text:
TFI Friday
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Jump to: navigation, search
This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (June 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message)
TFI Friday
Genre
Entertainment
Written by
Danny Baker (1996–2000)
Chris Evans (2015)
Presented by
Chris Evans (1996–2000, 2015)
Guest presenters (2000)
Theme music composer
Ron Grainer[1]
Opening theme
Theme from Man in a Suitcase[1]
Country of origin
United Kingdom
Original language(s)
English
No. of series
7
No. of episodes
190
Production
Location(s)
Riverside Studios (1996–2000)
Cochrane Theatre (2015)
Running time
60 minutes (inc. adverts)
Production company(s)
Ginger Productions (1996–2000)
Monkey Kingdom (2015)
Olga TV (2015)
STV Productions (2015)
Release
Original network
Channel 4
Picture format
576i (4:3 SDTV)
(1996–2000)
16:9 (1080i HDTV)
(2015)
Audio format
Stereo (1996–2000)
Dolby Digital 5.1 (2015)
Original release
Original:
9 February 1996 (1996-02-09) – 22 December 2000 (2000-12-22)
Revival:
16 October 2015 (2015-10-16) – 31 December 2015 (2015-12-31)
Chronology
Related shows
OFI Sunday
TFI Friday was an entertainment show broadcast on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom. The show was produced by Ginger Productions, written by Danny Baker and hosted by Chris Evans, for the first five series. The sixth series was hosted by a number of guest presenters. It was broadcast on Fridays at 6pm from 9 February 1996 to 22 December 2000, with a repeat later that night. The show's theme tune was Ron Grainer's theme from Man in a Suitcase, in keeping with Evans's frequent use of 1960s television themes in his work.
A one-off revival episode of the show was broadcast on Channel 4 on 12 June 2015. The episode was well received and on 23 June 2015, Channel 4 announced they had commissioned a full revived series, which began airing on 16 October 2015.
In 2016 Channel 4 announced that there were no plans for any further series.
Contents
[hide]
1 Format
1.1 Inspiration from/for other shows
2 Guest presenters
3 Controversy
3.1 Swearing
3.2 Car competition
4 Revival
4.1 Episodes
5 Regular features
5.1 2015 series
6 Transmissions
7 References
8 External links
Format[edit]
The show regularly featured live music, mostly of the then-popular Britpop school. A snippet of "The Riverboat Song" by Ocean Colour Scene, a band particularly championed by Evans (and the very first band to play on the show, with the same song), was used as an introduction to guests, as they walked the length of a walkway up into the "bar" to be interviewed by the host.
Viewers repeatedly asked if they could have the TFI Friday Mug (or one like it) that graced Evans' table every week so the production company created a limited run of 1,000 mugs which were offered for sale at a prohibitive price and for a limited period of time, after which, the remaining stock was destroyed live on air when a washing machine was dropped on to them from the height of the television studio.
Inspiration from/for other shows[edit]
During November and December 1999, the show included a segment titled "Someone's Going to Be a Millionaire!", inspired by the ITV game show Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (which would not have its first million pound winner until November 2000). TFI Friday paid out the promised £1 million jackpot on 24 December 1999, becoming the first British TV show to do so. Heavily inspired by David Letterman's Late Night show[2] it became one of Britain's breakthrough TV programmes, inspiring a genre of Friday night entertainment.
The show also was known for hosting many British rock bands from the "Britrock" stable at the time, including being able to successfully invite American bands onto the show while touring in the country.
Guest presenters[edit]
Channel 4 announced in the summer 2000, that the 6th series of TFI Friday was to be the last. Chris Evans left the show moments after Channel 4 announced their last series of TFI Friday, leaving the final series to be presented by a number of guest presenters.
10 November 2000 – Spice Girls
17 November 2000 – Big Brother 1 contestants ("Nasty" Nick Bateman, Anna Nolan, Craig Phillips, Melanie Hill)
24 November 2000 – Davina McCall & Dermot O'Leary
1 December 2000 – Sara Cox
8 December 2000 – Donna Air & Huey Morgan
15 December 2000 – Davina McCall & Dermot O'Leary
22 December 2000 – Elton John
Controversy[edit]
Swearing[edit]
Ewan McGregor, shortly after swearing on TFI Friday
The show attracted controversy when Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder said "fuck" several times. Following the first interview on the show in which he had used the word, he was not allowed to be interviewed live, then during a Stars in Their Eyes skit, Ryder performed (as Johnny Rotten) the Sex Pistols' "Pretty Vacant". The section was transmitted live, as it was not an interview. Ryder shouted "fuck" several times.[3] Subsequently, Ryder has been barred from appearing live on any Channel 4 programme – he is the only person listed by name in the Channel 4 transmission guidebook.[citation needed] Despite this, he reappeared for the live 20th Anniversary Special in June 2015.
In 1996, Ewan McGregor also said "fuck" on the show, when ranting about the Conservative Government of the time.[4] In the wake of Ryder and McGregor's antics, TFI Friday was forced to be pre-recorded. In episode 2 of the 2015 series, actor Nicholas Hoult was heard saying "oh fuck it" after Chris Evans asked him to play the trombone. Evans immediately apologised afterwards.
Car competition[edit]
The show gained more notoriety when as part of a competition, two children were forced to go head to head in a stare-out contest to win their parents a car. After the competition was won, the boy who had lost then started to cry, which caused the tabloids to pounce on the show believing it to be shameless. The next edition showed the boy with the consolation prize of an assortment of toys, an apparent attempt to mitigate controversy, but which was followed by another staring contest (this time for a speedboat), again ending with the losing child crying. The ITC gave Channel 4 a formal warning following these two incidents, and the competition feature never appeared again on the programme.[5][6] On the 2015 revival show, both losing children (now grown up) were invited back and given a free holiday to Barbados with their families. Chris Evans also took this opportunity to apologise for what they did to them, acknowledging that it should never have happened.
Revival[edit]
In September 2005, Evans announced that he would be returning the TFI Friday format to TV, with OFI Sunday airing on ITV. The first edition was broadcast on 20 November 2005, but was not as successful and quickly axed. On 30 July 2014, Evans announced during his BBC Radio 2 breakfast show that TFI Friday could be returning to Channel 4, after being asked to host a 20th anniversary special (despite the fact that it has only been 19 years) as well as a new series in 2015.[7] During Evans' BBC Radio 2 breakfast show on 24 February, he revealed that the show would be back on 12 June 2015 on Channel 4. The show aired from the Cochrane Theatre in Holborn following the demolition of the previous home at Riverside Studios.[8]
On 23 June 2015, it was confirmed that Channel 4 had commissioned a new series, which started airing on 16 October 2015, with U2 opening and closing the show.[9][10] On 7 July 2016, Channel 4 confirmed it has "no plans" to commission more episodes of TFI Friday.[11]
Episodes[edit]
Date
Episode
Guest interview(s)
Performance(s)
16 October 2015 1 Amy Williams
Steve Coogan
Take That
U2
Saoirse Ronan U2 ("Raised by Wolves")
Sound of the Siren ("Together Alone")
Take That ("Hey Boy")
Slaves ("The Hunter")
U2 ("Vertigo")
23 October 2015 2 Justin Bieber
Dawn French
Nicholas Hoult Macklemore & Ryan Lewis ("Downtown")
Will Young ("Joy")
Hurts ("Some Kind of Heaven")
Foxes ("Better Love")
Justin Bieber ("What Do You Mean?")
30 October 2015 3 Noel Fielding
Cheryl Fernandez-Versini
David Haye
Adil Ray as Citizen Khan
Duran Duran Duran Duran ("Pressure Off")
Foals ("What Went Down")
Andreya Triana ("Gold")
Eagles of Death Metal ("Complexity")
Duran Duran and Eagles of Death Metal ("Save a Prayer")
6 November 2015 4 Max Whitlock
Coldplay
Alexander Armstrong
Julianne Moore and Stanley Tucci The Maccabees ("Something Like Happiness")
5 Seconds of Summer ("Hey Everybody!")
Benjamin Clementine ("Nemesis")
Coldplay ("Adventure of a Lifetime")
20 November 2015
Open Mic Night Special 5 Mark Ronson
Little Mix Hozier ("Jackie and Wilson")
Lion Babe ("Where Do We Go")
Stereophonics ("Song for the Summer")
Jeff Lynne's ELO ("When I Was a Boy" and "Livin' Thing")
27 November 2015 6 Ronnie Wood
The Vamps
John Bishop
Ellie Goulding The Vamps ("Rest Your Love")
Wolf Alice ("You're a Germ")
Jamie Lawson ("Wasn't Expecting That")
Ellie Goulding ("Something in the Way You Move")
4 December 2015 7 Kylie Minogue
Daniel Radcliffe
Lionel Richie Mumford & Sons ("Tompkins Square Park")
Florence and the Machine ("Delilah")
Kylie Minogue ("Let It Snow")
Nathaniel Rateliff ("S.O.B.")
11 December 2015 8 Martin Freeman
Idris Elba
Sharleen Spiteri Paul Heaton and Jacqui Abbott ("I Don't See Them")
James Bay ("Hold Back the River")
Rita Ora and Sigma ("Coming Home")
Wretch 32 and Tanika ("Murdah Loves John")
18 December 2015
Christmas Special 9 Alan Partridge
James Corden
Tom Jones
Jack Whitehall
Zig and Zag
Lee Mack Tom Jones ("Take My Love (I Want to Give It)")
Lianne La Havas ("Unstoppable")
Bryan Adams ("Brand New Day")
Elle King ("Ex's & Oh's")
31 December 2015
New Year's Eve Special 10 Quentin Tarantino and Kurt Russell
Olly Murs
Will Poulter
Noel Fielding
AP McCoy Olly Murs ("Kiss Me")
Florence and the Machine ("What Kind of Man")
The Vaccines ("Dream Lover")
Izzy Bizu ("White Tiger")
Sia ("Alive")
The Open Mic Night special only featured the Open Mic performances in the repeat. Due to time restraints, none of the performances could be broadcast during the first broadcast, and were subsequently edited into the repeat (making the repeat 85 mins long instead of the usual 60). ELO's performance of "Livin' Thing" was also only broadcast during the repeat.
Regular features[edit]
Features on the show included:
Freak or Unique – Every week, there would be five people waiting outside the studio, of whom three would be selected to show off a special if freakish talent (such as juicing an orange with their shoulders, or drinking milk which they then forced out of their tear ducts). A running gag throughout the run was the 'Incredibly Tall Old Lady' who would always be waiting outside the studio. She was never nominated (mainly because it was obviously an old woman standing on a box)
Baby Left Baby Right: A small child was placed on a cushion and the guest was asked which way it might fall
Fat lookalikes – People who looked like fat versions of celebrities which was then followed in later series by Asian lookalikes
What Does the Fat Bloke Do? – An overweight man was invited on set and asked about his occupation, before dancing and leaving
Comment from the Cafe – Evans would rope in Cedric (the proprietor of a local eatery) to perform various embarrassing skits. Cedric became famous for his catchphrase "Hellooooooooo!" and wooden acting
Ugly Blokes – Unattractive gentlemen would have the opportunity to turn down the amorous advances of a 'gorgeous girl' (Catalina Guirado). A photo of footballer Peter Beardsley was shown during the 'Ugly Bloke' theme tune
It's Your Letters – A wide assortment of viewers' letters (this was introduced by a burst of Reef's "Place Your Hands", re-recorded for the show with the words "It's Your Letters" replacing the original chorus of "Put your hands on").
Fishbowl Challenge: A goldfish in a bowl would have two toy bridges for company. Which would it swim under first?
Another running gag was directed at the show's producer, Will MacDonald (aka Wicked Will of MTV's Most Wanted fame), where everyone in the bar would point their fingers, begin to swivel them and chant 'Wiiillll' very creepily
Will: Pub Genius – Will MacDonald would demonstrate a trick that could be performed using tools commonly found in a pub
Wooden Bird with Purple Hair – Chris Evans would amuse the audience with a small nodding wooden woodpecker (with purple hair), that slid down a pole whilst an accompanying song was played.
The Lord of Love – The veteran actor Ronald Fraser dressed in a quilted smoking jacket would recite love poems to girls in the audience.
Wurthers – The shows cue card man. He became a frequent star of the show alongside Chris, during the last series of the show in which he was host. At the start of every show, they would both engage in telling a joke working alongside each other, with Wurthers finishing the joke with "I'm only joking of course!", with Chris then replying "He's only joking of course!". This became a frequent running gag before eventually fading out, with this being replaced with Chris sending Wurthers out on a task. The first and most memorable of these was sending him outside to look for a mini driver, while it was raining. Near the end of the show he found one and told her to say hello to the actor Minnie Driver, by waving at the camera who was at the same time being interviewed on the show with David Duchovny. The segment was originally a one-off, before being made a regular feature on the show.
Show Us Your Face Then – someone in a football mascot outfit is introduced to the audience and invited to show them their real face.
Sink or Swim – The studio audience (and viewers) were invited to speculate as to whether a chosen animal (e.g. a mouse or a snake) would sink or swim in a fishtank. To gasps of concern from the audience, the mouse turned out to be a good swimmer.
2015 series[edit]
Too good not to be on TV - Unheard of acts appear on the show performing their talents.
Slip and slide - Guests see who can go down the slip and slide the fastest.
Cute contest purely for ratings - A celebrity will judge which thing or person is the cutest out of a possible three.
Noah's killer question - Evans' son Noah asks a question in order to try and put them under pressure.
It's Your Letters – Viewers' letters read out. Introduced by Coldplay, who took over from Reef in episode 4.
Transmissions[edit]
Series
Start date
End date
Episodes
1 9 February 1996 28 June 1996 17
2 13 September 1996 27 June 1997 41
3 5 September 1997 26 June 1998 41
4 4 September 1998 2 July 1999 41
5 10 September 1999 23 June 2000 41
6 10 November 2000 22 December 2000 7
Special 12 June 2015 1
7 16 October 2015 31 December 2015 10
References[edit]
^ Jump up to: a b "10 BRILLIANT THINGS YOU'D FORGOTTEN ABOUT TFI FRIDAY". ShortList.com. 11 June 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
Jump up ^ Ellen E Jones (12 June 2015). "TFI Friday changed the British chat show format — but not entirely for the better". Independent.co.uk. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
Jump up ^ "Shaun Ryder/ Black Grape on TFI Friday". YouTube. Retrieved 8 July 2009.
Jump up ^ Keegan, Simon (12 June 2015). "TFI Friday the iconic moments: From Kylie snogging Geri Halliwell to Shaun Ryder swearing". The Mirror. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
Jump up ^ "Watchdog raps TFI Friday". BBC News. 27 September 1999. Retrieved 27 September 2009.
Jump up ^ "GOOD EVANS.. TFI FRIDAY GETS A TICKING OFF.". The Free Library. 28 September 1999. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
Jump up ^ "Chris Evans is 'bang up' for TFI Friday return on Channel 4". Digital Spy. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
Jump up ^ George Bevir (12 June 2015). "Finding a new home for TFI Friday". broadcastnow.co.uk. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
Jump up ^ "TFI Friday: Channel 4 commissions eight more shows — BBC News". BBC. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
Jump up ^ Mohan, Isabel (16 October 2015). "TFI Friday: Chris Evans's return was more cute than controversial - highlights". The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
Jump up ^ "Channel 4: 'No plans' for TFI Friday return". BBC. 7 July 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2016.
External links[edit]
TFI Friday on IMDb
TFI Friday at TV.com
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=TFI_Friday&oldid=807346073"
Categories:
1990s British television series
2000s British television series
2010s British television series
1996 British television programme debuts
2015 British television programme endings
Channel 4 television programmes
Ginger Productions
British television talk shows
Television series revived after cancellation
Hidden categories:
Articles needing additional references from June 2015
All articles needing additional references
Use dmy dates from November 2015
Use British English from December 2011
All articles with unsourced statements
Articles with unsourced statements from January 2011
Navigation menu
Personal tools
Not logged in
Talk
Contributions
Create account
Log in
Namespaces
Article
Talk
Variants
Views
Read
Edit
View history
More
Search
Navigation
Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store
Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page
Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page
Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version
Languages
Italiano
Edit links
This page was last edited on 27 October 2017, at 11:25.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policy
About Wikipedia
Disclaimers
Contact Wikipedia
Developers
Cookie statement
Mobile view
Enable previews

values: mw-page-base noprint

values: mw-head-base noprint

values: firstHeading firstHeading en

values: siteSub noprint

values: jump-to-nav mw-jump

value: b

attrs: class href

values: Help:Introduction to referencing with Wiki Markup/1

value: small

values: plainlinks metadata ambox ambox-content ambox-Refimprove

values: text-align:center;font-size:125%;font-weight:bold;font-style: italic; background: #CCCCFF; padding: 0.25em 1em; line-height: 1.5em;

attrs: alt src width height data-file-width data-file-height

values: text-align:center;background: #CCCCFF; padding: 0.25em 1em; line-height: 1.5em;

values: Edit section: Inspiration from/for other shows

values: Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (UK game show)

values:
/wiki/Big_Brother_2000_(UK)
mw-redirect
Big Brother 2000 (UK)

values: Was interested in this, couldn't readily find a link on the internet to back it up. (January 2011)

values:
noprint Inline-Template Template-Fact
white-space:nowrap;

values:
/wiki/Alexander_Armstrong_(comedian)
mw-redirect
Alexander Armstrong (comedian)

values: When I Was a Boy (Electric Light Orchestra song)

values:
/wiki/John_Bishop_(comedian)
mw-redirect
John Bishop (comedian)

values:
/wiki/Sigma_(duo)
mw-redirect
Sigma (duo)

values: -moz-column-width: 30em; -webkit-column-width: 30em; column-width: 30em; list-style-type: decimal;

values:
nofollow
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115383/
external text

values:
nofollow
http://www.tv.com/shows/tfi-friday/
external text

values: Category:1990s British television series

values: Category:2000s British television series

values: Category:2010s British television series

values: Category:1996 British television programme debuts

values: Category:2015 British television programme endings

values: Category:Channel 4 television programmes

values: Category:Television series revived after cancellation

values: Category:Articles needing additional references from June 2015

values: Category:All articles needing additional references

values: Category:Use dmy dates from November 2015

values: Category:Use British English from December 2011

values: Category:All articles with unsourced statements

values: Category:Articles with unsourced statements from January 2011

values: Discussion about edits from this IP address [ctrl-alt-n]

values: A list of edits made from this IP address [ctrl-alt-y]

values: You are encouraged to create an account and log in; however, it is not mandatory

values: You're encouraged to log in; however, it's not mandatory. [ctrl-alt-o]

values:
/wiki/TFI_Friday
View the content page [ctrl-alt-c]
c

values: Discussion about the content page [ctrl-alt-t]

values: p-namespaces navigation vectorTabs p-namespaces-label

values: Find background information on current events

values:
/wiki/Special:Random
Load a random article [ctrl-alt-x]
x

values: portal navigation p-navigation p-navigation-label

values: Guidance on how to use and edit Wikipedia

values: About the project, what you can do, where to find things

values: A list of recent changes in the wiki [ctrl-alt-r]

values: portal navigation p-interaction p-interaction-label

values: List of all English Wikipedia pages containing links to this page [ctrl-alt-j]

values: Recent changes in pages linked from this page [ctrl-alt-k]

values:
/wiki/Wikipedia:File_Upload_Wizard
Upload files [ctrl-alt-u]
u

values: A list of all special pages [ctrl-alt-q]

values: Permanent link to this revision of the page

values: Link to connected data repository item [ctrl-alt-g]

values: Printable version of this page [ctrl-alt-p]

values:
uls-settings-trigger
Language settings
0
button
true

values: mediawiki ltr sitedir-ltr mw-hide-empty-elt ns-0 ns-subject page-TFI_Friday rootpage-TFI_Friday vector-experimental-print-styles vector-nav-directionality skin-vector action-view