A History of Television in 100 Programmes电子书

Copyright

INTRODUCTION

TELE-CRIME (1938–9)

BBC

The original TV drama series.

COOKERY (1946–51)

BBC

The first celebrity chef.

CAVALCADE OF STARS (1949–52)

DuMont (Drugstore Television)

Vaudeville begets the sitcom.

CRUSADER RABBIT (1950–1)

NBC (Television Arts Productions)

TV’s first bespoke cartoon.

THE BURNS AND ALLEN SHOW (1950–8)

CBS

Still in its infancy, the sitcom goes postmodern.

THE ERNIE KOVACS SHOW (1952–61)

DuMont/NBC/ABC

TV’s visual gag pioneer.

THE PHILCO-GOODYEAR TELEVISION PLAYHOUSE: MARTY (1953)

NBC (Showcase)

TV drama mines the mundane.

SMALL TIME (1955–66)

ITV (Associated-Rediffusion)

Giants of children’s television assemble.

THE PHIL SILVERS SHOW (1955–9)

CBS

Sitcom comes of age.

A SHOW CALLED FRED (1956)

ITV (Associated-Rediffusion)

Television comedy explodes.

MY WILDEST DREAM (1956–7)

ITV (Granada)

The comedy panel show outstays its welcome

OPPORTUNITY KNOCKS (1956–78)

ITV (Associated-Rediffusion/ABC/Thames)

The talent show girdles the globe.

THE SINGING RINGING TREE (1957)

BBC1 (DEFA)

The garish Euro-fable that haunted a generation.

SIX-FIVE SPECIAL (1957–8)

BBC

TV’s first rock ’n’ roll smash hit.

THE STRANGE WORLD OF GURNEY SLADE (1960)

ITV (ATV)

The sitcom eats itself.

ARMCHAIR THEATRE: A NIGHT OUT (1960)

ITV (ABC)

The theatrical revolution reaches the front room.

HANCOCK: THE BEDSITTER (1961)

BBC

One man, one room, twenty-five minutes – comedy stripped bare.

KINGSLEY AMIS GOES POP (1962)

ITV (Associated-Rediffusion)

TV’s introduces pop to high culture.

THAT WAS THE WEEK THAT WAS (1962–3)

BBC

The establishment-shaking show that used the word ‘bum’ a lot.

THE SUNDAY-NIGHT PLAY: A SUITABLE CASE FOR TREATMENT (1962)

BBC

Drama drops out.

THE TONIGHT SHOW STARRING JOHNNY CARSON (1962–92)

NBC

The king of chat show kings.

WORLD IN ACTION (1963–98)

ITV (Granada)

Current affairs go commando.

PLAY SCHOOL (1964–88)

BBC2

The BBC loosens its old pre-school tie.

CROSSROADS (1964–88)

ITV (ATV/Central)

‘Soap’ becomes a four-letter word.

LE MANÈGE ENCHANTÉ (1964–1971)

THE MAGIC ROUNDABOUT (1965–1977)

ORTF/BBC One (Danot Films/BBC)

The original cult children’s programme.

WORLD OF SPORT (1965–85)

ITV (ABC/LWT)

The sports magazine that preached the three Rs: racing, wrestling, results.

TALKING TO A STRANGER (1966)

BBC Two

Television’s ‘first masterpiece’.

THE SMOTHERS BROTHERS COMEDY HOUR (1967–9)

CBS (Comedic Productions)

Variety drops out.

THE PRISONER: FALL OUT (1968)

ITV (ITC/Everyman Films)

TV collapses under the weight of its own splendid folly.

IF THERE WEREN’T ANY BLACKS, YOU’D HAVE TO INVENT THEM (1968, 1973)

ITV (LWT)

Alf Garnett’s creator takes the race issue to its absurd conclusion.

SESAME STREET (1969–)

WNET/PBS (Children’s Television Workshop)

The awakening of public service broadcasting produces monsters.

THE OWL SERVICE (1969)

ITV (Granada)

Children’s drama reaches a whole new plane.

NATIONWIDE (1969–83)

BBC One

Television news lightens up – and never quite comes back down again.

THE MARY TYLER MOORE SHOW (1970–7)

CBS (MTM Enterprises)

Women liberate the sitcom – a bit.

MISS WORLD (1970)

BBC One

The year the beauty contest fell apart as the world watched.

COLUMBO (1971–8/1989–2003)

NBC/ABC

A shabby revolution in crime.

THE LARGEST THEATRE IN THE WORLD: THE RAINBIRDS (1971)

BBC One

Drama goes off the rails.

DUEL (1971)

ABC (Universal Television)

The TV movie beats the big screen.

THE SPECIAL LONDON BRIDGE SPECIAL (1972)

NBC/BBC One (Winters Hollywood)

Big time variety makes a transatlantic trip – by bus.

UN, DOS, TRES … (1972–2004)

TVE1

TV’s first political allegory with cash prizes.

INIGO PIPKIN/PIPKINS (1973–81)

ITV (ATV)

The puppet show that pulled strings but no punches.

THE INDOOR LEAGUE (1973–8)

ITV (Yorkshire)

TV sport in its cups.

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO THE LIKELY LADS? (1973–4)

BBC One

The sitcom sequel that outdid its original.

THRILLER (1973–6)

ITV/ABC (ATV)

The deluxe crime anthology.

TISWAS (1974–82)

ITV (ATV)

Television gets the kids right.

DON’T ASK ME (1974–8)

ITV (Yorkshire)

TV science goes populist in a big way.

SUPERSONIC (1975–7)

ITV (Thames)

The glitter-strewn apotheosis of pop TV.

THE THRILLA IN MANILA (1974)

HBO (United Artists-Columbia)

The dawn of pay-per-view sport.

THE NORMAN GUNSTON SHOW (1975–9)

ABC/ Seven/ BBC Two

The spoof interviewer arrives in the form of a little Aussie bleeder.

PLAY FOR TODAY: DOUBLE DARE (1976)

BBC One

Dennis Potter writes himself into a corner.

PAULINE’S QUIRKES (1976)

ITV (Thames)

The foul-mouthed teatime scandal that pre-dated the Sex Pistols.

I, CLAUDIUS (1976)

BBC Two (BBC/London Films)

The imperial phase of period drama.

THE FALL AND RISE OF REGINALD PERRIN (1976–9)

BBC One

The sitcom’s nervous breakdown.

BBC NINE O’CLOCK NEWS (1976)

BBC One

The year when information went showbiz.

BATTLE OF THE NETWORK STARS (1976–88)

STAR GAMES (1978–80)

ABC/ITV (Trans World International)

Celebrities start to be celebrated for what they can’t do as much as for what they can.

ROCK FOLLIES (1976–7)

ITV (Thames)

A depression musical for the 1970s.

TRANS AMERICA ULTRA QUIZ (1977–92)

ULTRA QUIZ (1983–5)

NTV/ ITV (TVS)

The West laughs at those crazy masochistic Japs, then has a go itself.

SOAP (1977–81)

ABC (Witt/Thomas/Harris)

The troughs of drama become peaks of comedy.

ROOTS: THE SAGA OF AN AMERICAN FAMILY (1977)

ABC (David L. Wolper)

Network television’s black history week.

LEAPFROG (1978–9)

ITV (ATV)

Educational programming goes in at the avant-garde deep end.

THE BBC TELEVISION SHAKESPEARE (1978–85)

BBC Two/PBS (BBC/WNET/Time-Life)

The last hurrah of prestige single plays.

CONNECTIONS (1978)

BBC One/PBS (BBC/Time Life Films)

The blockbuster science documentary grows too rich for many people’s blood.

BLANKETY BLANK (1979-90)

BBC One

The little game show that couldn’t.

LIFE ON EARTH (1979)

BBC Two (BBC/Warner Brothers/Reiner Moritz)

The apex of the educational blockbuster.

MINDER (1979–94)

ITV (Euston Films)

The comedy drama becomes a nice little earner.

NOW GET OUT OF THAT (1981–5)

BBC One

Personal incompetence becomes a spectator sport.

ARTEMIS 81 (1981)

BBC One

Christmas holiday viewing doesn’t get tougher than this.

HILL STREET BLUES (1981–7)

NBC (MTM)

The cop show disintegrates, and reassembles.

THE OXFORD ROAD SHOW (1981–5)

BBC Two

When ‘youth’ TV tried far too hard.

JANE (1982–4)

BBC Two

The apotheosis of television’s flagship special effect.

BOYS FROM THE BLACKSTUFF (1982)

BBC One

The North rises, again.

ST ELSEWHERE (1982–8)

NBC (MTM Enterprises)

The chance encounter of realism and whimsy on an operating table.

THE TUBE (1982–7)

Channel Four (Tyne Tees Television)

The music show that talked itself off the air.

M*A*S*H: ‘GOODBYE, FAREWELL AND AMEN’ (1983)

CBS (20th Century Fox Television)

The sitcom takes its final bow seriously.

SATURDAY NIGHT AFFAIRS (1984)

BBC One

In which television is made by sticking some stars in a room, and then doing nothing.

THREADS (1984)

BBC Two

The bleakest television programme ever made.

EVER DECREASING CIRCLES (1984–9)

BBC One

The sitcom becomes, in the best sense of the word, pathetic.

HEIMAT: EINE DEUTSCHE CHRONIK (1984)

WDR/SFB (Edgar Reitz Film)

The TV novel reaches epic proportions.

MOONLIGHTING (1985–9)

ABC (ABC Circle Films)

The quirk factor goes through the roof.

POB’S PROGRAMME (1985–7)

Channel Four (Ragdoll)

The threadbare origins of a children’s television empire.

THE MAX HEADROOM SHOW (1985–7)

Channel Four/HBO (Chrysalis Visual Programming)

Enter the pop video, exit the pop presenter.

A VERY PECULIAR PRACTICE (1986–8)

BBC Two

Allegory goes peak time.

THE COMIC STRIP PRESENTS … PRIVATE ENTERPRISE (1986)

Channel Four (Comic Strip/Michael White Productions)

TV gives alternative comedy carte blanche.

NIGHT NETWORK (1987–9)

LWT (Night Network Productions)

British television finally gets to stay up late.

MAHABHARAT (1988–90)

Doordarshan (BR Films)

All-singing, all-dancing, all-retina-burning dramatisation of the Indian epic poem.

DEF II (1988–94)

BBC Two

The last stand of ‘youth’ TV.

TWIN PEAKS (1990–1)

ABC (Lynch/Frost Productions)

The cult blockbuster takes America.

ABROAD IN BRITAIN (1990)

BBC Two

The arts documentary becomes art itself.

THE REAL WORLD (1992–)

MTV (Bunim/Murray Productions)

Reality television takes off.

COME ON DOWN AND OUT (1993)

Channel Four (Kudos Productions)

Television’s most righteously cool channel starts confusing ends with means.

FRASIER (1993–2004)

NBC (Grub Street/Paramount)

Highbrow America in all its glorious stupidity.

OUR FRIENDS IN THE NORTH (1996)

BBC Two

Drama thinks big.

THIS MORNING WITH RICHARD NOT JUDY (1998–9)

BBC Two

Existential satire and blasphemy finally reach Sunday afternoons.

THE SOPRANOS (1999–2007)

HBO (Chase Films/Brad Grey Television)

US drama finally reaches critical mass.

PEOPLE LIKE US (1999–2001)

BBC Two

The mockumentary at its peak.

BATTLESTAR GALACTICA (2004–9)

Sci Fi (NBC Universal)

Big, dumb science fiction smartens itself up.

FORBRYDELSEN (2007–12)

DR1 (Danmarks Radio)

European drama finally takes on the world.

APPLE ACTION NEWS (2009–)

Apple Daily/YouTube (Next Media Ltd.)

The slightly silly dawn of virtual journalism.

LOUIE (2010–)

FX (Pig Newton Inc)

Comedy reaches new heights of philosophical rigour and infantile seediness.

HOUSE OF CARDS (2013–)

Netflix (Media Rights Capital/Panic Pictures)

Television outgrows the television set.

ENDNOTES

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