The 100 Greatest Kids TV Shows (2001) (TV)

User Rating:

7.1/10   

Directors:

Sean Doherty
Mark George

Writers:

James Eatock (additional material)
Stuart Maconie (writer)

Release Date:

27 August 2001 (UK)

Plot:

Archive clips and interviews with the people behind the scenes of the UK's favourite children's TV shows. |

Plot Keywords:

TV Special | Number In Title

Cast

Jamie Theakston	...	Himself - Host
Nick Grimshaw	...	Himself - Co-host
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Gerry Anderson	...	Himself
Stephen Armstrong	...	Himself
Martin G. Baker	...	Himself (as Martin Baker)
Jerry Beck	...	Himself
Floella Benjamin	...	Herself
Tommy Boyd	...	Himself
Brian Cant	...	Himself
Todd Carty	...	Himself
Dan Castellaneta	...	Himself
Kate Charman	...	Herself
David Claridge	...	Roland Rat (voice) (as Roland Rat)
Andrew Collins	...	Himself
Joan Ganz Cooney	...	Herself
Brian Cosgrove	...	Himself
John Craven	...	Himself
Bernard Cribbins	...	Himself
Jan Dalibor	...	Himself
Vlasta Dalibor	...	Herself
Cat Deeley	...	Herself (as Cat)
Fred Dinenage	...	Himself
Simon Donald	...	Himself
Declan Donnelly	...	Himself (as Dec)
Dave Ellison	...	Himself
Emily Firmin	...	Herself
Peter Firmin	...	Himself
Brinsley Forde	...	Himself
Ricky Gervais	...	Himself
Mark Hall	...	Himself
Geoffrey Hayes	...	Himself
Heather Hendershot	...	Herself
Anna Home	...	Herself
David Hudson	...	Himself
Emma Jones	...	Herself
Rick Jones	...	Himself
Terry Jones	...	Himself
Casey Kasem	...	Himself
Vernon Kay	...	Himself
Emma Kennedy	...	Herself
Phyllida Law	...	Herself
Mark Lawson	...	Himself
Iain Lee	...	Himself
Timmy Mallett	...	Himself
Sylvester McCoy	...	Himself
David McKee	...	Himself
Ant McPartlin	...	Himself (as Ant)
Hayley Mills	...	Herself
Terry Molloy	...	Davros (archive footage)
John Moloney	...	Himself
Neil Morrissey	...	Himself
Chris Moyles	...	Himself
Hugo Myatt	...	Treguard (archive footage)
Ben Norris	...	Himself
Nick Park	...	Himself
Jon Pertwee	...	Worzel Gummidge (archive footage)
Jill Phythian	...	Herself
Jan Pinkava	...	Himself
Louise Redknapp	...	Herself
Phil Redmond	...	Himself
Michael Rodd	...	Himself
Lisa Rogers	...	Herself
Lewis Rudd	...	Himself
Sandra Scott	...	Herself (as Dr Sandra Scott)
Roy Skelton	...	Himself
Susan Stranks	...	Herself
Iwao Takamoto	...	Himself (as Iowa Takamoto)
Chris Tarrant	...	Himself
Margherita Taylor	...	Herself
Paul Tonkinson	...	Himself
Brian Trueman	...	Himself
Peter Ustinov	...	Himself (as Sir Peter Ustinov)
Burt Ward	...	Himself
Steven Wells	...	Himself
Adam West	...	Himself
Roland White	...	Himself
Andrea Wonfor	...	Herself
Anne Wood	...	Herself

Runtime:

210 min

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Color:

Black and White | Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Stereo

Movie Connections:

Features "Lassie" (1954)

A Great Idea That Could've Been So Much Better

I think this was a truly fantastic idea for a show, and I was looking forward to this a lot. However, the outcome was a bit of a disappointment.

This may have been about Kids' TV Shows, but it was certainly not one for the kids. The big kids perhaps. Channel4 are aimed at a predominantly youth audience of the 16-24 age bracket, and the premise of the show fits in with its quirky, alternative style.

This had a lot of potential - definitely a worthy addition to Channel4's top 100 series. There were a lot of major problems here, though - with so many people expecting it to be a success like the ones before, it should really have been better quality than this.

My first criticism comes from choosing Jamie Theakston to host the show. Normally, someone with a slight connection to the subject is chosen to host such a show, yet Theakston has little connection to the Kids' TV genre, other than hosting 'Live & Kicking' (which was not mentioned, and no one really associates with him anymore). He did not do very well taking on this job, either. A better recommendation may have been to choose Adam Buxton and Joe Cornish for the role, as they already hosted a similar kids' nostalgia previously in the year.

My next criticism comes into conflict with all these shows in general, and it is how the votes are cast. When casting your vote, you are only given 100 nominations to choose from. This suggests to me that Channel4 have already picked the top 100, and just want you to re-arrange them. Although you can add other votes below, not many people would do this, meaning classic shows like 'Button Moon' only came in the top-70 region, when it should have been a lot higher. If 150 shows were given to choose from, it would be a lot more fair and interesting.

There was also a lack of research on some shows, which is understandable if you want to fit 100 shows into the programme. However, to merely skip over shows like 'The Sooty Show', which is one of the longest running kids' shows ever, it seems a little poor quality. Especially considering images of Sooty and Sweep were all over the official website where you casted the vote, not to mention in the ad break scenes as well. To only get 15 seconds of Theakston commentating over a montage of a few clips seems very un-just for a show with so much history and such a large fanbase.

And finally, my main dispute comes over the winner of the show. Although 'The Simpsons' is a very good show, it is not a kids' show. It was created for an adult audience, broadcast to an adult audience, and has never really been intended to inform, entertain or educate children. It should not have been included in the nominations as it is not strictly a kids' show. Because it is such a popular show, people were bound to vote for it if they saw they could, but the fact remains that it is not a show meant for children, and should have never made it into this show, let alone won it.

Despite its obvious problems, this was still a good show. It was a fantastic nostalgia trip, and a chance to see what happened to all the people who brought us our favourite shows as children. Unfortunately, certain aspects of the show were not done well, and it left a bit of a nasty taste in the mouth.

This was, indeed, a good idea, and most of the content was very interesting, but I have to say, I was disappointed with it after what I had come to expect.