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+--- Thread: The BIG Breakfast (/showthread.php?tid=85)
The BIG Breakfast - Brekkie - 01-04-2021
RDJ post_id=2054 time=1617313391 user_id=831 Wrote:I didn’t know Davina was the roving reporter for BB at one time.She was a somewhat infrequent guest presenter for a couple of years. I think her first stint in the house was standing in for Denise in early 1997 whilst Sharon was still there, which said alot about how produced felt about Sharon - and this must have been in the first half of 1997 as well given the clock. She also did a few days with Johnny the following summer I think, but don't think a full week.
Ironically in this example she was on location where evictions had been happening - 3 years before she’d become sun ominous in evicting housemates in Big Brother.
https://youtu.be/5plecZqC3Fg
I don't think there were many female guest hosts of Down Your Doorstep over the shows life. I think towards the end Lisa Rogers sometimes did it instead if Mike McClean was off. I've a feeling Barbara Windsor did a guest week on it in the early years as well.
As for other guest hosts of the feature - Ant and Dec probably the most noteable now. Think they used quite a few pop acts in the early years and people from Home and Away. In the later years it tended to be more regular stand ins - Jason Bradbury was one, and then Mike McClean started on it standing in for Richard Bacon.
The BIG Breakfast - Vanilla Vip3r - 02-04-2021
The Big Breakfasts inability to evolve and move forward largely contributed to its eventual demise. The attempt to remodel the show in 2001 following the departure of Johnny Vaughan had potential. A few tweaks to the format, (The removal of Donna Air for starters) and a little bravery and I believe the ratings would slowly have begun to climb. The problem was that they panicked and began to undo the changes far too quickly, seemingly believing that the problem was the fact that they had a sofa instead of two chairs in front of the French windows.
The show did begin to improve towards the end of 2001. But it was too little, too late.
The BIG Breakfast - Fanoftv - 02-04-2021
I agree Vanilla, the rebrand in 2001 seemed to move the show forward and take it back to its roots of short features, less about the comedy and more of a young skewing magazine show. I actually thought Paul did a good job, it was possibly too different to what had come before at launch. However, they started to find their feet a little:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=XXnSXxw8krw&feature=share (From 7:56)
Though by April it started to reverse back into a hybrid of 92 and 98.
The BIG Breakfast - Flux - 02-04-2021
Fanoftv post_id=2141 time=1617359817 user_id=805 Wrote:I agree Vanilla, the rebrand in 2001 seemed to move the show forward and take it back to its roots of short features, less about the comedy and more of a young skewing magazine show. I actually thought Paul did a good job, it was possibly too different to what had come before at launch. However, they started to find their feet a little:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=XXnSXxw8krw&feature=share (From 7:56)
Though by April it started to reverse back into a hybrid of 92 and 98.
Totally agree with both of you. There was a brief moment where they were about to find their groove - and then the sofa was thrown out and it snowballed into a poor and tacky looking copy of the JV era.
3 presenters was a mistake. I always felt the promotion of Donna Air made the relaunch more awkward than it needed to be. I quite enjoyed her as the third/on the bed role during the previous incarnation but it would have been much more successful had they just had a clean break and let Paul and Amanda evolve as a pairing. Possibly keeping Donna in a third role and first cover, but her inclusion in the main three was an awkward contrast as she was much more suited to what had come before and was constantly (bless her) trying to replicate that - even down to keeping her old themed clipboard as one desperate link to what used to be. The set was also a little bit too dark. Again, they found a happy medium when they brightened the lighting and background JUST before the sofa was thrown out and they swiftly undid all the subtle improvements.
Good Morning Britain has proven that you need to let things bed in when it comes to breakfast TV. People don’t just change their viewing habits overnight. ITV panicked with various versions of Daybreak because they didn’t get instant results, and the same happened to Channel 4 with the BB relaunch and to an extent RI:SE. If only they’d sat back, given it time and let that sofa be for a bit.
The BIG Breakfast - Brekkie - 02-04-2021
Have to agree - that format really should have been given more than just a matter of weeks to prove itself as it really was a 2001 version of what the show was trying to do in 1992. Yes, three presenters was perhaps a mistake and to be honest I never thought Amanda was that great either. Paul should certainly have had more of a chance as he was pretty good and quite different to Johnny. Although Richard Bacon I think ultimately developed a style of his own he was somewhat expected to be in the mould of Johnny IMO.
Also wish they hadn't ditched the classic logo - I think a small version of that coming out of the bath letter by letter would have worked just as well.
The BIG Breakfast - Flux - 03-04-2021
Brekkie post_id=2310 time=1617393066 user_id=976 Wrote:Have to agree - that format really should have been given more than just a matter of weeks to prove itself as it really was a 2001 version of what the show was trying to do in 1992. Yes, three presenters was perhaps a mistake and to be honest I never thought Amanda was that great either. Paul should certainly have had more of a chance as he was pretty good and quite different to Johnny. Although Richard Bacon I think ultimately developed a style of his own he was somewhat expected to be in the mould of Johnny IMO.
Also wish they hadn't ditched the classic logo - I think a small version of that coming out of the bath letter by letter would have worked just as well.
Agree that there was no need to ditch the logo, but what doesn’t help the titles is the aforementioned “coming out of the bath”. I’ve never understood the thinking behind ending the title sequence with someone in the bath. Most of the other shots make sense - it’s people getting up and getting ready first thing in the morning, and it’s actually very nicely made. Then the “money shot” is a man turning into a woman in a lavish bath full of bubbles? Very strange choice of imagery to lead directly into the show!
The BIG Breakfast - Brekkie - 03-04-2021
I think strange and a bit quirky was what they were going for though.
The BIG Breakfast - James2001 - 03-04-2021
Was still better than the opening titles that came before with chickens, morris dancers and bulldogs.
The BIG Breakfast - Flux - 03-04-2021
Brekkie post_id=2447 time=1617445521 user_id=976 Wrote:I think strange and a bit quirky was what they were going for though.
There's strange and a bit quirky, and then there's totally irrelevant.
I like the rest of the titles - opening milk, pillow fights, applying makeup, everything kinda fits breakfast time. A relaxing bath? Not so much.
James2001 post_id=2449 time=1617446455 user_id=956 Wrote:Was still better than the opening titles that came before with chickens, morris dancers and bulldogs.
100% agree. The last set of titles in JV's era were when the show started disappearing up its own backside, full of private jokes and references. I always thought the music arrangement was severely lacking in that set too - it lost all the energy of the previous (and later) versions.
The BIG Breakfast - JasonB - 10-04-2021
I’m pretty sure this is a recent addition to the Screen Ocean library, a full episode with Johnny and Denise from the 12th November 1997 has appeared.
https://licensing.screenocean.com/record/579496
The BIG Breakfast - Brekkie - 10-04-2021
Nice to see an episode from the relatively early days of Johnny and Denise - almost everything on line is from a year later. I don't remember that kitchen at all.
I always thought they'd replaced the Family of the Week with "Meet the Housemates" for a period - don't think it lasted long but nice to see it actually did happen. Zig and Zag and Vanessa still around just about and new features like the Route to Midnight and Vital Statistics included, plus the full paper review and Pun down. No sign of Down Your Doorstep here but I think Richard was around until early 1998 so must have been off.
Don't remember Vanessa's set being in the space above the kitchen, as used by Zig & Zag in 1996 (with Vanessa the other side of the house). The round window is on view with two clearly fake windows. Not sure what was being done in the rest of the upstairs and the competition was in the hallway at that point and the middle balcony had been filled in but wasn't in use until after Vanessa left and "Den's Den" was created.
All in all though a very strong episode just a couple of months into their partnership and leagues ahead of where the show was just a few months earlier. The only evidence 1996 happened was the theme to Snap, Cackle and Pop and the Vanessa slot with Wayne Hemmingway.
The BIG Breakfast - Stanley Matravers - 10-04-2021
RDJ post_id=2054 time=1617313391 user_id=831 Wrote:3 years before she’d become sun ominous in evicting housemates in Big Brother.
You are Nellie Pledge, and I claim my £5.
And I can say that without fear of contraception...
The BIG Breakfast - JasonB - 10-04-2021
Brekkie post_id=5442 time=1618076571 user_id=976 Wrote:Nice to see an episode from the relatively early days of Johnny and Denise - almost everything on line is from a year later. I don't remember that kitchen at all.
I always thought they'd replaced the Family of the Week with "Meet the Housemates" for a period - don't think it lasted long but nice to see it actually did happen. Zig and Zag and Vanessa still around just about and new features like the Route to Midnight and Vital Statistics included, plus the full paper review and Pun down. No sign of Down Your Doorstep here but I think Richard was around until early 1998 so must have been off.
Don't remember Vanessa's set being in the space above the kitchen, as used by Zig & Zag in 1996 (with Vanessa the other side of the house). The round window is on view with two clearly fake windows. Not sure what was being done in the rest of the upstairs and the competition was in the hallway at that point and the middle balcony had been filled in but wasn't in use until after Vanessa left and "Den's Den" was created.
All in all though a very strong episode just a couple of months into their partnership and leagues ahead of where the show was just a few months earlier. The only evidence 1996 happened was the theme to Snap, Cackle and Pop and the Vanessa slot with Wayne Hemmingway.
I think that kitchen didn’t last long. I’m sure the red kitchen was quickly replaced when they started tinkering with the outside of the house again.
Was the Friday song in place by this point? Also note by November they’ve moved from the french windows to that corner in front of the hallway.
The BIG Breakfast - Brekkie - 16-04-2021
Isn't a huge amount of footage of Lily Savage on The Big Breakfast, especially the main "Lie Down with Lily" On the Bed interviews. Here is one with Carrie Fisher though she only had 3 minutes and for the first minute they didn't realise they were on air.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aCDkKPGB2NA
The BIG Breakfast - thegeek - 17-04-2021
I hadn't realised John Oliver was a writer on the BB - here he is with an anecdote about it on Seth Myers from the other day.
https://youtu.be/sToDod20eq0
(He can probably be forgiven for forgetting the TX times)