Television TV

Tiswas

Tiswas was one of the first Saturday morning childrens television shows - in fact it started quite a trend! It was very, very long running and has most definitely entered into the national consciousness. It actually ran from 5 January 1974 to 3 April 1982. 8 years!

Tiswas had a very loyal following not just with children, but also with students and parents. In fact it says something about its popularity based on its former presenters that are still working today! Chris Tarrant was the main presenter, but then there was Lenny Henry, Frank Carson, Bob Carolgees. And even the future Dr Who – Sylvester McCoy!

The nonsense word “Tiswas” is reported to mean: "Today Is Saturday, Watch And Smile". The show was very anarchic and had some very iconic features – like the Phantom Flan Flinger, Spit the Dog, and “Swap shop” where viewers could swap one thing they own for something someone else owned.

There were of course many cartoons and filler bits to to programme, mostly performed by comedians. In fact the format for the show was pretty much used for almost every other Saturday morning kids show – Going Live, Motormouth, Magpie. Only Number 73 tried something slightly different with it’s tightly rehearsed characters and fabricated sit-com feel.

Tizwas actually spawned quite a few off shoots. The show O.T.T. (over the top) was created as a kind of Tizwas for adults, and was on much later. Hosted by Tarrant and some of the other people from the show it features up and coming comics like Alexei Sayle and Helen Atkinson Wood.

The show was certainly a strong brand, and idea! You can’t mention it to anyone of that era without them going into a misty-eyes look of nostalgia for Saturday mornings in front of the TV watching Chris Tarrant before he became a millionaire!


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Do You Remember Tiswas?

Do You Remember Tiswas?

  • fbatkin
    on
    I have a song, the bucket of water song, great stuff, I wasn't a kid but I loved it.
  • Anonymous user
    on
    Didnt get to see tiswas due to it being on a channel we couldnt receive, midlands i think at first, when it came to our area it was the funniest thing i had seen .Lots of imitations since but none as good. sally james mmmm remember the episode where she was in a ringmasters outfit with leotard grrr!! compost corner lenny henry with his DMC awards ( de condense milk). utter anarchy for kids . loved it. i just got the tiswas music album. loads of top tunes from the era.
  • Anonymous user
    on
    custard pie right in the fizzer! lol
  • Gojira
    on
    Am I the only person who remembers the original line-up of John Asher, Chris Tarrant, Peter Tomlinson & Trevor East?
  • Anonymous user
    on
    I remember poor Phil Oakey being hauled around the studio in an attempt to recreate the "removal of shirt by pulling the collar" magic trick. Hilarious!
  • Anonymous user
    on
    I was on TISWAS during the long drought of 1976. I was a tender 9 years of age and loved the experience. Because of the water restrictions, I had a bucket of ice cream soda tipped over my head instead. I loved TISWAS and thought that Chris Tarrant was a really nice guy.
  • Anonymous user
    on
    I must have been 3 when I first saw Tiswas in 1977... I used to go around my Playgroup attempting to throw imaginary Custard Pies at all the girls! I was also highly jealous of Matthew Butler - the little boy who dressed up as a rabbit to sing 'Bright Eyes'. All these years later, I'm helping out with the (almost official) TiswasOnline.com website and Matt's now a mate of mine! Funny how things work out isn't it!
  • Anonymous user
    on
    Ah yes the svelte figure of Sally james probably is the most vivid memory for myself 9who was a young adolescent at the time). I did think though that Chris Tarrant did labour the pie throwing a bit much you could say he was a bit OTT but thats another story. One more thing though I believe TISWAS stood for Today Is Saturday Watch And Smile. I could be entirely wrong- still I'm not going to lose any sleep over it
  • Anonymous user
    on
    No, the ultimate thing about Tiswas was watching Sallly James each week. To any young lad growing up - she was the ultimate "I want to date her!" girl for the 80s! Breathtaking.
  • Anonymous user
    on
    i was actually on TisWas i think it was christmas 79 and i'm just trying to find out where i could get it from to show my kids what propper TV was like