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Saturday Live / Friday Night Live

First aired in 1985 as a one-off special and then running for 32 more shows, Saturday Live was the launchpad for some of Britain’s best-loved comedians, including Ben Elton, Harry Enfield, Rik Mayall, Adrian Edmondson, Stephen Fry & Hugh Laurie, Lee Evans, Julian Clary and Jo Brand, providing their first comedic platform on mainstream TV. This was the time when comedy found its true voice, tearing itself away from mother-in-law jokes and sitcoms set in suburbia. Saturday Live re-shaped the landscape. From Ben Elton’s legendary satirical monologues about “Thatch” and “Normo Tebbs” to Rik Mayall & Adrian Edmondson as The Dangerous Brothers hijacking the programme by blowing up a wall and their trousers in that order, Saturday Live was new, innovative and in-your-face.

In fact, the first series, produced by Paul Jackson and directed by Geoff Posner had a different host every week, starting off with the pilot episode hosted by Lenny Henry. It also had a set with a fairground theme, including a roundabout in the middle of the studio on which various less-than-lucky members of the audience rode. It was only the second series that brought in the giant inflatable and the airplane.

One week, when Frankie Howerd - the prospective host -was ill, the producers asked Ben Elton to stand in - and from then on, he became the regular host.

Famous items include Julian Clary’s first appearance as ‘The Joan Collins Fan Club’ trussed up in finest rubber, Harry Enfield giving birth to two of the most iconic characters of the 1980’s, Stavros and Loadsamoney, Meatloaf forgetting his lines in a sketch with Stephen Fry and nearly saying the f-word live on air...

In an effort to augment the viewing figures, the third series was moved to a Friday night transmission, and thus the show was renamed “Friday Night Live”. The producers had avoided calling the original show Saturday Night Live for fear of confusion with the great long-running American sketch show of that name. But in avoiding that confusion, they probably led to more home-grown confusion. So for the record:

Saturday Live
Friday Night Live.

Easy really.

In effect, the show created a template for a studio-based comedy and variety show, so much so that for the last twenty years - and still today - barely a year goes by without one channel or another proudly announcing it’s commissioning “a “Saturday Live-style” comedy show”. The reality rarely lives up to the original of course.

But in December 2007, the show was revived for a one-off special, called “Saturday Live Again!”, hosted by Marcus Brigstocke, but in the same studio as the original - LWT1, with the same inflatables and with Ben Elton amongst the comedy, musical and variety guests.

Saturday Live / Friday Night Live

"Special Pilot Episode"

 First Tx 12/1/85 Channel 4 20.30-22.00-22.00

Hosted byLenny Henry
 
withStyle Council
Slade

Series 1

Show 1

First Tx 25/1/86 Channel 4 20.30-22.00

Hosted byTracey Ullman
 
withStephen Fry
&Hugh Laurie
 
The Dangerous BrothersRik Mayall
Adrian Edmondson
 
Feargal Sharkey
INXS
Squeeze

Show 2

First Tx 1/2/86 Channel 4 20.30-22.00

Hosted byLenny Henry
 
withStephen Fry
&Hugh Laurie
 
The Dangerous BrothersRik Mayall
Adrian Edmondson
 
The Damned
Darts
Level 42
Mint Juleps

Show 3

First Tx 8/2/86 Channel 4 20.30-22.00

Hosted byPamela Stephenson
 
withStephen Fry
Hugh Laurie
 
The Dangerous BrothersRik Mayall
Adrian Edmondson
 
Paul Hardcastle

Show 4

First Tx 15/2/86 Channel 4 20.30-22.00

Hosted byChris Barrie
 
withStephen Fry
&Hugh Laurie
 
The Dangerous BrothersRik Mayall
Adrian Edmondson
 
Harry Enfield
 
CliffhangerRobin Driscoll
Tony Haase
Pete McCarthy
Rebecca Stevens

Show 5

First Tx 22/2/86 Channel 4 20.30-22.00 

Hosted byMichael Barrymore
 
withStephen Fry
&Hugh Laurie
 
The Dangerous BrothersRik Mayall
Adrian Edmondson
 
The Oblivion BoysMark Arden
Steve Frost
 
Johnny & The Hubcaps
Mr. Mister

Show 6

First Tx 1/3/86 Channel 4 20.30-22.00 

Hosted byGareth Hale
&Norman Pace
 
withStephen Fry
&Hugh Laurie
 
The Dangerous BrothersRik Mayall
Adrian Edmondson
 
Madness
Roger Daltrey

Show 7

First Tx 8/3/86 Channel 4 20.30-22.00

Hosted byBen Elton
 
withStephen Fry
&Hugh Laurie
 
The Dangerous BrothersRik Mayall
Adrian Edmondson
 
Blow Monkeys
Lloyd Cole & The Commotions

Show 8

First Tx 15/3/86 Channel 4 20.30-22.00

Hosted byFascinating Aida
 
withStephen Fry
&Hugh Laurie
 
The Dangerous BrothersRik Mayall
Adrian Edmondson

Show 9

First Tx 22/3/86 Channel 4 20.30-22.00 

Hosted byPeter Cook
 
withStephen Fry
&Hugh Laurie
 
The Dangerous BrothersRik Mayall
Adrian Edmondson
 
The Communards
Twisted Sister

Show 10

First Tx 19/3/86 Channel 4 20.30-22.00

Hosted byStephen Wright
 
withStephen Fry
&Hugh Laurie
 
The Dangerous BrothersRik Mayall
Adrian Edmondson
 
Spike Milligan

Show 11

Montreux Entry
First Tx 22/4/86 Channel 4 20.30-22.00 

Hosted byGareth Hale
 
withStephen Fry
&Hugh Laurie
 
The Dangerous BrothersRik Mayall
Adrian Edmondson
 
Roger Daltrey
Madness
Walkers
 
Written byGeoff Atkinson
Garry Chambers
John Langdon
Ben Elton
Harry Enfield
Guy Jenkin
Laurie Rowley
Ricky Greene
Bernard McKenna
The Oblivion BoysMark Arden
&Steve Frost
 
CliffhangerPete McCarthy
Rebecca Stevens

Executive Producer
Marcus Plantin

 
Directed byGeoff Posner
(Pilot only)Paul Jackson
 
Produced byPaul Jackson
Geoff Posner

Series 2

Show 1

First Tx 7/2/87 Channel 4 22.00-23.15

Hosted byBen Elton
 
withStephen Fry
&Hugh Laurie
Harry Enfield
Meatloaf
The Communards

Show 2

First Tx 7/2/87 Channel 4 22.00-23.15

Hosted byBen Elton
 
withStephen Fry
&Hugh Laurie
Harry Enfield
 
Morris Minor & the MajorsTony Hawks
Paul Boross
Phil Judge
 
Bob Geldof
Klymaxx

Show 3

First Tx 21/2/87 Channel 4 22.00-23.15 

Hosted byBen Elton
 
withStephen Fry
&Hugh Laurie
Harry Enfield
The Christians
Westworld

Show 4

First Tx 28/2/87 Channel 4 22.00-23.15

Hosted byBen Elton
 
withStephen Fry
&Hugh Laurie
Harry Enfield
Terence Trent D’Arby

Show 5

First Tx 7/3/87 Channel 4 22.00-23.15

Hosted byBen Elton
 
withStephen Fry
&Hugh Laurie
Harry Enfield

Show 6

First Tx 14/3/87 Channel 4 22.00-23.15 

Hosted byBen Elton
 
withStephen Fry
&Hugh Laurie
Harry Enfield
Erasure
Gary Moore

Show 7

First Tx 21/3/87 Channel 4 22.00-23.15

Hosted byBen Elton
 
withStephen Fry
&Hugh Laurie
Harry Enfield
Style Council
Tommy Chase

Show 8

First Tx 28/3/87 Channel 4 22.00-23.15 

Hosted byBen Elton
 
withStephen Fry
&Hugh Laurie
Harry Enfield
Alison Moyet
The Pogues
&The Dubliners
Yes/No People

Show 9

First Tx 3/4/87 Channel 4 22.00-23.15

Hosted byBen Elton
 
withStephen Fry
&Hugh Laurie
Harry Enfield
Curiosity Killed The Cat
Sureshots

Show 10

First Tx 10/4/87 Channel 4 22.00-23.15 

Hosted byBen Elton
 
withStephen Fry
&Hugh Laurie
Harry Enfield
Inspirational Choir
Stars On 45

Executive Producer
Marcus Plantin

 
Directed byGeoff Posner
 
Produced byGeoffrey Perkins
Geoff Posner

Series 3 ("Friday Night Live")

Show 1

First Tx 19/2/88 Channel 4 22.00-23.15

Hosted byBen Elton
 
withStephen Fry
&Hugh Laurie
Harry Enfield
Voice Of The Beehive
Feargal Sharkey

Show 2

First Tx 26/2/88 Channel 4 22.00-23.15 

Hosted byBen Elton
 
withStephen Fry
&Hugh Laurie
Harry Enfield
Breakfast Club
Hue & Cry

Show 3

First Tx 4/3/88 Channel 4 22.00-23.15 

Hosted byBen Elton
 
withStephen Fry
&Hugh Laurie
Harry Enfield
The Hooters
The Communards

Show 4

First Tx 11/3/88 Channel 4 22.00-23.15 

Hosted byBen Elton
 
withStephen Fry
&Hugh Laurie
Harry Enfield
Madness
The Proclaimers

Show 5

First Tx 18/3/88 Channel 4 22.00-23.15 

Hosted byBen Elton
 
withStephen Fry
&Hugh Laurie
Harry Enfield
The Primitives
Paul Johnson

Show 6

First Tx 25/3/88 Channel 4 22.00-23.15 

Hosted byBen Elton
 
withStephen Fry
&Hugh Laurie
Harry Enfield
Gillan/Glover
All About Eve
Barrence Whitfield

Show 7

First Tx 8/4/88 Channel 4 22.00-23.15 

Hosted byBen Elton
 
withStephen Fry
&Hugh Laurie
Harry Enfield
Eurythmics
Roachford

Show 8

First Tx 15/4/88 Channel 4 22.00-23.15 

Hosted byBen Elton
 
withStephen Fry
&Hugh Laurie
Harry Enfield
The Pogues
The Christians

Show 9

First Tx 22/4/88 Channel 4 22.00-23.15

Hosted byBen Elton
 
withStephen Fry
&Hugh Laurie
Harry Enfield
Squeeze
Hothouse Flowers

Show 10

First Tx 29/4/88 Channel 4 22.00-23.15

Hosted byBen Elton
 
withStephen Fry
&Hugh Laurie
Harry Enfield
Dame Edna EverageBarry Humphries
Was Not Was
 

Executive Producer
Marcus Plantin

 
Directed byGeoff Posner
 
Produced byGeoffrey Perkins
Geoff Posner

Saturday Live / Friday Night Live

"Saturday Live"/"Friday Night Live" and the stars who were in it collectively have, ooh, about a billion hits on Google if you add them all up. So there's not much to add here.

But you can -

- buy "Saturday Live - The Best Of Series 1" on DVD here

- and if you have any cash left, why not buy Series 2 here


Other shows in GEOFF & DAVID ...