''The Word'' was a 1990s

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned enterprise, state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a four ...

television programme in the United Kingdom.

Format

The show's presenters included

Terry Christian Terence Christian (born 8 May 1960) is a British broadcaster, journalist and author. He has presented several national television series in the UK including Channel 4's late night entertainment show '' The Word'' (1990–1995) and six series o ...

, comedian

Mark Lamarr Mark Lamarr (born Mark Jones, 7 January 1967) is an English comedian, writer, radio DJ, and television presenter. He was a team captain on '' Shooting Stars'' from 1995 to 1997, and hosted ''Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' from 1996 to 2005. Early li ...

Dani Behr Dani Behr (born 9 July 1970) is an English former singer, actress, voice-over artist, and television presenter. Early life Behr was born in Mill Hill, London, of South African Jewish descent. Her father is a partner in London estate agents Be ...

Katie Puckrik Katie Puckrik (born July 12, 1962) is an American broadcaster and newspaper columnist. Born in Virginia, Puckrik is best known for hosting British youth magazine shows '' The Word'' and ''The Sunday Show'' in the 1990s. She also created and ho ...

, Jasmine Dotiwala,

Alan Connor Alan Connor (born 1972) is a British writer, journalist and television presenter. First seen on Channel 4's youth entertainment programme '' The Word'' in 1995, he later appeared on ''The Big Breakfast'' and BBC Radio Five Live and was a BBC N ...

Amanda de Cadenet Amanda de Cadenet (; born 19 May 1972) is an English photographer, author, and media personality based in Los Angeles, United States. She began her entertainment career in the 1990s, first as a presenter for British series '' The Word'' and ''The ...

and

Huffty Andrea Huftika Reah, better known as Huffty, sometime credited as Huffty Riah or miscredited as Huffy Reah, is a British television personality. She was a presenter of Channel 4's 1990s television series, '' The Word''. In his autobiography ''My ...

. Originally broadcast in the old ''

Tube Tube or tubes may refer to: * ''Tube'' (2003 film), a 2003 Korean film * ''The Tube'' (TV series), a music related TV series by Channel 4 in the United Kingdom * "Tubes" (Peter Dale), performer on the Soccer AM television show * Tube (band), a ...

'' time slot of 6 pm Friday evenings, ''The Words main live show was shifted to a late-night timeslot from 9 November 1990. The magazine format allowed for interviews, live music, features and even game shows. The flexible late-night format meant that guests could do just about anything to be controversial. There was also an 'I'll do anything to be on television' section called "The Hopefuls" which ran for half of series 4 and half of series 5 in which people did generally repulsive things in order to get featured on the programme.

Production

The show was the brainchild of

Charlie Parsons Charles Andrew Parsons is a British television producer known as the creator of the ''Survivor (franchise), Survivor'' franchise. He also created ''The Big Breakfast'' and ''The Word (TV series), The Word''. Education Parsons was educated at Ton ...

and Christian and was originally produced for series 1 and 2 by the production company 24 Hour Productions, which later became

Planet 24 Planet 24 is a television production company, which produced ''The Big Breakfast'' and '' The Word'' for Channel 4. It had an animation division called Impossible TV, founded in 1997. History Bob Geldof and Tony Boland (television producer) fou ...

Paul Ross Paul Ross (born 31 December 1956) is an English television and radio presenter, journalist and media personality. He is the son of Martha Ross and the elder brother of Jonathan Ross. Early life Growing up in outer east London, Ross was educa ...

was the series editor on series 3 and 4, and became executive producer for series 5.

Jo Whiley Johanne Whiley-Morton (born 4 July 1965), better known by her professional name Jo Whiley, is an English radio DJ and television presenter. She was the host of the long-running weekday later weekend '' Jo Whiley Show'' on BBC Radio 1. She curre ...

worked as a researcher/band booker on series 2 and half of series 3 and is credited as having given

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lampRichard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colombo.' ...

their historic and notorious first TV appearance. The programme ran for five series from 1990 to 1995. From the start, there was considerable tabloid backlash against the show. In mid 2000, Channel 4 screened a short-running compilation series titled ''Best of The Word'', which mostly featured music performances.

Tango Tango is a partner dance and social dance that originated in the 1880s along the Río de la Plata, the natural border between Argentina and Uruguay. The tango was born in the impoverished port areas of these countries as the result of a combina ...

Notable moments

's international television debut performance of "

Smells Like Teen Spirit "Smells Like Teen Spirit" is a song by the American rock band Nirvana. It is the opening track and lead single from the band's second album, ''Nevermind'' (1991), released on DGC Records. The unexpected success of the song propelled ''Neve ...

", with

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...

declaring

Courtney Love Courtney Michelle Love (née Harrison; born July 9, 1964) is an American singer, guitarist, songwriter, and actress. A figure in the alternative and grunge scenes of the 1990s, her career has spanned four decades. She rose to prominence as t ...

to be "the best fuck in the world." * Singer/guitarist

Donita Sparks Donita Sparks (born April 8, 1963) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter most notable for being the co-founder of the band L7. Sparks also initiated, performed, and released original material with her solo project, the band Donita S ...

of L7 removing her jeans and underwear during a performance, the full-frontal nudity displayed when she drops her guitar being briefly broadcast. * The TV debut of

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

playing "

Supersonic Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound ( Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately . Speeds greater than five times ...

". *

Rage Against the Machine Rage Against the Machine (often abbreviated as RATM or shortened to simply Rage) is an American rock band from Los Angeles, California. Formed in 1991, the group consists of vocalist Zack de la Rocha, bassist and backing vocalist Tim Commerfor ...

playing "

Killing in the Name "Killing in the Name" is a protest song by American rock band Rage Against the Machine, and appears on their 1992 self-titled debut album. It was released as the lead single from the album in November 1992. It features heavy drop-D guitar riff ...

", resulting in a stage invasion with guitarist

Tom Morello Thomas Baptist Morello (born May 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He is best known for his tenure with the rock band Rage Against the Machine and then with Audioslave. Between 2016 and 2019, Morello ...

and singer

Zack de la Rocha Zacharias Manuel de la Rocha (born January 12, 1970) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, rapper, and political activist. He is best known as the vocalist and lyricist of the rock band Rage Against the Machine. Through both Rage Agains ...

both being stopped from performing by the chaotic crowd. *

Lynne Perrie Lynne Perrie (born Jean Dudley; 7 April 1931 – 24 March 2006) was an English actress, singer and television personality, best known as Mrs Casper in Ken Loach's 1969 film '' Kes'', Mrs Petty in the television series '' Queenie's Castle'', and ...

, best known for her role as

Ivy Tilsley Ivy Joan Tilsley (originally credited as Ivy Tyldesley, also Nelson and later Brennan) is a fictional character from the British soap opera ''Coronation Street''. Played by Lynne Perrie, Ivy first appeared on-screen on 14 June 1971, initially o ...

in soap opera ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Origi ...

'', performing a tuneless rendition of the

Gloria Gaynor Gloria Gaynor ( née Fowles; born September 7, 1943) is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits "I Will Survive" (1978), " Let Me Know (I Have a Right)" (1979), " I Am What I Am" (1983), and her version of "Never Can Say Goodbye" ( ...

song "

I Will Survive "I Will Survive" is a song by American singer Gloria Gaynor, released in October 1978 as the second single from her sixth album, '' Love Tracks'' (1978). It was written by Freddie Perren and Dino Fekaris. A top-selling song, it is a popular di ...

". * A very drunk

Oliver Reed Robert Oliver Reed (13 February 1938 – 2 May 1999) was an English actor known for his well-to-do, macho image and "hellraiser" lifestyle. After making his first significant screen appearances in Hammer Horror films in the early 1960s, his ...

giving a barely coherent interview before performing " Wild Thing" by

The Troggs The Troggs (originally called the Troglodytes) are an English garage rock band formed in Andover, Hampshire in May 1964. Their most famous songs include the US chart-topper " Wild Thing", "With a Girl Like You" and "Love Is All Around", all o ...

with

Ned's Atomic Dustbin Ned's Atomic Dustbin are an English rock band formed in Stourbridge, West Midlands, in November 1987. The band took their name from an episode of radio comedy programme ''The Goon Show''. The band is unusual for using two bass-players in their ...

." *

Shabba Ranks Shabba Ranks (born Rexton Rawlston Fernando Gordon; 17 January 1966) is a Jamaican dancehall musician. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, he was one of the most popular Jamaican musicians in the world. Throughout his prominence in his home cou ...

advocating crucifixion of homosexuals, which received universal condemnation including from presenter Lamarr.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Word (TV series), The 1990 British television series debuts 1995 British television series endings British music television shows Channel 4 original programming Television series by ITV Studios Television shows shot at Teddington Studios