Saturday Zoo

Saturday Zoo is a British alternative comedy and chat show series, featuring an eclectic mix of stand-up acts, interviews and music. Hosted by Jonathan Ross, it ran for 13 episodes, beginning in January 1993, on Channel 4.[1][2]

Saturday Zoo
StarringJonathan Ross
Country of originUK
No. of episodes13
Release
Original networkChannel 4
Original release16 January (1993-01-16) –
10 April 1993 (1993-04-10)

Production

The series was produced by host Jonathan Ross's own production company, Channel X,[1][3] headed by Kenton Allen.[4] Unlike previous shows, Ross specifically designed it to be "a show that I want to watch" without being particularly interested in viewing figures or popularity.[5] The show was broadcast live, with no possibility for re-takes or editing.[6] Writers for the series included Kevin Day and Patrick Marber.[7] The music director and keyboard player was Janette Mason, who also wrote the show's theme tune.[8][9][10]

Guests

The series had a number of high-profile guests, including supermodel Naomi Campbell who appeared on the first episode.[11] Other guests included Kylie Minogue,[12] Danny DeVito, Christopher Walken and Jean-Claude Van Damme.[6] Penn & Teller also performed, making their first live appearance on a UK television programme.[13] Musical guests included former Dexys Midnight Runners frontman Kevin Rowland,[14] Del Amitri,[1] Suzanne Vega, Stereo MCs and P.M. Dawn,[6] and k.d. lang performed her recent hit single, "Constant Craving".[15]

The show featured the first appearance on television of Steve Coogan's character Paul Calf,[16] and helped launch the career of political comedian Mark Thomas.[17] Rowland Rivron and Graham Fellows (performing in-character as John Shuttleworth) made regular appearances on the show.[4][11] The Fast Show's Simon Day featured in several sketches.[6]

Critical reception

Saturday Zoo was not well received by critics, who focused on Ross's omnipresence on television at the time. The Daily Mail's Jack Tinker delivered a scathing critique of the show, saying "I sat in mounting bewilderedness last weekend trying to discover any sign of recognisable human intellect", while a review in The Independent described Ross as "humour-resistant Teflon".[18] It was subsequently viewed as stalling Ross's high-profile career.[18]

gollark: ™️ renders as \™️ on desktop platforms (native character) and ™️ on mobile as far as I can tell.
gollark: ++delete the letter J
gollark: That is sexism. Cat-humanoids should be EITHER gender.
gollark: It MIGHT be.
gollark: ++delete LyricLy (anticat heresy)

References

Citations

  1. Edwards-Jones, Imogen (6 February 1993). "Saturday Night: It's ego feeding time at Jonathan's zoo". The Independent. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  2. "Saturday Zoo". Vortago.com. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  3. Jones, Ian (2 November 2001). "Friday Night With Jonathan Ross". Off the Telly. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  4. Rivron 2011, p. 147.
  5. Simpson 2007, p. 55.
  6. Day, Simon (2011). Comedy and Error: They Really Were Marvellous Times (extract). Simon & Schuster. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  7. "Saturday Zoo". TV.com. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  8. "Getting To Know … Janette Mason". NARC Magazine. 21 March 2018. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  9. Marriott, Bob (29 April 2005). "In-Demand Janette Shows Her Versatility". Coventry Evening Telegraph. Archived from the original on 15 September 2018. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  10. Pollock, David (13 April 2018). "Janette Mason". The Courier & Advertiser. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  11. Simpson 2007, p. 56.
  12. "Saturday Zoo – Tape 1449". VHISTORY. Retrieved 13 September 2018.
  13. Jackson, Kevin (30 January 1993). "Right before your very eyes. Penn and Teller do magic, but the real trick is that they like to give the game away". The Independent. Retrieved 20 October 2018.
  14. Buckley, Peter (2003). The Rough Guide To Rock. Rough Guides. p. 290. ISBN 978-1-843-53105-0.
  15. "Saturday Zoo (13th February 1993)". Screenocean. Retrieved 16 September 2018.
  16. Coogan, Steve (2015). Easily Distracted. Random House. pp. 249–250. ISBN 978-1-780-89171-2.
  17. "Shelf life: Mark Thomas TV hoaxer with a heart". Scotland on Sunday. 30 September 2001. Archived from the original on 15 September 2018. Retrieved 14 September 2018.
  18. Simpson 2007, p. 57.

Sources

  • Rivron, Rowland (2011). What the F*** Did I Do Last Night?: The memoir of an accidental comedian. Pan Macmillan. ISBN 978-0-283-07133-1.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
  • Simpson, Neil (2007). Jonathan Ross – The Unauthorised Biography. John Blake Publishing. ISBN 978-1-784-18580-0.CS1 maint: ref=harv (link)
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