[JMT1985]

That's was such a great set.   Shows don't get sets now - they just get screens.

The choir was always somewhat brilliant but somewhat kind of terrible too - that's why it worked.   I think the telethons have lost their willingness to risk bits of it being terrible - it's always far more entertaining to be terrible live rather than pre-recorded or heavily scripted.   I get why it might be easier to pre-record the choir bit nowadays, but I think now more than ever a telethon can stand out as being a night of live TV when there is so little live entertainment TV nowadays.

I still think it's criminal they don't go past 10pm - even if not with a live studio show they could do something after the news, even if it's just a couple of short studio updates (with no audience) before and after a "special" episode of Graham Norton to take it through to midnight.   That would cost the BBC virtually nothing but could raise a couple of million more.

Graham Norton used to be a host for the night if I remember right? But now he just records a short bit from his Red Chair and that is it - in reality Graham's time at the BBC is coming to an end - he hinted that he is thinking about retiring from the talk show, after he chose to scale back the amount of shows he does each year.

[LouBlu08]

As for Graham Norton Big Red Chair segment ... seriously, who names their child after one of most evil terrorist organisations of recent years?!?

Who? I didn't see that bit, I felt content leaving after Doctor Who and Puppetchef, mostly due to connection issues + lack of interest in anything without Hacker T. Dog and Basil Brush.

[bilky asko]

Who? I didn't see that bit, I felt content leaving after Doctor Who and Puppetchef, mostly due to connection issues + lack of interest in anything without Hacker T. Dog and Basil Brush.

A child was named Isis, a name that derives from the Ancient Egyptian goddess. This predates one of the many names used by the terrorist organisation by approximately 4000 years (though the name's popularity has fallen since the group's expansion).

[Johnr]

In my old job we had a server called Isis which had been running for years and was still running around 2014 when the term started becoming popular in the media, nobody really batted an eyelid (for the geeks out there the idea behind our name was 'Information system in SQL'!)

Just one of those coincidental things really, a bit like how Corona became a popular term during the pandemic as well as a long established beer brand!

[mark]

That's was such a great set.   Shows don't get sets now - they just get screens.

The years on that set were great years, but the set I remember most fondly was the one it replaced - this one:

youtu.be 

Very much a product of its time, but I still love all the different areas and elements,  with the live orchestra right at the heart of it.

[Stooky Bill]

In my old job we had a server called Isis which had been running for years and was still running around 2014 when the term started becoming popular in the media, nobody really batted an eyelid (for the geeks out there the idea behind our name was 'Information system in SQL'!)

Just one of those coincidental things really, a bit like how Corona became a popular term during the pandemic as well as a long established beer brand!

Yes another example is the Oxford reserve rowing team that still races the Boat Race as Isis, named after the river

[Milkshake]

The Question has to be How long can CIN Friday show carry on if it continues to lose money each year? Many of us on here/pink/blue place all highlighted there were issues with the Show but because the money kept on rolling on nothing was ever going change, why would it?

But not the money not rolling in.

[Brekkie]

£33.5m is hardly not rolling in.

I do see people arguing they stop at 10pm now because people watch TV differently - but that's exactly why they should continue through to 1/2am. Why send people over to Netflix at 10pm when you can offer them something the streamers can't for a few more hours - live TV feels so rare nowadays it's a shame the BBC don't exploit it much more at least on the two nights a year when there might be a bit of goodwill towards watching it, even if only to criticise.

[JMT1985]

I think the culture has changed - these telethons are a thing of the past and the BBC feel three hours is sufficient.

Let us be honest, go back to say 2015, the show did drag a lot after 11pm Usually filled with repeats of the main sketches and performances from the first three hours, and then a tonne of cabaret to fill the midnight hour

Unlike old style Comic Relief, where post the main news was when it got naughty and better, Children in Need in the decade before they axed the post main news programme, was just boring, repetitive and dull.

[TJTSW]

I watched it but felt having so many presenters trying to fit on the stage was a bit much, some of the segments were so rushed that if you blinked you missed it, they could of gone past the News even just for an extra hour, I mean Pull the Flush could of been so much more fun with few more rounds with different things the guests had to guess and been a bit more naughty (to an extent)

Liked the Race Across Yorkshire some funny bits there, Puppets Masterchef they even got blobby in, again blobby would of been funny for pull the flush.

I do miss the regions opt outs though as it was nice to see your local news teams do somthing different, I mean Spotlight could of opted out and had so much fun in the studio (they did during Spotlight with Pudsy which was a bit of a bonus)

The graphics of pudsy do need a revamp but maybe not touching them is wise,look at the mess of BBC News.

i get things change but it was one night of the year where you get live telly with entertainment and all the magic even when things went wrong. but thats all dying off with most of it pre recorded.