Line #16 Series/Tiswas


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/tiswas_logo_350_tp.png]]
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3	->''"This is what they want!"''
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5	The inventor of the Creator/{{ITV}} SaturdayMorningKidsShow format, and probably the most anarchic of them all. Famous for the [[InTheHood Phantom]] [[CoveredInGunge Flan Flinger]] and starting off Chris Tarrant's career. Not so famous, but no less instrumental, for launching Creator/LennyHenry's TV career. ''Tiswas'' ran from 1974 to 1982, although in the first year it consisted more of short links between cartoons and other programmes, with less of its own identity, whereas 1982 was much more sedate than the classic years after many of the presenters left in 1981 (not to mention the changeover from ATV to Central).
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7	On any given Saturday morning, there would be a studio full of overexcited children, some there to show off a talent or do a competition, some as the audience. (Many of their parents would be locked in a cage at the back of the set, intermittently getting buckets of water thrown over them by the presenters.) Creator/LennyHenry would be impersonating newsreader Creator/TrevorMcDonald[[note]] Who made a few guest appearances as himself[[/note]]; a pre-''Series/DoctorWho'' Creator/SylvesterMcCoy would be roaming around as a werewolf, biting the audience; bands would play (and not just kid-friendly groups: the performers included Music/ElvisCostello, the Music/{{Pretenders}} and Music/StatusQuo), or be interviewed by Sally James ([[PeripheryDemographic showing off the garters]] she had been sent from Royal Navy ships); there would be comedy sketches, done by anybody from Creator/MichaelPalin to Creator/BernardManning; [[ConsultingMisterPuppet Spit the Dog]] would live up to his name; John Gorman would be roaming around in character as a cleaner asking if he had died in two world wars in order to put up with a studio this messy; Bob "The Tray" Blackman would sing Mule Train whilst banging a metal tea tray on his head; a 5-year-old boy in a rabbit suit would sing Bright Eyes; at least one item would go completely off track; and everyone would end up getting custard pies thrown over them.
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9	It was very tied in with popular culture. There were the bands, and lots of impressions and parodies of other shows; but also they accidentally launched a dance craze (The Dying Fly) and the presenters had a hit single with "The Bucket of Water Song".
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11	Incredibly influential on other Saturday morning kids' shows--''Series/DickAndDomInDaBungalow'', ''Series/SMTVLive'', ''Series/MinistryOfMayhem'', even ''Series/LiveAndKicking'' would not have been the same without ''Tiswas''. (Arguably, even late-night zoo programmes like ''Series/TheWord'' drew on it). One noticable difference from its followers, however, is that most presenters since have tended to be cheeky big brother types in their teens or early twenties, while all the ''Tiswas'' presenters except Creator/LennyHenry were in their 30s at least. Watching adults being completely childish has a relish all its own. However, it's pretty much completely unknown over in the US and much of the non-European world.
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14	!!Tropes associated with Tiswas include:
15	* AffectionateParody: All the time; Toyah's version of her own song, for instance, and spoofs on TV adverts.
16	* AscendedExtra: Several comedians started as one-off guests and became regulars (eg Creator/JimDavidson, Frank Carson). Also the Bright Eyes kid, Matthew Butler (he even ended up going on the Four Bucketeers tour with them.)
17	* BreakupBreakout: Chris Tarrant and Lenny Henry went on to become HouseholdNames. The rest of the team[[note]]the other substantive members of the presenting team were Sally James, Bob Carolgees (he's the one with Spit the Dog) and John Gorman (formerly one third of the Scaffold)[[/note]] didn't really.
18	* {{Catchphrase}}: "Compost Corner!"
19	* CoveredInGunge: The show had a credited custard-pie maker. And a number of the guest stars (one noteworthy example is Music/SheenaEaston) did indeed end up covered literally from head to toe in gunge.
20	* ExpositoryThemeTune: "Saturday, Saturday, Saturday is Tiswas day!"
21	* ExcitedKidsShowHost: Averted by Chris Tarrant but all the others had their moments.
22	* FunWithAcronyms: Title stood for either "This is Saturday, wake and smile." or "Today is Saturday, watch and smile."
23	* {{Improv}}: There were some pre-filmed items, some scripted sketches and an overall running order, but it was mostly ad libbed.
24	* ParentalBonus: Sally James favoured [[NippledAndDimed thin tops and inadequate bras]].
25	* PigMan: Porky, played by musician Johnny Patrick in a full-head latex pig mask.
26	* RunningGag: Such as the Phantom Flan-Flinger.
27	* ScrewThisImOuttaHere: A pre-Eurythmics Music/AnnieLennox (on the show with her previous band, The Tourists) responded to being pied by the Phantom Flan Flinger by storming off stage as a pie fight broke out around her.
28	* {{Slapstick}}: Never was a stick so thoroughly slapped.
29	* SongParody: One memorable scene had songstress Music/ToyahWilcox singing parody lyrics to her own hit song, "It's a Mystery," about how much she wanted to get a pie in the face, while the Phantom Flan Flinger began granting her wish. Naturally the scene ended with a full-fledged pie fight.
30	* SpinOff: Most of the presenters left in 1981 to make ''OTT'', an attempt to use a similar format as a late-night comedy for adults. This at least allowed guests like Creator/BernardManning and Creator/JimDavidson to relax the ''restrained'' versions of their acts that were forced on them for the kids' show version.

Context Series / Tiswas