No Signal! is a British

sketch comedy Sketch comedy comprises a series of short, amusing scenes or vignettes, called "sketches" or, "skits", commonly between one and ten minutes long, performed by a group of comic actors or comedians. While the form developed and became popular in ...

show that aired on a weekly basis from 5 February to 9 April 2009 on FX. The show's humour was based almost entirely on satire of television, including channels, adverts and programming. Though general reaction was mixed, the show was considered successful.

Overview

''No Signal!'' is set up like a regular Sky TV system with similar graphics and numerous channels, which are flicked through until the show ends, meanwhile showing the various spoofs of commercials, documentaries, etc. An odd take on pre-show disclaimers air before each episode, which suggests that at least another series of No Signal! will be produced. The set up is considered strikingly similar to

The Kevin Bishop Show ''The Kevin Bishop Show'' is a sketch comedy written by and starring English comedian Kevin Bishop, part of the ''Star Stories'' team. The show was commissioned by Channel 4 for a six-part series starting on 25 July 2008 at 10 p.m. A pilot was b ...

, which began the previous year.

Channels

101 - The Main Channel

Parody of:

BBC One BBC One is a British free-to-air public broadcast television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is the corporation's oldest and flagship channel, and is known for broadcasting mainstream programming, which includes BBC News television b ...

Channel 101 (the position of BBC One in reality), generally runs parodies of the said channel's shows, e.g.

Antiques Roadshow ''Antiques Roadshow'' is a British television programme broadcast by the BBC in which antiques appraisers travel to various regions of the United Kingdom (and occasionally in other countries) to appraise antiques brought in by local people ( ...

and

Have I Got News For You ''Have I Got News for You'' (''HIGNFY'') is a British television panel show, produced by Hat Trick Productions for the BBC, which premiered on 28 September 1990. The programme focuses on two teams, one usually captained by Ian Hislop and one ...

167 - Bloke TV

Parody of:

Men & Motors Men & Motors was a men's lifestyle television channel in the UK. It was the last remaining station operated by the former Granada Sky Broadcasting joint venture, set up by Granada Television (now part of ITV plc) and satellite broadcaster Brit ...

Channel 167 regularly shows Cop Swap, featuring a pair of paranoid American police officers, one of whom has a very coarse mouth. In the last sketch they kill the show's cameraman, accusing him of perversion due to the constant filming of their daily patrols.

191 - American Nonsense

Parody of:

BET Black Entertainment Television (BET) is an American basic cable channel targeting Black American audiences. It is the flagship channel of the BET Media Group, a subsidiary of Paramount Global's CBS Entertainment Group. Originally launched ...

Usually running America's Next Serial Killer (a parody of

America's Next Top Model ''America's Next Top Model'' (abbreviated ''ANTM'' and ''Top Model'') is an American reality television series and interactive competition in which a number of aspiring models compete for the title of "America's Next Top Model" and a chance to b ...

220 - The Documentary Channel

Parody of:

Sky Real Lives Sky Real Lives was an in-house channel from British Sky Broadcasting that showed extensive programmes about travel, adverts for travel agencies and documentaries. The channels closed on 19 August 2010. History Sky Real Lives first launched as S ...

Shows on this channel have bizarre and often unsettling plots, such as a man trying to live an active lifestyle, despite only being reduced to little more than his head.

333 - The Deaf Channel

Parody of: The Deaf Channel
333 runs various formats of TV for people with hearing difficulties, e.g. Deaf Rap or Deaf Porn. The No Signal DVD also includes a deaf version of

Gallows A gallows (or less precisely scaffold) is a frame or elevated beam, typically wooden, from which objects can be suspended or "weighed". Gallows were thus widely used to suspend public weighing scales for large and heavy objects such as sa ...

' In the Belly of a Shark as a deleted scene, which was meant to be included in episode 4 but was left out.

372 - Lard Arse

Parody of:

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, who manages and operates it as a division of the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks Group. The channel airs both televi ...

Easy Chef is the only show on 372 shown to the audience. It features a traditional TV chef (possibly a parody of

Jamie Oliver Jamie Trevor Oliver Order of the Star of Italy, OSI (born 27 May 1975) is an English celebrity chef, restaurateur and cookbook author. He is known for his casual approach to cuisine, which has led him to front numerous television shows and o ...

) or

Delia Smith Delia Ann Smith (born 18 June 1941) is an English cook and television presenter, known for teaching basic cookery skills in a direct style. One of the best-known celebrity chefs in British popular culture, Smith has influenced viewers to bec ...

, who cooks mostly kiddy favorites like

Baked Beans Baked beans is a Dish (food), dish traditionally containing white Phaseolus vulgaris, common beans that are parboiling, parboiled and then baking, baked in sauce at low temperature for a lengthy period. Canned baked beans are not baked, but ar ...

on Toast or

TV Dinner A frozen meal, also called a TV dinner (Canada and US), prepackaged meal, ready-made meal, ready meal (UK), frozen dinner, or microwave meal, is a meal portioned for an individual. A frozen meal in the United States and Canada usually consists ...

s, though he presents it in a way that would try to suggest otherwise. He claims to be friends with

Gary Rhodes Gary Rhodes (22 April 1960 – 26 November 2019) was an English restaurateur and television chef, known for his love of English cuisine and ingredients and for his distinctive spiked hair style. He fronted shows such as ''MasterChef'', '' Mas ...

and

Gordon Ramsay Gordon James Ramsay (; born ) is a British celebrity chef, restaurateur, television presenter, and writer. His restaurant group, List of restaurants owned or operated by Gordon Ramsay, Gordon Ramsay Restaurants, was founded in 1997 and has ...

650 - Child Minder Channel

Parody of:

CBeebies CBeebies is a British free-to-air Public service broadcasting in the United Kingdom, public broadcast children's television channel owned and operated by the BBC. It is also the brand used for all BBC content targeted for children aged six year ...

Channel 650 is seen running a spoof of the hit young children's show ''

Tweenies ''Tweenies'' is a British live action puppet children's television series created by Will Brenton and Iain Lauchlan, and produced by Tell-Tale Productions and the BBC. The programme was focused on four preschool-aged characters, known as the ...

'' called The Chavvy Wavvys, about an asbo-riddled & dysfunctional family comprising Chavvy Daddy, Chavvy Mummy, Chavvy Son and Chavvy Daughter. Most of the episodes revolve around Chavvy Daddie's antics which include (among other things) robbing himself to claim on his home insurance.

969 - Late Night Perv

Parody of:

Babestation Babestation (labelled Babenation on the Sky EPG) is an adult chat television channel and programme block which has aired on television in the United Kingdom since 2002. Since 2015, Babestation has also had a complementary website that inclu ...

Late Night Perv seems to be the home of Granny Porn XXX, which is a parody of models taking up stripping to grannies stripping. The grannies often say stuff like, "When I catch you with my featherduster, you'll be amazed where I can put it!". It also shows 'Topless Scrubbers On The Phone'.

Adverts

In addition to the TV programmes, some of the flicks through the channel network show parodies of TV commercials such as

dfs DFS may refer to: Brands and enterprises * Dancer Fitzgerald Sample, advertising agency, now Saatchi & Saatchi * DFS Furniture, a furniture retailer in the United Kingdom and Ireland * DFS Group (Duty Free Shoppers), Hong Kong * DFS Program Exchang ...

Birds Eye Birds Eye is an international brand of frozen foods founded in the United States and now owned by Conagra Brands in the United States, by Nomad Foods in Europe, and Simplot in Australia. The former Birds Eye Company Ltd., originally named "B ...

and JML.

International broadcast

*Australia - Airs weekly on

The Comedy Channel The Comedy Channel (promoted on air as comedy) was an Australian subscription television channel available on Foxtel, and Optus Television. The channel ceased broadcasting on 1 September 2020. History A joint venture between Artist Services ( ...

*New Zealand - Airs every Wednesday at 11pm on

TVNZ U TVNZ U, more known as U, was an interactive youth-oriented New Zealand television channel, owned and operated by TVNZ. The channel launched on 13 March 2011, and featured reality programming, as well as an interactive live show and music cont ...

External links

*{{British Comedy Guide, tv, no_signal 2009 British television series debuts 2009 British television series endings 2000s British satirical television series 2000s British television sketch shows 2000s British black comedy television series British television sketch shows British satirical television shows British black comedy television shows British English-language television shows Television series about television