''Smith and Goody'' is a children's sketch show on

ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...

from the 1980s. It was made for the

network by

Thames Television Thames Television, commonly simplified to just Thames, was a Broadcast license, franchise holder for a region of the British ITV (TV network), ITV television network serving Greater London, London and surrounding areas from 30 July 1968 until th ...

. It starred, and was written by

Mel Smith Melvyn Kenneth Smith (3 December 1952 – 19 July 2013) was an English comedian, actor and director. Smith worked on the sketch comedy shows ''Not the Nine O'Clock News'' and ''Alas Smith and Jones'' with his comedy partner, Griff Rhys Jones. S ...

(at the time, part of the ''

Not The Nine O'Clock News ''Not the Nine O'Clock News'' is a British television sketch comedy show which was broadcast on BBC2 from 1979 to 1982. Originally shown as a comedy alternative to the '' Nine O'Clock News'' on BBC1, it features satirical sketches on then-curren ...

'' show on

BBC2 BBC Two is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network owned and operated by the BBC. It covers a wide range of subject matter, with a remit "to broadcast programmes of depth and substance" in contrast to the more mainstream an ...

) and

Bob Goody Robert Goody (born 16 April 1951) is a British actor, librettist, writer and former member of the Royal Shakespeare Company. Theatre work Bob Goody trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art (1973-1975). He was a founder member of the acclaime ...

, with music provided by

Peter Brewis Peter Brewis is a composer and instrumentalist who has been active in several spheres of music from ballet and modern dance to music theatre and rock music. Although he was classically trained, studying under the famous French music educator Na ...

. As well as being a comedy, the series had tried to advocate literature. It was set in a flat in which books, newspapers and magazines were in abundance and the sketches were designed to encourage young people to enjoy reading. Smith and Goody, one short and the other very tall, made for the stereotypical double-act partnership, and had worked together since meeting at drama school, putting together a joint production at the 1977

Edinburgh Festival Fringe The Edinburgh Festival Fringe (also referred to as The Fringe, Edinburgh Fringe, or Edinburgh Fringe Festival) is the world's largest arts and media festival, which in 2019 spanned 25 days and featured more than 59,600 performances of 3,841 dif ...

. There was a

Christmas Special Christmas themes have long been an inspiration to artists and writers. A prominent aspect of Christian media, the topic first appeared in in literature and Christmas music. Filmmakers have picked up on this wealth of material, with both adaptation ...

, ''Smith And Goody On Ice'', which largely abandoned the educational book-led format in favour of a bunch of sketches and running about.

Theme tune

The opening credits began with cartoon renditions of the presenters engaged in a friendly exchange:
''Mel: Whatcha Bob''
''Bob: Whatcha Mel''
''Mel: Whatcha been up to?''
''Bob: Can't you tell?''
''Bob: I've been taking a look at a book''
''Bob: I've been taking a squint at the print''
''Bob: I've been worming my way through a paperback a day''
Bob: and I'll tell you all about it if you're in-ter-es-ted''
The chorus went something like:
"Good books, bad books and never been had books"
"good books, bad books and sad books"
There's a book about a plane that disappeared without a trace,"
book about a man who came from outer space"
''Mel: Tell you what, Bob. What's next?''

External links

Comedy Guide - ''Smith And Goody''
at

bbc.co.uk BBC Online, formerly known as BBCi, is the BBC's online service. It is a large network of websites including such high-profile sites as BBC News and BBC Sport, Sport, the on-demand video and radio services branded BBC iPlayer and BBC Sounds, t ...

* ITV children's television shows {{UK-tv-prog-stub