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Tiswas was an anarchic Saturday morning children's British TV show which ran from 1974 to 1983. It also had a fanatical following among students and parents. The name reputedly stood for one of:
- 'This Is Saturday, Wear A Smile',
- 'Today Is Saturday, Watch And Smile',
- 'Today Is Saturday, What A Shambles'.
It was originally produced as a Midlands region programme by ATV and was first shown on 5th January 1974. Within a couple of years it had been taken up by most of the ITV network. Hosted by Chris Tarrant and Sally James, it also featured a young Lenny Henry together with Bob Carolgees and his puppet, Spit the Dog. John Gorman, member of the obscure band - Grimms - was also in regular attendance.
A feature of the show was the cage wherein initially the child audience, and later their fathers, were confined and periodically doused in water (one spin-off of the show was the hit Bucket of Water Song, performed by the Four Bucketeers), while the show was also frequently visited by the Phantom Phlan Phlinger who would throw the eponymous flans around the studio at all and sundry.
A magazine counterpart was produced with interviews with cast, quizzes and letters.
In the 1980s Tarrant and Henry later hosted a late-night show called O.T.T. (standing for "Over the Top") which was effectively an "adult" version of Tiswas - in other words, it attempted to be just as anarchic but with swearing and occasional topless women - but it was not such a success.
External links
- TV Cream - Tiswas (http://tv.cream.org/lookin/tiswas/)
- A brief history and glossary of Tiswas.
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