Richard & Judy

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Richard & Judy
Image:RichardandJudyshow.jpg
Original Richard & Judy Logo
Format Talk Show
Created by Richard Madeley
Judy Finnigan
Starring Richard Madeley
Judy Finnigan
Country of origin Flag of the United Kingdom United Kingdom
No. of episodes 1000+
Production
Running time 60mins (inc. adverts)
Broadcast
Original channel Channel 4
Picture format 16:9
Original run 26 November 2001 – 2008
Chronology
Related shows This Morning
External links
IMDb profile

Richard & Judy is an afternoon magazine/talk-show in the UK presented by married couple Richard Madeley and Judy Finnigan. The programme is a magazine show that often features the world's most famous stars, along with features including their Book Club, Wine Club and Film Club.

The couple were signed by Channel 4 after presenting ITV's This Morning for over a decade in the 1990s.

The show is produced by Cactus TV, a member of the ALL3MEDIA group.

Contents

[edit] You Say We Pay

This daily competition has a viewer at home describing images on a TV screen for Richard and Judy (who can't see the images, as the screen is behind them) to guess - without using any of the words on the screen. For each correct answer, the viewer wins £1000.

The game also appeared on the third series of Matt Lucas' and David Walliams' comedy hit Little Britain. Fictional characters Lou and Andy were seen playing the game, and Andy didn't really seem to get the hang of it (he just said exactly what the images were). Other comedy lampoons of this game included the song "Richard & Judy" by Lazyhand which described a man's descent into poverty through trying to phone into this show.

In January 2006, MP and Celebrity Big Brother UK contestant George Galloway played the quiz and won his housemates' shopping budget for the week. Tony Blair, Abi Titmuss and Carol Vorderman have also participated when they were guests on the programme.

On 18 February 2007 The Mail on Sunday revealed allegations that the quiz was cheating viewers by inviting them to phone in after the winning contestant had already been chosen. The paper stresses that the couple had no knowledge of any wrongdoing.[1] This story was sold to the newspaper through publicist Jonathan Hartley[1].

It was revealed on 6 July 2007 that Eckoh, the operator of the phone-in quiz, had been fined a record £150,000 by regulator ICSTIS.

ICSTIS said the Channel 4 programme had shown a "reckless disregard" for viewers after inviting them to enter a competition once the potential winners had already been selected.

In addition to the fine, ICSTIS has ordered that all the money be paid back to those viewers affected, around £2.5 million, and has referred the case to Ofcom. The media regulator has the right to impose its own ban if it feels the broadcasting code has been breached.[2]

[edit] Richard & Judy Book Club

In 2004, the Richard & Judy Book Club was added as a regular segment of the show. It been credited as having a massive effect on the sales of the books it features[3], much like Oprah's Book Club in the USA. Each year they feature ten books and have discussions during the programme, often with guests. Alongside the discussions and programme features, the novels in contention for the Richard & Judy Book of the Year Award, presented at the British Book Awards, the winner being the book that gets the most votes from the public. Book club reviews are almost exclusively positive, with very little criticism from either Richard and Judy, or their guests. The same can be said for their film club section.

[edit] 2004

[edit] 2005

[edit] 2006

[edit] 2007

[edit] 2008

[edit] Richard & Judy Summer Book Club

[edit] 2004

[edit] 2005

  • Karen Quinn - The Ivy Chronicles
  • George Hagen - The Laments
  • Anthony Capella - The Food Of Love
  • Susan Fletcher- Eve Green
  • Ben Sherwood - The Life and Death of Charlie St Cloud
  • David Wolstencroft - Good News, Bad News

[edit] 2006

[edit] 2007

[edit] Richard & Judy Children's Book Club

In 2007, Richard and Judy hosted a special Children's Book Club edition of the show as part of Channel 4's "Lost For Words" season. The featured books were chosen with the help of pupils from several schools around the UK.[4][5]

  • 5+ / Early :
    • Claire Freedman & Ben Cort - Aliens Love Underpants
    • Sally Grindley & Lindsey Gardiner - Poppy and Max and the Fashion Show
  • 7+ / Developing :
    • Andrew Cope - Spy Dog
    • Betty G. Birney - The World According to Humphrey
  • 9+ / Confident :
  • 12+ / Fluent :

[edit] Richard & Judy Wine Club

Hoping to emulate the success of their book club, Richard and Judy launched their wine club in 2005. Focusing on a different selection of wine each week, they reviewed the wines and gave tasting notes to the viewers.

[edit] Series

The Paul O'Grady Show now shares the time slot with Richard & Judy, with the shows alternating every three months. The Paul O'Grady Show began on 27 March 2006 and ended on 16 June 2006. Richard & Judy then took over on 19 June 2006 and ended on 1 September 2006. Then Richard & Judy took over again from the 29 January 2007. They returned to Channel 4 on 18 June 2007. Their latest-but-one run ended on 31 August 2007. They stated on the show that they would be back in January 2008. Paul O'Grady returned to the slot on 17 September 2007. The latest series of R&J was shown in early 2008, with the last episode of that series shown on Friday 14 March 2008. Their final series for Channel Four will begin on Monday 16th June 2008 and will continue until late August. Paul will return for a new series of his show in the autumn in mid-September 2008.

[edit] End of Show

It was announced on 2 November 2007 that Richard and Judy will leave Channel 4 in the summer of 2008. Richard planned to work as a solo TV personality, whilst Judy planned to write books. Their Spokesperson said, "After 20 years of presenting live daytime television, Richard and Judy have called time." He added Richard and Judy may still appear on certain shows for the station to feature their book club.[6]

It was announced on Wednesday 16th April 2008, that Richard and Judy have signed a £2 million deal with the UKTV network. The couple will host a show to begin in the Autumn of 2008 on a brand new look to UKTV Gold. The couple who announced in November 2007 that they were leaving Channel Four have said that the show will be "a high octane prime time show". Richard Madeley has said " we were both hugely impressed with the team at UKTV, and their proposal was attractive and fun and will give us the kind of flexibility in our personal lives which we have been looking for". Richard and Judy will continue their very popular "Book Club" on the new UKTV programme.

UKTV controller Matthew Littleford has said, "I am so excited to have signed Richard and Judy, they are truley my TV heroes."

[edit] References

  1. ^ "Richard and Judy quiz scam", Daily Mail, 18 February 2007. Retrieved on 2007-07-06. 
  2. ^ "£150,000 fine for Richard & Judy quiz", Digital Spy, 6 July 2007. Retrieved on 2007-07-06. 
  3. ^ "Our top 50 players in the world of books", MediaGuardian, 5 March 2006. Retrieved on 2007-07-06. 
  4. ^ Richard and Judy turn attention to children. The Guardian (2007-10-24). Retrieved on 2008-01-09.
  5. ^ Richard and Judy cast spell on children's books. The Telegraph (2007-10-24). Retrieved on 2008-01-09.
  6. ^ http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/showbiz/tv/article417640.ece

[edit] External links