British game show television series
Mad for It is a British game show for children which was produced by Carlton Television broadcast on ITV from 2 September 1998 to 31 March 2000. Series 1 was hosted by former Nickelodeon presenters Mike McClean and Yiolanda Tokkallos. Series 2 was hosted by Mike McClean, Danielle Nicholls, and Nigel Mitchell. There was also a regular character called Pie Boy, played by Alex Verrey, who would go around hitting random people in the studio with flans in a manner like The Phantom Flan Flinger from Tiswas.
Games in the show
Games included were:
- Stars Up Their Noses: Contestants are given 30 seconds to show their talent. The name of the game is derived from impersonation talent show Stars in Their Eyes. This competition was won at the end of the second series, by the then fifteen-year-old Katie Melua.[2]
- Box Clever: Contestants answer questions and pick a prize from a box if correct.
- That's My Pet: Contestants need to guess which is their pet amongst several similar looking animals.
A frequent feature of Mad For It was "gunge", a green slimy goo which was regularly poured onto losing contestants and occasionally on the hosts themselves. Those who lost the games were sent to a "Dungeon of Gunge" – an enclosure directly beneath a large nose, which expelled gunge onto the hapless prisoners. In the last episode, the tables were turned and the pie boy ended up getting shoved in the dungeon.
The most notable contestant on Mad For It was Katie Melua, who appeared on the show when she was fifteen.[3] She won the "Stars Up Their Noses" game after singing "Without You" by Badfinger. If she had lost the challenge, she would have been gunged.
The show was considered a parody of "adult programmes like Blind Date and Stars in their Eyes".[4]
Episode Guide
Series 1
Episode 1 (2 September 1998)
- Backchat with the Bedheads
- Stars Up Their Nose - Heat 1
- How Far Will You Go?
- That's My Pet
Episode 2 (9 September 1998)
- Backchat with the Bedheads
- Smarty Pants
- Stars Up Their Nose - Heat 2
- Make It a Date
- Prize: A day at the racetrack with Team McLaren
Episode 3 (16 September 1998)
- Backchat with the Bedheads
- Stars Up Their Nose - Heat 3
- Make It a Date
- Prize: A day at Zippo's Circus
- That's My Pet
Episode 4 (23 September 1998)
- Backchat with the Bedheads
- Sad or Bad?
- Stars Up Their Nose - Semi Final 1
- How Far Will You Go?
Series 2
Transmissions
References
- ^ "Ex-ITV Regional Studios". TV Studio History. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
- ^ "Katie Melua talks about new album". The Bolton News. 21 August 2007. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
- ^ "Katie Melua looks back in time before Roundhouse anniversary show". Ham & High. 26 September 2013. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
- ^ Davies, Máire Messenger (27 September 2001). 'Dear BBC': Children, Television Storytelling and the Public Sphere. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-78560-0.
External links
