Completely forgotten - Manimal. An 80's American series about a guy that could turn into any animal, using his abilities to help law enforcement. Only run for 1 series but I remember being scared at the transformations which reminded me of the epic American Werewolf In London transformation scene.
Has anyone suggested The Adventure Game (1980-6) yet? This was a gameshow set on the Planet Arg, where mischievous shape shifting dragons called Argonds made teams of celebrities and occasional members of the public solve puzzles to allow them to return to Earth. It had a Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy meets The Crystal Maze vibe to it. The best remembered part is the Vortex, where contestants try to avoid a BBC Micro sprite on a grid. This show was either a joy to watch when clever folks like Graeme Garden of the Goodies participated, or excruciatingly slow when the less capable teams struggled. My rating? Doogy Rev, obviously.
OH MY BLOODY GOD! I REMEMBER CAPTAIN ZEP - SPACE DETECTIVE! That definitely needs an inclusion as Forgotten ... Its hard to describe as each Episode was simply scenes for a Game Show for the kids to try and solve clues to win prizes, But the Scenes were Creatively done super imposing Live action Actors onto 2D Comic Style Scenery!!! It did not last long, a shame as I kind of enjoyed it (My Mother hated it though And admittedly, We did prefer KNIGHTMARE, Who didn't?)
Some more excellent kids shows for your consideration that I remember from my childhood. I might have commented on this one before but Jamie and The Magic Torch is excellent and it might have the best theme tune ever for a kids show, or for any show at that. The characters in it are so weird and the colours so psychedelic that if you told me that the creators were all on drugs when they made it I’d believe you. Another excellent show that I remember, probably more because of the theme tune rather than the content, is The Flumps. Not to be confused with the marshmallow sweets these were little round furry characters made up of a family of Grandpa Flump, Ma & Pa Flump and the kids Perkin, Posie & Pootle. These next two I have the feeling you might have already mentioned but there have been so many of these videos I can’t remember but I’ll suggest them anyway. Chorlton and the Wheelies Mr Benn
The Smoking Room (BBC2) was a brilliant 90s comedy show featuring Robert Webb, and many others. Really great humour and real life aspects and also very ‘of the time’ as you don’t get smoking rooms anymore!
This Is Jinsy (2010-14) Excellent, if you like this sort of thing. This is a very strange sitcom set on the fictional Channel Island of Jinsy. Its setting is a cross between the original Wicker Man movie, 1984 and Monty Python at its most surreal. It featured cameos from Greg Davies, David Tennant, Rob Brydon, Catherine Tate, Peter Serafinowicz, Kevin Eldon, Harry Hill amongst many others. Highlights include the element report with Tracee Henge, Sandy's Choice (a talent contest judged by a dog), the Punishment Roundup with Mild Electricals and Moosik Pak featuring folk dribbler Melody Lane.
When Sky spent money on sitcoms, they spent big! I loved it, exceedingly daft with some quite sophisticated visual effects. Everyone had a name-worm that was inserted via the anus. Also see "Yonderland" from the Horrible Histories gang and a bunch of puppets. I liked that too.
Loved Look About You. The naff rapping especially stuck in my head. 😄 I had mandela'd Richard Ayoade into the role, though. Someone else remembers Ghost Writer! They showed it in school here in the UK, or at least my area. I don't think we ever did find out if the children were alright...
2 Excellent choices, "Mystery Science Theater 3000" wich debuted in 1988 on an indipendant channel KTMA in Hopkins Minnesota USA then The Comedy Channel from 1989-1991, Comedy Central from 1991- 1996, Sci-fi Channel from 1997- 1999, Netflix from 2017- 2018, and finally the Gizmoplex which started in 2022. A man (or woman In the case of Season 13) is trapped in space by Mad Scientists in space, and forced to watch bad movies, however the subject of the Mads' experiments always have help from their Robot friends as they make jokes during the movies they watch the end results for the most part is hilarious. And, "Let's Make a Deal" on CBS in the USA, an update of a Game Show that started in 1963, the newest version started in 2009. Wayne Brady, Jonathan Magnum, and Tiffany Coyne, play games with Costumed Contestants for money, and prizes, and avoid Zonks that would make them lose the games, the fun that the guests, Wayne, and company have really show through in each episode.
I saw three episodes of Mystery Science Theater 3000 back in 2000 on the sci fi channel, when house sitting for someone. We didn't have cable back then. Then I saw the movie when it was on ITV in 2003. And that was that. I was aware of the show for years but never got round to getting a multi region dvd player. Fast forward to 2018 when I got Netflix. And was blown away to find the new version on there. Went through that and loved it. Went through all the classic episodes they had. Was bereft when I finished those [ten]. Looked at you tube in desperation for more. And only then did I find how much old tv is on there. Wish I'd thought to check years before. So I set out to watch it at the rate of one episode a week. Frankly, it kept me going through covid. Being a key worker meant 2020 was a very busy and stressful time, and I couldn't go out at weekends. So I would watch my weekly episode first thing on a saturday morning. Thinking can't wait for saturday and my mst3k helped a lot. I waited three and a half years to watch the episode 'Mitchell' as it being the last Joel one meant I felt like doing it as such. It was so worth the wait. I then finished the lot a few weeks later. Have been going back round ever since. I love the fact that every week, I can forget the world and just have some fun with the mads and the satellite of love crew.
Max Headroom actually had a thirteen episode series that followed on from Twenty minutes into the future. Channel four showed it about 10.45pm on a wednesday night. The role of boy genius scientist Bryce was recast in this. And they toned his character down also. Since he was utterly amoral in the pilot they tried to make him more quirky and likeable. It kind of worked. Show was great. Forgotten: Rocky O'Rourke. 1976 children's bbc1 show. Four episodes that went out in that 5.10pm slot after Newsround. Based on the novel 'a pair of Jesus Boots', it was the story of a boy in Liverpool who is a teenage gang leader and possibly heading down the wrong path. Solid drama of the kind they used to make. But the reason I remember it: People will remember how in the Dr. Who episode 'Rose' in 2005, someone pressed the wrong button at the bbc and you heard Graham Norton for a moment. Some might remember Itv doing that in the 70's during 'Bouquet of Barbed Wire' when you suddenly heard a trailer for the Muppet Show. Well, I was watching part one of Rocky O'Rourke when it went out live. And in the middle of it, you suddenly heard a trailer for the first episode of Secret Army. Which was due to start later that night. I know plenty of people who remember the Dr. Who one. One or two who remember the Itv one. But I've never met anyone else at all who was watching Rocky O'rourke when that happened. Thus I conclude it's forgotten. Be interesting to hear if anyone does remember it.
Here is one for you if you have not done it already, I put forward “The Red Hand Gang” for Forgotten/Excellent!! Loved this crime fighting kids tv show from the early 80’s,
A favorite of mine was. Mysteries of the museum from the travel channel back when it was about travel. They would take an innocuous exhibit from a museum and then tell the back story. That story was always fascinating. For example was a medical bag at the state museum in Colorado. That medical bag was owned by a woman named Susan Anderson whose pioneering medical career is absolutely fascinating. Another is a simple bicycle that caused people to break down into uncontrollable tears. How could a simple bicycle do that? Mysteries of the museum. A great show.
No hate here for the forgotten gems and to prove it here's one I recently recalled - long running gadget/tinkering challenge 'game show' Junkyard Wars. Always enjoyed watching this one; here's the IMDB summary: Two rival teams are given the task of building some kind of machine, in one day, using only the items found in an unusually well-stocked scrapyard. Machines constructed to date have included trebuchets, hovercraft, rockets, and more.
A few other kids tv suggestions that probably all come under “oh my god I forgot all about that”… 1. Pigeon Street (BBC 80s) - cute cartoon with people and pigeons. I don’t remember much other than I liked it! 2. The Flumps. Model animated show with a cute theme tune that weirdly got used on an Auto Trader or similar advert 30 odd years later. Had a character with a hat that always reminded me of last of the summer wine. Good from what I remember. 3. Chockablock. Largely forgotten show from the start of the 80’s about a big computer like machine. Super fun theme tune. I rediscovered it and watched it on you tube - my son says it’s excellent despite being massively dated.
Awesome is also - The Highwayman, an American action-adventure-themed television series starring Sam J. Jones, set in "the near future." It was created by Glen A. Larson and Douglas Heyes. The pilot aired in September 1987 and was followed by a short-lived series of nine episodes, with significant changes to the cast and format, that ran from March until May 1988. It was summed up by many reviewers as a cross between Mad Max and Knight Rider
It also starred an Australian footballer, singer and actor, Mark "Jack" Jackson. I went past a large estate one time and some told me that it was owned by Jacko, and it is being rented out while he was doing this show in the USA.
I loved the greatest american hero it was a show about this ordinary american guy who come's across this superhero costume which was left by aliens I think anyway it gave superhero abilities it was hilarious
It was left by aliens, but he then went and lost the instruction book they gave him. Fabulous theme tune. Which became George's ansaphone message on Seinfeld.
@@paultapner2769Yes, great show. It was created by the same guy who would later go on to create "The A-Team". The theme song actually entered the US charts, and went as high as No 2. Another interesting fact is the guy who gets the super suit is named Ralph Hinkley. However, they changed it to "Ralph Hanley" in the second season after John Hinckley Jr tried to assassinate President Ronald Reagan. Yes, it is "Forgotten" and "Excellent".
Under rated & excellent! After you’ve gone- a British sitcom aired from 2007-2008 with 3 seires about a semi absent & divorced father Jimmy Venables (played by Nicholas Lyndhurst) getting a 2nd chance with his teenage kids (played by Tracy Beakers Dani Harmer & Ryan Sampson) by moving back into the family home to look after them whilst his ex wife goes to Africa, only to discover that his domineering mother in law Diana (played by Celia Imire) plans to help out and take over as much as she can The show follows the clashes of parenting styles between laid back Jimmy & control freak Diana Tagline was Jimmy Venables- only man to get divorced and get custody of his mother in law It was a great sitcom that was massively overlooked. Classic sitcom feels and created by Fred Barron who also created My Family Sadly due to a pre catch up service world with the show being pushed to the same as Coronation Streets on ITV1. It sadly couldn’t compete and so a commissioned 4th series was cancelled
Here's an underrated one: The Number Crew, a show I watched in first grade. It's a show that teaches simple counting (and maybe other math topics, I can't remember), which is set on a ship helmed by a family of 5, I think, with the passengers all being animals, kind of like Noah's Ark, but not two of each animal, and no apocalyptic flood. There was also a real person who would cut in once in a while to help teach the lesson of the episode to the characters and the audience. The theme song is an earworm, too
Since I mentioned Ghostwriter myself, it was nice to see it appear in this episode, a show that I thought about for forgotten (or at least I think most people might not remember it) is Blood Drive, that was a good show. Terrible shows were The Buccaneers and Casey Jones, and two excellent shows were The Fugitive and the original version of The Invaders.
Underrated TV show i remember is SECRET LIFE OF MACHINES, Aired on channel 4, With Rex Garrod and Tim Hunkin. Talking about common household and office machinery and items. Fondly remembering the Lighting and TV episode where near the end they set fire to like 30 tvs stacked up. Also the little cartoons inbetween the clips was cool. ----------- Forgotton Tv show was ok for its time shown on BBC3 Comedy, The Wrong door. Fondly Remembering a lady having a small T-rex as a pet or getting lost in the magical woods.
Rubbish - Train 48 (Global TV, 2003-2005) A semi-improvised soap opera about passengers on a Toronto-to-Burlington train, they would tape and air the show all in one day. The quality was about what you would expect from something you can't really do multiple takes of. Also, the show was chock full of blatant product placement.
Shows my age but I've noticed you rarely mention shows made before 1980 as a Boomer here are three pre 1980 shows. The Adventures of Long John Silver, (saw this in reruns I'm not that old) made in 1954, the year I was born, Robert Newton reprises his role as the pirate captain from the 1950 Disney movie, Treasure Island and reinforces the belief that all the best pirates have "West Country" accents, Newton himself grew up in Cornwall and Dorset. Batfink, a 1967 cartoon that parodied both Batman and The Green Hornet. An andromorphic bat with super powers, an Asian sidekick with martial art skills, and a souped up car called The Batilac. "Mary Hartman, Mary Hartman" 1976-77, "Forever Fernwood" 1978-79 a soap opera parody shown 5 nights a week in the traditional serial drama format and spinoff, "Fernwood 2 Night", later "America 2 Night" starred Martin Mull as Barth Gimball, a character from MH, MH as a talk show host.
Forgotten and good - The Animals Of Farthing Wood. An epic cartoon on CBBC about a bunch of animals working together to find their home. I think that was the plot. It was a big deal back in the day.
Love the channel. I'd like to nominate Roughnecks, a series set on a fictional oil rig and staring Liam Cunningham, Ashley Jensen, Ricky Tomlinson and Bruce Jones (pre Coronation Street's Les Battersby). As far as I am aware this has never been repeated and pretty much forgotten about but I really enjoyed it.
Does anyone remember No signal? it was a sketch show from the late 2000's and was a series of sketches based around TV lampooning TV series and adverts. Also for excellent, Mum. a BBC sitcom based around a woman trying to rebuild her life after the death of her husband, an excellent cast lead by Lesley Manville and her love interest Peter Mullan, it was an understated comedy from the same writer as the also brilliant Him and Her
Forgotten: Does anyone remember Secret Valley? I think it was Australian and shown on Channel 4 in the early 80s? Theme music was sung along to the tune of Waltzing Matilda. Also whizkids, mid 80s U.S show about teenagers using computers and tech to solve mysteries. Excellent: Maid Marion and her merry men.
Forgotten and excellent: Monkey Dust I think it started on BBC 3 then moved to BBC 2. A dark adult animation that was satirical and poked fun at themes most shows wouldn't touch, such as serial killers etc, I vaugly remember 3 parts specifically: A missing child where its implied the dad (who was a Harold Shipman lookalike) killed her and wasn't very concerned A guy who was unhappy in his life and job and always saying he had been to the pub to his wife and then admitted to being somewhere else which was always very dark and adult A serial killer who was being released after being locked away since the 70s who had a space hopper that was kinda talking to him and getting him to kill so he would be put back in prison Never gets repeated, only series 1 ever released on dvd and I have noticed its on ebay but I haven't bought it again yet to see if its as good as I remember, I know there was a series 2, to which there were problems with, would love to watch it again
Absolutely love this series of videos, so here's a few more that I think are worth a mention. Forgotten & Under-rated - Once Upon a Time in the North - A 1994 BBC sitcom focussing on Len Tollitt family and his family. Starred Bernard Hill and Bryan Pringle. I remember it wasn't laugh out loud, but still made you laugh. Only lasted one series, but should have had more. Rubbish - Manimal. A Simon McCorkindale vehicle about a doctor who could transform himself into an animal, usually some kind of big cat, with the transformation always beginning with his hand flexing and pulsing. Whoever green-lit the show should have been forced to watch it. Forgotten and Under-rated - Wild Palms. A dystopian show about the dangers of media, religion and at the time, virtual realities, all set in the future of 2007! I remember it was ahead of its time in making the warnings about the media and it's control of the population and
I'd nominate the Canadian comedy sketch show The Upright Citizen's Brigade. Most notably introduced Amy Poehler. Very Monty Pythonesque. Very funny if you like surreal comedy.
Sir, thank you for using my suggestion. If I may balance it with an 'Excellent' and 'Forgotten', may I suggest 'War Planets'. A.k.a. 'Shadow Raiders' in Canada because you can't have the word 'War' in the title of a kids show in Canada. Based loosely on an old board game of all things, it centers on a star system of warring societies on different worlds that are warned by the last survivor of a planet that was literally consumed by a race called the Beast that they're in danger of being next. I believe it suffered like 'Watership Down' where it was advertised as a kids show, but by all means was not. It tackled mature subjects such as racism, death and intimacy brilliantly! Loved it. Highest recommendation!
I'm sure, 'Ghost writer', was incorporated into a Schools programme on the BBC, some time in the 90's. 'Look Around You', had a bit of a cult following in the early 2000's. At least, the first series did. Responsible for many catchphrases. Thanks ants. Thants. The second Tomorrow's World in the 80's, one was equally as interesting, as it took off the occasional gaff/unexpected turn of events on live shows, quite well. Who can forget Synthesizer Patel and his rant about having had burglars, and what he wanted to do to them. 'Saturday Banana', was unsurprisingly a kids TV shown shown on Saturday mornings. One of many that were slotted in during the summer season when the more established shows were taking a break. Made by Southern Television, it didn't last very long at all, (only one summer season), being a poor imitation of such shows. Bill Oddie was the main presenter, but even he didn't seem to want to be there. He wrote and sang the theme song to the show, which was probably the only memorable thing about it. 'Citizen Smith', was a UK sitcom from the late 70's, about a would-be revolutionary of the Tooting Popular Front, who didn't really have any real idea as to how to be one. Wolfie Smith, played by Robert Lindsay, who was always referred to as, 'Foxie', by the Mum, (played by Hilda Braid), of his girlfriend Shirley, (played by Cheryl Hall), was the leader with 3 reluctant follows, Ken, (Mike Grady), Tucker, (Tony Millan) and Speed, (George Sweeney.) Shirley's Dad was played by Peter Vaughan, who referred to him as the, 'flaming yeti', on more than one occasion.
Here are three forgotten programs from the 1990’s two I would consider are not bad programs and one which was a remake was pretty poor. The two good ones both by Carnival Films and Broadcast on BBC 1 in my opinion were Bugs 1995-1999 and Crime Traveller 1997. “Bugs” was a TV drama series that aired for four seasons from April 1, 1995, to August 28, 1999. Combining elements of action/adventure and science fiction, the show followed a team of independent technology experts who tackled various threats involving computers and modern technology. It was originally broadcast on Saturday evenings on BBC 1. It looks a bit dated now but some of the plots were ahead of their time. For example, I’m sure at the end of season two they dealt with Artificial intelligence which has been unleashed on the internet (something which is more current too now than back then and reminded me of the latest Mission Impossible Film). The main cast was made up of Nick Beckett played by Jesse Birdsall who was in the soap Eldorado (which as we know was a big flop) Ros Henderson played by Jaye Griffiths who was also in The Bill and Ed who was played by Craig McLachlan series 1-3 and Steve Houghton in Series 4. Jan Harvey playing Code Name Jan and Paula Hunt as Alex Jordan appeared in Series 3-4. Series 4 was probably the weakest of the 4 series which killed it in the end as it was not renewed for another series. The series also had a cracking theme tune. The series had a release on DVD and was available on on Britbox. “Crime Traveller” was a science fiction detective series from 1997, also produced by Carnival Films for the BBC and shown on BBC 1. The show revolves around the concept of using time travel to solve crimes. Created and entirely written by Anthony Horowitz, who conceived the idea while working on an episode of “Poirot,” the series garnered over eight million viewers regularly. However, despite its popularity, it was not renewed after its first season. Anthony Horowitz explained that the arrival of a new Head of Drama at the BBC led to a gap in commissioning, resulting in the show’s discontinuation. Which is a shame as it seemed to work as a series. Only 8 episodes were made. The two leads were played by Michael French (David Wicks in Eastenders) who played detective Jeff Slade and Chloe Annett (Red Dwarf) who played Holly Tuner the scientist who had developed the time machine. The actors seemed to work really well with each other. This could have turned into a classic if the BBC had renewed it for another season. I don’t think the series was ever repeated but has had a DVD release. Now the bad program. Ci5 The New Professionals. The Original Professionals series from the late 70’s and early 80’s was a hit however this remake in 1999 was not. Produced by David Wicks TV with Brian Clements creator of the original series being an Executive Producer also writing 7 episodes and co-writing two others. Attempts to get Lewis Collins on board as the head of Ci5 fell through. So, Edward Woodward was cast as Harry Malone Head of Ci5 with three main agents being Colin Wells as Sam Curtis, Kal Webber as Chris Keel and Lexa Doig as Tina Backus. None of the UK terrestrial stations of the time picked the series up so it appeared on Sky One. However, viewer response to the show was poor, with low production values and low-quality acting. It has never been repeated after its initial run in 1999 and only appeared on DVD in 2016. Some of the episodes had scenes cut which didn’t help the flow of the plots and the Laurie Johnson original Theme music was butchered as well. Could have been a great remake if it was done correctly but sadly it was not.
Can you do Canadian show "Da Vinci's Inquest"? First few seasons try to be "Law & Order" but after that the show finds it's own style and is one of the Best of that type of program. Excellent.
"Max Headroom" - "Blank Reg" was played by William Morgan Sheppard, Who also appeared in numerous Star Trek franchises, Babylon 5, and Doctor Who. I watched "War of the Worlds" during it's initial run. it was OK. I recently tried to re-watch it. but, I could not make it through an entire episode - the acting was weak, the story dull, and the pacing was slow.
Don't know if you have covered Street Hawk. A 1985 Knight Rider inspired action show featuring George Clooney and a pre-Back To The Future Christopher Lloyd. It only lasted 13 episodes but it is better than a lot of action shows from the time.
I remember Street Hawk, despite never watching it. But it sticks in the mind because computer Games company Ocean advertised a tie in game for the Spectrum and other computers, when the show was airing. But it never appeared. I think something had gone wrong with the production of the game and they had to have a do over. It eventually came out about thirteen months later, by which time the show was long gone.
