[[Series/Batman1966 Batman]]'' are mentioned as some of the old shows Gyngell used to fill the dead air during the strike.
35	** ''WesternAnimation/DenverTheLastDinosaur'' is mentioned as one of the shows in the ''Cartoon World'' slot.
36	* TheStinger: A shot of the TV-AM vanity plate with one of the hosts with their mic evidently still on saying "Well, I'm glad that's over."
37	* YoungFutureFamousPeople:
38	** Greg Dyke, future director-general of the BBC, worked for a time as the Director of Programmes for TV-AM.

Context Recap / ITVInTheFaceS1E3FromHellToBreakfast