So T4 is 10 years old this month, and flicking through this morning I noticed a "T4 10" birthday ident - but have seen no mention of it by the presenters (though I saw just one link), and heard nothing of anything planned for the event.
So anyone know if they're doing something, and when does the actual birthday fall?
I seem to remember T4 did something for its 1st birthday back in 1999 (and showed the very first episode of Hollyoaks). Cant believe that was all 9 years ago now.
I've always been a fan of T4, and especially loved the early days, even in 1998 with the very polished graphics (which in retrospect were very well made for 1998) and the dark basement set with Ben Shepherd, but more so the Ben, Dermot and Margherita years. I've said this before, but for me it was when at it took over production that the programme really went off course for me.
I presume that when T4 links were made by and at Channel 4 HQ that it was one big unit so that the T4 commissioning team worked alongside the presentation, etc. and now I presume that Channel 4 still commission the programmes where as Eyeworks just make the links.
I just don't think I enjoy the presenting team as much as the old days either, and I especially hate the amount of pre records that go on.
It would be great to see past presenters coming back and going through archive footage, but I doubt that they would.
As for when T4 began, wasn't it towards the end of October? I'm sure that their 100th show was in August, but not certain.
I had a video somewhere of part of the first day of T4 with Ben Shepherd in the basement with all of the coloured plastic coated furnishings and bright lights. Ben took over from Fran at around 8ish. I think the first day of T4 started on the Sunday at something stupid like 5.30am with tots programmes leading into Sister Sister and Saved By The Bell, and then going into such things as Johnny Bravo. They used to have a smaller section hosted by Fran on Saturday mornings until 8 (I think), though when they relaunched in 1999 they got rid of the early mornings and started at 10am (before slowing moving to a 9am, and earlier slot), and didn't really count the early Saturday shows.
As for the first show, from what I can remember they had The Waltons at 10am, Hollyoaks omnibus at 11am (for just an hour, how times have changed), and the week of the mid week Late Lunch at 12.15. The 15 minutes gave them the chance to talk to Richard Madeley on the phone, and then they had Lenny Beige in the studio sat in what was described in the interview as a doughnut (escentially two curved benches put together).
As for presentation, as I said before, the graphics were impressive, and were given a metal look. It followed me speculating on what it would look like after the trailers leading up to it with the skateboarders, etc. with the T4 logo attached to the items, the music on those promos had background lyrics that sounded like 'We want telly free', or something similar. The first programme did have quite a large T4 dog on the output fully opaque in red and blue metallic looking shapes, of course without the block to the right of the T that was added in 1999 (am I sounding geeky now??). The dog was the reason for complaints on right to reply, especially over The Waltons. The colour was then toned down.
The way that they did the end credits was great in my opinion, as they had a big piece of perspex, and everybody signed their signature next to their job role which was all lit up from behind by a bright light. The early years did have the feeling of a young creative team that were just starting out trying out everything.
Even though the initial day finished at 1.15pm, without a doubt T4 changed Sunday viewing.
It certainly lost something when it left C4, especially when it lost the live element, but on the whole it's done a pretty good job on the presenter front. I wonder though whether they're hired by C4 or Eyeworks, as the contract is being put to tender again - so if they did change company, would the hosts change too?
It's a shame they seem to have dropped the half term shows - did T4 do the summer holiday mornings or not?
It's a shame they seem to have dropped the half term shows - did T4 do the summer holiday mornings or not?
Yeah, they did, toured some of the cities around the UK, obviously pre-recorded, and they often relied on bits of T4 on The Beach as filler.
I like T4, it's good hangover TV on a Sunday morning. Although when it started I'd thought it'd never last ten years, as it felt more like a Kids block, but when it became more teen/adult it became more stronger IMO. It's a good fix of Entertainment, especially on Sundays when other channels are offering old Films and Sport as filler.
I used to like it when it was live, or felt live and had a much more relaxed atmosphere. These days the presenters are actually quite good, but it feels as though they're trying too hard to be quirky and its not being pulled off at all. At one point the links were very much like a show in its own right, not anymore.
According to a clip on TV Ark from the 100th T4 it launched on 25th October 1998, so why they're waiting an extra two weeks to mark it makes very little sense.
