glenn-aylett Tiswas was a slapstick show with kid friendly features like cartoons, pop music and a little bit of public information for kids to satisfy IBA regulations( most people yawned through these bits), but what it is mostly remembered for is its custard pie throwing, mad sketches, The Cage and The Dying Fly Dance.More than competently hosted by Chris Tarrant, who later went on to much greater things, and " The Lovely " Sally James, Tiswas was responsible for giving big breaks to Brummie comedians Jasper Carrott, who invented The Dying Fly Dance, and to Lenny Henry, whose send ups of Trevor Macdonald( Trevor Macdoughnut) and David Bellamy ( " gwapple me grapefwuits, Kwis") were hilarious. Rather like The Stig, no one knew who The Phantom Flan Flinger was, a caped figure who shoved custard pies in people's faces, until it was revealed after the show finished it was a taxi driver from Solihull.In deadly competition to Tiswas was Swap Shop on BBC 1. While not a bad show, with Noel Edmonds in charge, like most BBC kids shows, it had the need to fill the show up with slow, boring phone ins involving people like Margaret Thatcher and educational features hosted by John Craven. ( Custard pies and dying fly dances were notable by their absence). When my local ITV region decided to show Tiswas, most kids defected from Swap Shop as it was seen as stuffy and middle class and lacking in laughs. Indeed in the late seventies you were either a Tiswas or a Swap Shop kid, and by 1980, when Tiswas was at its peak, most kids were Tiswas, leading Chris Tarrant to comment that Noel Edmonds would soon be out of work.It couldn't last, sadly. In the spring of 1981 Chris Tarrant, Lenny Henry and John Gorman, who provided most of the musical pieces, announced they were leaving to create an adult version of Tiswas. This left Sally James to battle on with a well below par final series and when ATV became Central, the budget was slashed, most of the mayhem was taken out, ratings slumped and the show was cancelled in April 1982.Which brings me to the much maligned adult version of Tiswas, OTT, which was shown in early 1982. Yes the balloon dance was embarrassing, some of the sketches were crass, and Chris Tarrant swore too much, but in other respects it was quite amusing and sketches such as violent tennis, the Jehovahs Witnesses and a send up of That's Life were as good as anything on Not The Nine O CLock News. Also 7 million viewers seemed to like OTT, but rather like Tiswas itself, the IBA and Central couldn't wait to cancel it and got their wish around the same time the real thing was cancelled.However, for those of us of a certain age, the words Today is Saturday, Wear A Smile, always mean a certain two hours of mayhem every Saturday morning.

ShadeGrenade Well, which did you prefer? 'Multi-Coloured Swap Shop' or 'Tiswas'? To tell the truth, I never watched a complete edition of either, preferring to channel surf, but of the two, 'Tiswas' was clearly the best. Its also the only programme I've ever liked with Chris Tarrant in. The Hee-Heeing Blonde One led a team of comics which included Lenny ( 'This Is Trevor McDoughnut' ) Henry, John Gorman ( of 'The Scaffold' ) and Bob ( Spit The Dog ) Carolgees. Sally James ( she of the 'almost legendary pop interviews' ) was devastatingly sexy, even to us kids.'Tiswas' was like a children's tea party had been invaded by fifth-form students weened on Spike Milligan. Its anarchic sense of humour was refreshing. Everyone involved seemed to be having a good time. Must have been something in those condensed milk sandwiches...One of the funniest moments was when Chris and co. made Lenny the subject of a 'This Is Your Life' spoof. They even managed to get his mother into the studio! Tarrant and the gang eventually quit 'Tiswas' to do an 'adult' version - 'O.T.T.'. Only Sally James stayed behind. She was wise to do so because 'O.T.T.' was the P.I.T.T.S. Naked men dancing with balloons and Bob Carolgees saying 's--t'. It managed to be childish in a way 'Tiswas' simply was not.Many shows have tried to copy 'Tiswas' over the years, but none have come close. Now, if you'll excuse me, there's a postcard I simply must walk through...

psyduck-psyduck I enjoyed watching Tiswas, but felt that O.T.T. was unfairly treated. Tiswas was a great programme and I don't care what people say about Dick and Dom, you cannot compare it to Tiswas. The thing about Tiswas is it had few if any rules, which is what made it so great. I cannot in a million years imagine Dick and Dom grabbing kids and pulling them from behind the desk by their ears, within five minutes it would be taken off the air. Tiswas is a classic children's show and will never be repeated or bettered by Dick and Dom or anyone. I can say this because, the world has become so stupid, what with political correctness and various other things. Half the things done on Tiswas were just great fun, now they would be close to child abuse. Tiswas was a reflection of how the world of Saturday morning kids TV should have stayed, if it hadn't been for political correctness idiots and people who watch programmes so they can write in and complain about them hence (O.T.T.) It was Tiswas, with semi naked ladies, if you knock O.T.T. your knocking Tiswas

jarod34 When I was at junior school in tne 70's the kids at the front of the class watched swap shop and blue peter, and the kids at the back of the class watched tiswas and magpie. Tiswas was far too good for kids on a saturday morning, a lot of it was beyond us. I always remember my dad used to sit with me and my sisters laughing more than we were. In the early eighties they tried to do an adult version called O.T.T, it was awful. Why make an adult version when the kids' version had the adults laughing more than the kids. I occasionally see kids t.v on a saturday morning, how much happier they'd be if they had the phantom flan flinger and Algernon Razzmatazz.