TV TIMES

June 15, 2011

TV TIMES

The London Weekend Show
20th Century Box
The 6 o'clock Show
Network Seven
Night Network

Get stuffed

All part of LWT & Channel 4's Television's packages of programme's that enlivened the airwaves at the weekend. They featured looks at current new and up and coming movements and trends; from Punk, Mods and Rockabilly, to Blitz kids and Millwall fans. Guided by Janet Street Porter these shows had something of the guerrilla about them. Danny Baker, Magenta Devine, Rowland Rivron, Tim Westwood, Emma Freud,Tracedy McCleod, Charlie Parsons, Paul Thompson and a number of young presenters cut their teeth on these shows and they are particularly interesting when viewed in hindsight as a lot of the content was very much add libbed and they spoke to rising stars in an unscripted manner.

There are also interviews and segments that are unintentionally funny. These shows all had a vibrancy about them and were not the formulaic regional output from before and after they had long left the airwaves. Night Network was more fragmented as it was basically a late night show designed to see students and other late night people through the night. In 1976 Janet Street Porter interviewed the young Sex Pistols just before their notoriety and watching that particular show again it is interesting to see how edgy it all was back then. In 1978 she interviewed Bowie and over the run of these shows many artists appeared and were interviewed without sycophancy.

http://youtu.be/qxW_QGnE9cI
Beastie Boys on Network 7

There were also strange segments including animations, investigative journalism, terrible gameshows and travel reportage all of varying degrees of success; but that was okay, it was good to see stuff being tried out. Certainly the live broadcasts were ramshackle, but that was the point. Pretentious in places, daring and bold in others TV could be exciting and that was the mission statement.These programmes were broadcast during the eighties and late seventies and create a viewable document of those exciting times.

http://youtu.be/ihIBiwJ2nBw

6 O’Clock show