Live & Kicking
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- For the Australian series, see Live And Kicking.
| Live & Kicking | |
|---|---|
 Live & Kicking logo (1993 - 2000) |
|
| Format | Children's |
| Starring | Andi Peters Emma Forbes John Barrowman Trevor and Simon Don Austen John Eccleston Jamie Theakston Zoe Ball Steve Wilson Emma Ledden Katy Hill Sarah Cawood Trey Farley Heather Suttie Phillip Hodson Peter Simon Mitch Johnson |
| Country of origin |  United Kingdom |
| No. of series | 8 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | CBBC |
| Running time | 3hrs 15mins |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | BBC1 CBBC Channel & BBC Two & BBC One |
| Picture format | 4:3 (1993 - 2000) 16:9 (2000 - 2001) |
| Original run | October 2, 1993 - September 15, 2001 September 1, 2008[citation needed] – present |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
Live & Kicking was a BBC Saturday morning children's variety programme, running from 1993 to 2001.
Contents |
[edit] Features
It was aimed at young people and it included a mix of competitions, comedy, music and cartoons such as the Rugrats, The Wild Thornberrys and The Simpsons. From 1993 until 1999, there was a showbiz segment called the Electric Circus (also repeated in an early evening slot the following Friday on BBC2) and was presented by people such as Emma Forbes, John Barrowman, Zoë Ball, Dannii Minogue and Gail Porter. In the early series, the theme tune used for Electric Circus was a snatch from I Feel Love by Donna Summer.
Similar to Top of the Pops, live performances on the show were mimed and in the same way many bands made a mockery of this:
As well as being a Saturday morning children's show, Live and Kicking launched a music CD, comprising of the best music that artists had sung live on the programme. A spin-off CD-ROM game called Live and Kicking: Make Your Own Show was also created, where the user could combine elements of the show to create their own television production on a small scale.
For series 5 and 6, there was a short version of the show that aired on Friday afternoons called L & K Friday, but this was cancelled after two series. The regular Saturday presenters, Jamie Theakston and Zoe Ball did the first series.
One of the last features was L & K Castaway, which was similar to the BBC reality show Castaway 2000.
Mitch Johnson provided commentary during the Theakston-Ball era, interacting with both audience and presenters. A competition was run which invited viewers to submit pictures of what they thought Mitch to look like - although his face was never shown, normally owing to a convenient power failure, as an onrunning gag.
[edit] Kenan & Kel
During the mid to late 90s CBBC aired Kenan & Kel during the show. They aired all four seasons but stopped showing them when the series ended in 2000 just two years short of Live & Kicking's axing.
[edit] Lois and Clark: The New Adventures of Superman
Lois and Clark was shown either during or after the Show. Four seasons were made in total and the shows fourth season ended in 1997.
[edit] It Started With Swap Shop
Live & Kicking was featured in the BBC's It Started With Swap Shop programme in 2006. Noel Edmonds chatted to the first pair of presenters of the show, Andi Peters and Emma Forbes about their time on the show. Including some clips of their time on the show and they made an appearance on the 'We Don't Do Duvets' sketch with Trevor and Simon and Chris Moyles.
[edit] Demise
The principal reason for the axing was blamed on an increasing loss of viewers to ITV's SMTV Live, which had a similar format and was arguably more successful in its purpose.
[edit] Replacement
The show was replaced by The Saturday Show, fronted by Dani Behr and Joe Mace, which was shown all year round until September 2003 when it began an Autumn/Winter-Spring/Summer loop with Dick and Dom In Da Bungalow.
[edit] Transmissions
| Series | Start date | End date | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2 October 1993 | 16 April 1994 | 29 |
| 2 | 24 September 1994 | 15 April 1995 | 30 |
| 3 | 23 September 1995 | 13 April 1996 | 30 |
| 4 | 23 September 1996 | 19 April 1997 | 31 |
| 5 | 27 September 1997 | 18 April 1998 | 29 |
| 6 | 26 September 1998 | 17 April 1999 | 31 |
| 7 | 25 September 1999 | 15 April 2000 | ?? |
| 8 | 23 September 2000 | 15 September 2001 | ?? |
[edit] External links
- Live & Kicking at Saturday Mornings
- Live & Kicking at TV.com
| Preceded by Going Live! |
Live & Kicking 1993–2001 |
Succeeded by The Saturday Show |
