Saturday Live (British TV programme)
Live British comedy and music show with a rotating cast.
Saturday Live was a British comedy and music show produced by LWT and broadcast on Channel 4 from 1985 to 1988, later retitled Friday Night Live for its 1988 series and 2022 special.[1] The programme was the brainchild of producer Paul Jackson and was based on the American model of Saturday Night Live.[2]
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Variety
- Stand-up comedy
- Music
- Country
- United Kingdom
- Language
- English
- Series
- 4
- Episodes
- 39
- Company
- LWT (1985–1996)
- Pozzitive Television (2007)
- Phil McIntyre Television (2022)
- Boffola Pictures (2022)
- Channel
- Channel 4
- First aired
- 12 January 1985
Facts from the source article.
Making and release
It was retitled Friday Night Live when its transmission day changed.[2] The series made stars of Ben Elton and Harry Enfield, and featured early television appearances by Stephen Fry, Hugh Laurie, and many others.[3] ITV revived the programme for one series in 1996 with Lee Hurst hosting.[2] ITV broadcast a one-off revival called Saturday Live Again, hosted by Marcus Brigstocke, on 1 December 2007.[4]
What the cited sources add
The Nostalgia Central account notes that the show was revived on Saturday nights twice: ITV tried one series in 1996 and Marcus Brigstocke fronted the 2007 revival.[2] The Independent account states that Ben Elton was back at the helm, along with former cast members Enfield, Brand, and Julian Clary.[5] Harry Potter actor Jason Isaacs praised Gray's performance on Twitter and suggested she should be the next prime minister.[5] At the end of her song, Gray shouted that the "best thing about live TV" is that she can "do stupid stuff like this" before removing all her clothes to applause.[6]
References
- Wikipedia, "Saturday Live (British TV programme)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Saturday Live/Friday Night Live – Nostalgia Central", 27 September 2014; "BBC - Comedy Guide - Saturday Live", www.bbc.co.uk (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
- "Saturday Live/Friday Night Live – Nostalgia Central", 27 September 2014. facts only, no text reused. nostalgiacentral.com
- Wikipedia, "Saturday Live (British TV programme)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "BBC - Comedy Guide - Friday Night Live", www.bbc.co.uk (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- Wikipedia, "Saturday Live (British TV programme)" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Bennett, "ITV reveals its new Saturday Live", www.chortle.co.uk, 27 November 2007 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
- "Jordan Gray: Trans comedian strips naked on Channel 4 for Friday Night Live revival", The Independent, 22 October 2022. facts only, no text reused. independent.co.uk
- Baska, "Trans comedian Jordan Gray praised for iconic naked Friday Night Live performance", 22 October 2022. facts only, no text reused. pinknews.co.uk
Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article Saturday Live (British TV programme) (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.
More in British Stand-up Comedy Television Series
Spotted an error? Know more?
Reader corrections go straight into our review queue. Suggest an edit · How this site is sourced