The Word 

The show that pushed forward the boundries of youth TV, always coming close to going too far.

Stars:

Terry Christian, Dani Behr, Katie Puckrik

Cast

Series cast summary:
Terry Christian	...	Self - Presenter 83 episodes, 1990-1995
Dani Behr	...	Self - Presenter 40 episodes, 1992-1995
Katie Puckrik	...	Self - Presenter 36 episodes, 1991-1993

Storyline

The show that pushed forward the boundries of youth TV. Sometimes funny, sometimes just sick. The most controversial part was where members of the audience prove what they'd do to get on TV, always things too disgusting to print here! Memorable moments from the show include Mark Lamarr interrogating musician Shabba Ranks about his homophobia, an early appearance by Nirvana and Sean Ryder of The Happy Mondays completely drugged-up with the cast of the children's TV show "Rainbow".

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Plot Keywords:

controversy | live audience | celebrity interview | two word title | live performance | 

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Genres:

Talk-Show

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Terry Christian has said the series made him into a sex symbol and women assumed he was richer than he actually was.

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Connections

Featured in Comedy Connections: Shooting Stars (2006)

User Reviews

A downward spiral from cult-viewing to family fare.

As a format, it was the show renowned for asking celebrities the questions their publicists most feared.

Initially a staple of Channel 4's early-evening schedule, the programme saw host, Terry Christian, do his finest impression of a northern f*ckwit alongside the hapless daddy's-girl-turned-television-presenter Amanda De Cadanet.

On realising the show's potential to build a large, post-pub audience, the show was swiftly moved to a late-night slot more suited to its risque material, where it quickly became entrenched as cult viewing. Best segments were 'The Mission' - a recorded insert famed for humiliating established Hollywood stars with footage of their early porn flicks - and 'The Hopefuls', which encouraged an assortment of nitwits to perform tastless stunts like vomit-drinking. Other memorable moments included a "freak circus" which witnessed one performer lift an iron with his genitals, not to mention the decision to ply p*sshead actor Oliver Reed with alcohol and secretly film the results backstage.

When z-list television personality, Paul Ross, took harness as programme editor, however, the show encountered a downward spiral from risque viewing of questionable taste to family fare. The guestlist increasingly resembled that of the mild talkshow, Wogan, with some personalities appearing in both studios on the same evening. By this time, an early-evening magazine spin-off from the programme - Access All Areas - was in place which, one suspects to be the key driver of the watered-down content. The spin-off show would often feature repeat footage aired in the late-night show which had to be "pre-watershed" compliant. The decision to supplant Christian as host with Mark Lamarr also backfired badly, since the Watford-born comic was something of a polished performer and therefore out-of-keeping with the show.

In the mid-1990s, the show was unceremoniously dumped from the schedules with programme chiefs citing record viewer complaints as the [improbable] cause.

And now for a final "The Word" commercial break teaser:

What have ex-Word presenters Terry Christian, Katie Puckrik and Hufty got in common?

The answer is they have all faded into relative or total obscurity since the show's demise.

Details

Country:

UK

Language:

English

Release Date:

10 August 1990 (UK)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Planet 24 Productions, Rapido Television Limited

Technical Specs

Runtime:

60 min

Color:

Color