Friday, 3 November 2023

TV On The Radio #20: The Generation Game

Two Door Cinema Club - Nice To See You

...to see you, nice.

Saturday nights in the 70s, we'd all gather round the TV to watch inept relatives try their hands at icing a cake, working a potter's wheel or trying to master nuclear fusion, with varying degrees of success. The winners would go on to watch assorted jumble sale prizes roll past them on a wonky conveyor belt - "Cuddly toy! Cuddly toy!" - taking home all the ones they could remember. All under the rather snooty auspices of the "King of Saturday Night TV" himself, Bruce Forsythe. Until he moved over to the other side for a bigger paycheck to be replaced by camp cliché captain Larry "Shut That Door!" Grayson... and then, a bunch of other less memorable hosts (Jim Davidson!!!). Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? this was not. And yet... simpler times, we were easier to please back then.   

Here's the great Laurie Shaw, with a little bit of Brucie...

And I'm so sorry, honey
But I didn't have the foresight
And yeah, I said foresight and not Bruce Forsyth
But they're easily mixed up

Laurie Shaw - Flashback Friday

Yesterday, Charity Chic felt the need to apologise on behalf of the entire Scottish nation for The Tartan Army. I replied that the English had done much worse. And here's Fat Les to prove it...

Trains, Boats, Planes, Computers, 
Penicillin, Connect Four, 
Countdown, Generation Game, Telephones

Fat Les - Who Invented Fish & Chips?

In case you've blanked them from your memory, I ought to remind you that Fat Les was a short-lived 90s band made up of Blur bassist Alex James, actor Keith Allen, and artist Damien Hirst. They all should have known better.

Here's Squeeze to take that nasty taste out of your mouth...

I got a job down at the warehouse
I worked hard to pay the rent
Rehearsing almost every evening
Trying to make another dent
Along the road that I had chosen
The Generation Game of life
Today I'm walking by the river
Watching my children cycle by

Squeeze - Sunny

Today's post belongs to the obvious winner below. I'm sure many of you guessed it as soon as you saw the title of the post...

Home from work
Put the TV on
Get your kicks watching
Bruce on the old Generation Game




2 comments:

  1. Any excuse to watch that one from Saint Etienne works for me. Great clip.

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  2. I second Brian's comment. The Generation Game was a family staple for me growing up too. And just look at that '70s set in your pic, Bruce appears to have been colour-co-ordinated.

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