L!VE TV starts test transmissions

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  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 77
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    Originally posted by GonzoTheGreat
    You feel it's crass to the extreme ? Well Snip = end of diatribe


    Well, let's see how it develops, so far for me it's (mostly) been crap and full of re-runs, time will tell.

    :)
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 8,270
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    L!VE TV has now been added to 274 in the EPG.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 4,237
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    The one thing that I remember about L!ve TV is that it was so supremely original. It might not have looked great, some of it might have been a bit tacky, but there was NO OTHER CHANNEL on cable that would stop you in your tracks while channel-surfing and present you with a completely original thought. Stuff like 'Private Dancer' is the granddaddy of the late night smut you see on Game Network and Friendly TV. 'Lie Detector' was made as a proper series for ITV... The list goes on.

    On the subject of the stammering newsreader, the excellent book "Live TV: Topless Darts & Tellybrats" (I can't believe you can't get it any more) has the following to say:

    In desperation, L!ve resorted to reading out The Daily Mirror on-screen, but that meant getting whacked by the ITC under the cross-promotion rules. If you read out the Sun they might do you for copyright (if they could be bothered) and you wouldn't want to read out any of the others. The Star had no words in it. Reading that out would fill precisely six minutes and fourty-one seconds (it was timed on the L!ve newsdesk) if you left out the stuff that was obviously and blatantly untrue. Reading out The Guardian, granted, would take all day, but it also would put all the viewers to sleep.

    No, all you had, really, was raw wire copy which could be rewritten by someone with a smidgen of experience in a real newsroom and then be read out by tarty women (if you could find ones who could read a script and wear a push-up bra at the same time - multi-skilling! - which was not alwasy the case at L!ve TV). The girly show would be supplemented by stunts, .. supported by the old Sun stand-by of 'themed weeks' turning the news into an extended joke. These were to include 'custard pie' week, ... and 'animal week', when newsreaders had to cuddle cute kittens, puppies, and memorably, a lion cub which inevitably pissed all over the newsreader while she was intoning the headlines.

    MacKenzie's own favourite newsreader stunt was a sadistic plan to hire people with a serious stammer to read the news. Most people at the channel got to know about the idea when, one fine day, they found him sprawled helpless over a desk in the newsroom in floods of tears, creased double with mirth. Representatives of the official British Stammering Association were sitting in his office. He had managed to keep a straight face for about ten minutes, solemnly giving them the dreamed-up pitch that L!ve TV wanted to combat prejudice by showing the world that, just because a person had a major speech impediment, it did not mean that they were stupid or incapable of professional work. If stammerers could read the news on national television, well...

    The association's representatives had, of course, enthusiastically agreed. MacKenzie was ready for that. He could handle it, he reckoned, with a few firm bites on the tongue. What sent him over the edge was the discussion of the possible appointment of the country's first stammering air... air... air.. (hairdresser?).. air... air traffic controller. As the implications of this sank in, MacKenzie started to lose it. He excused himself. The minute he was out of the door he was silently convulsed. It took him a good few minutes to pull himself back together, dry his eyes and earnestly re-enter the room to complete negotiations.

    A po-faced press statement was drawn up jointly by L!ve TV and the Stammering Assocaition, in which MacKenzie was quoted as saying that the innovation would move L!ve TV's bulletins away from the 'dull and regimented' format used by all the other channels. He was enthusiastic but the final go-ahead, of course, could not be given until screen tests had taken place. Frances Sparkes, maanger of the Michael Palin Centre for Stammering (the father of the former Monty Python man had a severe stammer), said he was 'excited' by the plan, adding: 'I hope it's not a stunt. If it was, it would be a retrograde step, bringing back all the old stereotypes.' the stunt, after gaining the required column inches, was quietly dropped.
  • SystemSystem Posts: 2,096,970
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    :( -Teleshopping is on Live TV :cry:

    When we gonna have some new programming. PS: It's a great new station - finally some quality at the back end of the Entertainment EPG. :D
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 87
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    did live tv use to have the british wrestling ?
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 8
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    Originally posted by smithm
    Yes, you are right Mr X, from what I have seen of Live TV, it's new and it's different. There is room for a channel like this and I would rather watch that than Big Brother showing nothing particular happening for days on end, or those endless chat shows, with the stupid brain dead e-mails -- tedium to say the least. Give the channel a chance at least it is trying to be different.

    Thanks SmithM - we've been concentrating on getting the channel up and running and once things settle down, we're going to be looking at ideas for new shows and other content. But you have to admit, most of the old shows are still pretty funny...I mean what other channel gives you such great shows such as Lunchbox Volleyball and Painted Ladies - something for everybody!
  • SystemSystem Posts: 2,096,970
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    The best thing I saw on L!VE TV was when they announced the death of Princess Diana, the news bunny in the background was making a boo hoo impression in the background. Rubbing his eyes with clenched hands in a circular motion - if you know what I mean.

    I also liked Tiffany Bannister and her Big City Tips. She would strip whilst reading the stock news. The weather dwarf was good too, and the weather in Norwegian where the girl in her underwear would at the end give the weather for her hometown in English.

    Welcome back L!VE TV. :cool:
  • WhatadayWhataday Posts: 281
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    SHOW ME THE BUNNY!

    I demand that the original news bunny is reinstated. Anyone can see that the current bunny is an imposter.

    Just look at this diagram:

    E_LIVE.gif

    Seriously, L!VE just isn't the same without the REAL bunny. What does our L!VE TV insider have to say about this?
  • Martin PhillpMartin Phillp Posts: 34,659
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    Originally posted by rudi
    I also liked Tiffany Bannister and her Big City Tips. She would strip whilst reading the stock news. Welcome back L!VE TV. :cool:

    Tiffany was great in more ways that one, I'm sure I learned more about finance from L!ve TV than CNBC or Bloomberg could ever do! :D
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,794
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    Originally posted by AUSTINJAMIE
    finally live tv after 3-4 years gone down back in 1999 its coming back the wait is over woooooooooooooooooooooooo
    :D

    You got a mention on todays Weather In Norwegian :)
  • DJ RaggyDJ Raggy Posts: 261
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    Originally posted by Gooner_Man
    did live tv use to have the british wrestling ?

    Can't remember the actual name of the promotion, but I do recall Mick McMannus (hope I've spelled that correctly) being one of its backers.
  • hAiNeSyhAiNeSy Posts: 226
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    I wish they'd bring back The Spanish Archer.
  • SystemSystem Posts: 2,096,970
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    Topless Darts on Ice was unsurpassable. :cool:
  • WhatadayWhataday Posts: 281
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    Originally posted by DJ Raggy
    Can't remember the actual name of the promotion, but I do recall Mick McMannus (hope I've spelled that correctly) being one of its backers.


    Was is WCW?
  • DJ RaggyDJ Raggy Posts: 261
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    Originally posted by Whataday
    Was is WCW?

    WCW stood for World Championship Wrestling, and until Vince McMahon bought it from AOL Time Warner a couple of years ago, was the WWF's main rival. Their biggest claim to fame was that WCW's "Nitro" beat WWF Raw Is War in the ratings in the U.S. for 80-odd straight weeks.
  • WhatadayWhataday Posts: 281
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    Originally posted by DJ Raggy
    WCW stood for World Championship Wrestling, and until Vince McMahon bought it from AOL Time Warner a couple of years ago, was the WWF's main rival. Their biggest claim to fame was that WCW's "Nitro" beat WWF Raw Is War in the ratings in the U.S. for 80-odd straight weeks.


    Yes, that's it. I meant to say "was it WCW".

    Now you mention it, it was WCW which appeared on L!VE.
  • GonzoTheGreatGonzoTheGreat Posts: 4,517
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    It wasn't WCW - it was a British promotion, or at least a combination of the UK ones. We were offered ECW right at the start, but L!VE's management didn't want to get into wrestling - then of course they later bought the crappy UK stuff.

    Hardly anybody knows this, even 99% of the people who've been at L!VE - but in L!VE's archives is unused footage of the WWF wrestlers. Sky's contract somehow missed having a clause that they couldn't show the UK tours that Sky hadn't bought into elsewhere. So we were allowed to film half of the matches from the London Arena around 1997. All the wrestlers (Bret Hart, Undertaker, Paul Bearer, British Bulldog) gave on the spot interviews about the UK and the British fans. We were going to use the footage as part of a comedy show taking the p*ss out of wrestling but the producers decided not to use it right at the last minute due to poor lighting - although the tape looked fine to me so maybe they were worried about getting onto a fight with Murdoch.

    Gonzo The Great
  • WhatadayWhataday Posts: 281
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    Originally posted by GonzoTheGreat
    It wasn't WCW - it was a British promotion, or at least a combination of the UK ones. We were offered ECW right at the start, but L!VE's management didn't want to get into wrestling - then of course they later bought the crappy UK stuff.


    Whoops, my mistake! It must have been UWA.
  • WhatadayWhataday Posts: 281
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    Does anyone remember 'Cello Network News'. I wonder if we'll be seeing this again.
  • Jason CJason C Posts: 31,152
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    I just flicked onto Live TV during a spell of channel-hopping; they were showing The Weather in Norweigan, and at the end the lady said 'Hello to Jamie Austin and all our viewers on DigitalSpy'!
  • mfrmfr Posts: 5,596
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    Originally posted by Jason C
    I just flicked onto Live TV during a spell of channel-hopping; they were showing The Weather in Norweigan, and at the end the lady said 'Hello to Jamie Austin and all our viewers on DigitalSpy'!

    Just saw that at midnight. Very funny!
  • GonzoTheGreatGonzoTheGreat Posts: 4,517
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    Wunder if they'll ever say hello to Gonzo The Great ? That'd sound funny ! LOL !
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 57
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    I saw that. I think i'd just finished watching "Battlefield Detectives: Agincourt's Dark Secrets" on Five (which was rather good) when i switched over, so it must have been about 11pm.

    Do you think they'll start doing requests? ;-)
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,794
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    Theres another mention of Digitalspy on todays weather. However I didn't hear it all, so I dont know who Camilla is saying hello to today.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 7,794
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    Originally posted by Richardcoulter
    I've never seen it before and already think it's better quality than Friendly TV (i'm not joking either!)

    You got todays mention on the weather.
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