TV Shows
Who shot J.R?
Who can think of TV in the eighties without
remembering the 1980 cliffhanger on
Dallas that asked "Who shot J.R.?". Even
today it is still the 3rd most watched series
episode in American television.
TV Through The Eighties
In 1981, MTV launched and the first song played was ironically Video Killed The Radio Star by Buggles.
Channel 4 launched in 1982 and the first ever show was Countdown hosted by Richard Whiteley and Carol Vorderman. Richard has since passed away and Carol left the show over a pay cut row, but the show survives and is still running on a daily basis.
1983 saw over 105 million Americans tune in to watch the final episode of M*A*S*H and the birth of breakfast television.
The Bill and Thomas the Tank Engine and Friends premiered on ITV in the UK in 1984.
Another long running show, Eastenders launched in 1985 with the death of Reg Cox, the same year the the Discovery Channel came to air.
Charlie Fairhead came to our screens in the premiere of Casualty in 1986.
in 1987, Star Trek: The Next Generation, began a run of Star Trek series that would continue until 2005. ITV launched a full daytime schedule as schools programmes moved to Channel 4.
The TV revolution began in 1989 when Sky TV launched, bringing shows like The Simpsons to our screens.
Where are they now?
The Roly-Polys
This larger-than-life dance troupe was the brainchild of the late Les Dawson and his producer, Ernest Maxin, who thought there'd be a fair few laughs in asking some corpulent coffin-dodgers to fill a few minutes by donning their moo-moos and tap-dancing along to Keep Young and Beautiful. And they were right! Leader of the pack was the 4'11 Mo Moreland, but have the much-missed mince act hung up their ostrich feathers for good?
Tragically, the Roly-Polys had to swap their tap shoes for slippers when dancer Marie Ashton suffered a paralysing stroke in 2003. However, after intensive therapy, she can now walk again and has retired to her hometown of Stockport. Meanwhile, Thea McIntyre, now in her eighties, raises funds for the Slough Lions Club; Sue Cadman is a dance teacher and public speaker; Audrey Leybourne is still acting, with a recent pantomime appearance in Hastings to her name; and Mo Moreland still performs in cabaret during the summer season. She also recently launched a campaign to prevent her beloved local Blackpool chippy turning into a kebab shop - even though either menu option would keep her roly-poly.
Jimmy Cricket
Squeaky-clean comic Jimmy Cricket was much-loved for his gags about Irish logic, his letter from his Mammy and his wellies with L and R painted on the wrong feet. He had his own show on Central TV and popped up on various shows such as Wogan and Surprise Surprise throughout the golden age of variety. However, his brand of comedy began to look dated in the brave new dawn of sweary comics, and he hasn't been seen on screen for yonks. His catchphrase was 'C'mere, c'mere, there's more, there's more'.
Keen-eyed Comic Relief viewers will have spotted Jimmy in the pop video for Matt Lucas and Peter Kay's version of (I'm Gonna Be) 500 Miles. And fans will be pleased to learn that he is involved with two summer tours this year, one of them alongside comedian Don Maclean and 'All Kinds of Everything' chanteuse Dana. He's also trying to help his daughter Katie break into comedy writing and stand up. Hopefully she'll choose a different outfit.
Russ Abbott
All-round entertainer Russ Abbott was best-known for his self-titled show, which unleashed such characters as Basildon Bond and CU Jimmy upon the world. But not all of his career has been so successful. He released a disco hit named Atmosphere, which to this day is guaranteed to clear dancefloors in seconds.
Anybody who still finds men going down a hill in a bath to be the cream of what British comedy has to offer will have noticed that Russ is back on screen playing Hobbo in the latest series of Last of the Summer Wine.
The Krankies
The names Janette and Ian Tough mean little to most people – but everybody knew who the Krankies were. This husband-and-wife duo have spent almost their entire professional lives portraying a pesky schoolboy and his dad, and their career was huge (metaphorically speaking) in the years that they hosted Crackerjack. The Krankies kept their profiles riding high with appearances in several of French and Saunders' movie parodies during the following decade.
Nowadays, they're largely retired apart from occasional stage work and the annual panto, which hasn't come without its pitfalls - in 2004, Janette fell off a giant beanstalk and ended up in hospital.
Little and Large
Freddie Starr
Cannon and Ball