Television TV

Going Live!

I'd still be wearing my clothes, including my shoes. The multichange CD player would be on though it would have come to a halt having played over 6 hours of music through the night. My bedroom light would be on and if it was winter - which it usually was - the portable fan heater would be gently blowing away. Its soft purr would be likely to encourage me to at least raise one eye-lid. Upon doing so, I'd notice that apart from leaving everything else on after the previous night's excesses, the TV would also be flickering away in the corner of my bedroom.

Nine times out of ten, the programme that would greet me would be Going Live and I'd be met by the smiling, too-bright-for-a-Saturday-morning faces of Sarah Greene and Phillip Schofield.

And they, of course, would be joined by the high screeching muppet that was Gordon the Gopher, sat betwixt the two wobbling his / its head from side to side. My head was in no condition to follow suit.

Whilst aimed at school kids, particularly pre- and early-teens, I was approaching my twenties when I learned to appreciate this programme. The reason why was not because of the aforementioned hosts Greene and Schofield but because of the antics of Trevor and Simon, whose Singing Corner comedy transcended that understandable by an audience of 12 and 13 year olds. This was adult comedy which went above the heads of the kids. Some of it was just dry wit; a lot of it was quite smutty, a few double-entendres that used to have me in stitches.

Complete with hippy wigs, beards and acoustic guitars, any studio guests would be asked to sing and dance with them, and you could not help but see the embarrassment on these 'stars' faces!

It was fun and was a pretty good tablet to swallow on a Saturday morning. It was certainly better than the dross that passes for Saturday morning TV today. But now I would say that wouldn't I, being a parent and all?!


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Do You Remember Going Live!?

Do You Remember Going Live!?

  • Anonymous user
    on
    Going Live was THE BEST Saturday kids TV show of the late 80's/early 90's....loved 'Pip' Schofield and I wanted to be Sarah Green! They had studio guests and people would ring in to ask questions, and they used those massive portable phones, the postbag...and Trev and Simon were brilliant with their random sketches, often humilitaing major stars of music and tv.
  • Anonymous user
    on
    081 811 8181. Is it bad that I can still remember the phone number 20 years on?
  • Anonymous user
    on
    ..Swing those flares! Loved Going Live...and it really was all because of Trev & Simon...classic! Loved the Racoons cartoon too..