Guilty TV Pleasures

It's pissing down. I got soaked at lunchtime and now I'm cold and shivery. It's the sort of day that you want to snuggle down with your favourite Tv programmes.
Now I don't have the tv on during the day. It's a throwback to my mother who said it was " dreadfully common "......
But if I could pick 10 tv programmes to watch back to back on a cold wet afternoon ....what would they be?
Here is my list
Number 1 ....what a surprise!


Now what does any self confessed gay man loves above all other things on tv?
Yes ......sassy women suffering hardship and winning through
In Tenko we had more gay icons crammed together than in any fancy dress birthday party thrown by 
Elton John
An elderly dutch nun, ( Sister Ulrica) Plucky Leader Marion Jefferson, bulldog faced Dr Mason
Tart with a heart Blanche and the snobby Mrs Van Mayer were just five of the  massive female cast of   
Japanese POWs interned in wartime Sumatra 
Wonderful 1980 tv viewing


My 3rd place winner is a precursor to the disaster movies of the 1970s
a science fiction tv series by Irwin Allen
When I was ten years old I was totally obsessed with " LAND OF THE GIANTS" 
I lived, breathed and loved it with a passion. 
And ( how gay is this) my favourite character was the stewardess Betty Hamilton 
" Betty? What a cracking name)


Now number 4 on my list is a sentimental choice
It's the dreadful " Dickenson's Real Deal" 
Now for those that have never seen this orange faced antique dealer programme - I shall try to 
explain ......members of the public drag in their old nic nacks and haggle their sale with a selection of 
Odd looking antique dealers
Its a pile of shit.....but shit that me and my brother used to watch and kind of enjoy every thursday when I used to go up and " babysit" him when he was dying.


Halfway through, and number five is the quiz show ONLY CONNECT fronted ( and what a massive front she has) by  Victoria Coren Mitchell 
I love it.
I love Coren's wit
I love the fact that most of the teams are painfully enept in social situations 
And I love that no one wins anything


Number 6 is what The Prof refers to as my " tv porn" 
I am a sucker for tv reality cop shows 
Road Wars, Chopper Coppers, 24 hours in Police Custody 
I watch them all! 
I love a man in uniform


Number 7 Has to be " Bake Off" but a very specific Bake off episode. My favourite was back in series four when the mousey Deborah accidently nicked Howard's custard before he could construct his trifle. 
Television has never been as cutting edge as this


In 1974 a well spoken and groomed to the hilt Faye Boswell ran a tight ship
The ship in question was a women's prison called Stone Park and Mrs Boswell 
Was played by the veteran film star Googie Withers 
My 8th choice was camp as christmas " Within These Walls"

My 9th choice is a blast from the 1970s and that is the international " It's a knock out" 
jeux Sans Frontières
It was ideal family entertainment made even better by the hysterical giggling of front man Stuart Hall
Pity where he ended up eh?



10. Thunderbirds must be my final choice and my very favourite episode was " Attack of the Alligators" where our heros had to save a group of scientists ( and their mysterious housekeeper Mrs Files) from mutent Alligators .....for a kids show it remains rather " dark" given the fact that certain characters are killed and eaten and the reptiles are machine gunned to death at the end! 



61 comments:

  1. What your mother said about not watching TV during the day brought back memories of my mother. She would watch early morning news and then turn it off. Her friends talked about daytime shows they watched and she would say she wished she could. I told her to turn TV on and watch them. Oh the horror! What would people think and say!!!! Even when she was bedridden she wouldn't let us turn it on for her until 6PM. And now at 62 I still don't turn it on during day except weekends. lol

    ReplyDelete
  2. I wouldn't last two minutes watching tv with you. Well, maybe the cooking show could keep me in the room a bit longer. I always wondered who watched this shit. Are they so bad they're good?

    ReplyDelete
  3. The second one appears like the (?) BBC production of Shute's "A Town Like Alice", a portion of it was about a group of women being herded about in Sumatra by a couple japanese soldiers during ww2. Quite good, if you've not seen it. First thing I saw Brian Brown in, must have been around 1981 or so.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Tenko was based on a cracking non fiction book " women beyond the wire" by lavinia Warner
      However some of the stories from tenko were taken directly from Shute's novel

      Delete
  4. Well, well! I'd never have guessed that we have two (or three) of these faves in common, J.G.:-
    I'm also an 'Only Connect' addict, and being now on BBC2 just after Univ Challenge, another brain-prodder I've been chained to since the 60s An hour of compelling cerebral TV for Mon evenings.

    My principal 'guilty' TV pleasure is cop reality programmes. I watch any and all of them when I can, even American, Aussie, NZ and Irish ones. But I do love the British especially, because I've taken a fancy to some of the cop regulars (must be those uniforms) - and anyway I get a kick when I see 'naughty' guys (and some women) get caught, though I do wish some of the penalties were harsher.

    I used to like 'It's a Knock Out/Jeux.....' but since Stuart Hall's conviction some of the attraction's gone out of it. Though they aren't repeated on any channels anyway, as far as I can see.

    As for the others on your list, I've not seen ANY of them, not even a single episode of.

    However - 'Only Connect' - YES!!!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Victoria Coren Mitchell is my dream woman ....just looking at that lady does strange things to me .....a part of me actually believes she would like me too !!!!!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. The thinking mans crumpet
      ( ps fish all ok)

      Delete
    2. Cheers John .....did you notice your vegetable nemesis staring at you ? If you go in before Friday , could you water the mango tree on the window ledge in the kitchen .....it's probably done for by now

      Delete
    3. He will rise again ......

      Delete
    4. Not unless you know a good neuro surgeon

      Delete
    5. "Victoria Mitchell would like me too!!!!"
      or
      "Victoria Mitchell would like me to...!!!!"

      Delete
    6. VM would like me too ....so much so that she would probably like me to .....

      Delete
    7. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    8. I am a bit concerned that nurse John thinks neurosurgery will fix vegetables...

      Delete
    9. She probably would John but then I would need introducing at some point ....

      Delete
  6. You're too young for Thunderbirds surely as it was on when I was at primary school. We all had our favourite mine was Scott as he was blond and I loved all boys who were blond until I got to about 13 and then I didn't mind what colour hair they had!
    Love Only Connect we found it on BBC4 several years ago before they moved it to BBC2. Def. NOT a guilty pleasure.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Your TV programming sounds near ours, I remember the 'Thunderbirds'.
    I think if I was trapped in a room with only a television, I believe I would go insane. (Beyond where I am now)

    ReplyDelete
  8. Current favourite is early avengers episodes in black and white, so camp and sinister

    ReplyDelete
  9. I would rather be at the dentist getting root canal treatment and fillings than watching any of that lot.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Oh you ARE such a little ray of sunshine

      Delete
    2. I can be a big sunny smiley happy lad when I am out and about doing real life rather than sitting on my fat arse watching pish. Whatever tickles one's fancy, however, is of course a fine way to get one's fancy tickled. Enjoy.

      Delete
    3. Thats the happiest i have read you

      Delete
    4. I am a fairly happy chap. Don't confuse being an awkward curmudgeon with being unhappy. Just agreeing with people and saying how wonderful they are is boring.

      Delete
    5. This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    6. I will sit in the dentist's chair next to you . TV is not my thing........ not that I am suggesting root canal treatment is. Give me a decent book any time. If somneone ncked my TV I would only notice it missing cos there would be a dust filled gap.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous5:29 pm

    Ooh, Victoria Coren Mitchell. Cleavage overload. David Mitchell is a very lucky man!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I love the way she totters on like dolly parton

      Delete
    2. Anonymous6:55 pm

      Must be the high centre of gravity

      Delete
  11. Is reality cop porn a man thing? My husband also LOVES these programmes, I, on the other hand, would just watch channel4 news over and over again- Jon Snow is my guilty pleasure, So articulate, So humane, Twinkly eyes, Snazzy ties, What's not to love?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'll stick to my cops

      Delete
    2. Fair enough John, with you on Tenko though, Used to watch it with my mum and we always had tomato juice and plain crisps to scoff while watching. Dad always went out to the shed when it was on, he doesn't like strong women, they scare him hehehe

      Delete
  12. A fascinating TV Top Ten. I never realised that you were drawn to such demanding intellectual programmes. Eat your hearts out Magnus Pike, Professor Brian Cox, Bamber Gascoigne, Simon Schama! You are all TV dwarves next to David Dickinson and Googie Withers!

    ReplyDelete
  13. I loved Tenko. I wish they'd run it again.

    ReplyDelete
  14. Thank goodness we don't live next door to one another John, and the telly's broken ! Wouldn't like to watch the majority of the programmes you like. Remember Tenko well, and enjoyed it. Apart from University Challenge, and that's only in the winter months, don't watch TV at all. Unlike hubby who is glued to Sky sports from breakfast time until the evening meal is on the table !

    ReplyDelete
  15. Law and Order Junkie. Especially the original series with Chris Noth.

    I made my long suffering bestie visit the Court House steps with me when we were in NYC1

    Agree with the Tenko.

    We have Thunderbirds on VHS (my boys loved watching them when they were little)

    All of the Sharpe series is worth a rewatch, well, if only for Sean Bean

    The Dead, oh yes.

    My secret porn is UK reality shows that sometimes show up on our MTV stations. The amount of makeup on Judge Geordie's face!

    ReplyDelete
  16. Just surprised there's actually a telly programme entitled 'Chopper Coppers'!! x

    ReplyDelete
  17. I had forgotten about Land of the Giants!

    ReplyDelete
  18. Dickenson's Real Deal was edited by my step-grandson up until last Friday. The stories I could tell...

    ReplyDelete
  19. Nevil Shutes book " A town like Alice" is a favourite book . I am enjoying watching Bake off as they are replaying all the series from series one . At the moment I am sick
    With the flu but I am being quite common and watching TV during the day . Comfort to would be GreAt British bake off , big allotment challenge and the most brilliant Australian series Sea Change . John you would love this series of a high flying Aussie lawyer who takes the job of locals magistrate in a small coastal town of Pearl Bay. Thinking about Sea Change it is has a few similarities with Trelawnyd..... Xxx

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Im off to research it x

      Delete
    2. oh yes, great show! I wonder if it has aged?

      Delete
    3. No Kylie I don't think it has. My 17 year old son watched this when he was little. We watched the first series not so long ago and it is quirky with great characters. I love it .

      Delete
    4. I would love to hear what you think of it John . The episodes are really poignant at times and funny as well. At the end of most episodes there is a wonderful comedic scene between Kev and Trev, who are a father and son in the show.

      Delete
  20. My guilty TV pleasure is 'Ice Road Truckers.' Total tosh, all build-up and no action but weirdly and oddly addictive. I think I can honestly say it's the only programme I've ever watched on Channel 5.

    ReplyDelete
  21. Anonymous11:03 pm

    Tenko was a great series. Keeping with a pow theme, I really liked the Bowie movie Merry Christmas Mr Lawrence. Ah, that wasn't tv. Original Thunderbirds was good. I had forgotten about Within these Walls. I remember it well.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Interesting to see the different shows there (vs North America) - I've only heard of a couple of them, and that's thanks to you, John!

    ReplyDelete
  23. I love the cop reality shows too. :)

    ReplyDelete
  24. I preferred Stingray; Marina was the double of an old girlfriend of mine!

    ReplyDelete
  25. Our guilty TV pleasure is Doomsday Preppers. Some of those people are unbelievable. Americans are crazy! LOL

    ReplyDelete
  26. Dreadfully common to have the TV on during the day? My family was common. My mother watched a variety of soap operas. I seldom have time to watch during the day, but when I turn on the TV I usually head straight to Netflix streaming.

    Love,
    Janie

    ReplyDelete
  27. Hmmmn, all the incredibly popular shows of the time that I Hated with a Passion were all fronted by dodgy men, ie strike it lucky/jim'll fix it/it's a knockout/opportunity knocks/and that Sunday thing with the geezer at the piano(?). Everyone else loved em and I used to shudder, even back in the early 70s when I was a kid.
    John, have you ever watched the American stuff - Wives with Knives or better yet Southern Fried Homicide.....classic voiceovers. I have to watch this stuff in secret, The FW thinks I am planning something!
    or am I?
    Susan
    PS I am Not getting at Men in general, just the dodgy ones. Thank you for listening.

    ReplyDelete
  28. Oh my sisters and I loved anything by Gerry Anderson; Thunderbirds and Captain Scarlet were our favourites but our love affair stopped in our teens (thankfully) when he launched the execrable Terra Hawks. We were real sci fi fans due to enforced watching of Star Trek on a Wednesday night by our mother - she used to record the episodes withe the microphone of the tape recorder jammed up against the TV speaker and then listen to them as she cooked dinner. The tapes were full of 'sounds off', usually a loudly whispered 'Be Quiet!' or the dog barking. Hilarious. Land of the giants and Mission Impossible were other firm favourites. Utter Bliss. :-)

    ReplyDelete
  29. What a mix of programmes, and yes very YOU!!

    I love Only Connect, and I think Victoria's rather large frontage is even larger at the moment, because unless she really has 'eaten ALL the pies' she is very pregnant!! Did you see her trying to hide her tummy behind the console table during the connect wall last week?

    Oh and I LOVED Tenko, bring it back I say I would love to watch it all again.

    But I'm sorry David Dickinson has to be stuffed, mounted and sold as a day-glo antique as soon as possible.

    ReplyDelete
  30. Hey John, I cant seem to comment on the last post. Have sailed a lot, remember on a yacht there isnt much room. He may want a soft bag not a suitcase. Sailing gloves, at least 2 hats as you will lose them. For sun screen we use P20. once a day slap it on. Also nappy bags. as you dont put any loo roll down the sea water pump toilet, (unless he is going on a super yacht but you said sailing so I take it there are sails). dont wear anything that you dont want to fade in the sun or be damaged by sea water. gonna be crusty at the end of the day. make sure he buys moisturiser when he gets there. a really big pump action bottle of it. and bio shampoo and body wash. it gets pumped straight into the sea. I hope he has an ace time. We love sailing it is so freeing. Although it will get fraught. Hope he has a brilliant time.

    ReplyDelete
  31. I was more of a 'Lost In Space' fan than 'Land of the Giants'. Frasier and Upstairs Downstairs would be my tv of choice for a marathon and perhaps some 'McMillan and Wife' (Rock Hudson and Susan St. James). It was on on a Friday night and I was allowed to stay up late to watch it.
    Dickenson - who chooses to be that colour?

    ReplyDelete
  32. I am not a tele viewer John - but I do love Bake Off - and the bread one last night was fantastic. That lion's face!!

    ReplyDelete
  33. I have seen many of the shows you mentioned. UK programming is far superior to that of the US, and thank heavens for Netflix, making it possible to view your programs and movies. I love the Bake Off and how lucky we are that it is uploaded to Youtube so we can see it here in the US.

    ReplyDelete

I love all comments Except abusive ones from arseholes