Smith and Goody
Smith and Goody was a children's sketch show on ITV shown for one series in 1980. It was made for the ITV network by Thames Television. It starred, and was written by Mel Smith (at the time, part of the Not The Nine O'Clock News show on BBC2) and Bob Goody, with music provided by Peter Brewis. As well as being a comedy, the series had tried to advocate literature. It was set in a flat in which books, newspapers and magazines were in abundance and the sketches were designed to encourage young people to enjoy reading.
| Smith & Goody | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Mel Smith Bob Goody |
| Starring | Mel Smith Bob Goody Peter Brewis |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 7 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | Thames Television |
| Running time | 30 minutes per episode |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV |
| Picture format | 4:3 |
| Original release | 23 September – 30 December 1980 |
Smith and Goody, one short and the other very tall, made for the stereotypical double-act partnership, and had worked together since meeting at drama school, putting together a joint production at the 1977 Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
There was a Christmas Special, Smith And Goody On Ice, which largely abandoned the educational book-led format in favour of a bunch of sketches and running about.
Theme tune
The opening credits began with cartoon renditions of the presenters engaged in a friendly exchange:
Mel: Whatcha Bob
Bob: Whatcha Mel
Mel: Whatcha been up to?
Bob: Can't you tell?
Bob: I've been taking a look at a book
Bob: I've been taking a squint at the print
Bob: I've been worming my way through a paperback a day
Bob: and I'll tell you all about it if you're in-ter-es-ted
The chorus went something like:
"Good books, bad books and never been had books"
"good books, bad books and sad books"
There's a book about a plane that disappeared without a trace,"
book about a man who came from outer space"
Mel: Tell you what, Bob. What's next?