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Children In Need

14th November 7pm (November 2008)

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IS
Inspector Sands
Ben posted:
fanoftv posted:
Many users say how Children In Need used to be different, but its been practically the same for as long back way into the 90's as I can remember, so can somebody actually share facts of what used to be different about it, what they used to do for 7 hours instead of what they do now, and how it was more entertaining please.


I think that is partly to do with nostalgic eyes. But I do think everything has become a lot slicker,.


Yes, it's a lot slicker. In the old days it was presented from a sofa and there were long periods of chatting between each item. Now it rattles along much quicker, it's a much better show now. I think it would be shocking to see a CiN from a period up till the late 90's and compare it with what it is now

The other major change now is that there is only one phone number, in the 80's and early 90's there were loads - a local one for where-ever you lived which were repeated throughout the night plus link ups wiothe the telephonists in the studio and elsewhere
FA
fanoftv
Inspector Sands posted:
Ben posted:
fanoftv posted:
Many users say how Children In Need used to be different, but its been practically the same for as long back way into the 90's as I can remember, so can somebody actually share facts of what used to be different about it, what they used to do for 7 hours instead of what they do now, and how it was more entertaining please.


I think that is partly to do with nostalgic eyes. But I do think everything has become a lot slicker,.


Yes, it's a lot slicker. In the old days it was presented from a sofa and there were long periods of chatting between each item. Now it rattles along much quicker, it's a much better show now. I think it would be shocking to see a CiN from a period up till the late 90's and compare it with what it is now

The other major change now is that there is only one phone number, in the 80's and early 90's there were loads - a local one for where-ever you lived which were repeated throughout the night plus link ups wiothe the telephonists in the studio and elsewhere


I've just done a search for children in need on you tube and there are a few clips from various years. There don't seem to be many clips showing what happened years ago, though there is a clip with a knife throwing skit and the late Jeremy Beadle, which showed off a complicated set including a revolve at the top of a set of stairs with a giant pudsey on one side, and the clip runs out before you find out what was on the other side.

I suppose you could say that they don't tend to set things up, and instead get people from TV shows to sing for Children In Need. Though I must say that tonights Qi was brilliant. According to the EPG, it was the start of series 6/F (1 of 12), but next week it reverts to series 4/D. Anyway back to the point, the Top Gear part was good, but not that long enough, and I think I'd have prefered it if they'd have done a series of challenges with the team from Ashes to Ashes in some way, or something similar.
PT
Put The Telly On
As probably posted before..

The start of CiN from 1996

And for added measure..

Joanna Lumley doing a striptease for donations back in 1983 Laughing
CY
cylon6
JAH posted:
But you know what? There is a vast majority of people in the UK who like those singing shows (although we're stretching it a bit with the X factor) and personally I would rather see more live singing (like we're seeing tonight - virtually NO lip-syncs!) on television than some prats prancing about or hanging from rooftops on ribbons, or cackhanded magicians - whatever passes for reality these days.

I am being very pleasantly entertained tonight, and I wasn't watching it in the vain hope that it would get better. I'm not interested in whether you wait for telethons or not - but if all you watch for CIN is to see whether it will improve on last year cynically, then you must live a pretty dull, boring and bitter life.


But then it's just another singing show. I know these shows are popular but we get so many of them. It'd be nice to have something else on the show apart from singing. They've moved away from it slightly with skits like Top Gear/Ashes To Ashes or special scenes of Doctor Who. But I think having a magic act/impressionist/juggler or some act wouldn't hurt the show.
DE
deejay
buster posted:
Is that "backstage" bit fearne keeps going in the old TOTP star bar? Bits of it look familar...does that area even still exist?


It is the TOTP Star Bar and in fact is still known as such. It's the old "Red Tea-Bar" between studios 1, 2 and 3. The main ring of studios, dressing rooms and make-up rooms at the centre are grouped into three areas: Red Green and Blue (you see what they've done there?). Each had a tea bar at one point, in addition to the three restaurants and two or three other tea bars dotted around the rest of the centre!!!.

AFAIK only The Audience Foyer, one restaurant (The Canteen), Green Tea Bar and News's Tea Bar are still open. They've all been re-christened with swanky marketing type names like 'Classics' over the years but the old timers still call them by the original names.

Live and KIcking in the Andi Peters era used to routinely go out of the studio and in to the Green Tea Bar to chat with guests and so on while they were getting a bacon butty! Maybe that's where the idea of a star bar came from...!
CY
cylon6
nok32uk posted:


That Joanna Lumley thing I remember very well and Terry's reaction at the end was comedy gold. I also remember him saying to Les Dawson that somebody would pay money if he stripped. Dawson took off his clothes and Terry said that he lied. Brilliant!! Very Happy

I can't say I enjoyed all of the show but I'm glad they still managed to make £20 million in these economically uncertain times.
JR
jrothwell97
Hmm...

It wasn't bad, and more than £20,000,000 is a fantastic total, but I found myself feeling a little bored by 9:30. I watched QI but didn't bother to watch the next part of the telethon.

It just seemed a little empty. Tess Daly was lacklustre as co-presenter (just like she is on Strictly Come Dancing , This Time Tomorrow etc) and the backstage bits were rather boring. It would have been better to do a few more links to the BT Tower IMHO.

The music was also rather poor this year: they've used the David Arnold package for a couple of years (IIRC) and it was fantastic. This year, we had the songs used as beds, and the totals and titles were marked by a predictable brass fanfare. It just felt... cheap. The links to the nations and regions were poor ( who let that band plug their new record on BBC South?)

However, Terry did very well at holding it all together (as always) and Duffy omitting the seven out of the number was classic - that'll be on late-night blooper shows 'til kingdom come.
SP
Steve in Pudsey
The annual cock-up that was the regional bounce song (with each bit being performed in a different region) is sorely missed.
GB
GavBelfast
What did those who watched the Northern Ireland version of Children in Need think of it? From what I saw ot it, it was more like opting-in to the Network very occasionally, rather than occasionally opting-out of it.
BE
Ben Founding member
I just found this on you tube. It gives a good example of the way things worked back in 1993.

I know I've already said that the way things used to be done wouldn't work now, but I would pay good money to see people throwing knives towards Tess and Fern... Twisted Evil
IS
Inspector Sands
fanoftv posted:
Though I must say that tonights Qi was brilliant. According to the EPG, it was the start of series 6/F (1 of 12), but next week it reverts to series 4/D.


The new series has been moved from BBC1 to BBC2 so it's been delayed till the new year, with a Christmas special. So it is kinda the start of the new series, but probably wasn't intended to be
GE
thegeek Founding member
Inspector Sands posted:
The other major change now is that there is only one phone number, in the 80's and early 90's there were loads - a local one for where-ever you lived which were repeated throughout the night plus link ups wiothe the telephonists in the studio and elsewhere
Did they go back to BT Tower after the very start of the show? (It is, presumably, an easy place to do an OB from...)

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