As Seen On TV
- TV panel show
- BBC One
- 2009
- 8 episodes (1 series)
BBC1 panel show based around TV trivia. Hosted by Steve Jones, with team captains Fern Britton and Jason Manford. Also features Beardyman.
Press clippings Page 2
Eureka!: As Seen on TV
Exec producer Robin Ashbrook on how a game between pals was transformed into a TV quiz.
Robin Ashbrook, Broadcast, 18th June 2009Now I like TV as much as the next geek daftie (look, I really do have a Bonekickers DVD boxset, honestly), but even my blood turned to ice when I read about the BBC's new Friday night panel quiz show...
Presenter Steve Jones, spreading his wings beyond T4, will host As Seen on TV (you see what they did there?), a panel game in a Buzzcocks stylee on the subject of, well, TV. The team captains will be outgoing This Morning host Fern Britton and comedian Jason Manford (drafted in from C4's 8 Out of 10 Cats).
Honestly, is that the best they can come up with for a Friday night these days? Really? Wow, Jay Hunt is making some dynamic commissioning decisions in her early days as BBC1 controller. Did nobody, at any point, sit her down and show her an episode of It's Only TV... But I Like It, the Jonathan Ross hosted TV themed panel game show? One can only assume not...
Panel shows, like Buzzcocks, HIGNFY and QI can be good, enjoyable, even subversive television. But the alchemy of getting the right make-up of on-screen talent and format to make it work is a tricky thing to pull off. One bum note and it all goes out of the window.
But whatever the success or otherwise of the finished product, on the surface, As Seen on TV just sounds like lazy, middle of the road television. Surely we deserve better? Or am I expecting too much these days?
Mark Wright, The Stage, 8th April 2009