Could not agree more. These shows all pulled in big audiences to keep the advertisers at that time happy too. The lack of imagination throughout ITV in the early evening is hugely depressing. Wouldn't it be great if this enforced change of behaviour actually forced something of a reset, but they'll be back to the same old ways soon enough.
It's clearly a bit different now, though, because everyone's at home at 7pm which doesn't usually happen on a normal weekday. In the seventies and eighties, people used to come home from work earlier, because most people lived much closer to their workplace, and also used to go to bed earlier, so there was a bigger audience around at 7pm.
Usually at 7pm I'm making dinner, eating it or doing the washing up. Loads of other households are doing the same, kids are doing homework, a lot of people are still coming in. They don't have the time or inclination to sit down and concentrate at 7pm, they want something familiar they can dip in and out of, like The One Show.
Nationwide used to run on until 7pm every night, at a time when people came home much earlier, so I don't find The One Show ending at 7.30 a major imposition on the evening.
The first home video clip show was on Sky One and presented by Chris Tarrant. I can't remember its name but a short episode was shown on BBC1 part of Comic Relief one year, I think that was before You've Been Framed started
The BBC had a version to capitalise on the success of YBF, but it was much more formatted (although the original YBF had a competitive element too) it was presented by Shane Ritchie called I think Caught in the Act?
A couple of shows had used home video cock-ups, The Late Late Breakfast Show did it and so did Denis Norden, as mentioned. Beadle did it as well in his series People Do The Funniest Things, but Beadle said Denis Norden complained it was too similar to his shows and got LWT to drop it.
I think You've Been Framed was the first show of nothing but on British TV, but The Secret Video Show on Sky One was the first one to do a full series while You've Been Framed was still only appearing via specials, they got a series out in 1990 while You've Been Framed didn't do a full run until January 1991.
As you say, You've Been Framed initially had a vote at the end of each show to pick the best video, but they presumably didn't have enough material to make a whole show of nothing but, and I don't think it was the done thing in those days to make shows just stringing clips together.
Caught in the Act was a bloody awful show, as you suggest they also had an audience vote but it was stretched out throughout the entire show, and they had various "correspondents" from around the world who Richie would banter with, anything to pad out the show. They also overdubbed them with sound effects and I remember eighteen months later, they did a crap one-off clip show with Wogan about holidays and they recycled some of the clips, with sound effects still attached. But because home video cock-ups were so popular, Caught In The Act was an enormous hit, it never went under ten million viewers all the way through the run, despite everyone hating it, and that was on Friday nights which at the time were an absolute dead night for BBC1. I remember much discussion in the press over whether there'd be another run because it was the biggest light entertainment hit for BBC1 for years, but it was so crass and downmarket, and in the end they decided not to recommission it.
I know it sounds idiotic now but we thought the first You've Been Framed was absolutely hilarious, the funniest thing we'd ever seen. Simpler times.
