A-Team would often get captured by their enemies and end up fashioning an improbable weapon from whatever was lying around to help them make their escape, and Face would inevitably become attracted to whoever the female lead was in that episode.
The show became so popular that by the fourth season guest stars, including Boy George and Hulk Hogan, appeared as themselves and the numerous catchphrases used by the A-Team made their way into popular culture, such as ‘I love it when a plan comes together’ and ‘I ain’t gettin’ on no plane!’
John Craven’s Newsround
I remember feeling very grown up watching John Craven’s Newsround since the news was something that adults watched. The ten-minute news programme presented by John Craven was aimed at 6- to 12-year-olds and comprised a brief, palatable summary of current affairs and world news. Most memorably, Newsround was the first programme in Britain to report the loss of the Space Shuttle Challenger, with dramatic images of the disintegrating spacecraft shown during the opening titles.
The Two Ronnies
Ronnie Corbett and Ronnie Barker were, without a doubt, one of the funniest and most popular comedy double acts of all time, following closely on the heels of Morecambe and Wise. Their BBC1 sketch show, The Two Ronnies , attracted viewing figures of 20 million at its peak and ran for sixteen years over twelve series; it attracted numerous guest stars including Elkie Brooks, Elton John, Elaine Paige and Phil Collins, among others. The opening credits would feature the familiar theme music and a picture of two pairs of spectacles, representing those of Ronnie B and Ronnie C, before cutting to the ‘newsdesk’ where the Ronnies would take it in turns to read spoof news stories.
Perhaps the most famous Two Ronnies sketch is ‘Four Candles’ written by Ronnie Barker, who had a talent for wordplay humour. Ronnie Barker plays a customer in a hardware store with a shopping list; he asks for what sounds like ‘four candles’ but, after being given the candles, corrects the shopkeeper by explaining that he meant ‘fork ’andles, for garden forks’. The list continues with numerous other confusing items before the shopkeeper gives up when he is asked for ‘billhooks’, at which point you need to use your imagination to understand how that could be humorously mispronounced.
Both Ronnies seemed to enjoy dressing up in outlandish costumes for their characters, particularly Ronnie B, who spent a lot of time wearing ladies’ clothes, and the sketches sometimes turned into elaborate musical productions. Ronnie Corbett would always have a monologue at some point in the show when he would sit in a chair facing the camera attempting to tell a simple joke but continually getting sidetracked by other humorous reflections. The show closed with the ‘newsdesk’ again and a rapid fire of spoof news, before the Ronnies signed off with their catchphrase:
Corbett: So it’s ‘Goodnight’ from me.
Barker: And it’s ‘Goodnight’ from him.
Both: Goodnight!
Television Adverts
Do you remember George the Hofmeister bear? He was the football-playing, beer-drinking, laddish equivalent of the Honey Monster. Well, my parents picked up a t-shirt at a jumble sale for me with a message on the front that read, ‘I’ve got a bear behind’, and on the back was a picture of George the Hofmeister bear, grinning, winking and giving a thumbs-up. I was 9. What were they thinking?
George the bear was just one of many characters created for television advertising purposes, and the next one that springs to mind is British Telecom’s Buzby, the fat yellow bird voiced by Bernard Cribbins who told us to ‘Make someone happy with a phone call’. Smash had the aliens, Sugar Puffs had the Honey Monster and Frosties had Tony the Tiger, but Hamlet cigars had Gregor Fisher with a dodgy comb-over. In each instalment of the Hamlet cigar ads, some calamity would befall the lead character who would
The show became so popular that by the fourth season guest stars, including Boy George and Hulk Hogan, appeared as themselves and the numerous catchphrases used by the A-Team made their way into popular culture, such as ‘I love it when a plan comes together’ and ‘I ain’t gettin’ on no plane!’
John Craven’s Newsround
I remember feeling very grown up watching John Craven’s Newsround since the news was something that adults watched. The ten-minute news programme presented by John Craven was aimed at 6- to 12-year-olds and comprised a brief, palatable summary of current affairs and world news. Most memorably, Newsround was the first programme in Britain to report the loss of the Space Shuttle Challenger, with dramatic images of the disintegrating spacecraft shown during the opening titles.
The Two Ronnies
Ronnie Corbett and Ronnie Barker were, without a doubt, one of the funniest and most popular comedy double acts of all time, following closely on the heels of Morecambe and Wise. Their BBC1 sketch show, The Two Ronnies , attracted viewing figures of 20 million at its peak and ran for sixteen years over twelve series; it attracted numerous guest stars including Elkie Brooks, Elton John, Elaine Paige and Phil Collins, among others. The opening credits would feature the familiar theme music and a picture of two pairs of spectacles, representing those of Ronnie B and Ronnie C, before cutting to the ‘newsdesk’ where the Ronnies would take it in turns to read spoof news stories.
Perhaps the most famous Two Ronnies sketch is ‘Four Candles’ written by Ronnie Barker, who had a talent for wordplay humour. Ronnie Barker plays a customer in a hardware store with a shopping list; he asks for what sounds like ‘four candles’ but, after being given the candles, corrects the shopkeeper by explaining that he meant ‘fork ’andles, for garden forks’. The list continues with numerous other confusing items before the shopkeeper gives up when he is asked for ‘billhooks’, at which point you need to use your imagination to understand how that could be humorously mispronounced.
Both Ronnies seemed to enjoy dressing up in outlandish costumes for their characters, particularly Ronnie B, who spent a lot of time wearing ladies’ clothes, and the sketches sometimes turned into elaborate musical productions. Ronnie Corbett would always have a monologue at some point in the show when he would sit in a chair facing the camera attempting to tell a simple joke but continually getting sidetracked by other humorous reflections. The show closed with the ‘newsdesk’ again and a rapid fire of spoof news, before the Ronnies signed off with their catchphrase:
Corbett: So it’s ‘Goodnight’ from me.
Barker: And it’s ‘Goodnight’ from him.
Both: Goodnight!
Television Adverts
Do you remember George the Hofmeister bear? He was the football-playing, beer-drinking, laddish equivalent of the Honey Monster. Well, my parents picked up a t-shirt at a jumble sale for me with a message on the front that read, ‘I’ve got a bear behind’, and on the back was a picture of George the Hofmeister bear, grinning, winking and giving a thumbs-up. I was 9. What were they thinking?
George the bear was just one of many characters created for television advertising purposes, and the next one that springs to mind is British Telecom’s Buzby, the fat yellow bird voiced by Bernard Cribbins who told us to ‘Make someone happy with a phone call’. Smash had the aliens, Sugar Puffs had the Honey Monster and Frosties had Tony the Tiger, but Hamlet cigars had Gregor Fisher with a dodgy comb-over. In each instalment of the Hamlet cigar ads, some calamity would befall the lead character who would
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