MA
mannewskev
Me neither. I wish they'd kept that living room and new bit leading into the phone room for far longer...
FA
A very good clip. In hindsight, maybe a big rebranding was not helpful, and they should have just had Richard, Lisa & Mike take over and mould it into their own show.
Please add me to the list of people who thought Richard Bacon was very good. His genuine enthusiasm for television, both being on it and watching it, was great. As has been said, it was a shame he seemed to be paired with Amanda Byram for most of his time there as I don't think she was right for the Big Breakfast at all.
Here is a charming moment from September 2000 where Richard Bacon talks to a man who has had a bit of a public falling out with Cilla Black despite the fact that they have known each other since the 1970s. Quite a moving story but look how happy he is by the end of the show. Perfect example of the power of the Big Breakfast. The video starts with a brief mention of gay sex.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHSJDKc3Df4
Here is a charming moment from September 2000 where Richard Bacon talks to a man who has had a bit of a public falling out with Cilla Black despite the fact that they have known each other since the 1970s. Quite a moving story but look how happy he is by the end of the show. Perfect example of the power of the Big Breakfast. The video starts with a brief mention of gay sex.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qHSJDKc3Df4
A very good clip. In hindsight, maybe a big rebranding was not helpful, and they should have just had Richard, Lisa & Mike take over and mould it into their own show.
WH
The problem is, they looked at the show and thought 'it's not working, so it needs to change', which was correct but the actual brand/style was not the issue, it was the content. It was too geared around Johnny and became more of a comedy programme than what it started out as, a magazine show.
In 1992 if you weren't a fan of Zig & Zag, 'don't worry, Gaby's on in a minute and I like her' or if Chris got on your nerves, 'it's ok because Judge the Grudge is next and it stops being all about him'. It was a fully rounded programme. From 1997 onwards, if you didn't like Johnny, you might as well turn off.
Of course, in 2001 they dramatically changed the look, and tried to add some structure to the programme but bizarrely the hosts were attempting Johnny's style of banter.
Arguably the show underwent its biggest format change during 1997 rather than in 1996 or 2001. And I always got the feeling in the final show that it was more a celebration of 1997 onwards than the initial, more successful days with Chris & Gaby (although it's worth noting even Rick & Sharron had higher rated episodes than Johnny & Denise).
Whataday
Founding member
A very good clip. In hindsight, maybe a big rebranding was not helpful, and they should have just had Richard, Lisa & Mike take over and mould it into their own show.
The problem is, they looked at the show and thought 'it's not working, so it needs to change', which was correct but the actual brand/style was not the issue, it was the content. It was too geared around Johnny and became more of a comedy programme than what it started out as, a magazine show.
In 1992 if you weren't a fan of Zig & Zag, 'don't worry, Gaby's on in a minute and I like her' or if Chris got on your nerves, 'it's ok because Judge the Grudge is next and it stops being all about him'. It was a fully rounded programme. From 1997 onwards, if you didn't like Johnny, you might as well turn off.
Of course, in 2001 they dramatically changed the look, and tried to add some structure to the programme but bizarrely the hosts were attempting Johnny's style of banter.
Arguably the show underwent its biggest format change during 1997 rather than in 1996 or 2001. And I always got the feeling in the final show that it was more a celebration of 1997 onwards than the initial, more successful days with Chris & Gaby (although it's worth noting even Rick & Sharron had higher rated episodes than Johnny & Denise).
BR
Yes, always said the 2001 format harked back to the early days and did it in quite a modern way too, yet still felt like The Big Breakfast. It had a lot going for it and I'd have preferred to see them try to work on that rather than just go back to the old format.
It really didn't need much changing - just things like experimenting with the combination of presenters in the house (when it relaunched it was supposedly based around 5 presenters - Paul, Donna, Amanda, Richard and Mel) and seeing how viewers responded would have been the first thing I'd have done rather than axing Paul and bringing back the old seats.
P.S. I'm sure we've been here before but did the two chairs return the Monday after Paul was axed or was their a brief period with three hosts after he left?
It really didn't need much changing - just things like experimenting with the combination of presenters in the house (when it relaunched it was supposedly based around 5 presenters - Paul, Donna, Amanda, Richard and Mel) and seeing how viewers responded would have been the first thing I'd have done rather than axing Paul and bringing back the old seats.
P.S. I'm sure we've been here before but did the two chairs return the Monday after Paul was axed or was their a brief period with three hosts after he left?
BE
Someone told me on Facebook that when the BB used to end every morning and Schools progs were up next, they would say "Schools programmes are up next". Is this true? If so seems unusual for a mainstream programme to "plug" Schools Programmes.
MA
mannewskev
I don't think schools programmes ever directly followed the show, did they? Didn't they always start at 9:30am?
BE
Schools did sometimes start at 9.00am.
I don't think schools programmes ever directly followed the show, did they? Didn't they always start at 9:30am?
Schools did sometimes start at 9.00am.
MA
mannewskev
I don't think they would've forward promoted schools progs unless it was done tongue in cheek. I know they used to push forward to Bewitched and the like in the 9am slot as "another reason to be cheerful" or "another reason to watch Channel 4."