''The Kenny Everett Video Show'' (later renamed ''The Kenny Everett Video Cassette'') is a British

television comedy Television comedy is a category of broadcasting that has been present since the early days of entertainment media. While there are several genres of comedy, some of the first ones aired were variety shows. One of the first Television in the United ...

and music programme that was made 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 ...

for

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 3 July 1978 to 21 May 1981.

Overview

Philip Jones,

's head of light entertainment, asked his son who he would like to see on television - he replied

Kenny Everett Kenny Everett (born Maurice James Christopher Cole; 25 December 1944 – 4 April 1995) was an English comedian, radio disc jockey and television presenter. After spells on pirate radio and Radio Luxembourg in the mid-1960s, he was one of the fi ...

. The show's format was conceived over lunch and a walk between producer David Mallet and Everett himself, having decided that they could not watch on television what they wanted to watch. Originally, the ''Video Show'' consisted of Everett in the role of a visual DJ linking studio performances from bands, singers, and the show's resident dance troupe

Hot Gossip Hot Gossip (1974–86) were a British dance troupe who made television appearances and in 1978 backed Sarah Brightman on her single "I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper". Formation Arlene Phillips moved to London to learn and teach developin ...

, along with occasional sketches and

Captain Kremmen ''Captain Kremmen'' was a British science fiction comedy radio serial set in the early 21st century. (The pilot opens in 2005.) It was written and performed for Capital Radio by the DJ Kenny Everett, beginning in 1976. It was also broadcast on Liv ...

cartoons. As the series developed, the linking material became longer and more varied - to such an extent that the final series, renamed ''The Kenny Everett Video Cassette'', focused far more heavily on the comedy with just one musical guest per week. The ''Video Show'' was performed to the studio crew with their laughter heard on the finished programme, unlike Everett's later BBC series, ''

The Kenny Everett Television Show ''The Kenny Everett Television Show'' is a comedy sketch show broadcast on BBC1 from 1981 to 1988. It was presented by its main performer Kenny Everett, who wrote the material with Barry Cryer and Ray Cameron. Later in 1986 they were joined by ...

'', which had a conventional live studio audience.

Blooper A blooper is a short clip from a film or video production, usually a deleted scene, containing a mistake made by a member of the cast or crew. It also refers to an error made during a live radio or TV broadcast or news report, usually in terms o ...

s were often not edited out of sketches. Two pilot episodes were made, which no longer exist. Initially, the series was produced at Thames'

Euston Road Euston Road is a road in Central London that runs from Marylebone Road to King's Cross. The route is part of the London Inner Ring Road and forms part of the London congestion charge zone boundary. It is named after Euston Hall, the family ...

headquarters in central London and recorded in small studios normally used for news and current affairs programmes. Production later transferred to Thames' main studios in Teddington. As of October 2021, the series was being repeated on nostalgia-themed

Freeview Freeview may refer to: * Freeview (Australia), the marketing name for the digital terrestrial television platform in Australia * Freeview (New Zealand), a digital satellite and digital terrestrial television platform in New Zealand *Freeview (UK), ...

station That's TV Gold alongside another Thames TV comedy show licensed from

Fremantle Fremantle () () is a port city in Western Australia, located at the mouth of the Swan River in the metropolitan area of Perth, the state capital. Fremantle Harbour serves as the port of Perth. The Western Australian vernacular diminutive for ...

, '' The Best of Tommy Cooper''. That's TV have kept Everett's 'naughty bits' intact with a warning added at the beginning of the programme, due to the prospect of the content causing offence to modern viewers.

Series guide

Series 1

The first episode of the ''Video Show'' aired at 6:45pm on Monday, 3 July 1978. The eight-part series (45 minutes per episode) continued until 21 August 1978 and consisted mostly of musical performances, alongside

routines,

cartoons and occasional OB segments. The ''Video Vault'' clips segment included a ''Rock of Ages'' section, which predominantly featured clips from the

ABC Television ABC Television most commonly refers to: *ABC Television Network of the American Broadcasting Company, United States, or *ABC Television (Australian TV network), a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, Australia ABC Television or ABC ...

music series, '' Oh Boy!''. Regular comic characters included 'Sid Snot', 'Angry of Mayfair' and Everett dressed in a chicken outfit. A ''Best of...'' compilation aired in some regions after the end of the series. The following year, series one won the BAFTA television award for Best Light Entertainment Programme.

Series 2

Prior to the second series, the programme returned on New Year's Day 1979 in most ITV regions (except

Scottish Television Scottish Television (now, legally, known as STV Central Limited) is the ITV network franchisee for Central Scotland. The channel — the largest of the three ITV franchises in Scotland — has been in operation since 31 August 1957 and is the ...

, which aired the special on 7 January 1979) with the ''Didn't Quite Make it in Time for Christmas Video Show'', which also aired in a shortened version on 18 April 1979 - as ITV's entry for the

Golden Rose of Montreux The Rose d'Or ('Golden Rose') is an international awards festival in entertainment broadcasting and programming. The European Broadcasting Union (EBU) first acquired the Rose d’Or in 1961, when it was created by Swiss Television in the lakesi ...

. Series Two began at 7:00pm on Monday 19 February 1979 with an extended ten-episode run (30 minutes per episode) and a greater reliance on comedy material.

Series 3

The ''Video Show'' returned at 11:00pm on New Year's Eve 1979 with an hour-long special, ''Will Kenny Everett Make it to 1980?'' on most of the ITV network.

aired it the following afternoon while

Grampian Television Grampian Television was the original name of the Channel 3 service for the north of Scotland founded in 1961 and now named STV. The northern region's coverage area includes the Northern Isles, Western Isles, Highlands (except Fort William and ...

opted out of the final part on its original transmission. Series 3 ran for eight episodes, starting at 7:00pm on Monday 18 February 1980.

Series 4: ''Video Cassette''

Everett's last New Year's special, ''The Kenny Everett New Year's Daze Show'' aired at 11:50pm on New Year's Eve 1980 over most of the ITV network.

Ulster Television UTV (formerly Ulster Television, branded on air as ITV1) is the ITV region covering Northern Ireland, ITV subsidiary and the former on-air name of the free-to-air public broadcast television channel serving the area. It is run by ITV plc an ...

never aired this special, while Grampian and Scottish broadcast it two days later. The final series, renamed ''The Kenny Everett Video Cassette'' saw the show moved to Thursday evenings at 7:30 in a bid to compete with BBC1's ''

Top of the Pops ''Top of the Pops'' (''TOTP'') is a British Record chart, music chart television programme, made by the BBC and originally broadcast weekly between 1January 1964 and 30 July 2006. The programme was the world's longest-running weekly music show ...

''. There was an even greater reliance on comedy with only one musical guest per episode. The Captain Kremmen cartoons were replaced by shorter live-action studio sketches featuring

Anna Dawson Anna Dawson (born 27 July 1937) is an England, English actress and singer. Born in County Borough of Bolton, Bolton, Lancashire, Dawson spent part of her childhood in Tanganyika (territory), Tanganyika, where her father worked. She attended th ...

as Kremmen's assistant Carla. Unhappy with the scheduling of the series, among other concerns, Everett left Thames and moved to BBC Television.

VHS and DVD releases

During the 1980s, several VHS, Betamax and Laserdisc compilations of the series were released by Thames Video. A six-DVD set containing four series - plus the three New Year specials - was released in November 2018. These are edited down, however, due to licensing issues restricting the use of certain musical acts in some episodes. *''The Best of the Kenny Everett Video Show'' (Vol. 1) (Thames Video - 1981) *''The Best of the Kenny Everett Video Show'' (Vol. 2) (Thames Video - 1982) *''The Best of the Kenny Everett Video Show'' (Vol. 3) (Thames Video - 1982) *''Kenny Everett's Naughty Bits'' (Thames Video - 1989) *''More of Kenny Everett's Naughty Bits'' (Thames Video - 1989) *''The Kenny Everett Video Show'' (short term storage - 2018) Both Naughty Bits compilations from 1989 were chosen for release on the 2004 DVD, ''The Complete Naughty Bits''.

References

External links

* . * .
The Ultimate Kenny Everett Sketch Site, Thames Episodes

An opening scene on YouTube from series 2 of The Kenny Everett Video Show
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kenny Everett Video Show, The 1978 British television series debuts 1981 British television series endings 1970s British television sketch shows 1980s British television sketch shows British comedy television shows ITV sketch shows Television series by Fremantle (company) English-language television shows Television shows produced by Thames Television Television shows shot at Teddington Studios