KYTV

Anyone struggling to find dvd's of this (They sell for between 30 and 80 quid on amazon) just go to YouTube, everything is there in a play list, tried my luck and was shocked to find them all there, quality is not amazing but it is 30 years old!

With its wall-to-wall soaps, crass quiz shows, tacky news coverage and brainless reality series, the launching of Rupert Murdoch's 'Sky T.V.' in 1988 led some commentators to gloomily predict the beginning of the end for British television. 'K.Y.T.V.' was a retaliatory strike against this new threat; by ridiculing Sky's output it hoped to stave off the tidal wave of 'dumbed down' dross. The first edition featured the striptease game 'Gettem Off!' and a pop show hosted by Ernie Wise and Eddie 'The Eagle' Edwards. A World War Two tribute had presenters who clearly had no idea what they were talking about, and reconstructions of famous wartime events done with shop window dummies. The series grew out of the Radio 4 comedy 'Radio Active' with the same cast reprising their roles. Funny though it was it failed to have the intended impact. Terrestrial television eventually decided 'if you can't beat 'em, join 'em'. 'K.Y.T.V'. was British television's last scream of despair. Before the lunatics took over the asylum...

I haven't seen it for years, but I'd like to get it on DVD. I remember thinking at the time that it was a lot like the early 80s comedy "Not the Nine O'Clock News" right down to the three-guys/one-girl format. Some of the content was a bit "post-watershed" There was one scene with a topless woman and it cut back to Geoffrey Perkins who said "hmmm... I'd like to have seen a bit more of that." Philip Pope, who was previously with Angus Deayton in spoof group the Hee Bee Gee Bees, went on to success in shows like "Only Fools and Horses", Deayton in "One Foot in the Grave" and Perkins is now a successful producer. Martin Fenton-Stevens has appeared in several commercials Helen Atkinson-Wood seems to have disappeared without trace.

Time for re-runs on a cable channel, I think.

This was so funny I would class it in the same bracket as I'm Alan Partridge (series one) and Twenty Twelve in the modern comedy series. The characters work so well together with the only downside being character of Martin Brown-ironically played by the best actor (Fenton-stevens) in the series so much so the character did not return for the final series... Each episode tended to focus on a different topic which meant the jokes remained fresh..

Watching again 25 years after the show first aired it could be argued the show had dated slightly but comedy of this type does tend to although IMHO it remains superbly funny. It was probably best to end after three series which at least meant the show bowed out whilst the quality was at its best. WELL RECOMMENDED

KYTV was probably one of the greatest(and most underrated) British comedies of the last fifteen years. The premise was simple: set around a TV station the show is a satire on the sensationalism of such tabloid stations - of which there are now many.

The writing was clever, witty and, in places, extremely subtle. Ironically, it could also be coarse and very base.

The production values for the time were excellent. It's a shame that British comedy has fallen so much since this high point with paltry pretenders to the KYTV mantle such as `The Day Today' falling far short of the mark when placed up against KYTV(although taken purely on its own merits, `The Day Today' is a pretty good show). Much of the humour and attention to detail(or, for want of a better term, reality) present is noticeably British, as opposed to the American style that has crept into BBC productions since then (benefits of an Irish viewpoint there!).

The quality of performance is excellent also, with every actor giving just the right performance.

If you're after a good side splitting laugh, you'll find it in this show.

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