Wonderful to see points of view like that. I remember the later Anne Robinson years and it amazes me how many comments they got through in a ten minute slot and how witty the audience were, presumably seeing the show as a little tongue in cheek themselves.
Going back to NHP, here's Martyn Lewis' Gotcha from 26 November 1994:
It may not be one of the most spectacular Gotchas (certainly not as spectacular as Twice Nightly's, for instance), but I've brought it up because of one of the YT comments:
Quote:
Charles Hawthorn 1 year ago
I was in the audience for this, it took them nearly ten minutes to pull off Martyn lewis. His hands like a vice around Noel's neck, tears streaming down his face. It was awful to watch.
He's got to be joking, surely? A respected and mild-mannered newscaster actually strangling Noel Edmonds for nearly ten minutes (whether live on House Party or after the cameras in the TTD studio were turned off), crying as he does so, just because Noel played a well-intentioned prank on him?
It definitely looks to me like Martyn enjoyed the whole experience, and his reaching for Noel's neck at the end was playful in nature. On the other hand, Sir Trev *definitely* wasn't happy when Noel tried to Gotcha him towards the end of House Party's run...
Quote:
The Mirror, 31 October 1998
NEWS At Ten presenter Trevor McDonald exploded with rage after being "Gotcha-ed" by House Party star Noel Edmonds.
Veteran Trevor stormed out, shouting "I am not a comedian, I don't do this!" when he was duped into reading out a series of silly slang messages in regional accents.
Last night, Noel claimed he was offered money to stop the embarrassing footage going out on BBC1 at 7pm tonight. Trevor has also refused to appear on the House Party to collect his Gotcha, citing a previous engagement.
Noel said: "Someone offered to cover our costs if we handed the tape over. But that would let the viewers down. Trevor need not worry. There's not a nasty side to this."
The stitch-up was secretly filmed on Tuesday when Noel and his crew sneaked into London's Royal Albert Hall where Trevor was presenting the National TV Awards. After the ceremony, the 59-year-old newsman was ushered in to a suite where Noel's production crew was waiting.
He was then asked to record five different "trails" promoting the awards for five different regions, speaking in the relevant accents.
But the cheeky House Party team had changed the autocue by replacing the real lines with slang phrases.
Ever the professional, Trevor went ahead until he was asked to stare into the camera and shout to the people of Manchester: "Are you mad for it?" He refused point blank.
He also refused to read out a message in Welsh.
However, it was only when the line "You've Been Gotcha-ed" appeared on the autocue that he realised he had fallen victim to Noel. According to insiders, he immediately erupted into a furious rant and stormed out of the room shouting: "I don't do this sort of thing!"
Noel said: "I thought that as he'd been watching people receive awards all evening, he'd like one of his own - but apparently not.
"Now, for the first time, someone is not coming to collect the Gotcha award.
"Trevor was brilliant. He was very polite and gracious - exactly what you'd expect from a man of his stature.
"He came over impeccably and is a lovely bloke. It was only when he was asked to speak Welsh that he refused."
Before Trevor was "Gotcha-ed" he came face to face with Noel at the awards ceremony.
Noel was there to present an award for Best Factual Entertainment programme to Changing Rooms' Carol Smillie.
And the House Party host couldn't resist a knowing glance at the innocent newscaster as the two men shared the Albert Hall stage.
Trevor is the latest celebrity to be Gotcha-ed. The Bee Gees, Melinda Messenger and Jonathan King have all been caught out. Ginger Whinger Chris Evans has also been filmed.
I have a vague memory of the show where Trevor's Gotcha was shown - or at least someone's Gotcha who wasn't there to collect it in person. I'm sure they had a skit which involved the award floating in the air as if Trevor was invisible?
I suspect that would not happen these days - they would need a release form to show it, and even if they had got one for the purpose of the programme they said they were making it would be pretty unethical (and inviting of a legal case) to just show it in the context of a stitch up.
I wouldn't be surprised if this has already been posted, but it's worth posting anyway. Here is how the American TV channel KTLA broke into commercials to announce the death of Elvis. As well as some incredible American 70s commercials we also get possibly the most frightening way to start a newsflash with 20 seconds of the sound of a teleprinter before they actually announce the news.
I'll say. And that was an advert for "home loans", whatever they are. Is (or was) that the American equivalent of a mortgage or just a standalone loan?