Saturday Live (British TV programme)

*Saturday Live*
Saturday Live
Genre	Variety; Stand-up comedy; Music;
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language	English
No. of series	4
No. of episodes	39 (list of episodes)
Production
Production company	LWT
Original release
Network	Channel 4 (1985–1988, 2022); ITV (1996, 2007); BBC1 (1993);
Release	12 January 1985 –; 21 October 2022
Related
	Saturday Night Live

Saturday Live (retitled Friday Night Live for the 1988 series and 2022 one-off special) is a British television comedy and music show, made by LWT^[2] and initially broadcast on Channel 4 from 1985 to 1988, with a brief revival on ITV in 1996.^[3] A few one-off editions have also been screened sporadically, including a contribution to the BBC's 1993 Comic Relief telethon. It was based on the American sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live but otherwise had no direct connection to the show.

The series made stars of Ben Elton and Harry Enfield, and featured appearances (in some cases first television appearances) by Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie, Patrick Marber, Morwenna Banks, Chris Barrie, Julian Clary, Emo Philips, Tracey Ullman, Craig Ferguson, Craig Charles, Josie Lawrence and many others.^[4] The pilot show and first series featured comic duo Adrian Edmondson and Rik Mayall in their act The Dangerous Brothers each week. The introductory theme was an original composition by Paul Hardcastle.

History[edit]

All episodes were transmitted live but contained a small proportion of material recorded beforehand. Recordings of shows were edited into compilation repeats, titled Saturday Almost Live.

The third series, Friday Night Live, renamed to reflect its scheduling move to the titular day, is the last of the programme's original iteration. A shorter and slightly tighter-formatted show, it retained Elton as regular host. The show's title sequence consisted of re-forming clay animations, highly comparable to early MTV idents.

The show was resurrected as a segment for 1993's Red Nose Day BBC telethon, hosted by Ben Elton, with appearances by Reeves and Mortimer, Eddie Izzard, Hugh Laurie, and Newman & Baddiel.

The show made a return in 1996 on ITV, regaining a Saturday slot and retitled accordingly. Hosted by Lee Hurst, it featured comedians including Harry Hill and Simon Munnery. The series lasted eight episodes before being axed.

On 1 December 2007, the programme was revived by ITV for a one-off titled Saturday Live Again, presented by Marcus Brigstocke.^[5] Comedians included Jimmy Carr, Lee Mack, Mitchell and Webb, and Jocelyn Jee Esien. The original show's regular host Ben Elton also performed. There were musical performances by Bon Jovi and Hard-Fi.

In August 2022, it was announced the programme was being revived for a one-off special, as part of Channel 4's 40th-anniversary celebrations, and would again be hosted by Ben Elton.^[6] The special aired on 21 October 2022. The special gained notoriety for a musical performance in which transgender comedian Jordan Gray stripped nude to a live audience.^[7]^[8]

Transmissions[edit]

Series[edit]

Series	Season	Slot Time	Episodes	Originally aired			Director	Producers
Series	Season	Slot Time	Episodes	First aired	Last aired	Network	Director	Producers
Live Shows
Saturday Live	Pilot show	90 mins	1	January 12, 1985 (1985-01-12)		Channel 4	Paul Jackson	Paul Jackson
	Series 1	90 mins	10	January 25, 1986 (1986-01-25)	March 29, 1986 (1986-03-29)		Geoff Posner	Geoff Posner and Paul Jackson
	Series 2	75 mins	10	February 7, 1987 (1987-02-07)	April 11, 1987 (1987-04-11)		Ian Hamilton	Geoff Posner and Geoffrey Perkins
Friday Night Live	Series 1	75 mins	10	February 19, 1988 (1988-02-19)	April 29, 1988 (1988-04-29)	Channel 4	Ian Hamilton	Geoff Posner and Geoffrey Perkins
Saturday Live	Series 3	60 mins	8	June 1, 1996 (1996-06-01)	July 20, 1996 (1996-07-20)	ITV	Ian Hamilton	Ian Hamilton and Susie Dark
Highlights Shows
Best Of Saturday Live	Pilot show highlights	60 mins	1	January 4, 1986 (1986-01-04)		ITV	Paul Jackson	Paul Jackson
Saturday Almost Live	Series 1 highlights	60 mins	6	September 13, 1986 (1986-09-13)	October 18, 1986 (1986-10-18)	Channel 4	Geoff Posner	Geoff Posner and Paul Jackson
Saturday Almost Live	Series 2 highlights	60 mins	8	October 3, 1987 (1987-10-03)	November 21, 1987 (1987-11-21)	Channel 4	Ian Hamilton	Geoff Posner and Geoffrey Perkins
Friday Night Almost Live	Series 1 highlights	60 mins	8	October 12, 1988 (1988-10-12)	November 30, 1988 (1988-11-30)	Channel 4	Ian Hamilton	Geoff Posner and Geoffrey Perkins

Specials[edit]

Title	Description	Slot Time	Air Date	Network	Director	Producers
Saturday Live	Re-edited show for ITV's 1986 Golden Rose of Montreux entry^[9]	45 mins	22 April 1986	Channel 4	Geoff Posner	Geoff Posner and Geoffrey Perkins
Friday Night Live Lives Again!	Comic Relief Special^[10]	60 mins	12 March 1993	BBC1	?	?
Saturday Live Again!	One-off 20th anniversary revival show	90 mins	1 December 2007	ITV	Geoff Posner	Geoff Posner and David Tyler
Friday Night Live	One-off revival for Channel 4's 40th anniversary	95 mins	21 October 2022	Channel 4	Geoff Posner	Susie Hall

Home releases[edit]

A compilation double DVD set, Saturday Live: The Best of Series One, was released on 16 April 2007, containing almost two-and-a-half hours of material. No music performances from the shows were included. Saturday Live: The Best of Series 2 was released on 4 February 2008, and The Very Best Of Friday Night Live was released on 2 June 2008. On 5 October 2009, a fourth release, a 3-disc set collecting all the show's Fry & Laurie and Harry Enfield sketches and the best Ben Elton monologues, was released.

DVD title	Discs	Year	Release date
Saturday Live: The Best of Series 1	2	1986	16 April 2007
Saturday Live: The Best of Series 2	2	1987	4 February 2008
The Very Best of Friday Night Live	2	1988	2 June 2008
Saturday Live: Fry and Laurie, Harry Enfield and Ben Elton	3	1986–1988	5 October 2009

References[edit]

^ "BBC - Comedy Guide - Saturday Night Live". 6 April 2005. Archived from the original on 6 April 2005.
^ "Saturday Live/Friday Night Live – Nostalgia Central". 27 September 2014.
^ "BBC - Comedy Guide - Saturday Live". www.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 6 March 2005. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
^ "BBC - Comedy Guide - Friday Night Live". www.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 4 February 2005. Retrieved 30 June 2022.
^ Bennett, Steve (27 November 2007). "ITV reveals its new Saturday Live". www.chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 24 October 2022.
^ Bennett, Steve (22 August 2022). "Channel 4 to revive Friday Night Live". www.chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 21 October 2022.
^ Baska, Maggie (22 October 2022). "Trans comedian Jordan Gray praised for iconic naked Friday Night Live performance". Retrieved 24 October 2022.
^ "Jordan Gray: Trans comedian strips naked on Channel 4 for Friday Night Live revival". The Independent. 22 October 2022. Retrieved 23 October 2022.
^ "BBC Comedy Guide - Saturday Live". Archived from the original on 16 January 2005. Retrieved 18 March 2023.
^ "BBC Comedy Guide - Friday Night Live". Archived from the original on 4 February 2005. Retrieved 18 March 2023.

External links[edit]

Saturday Live/Friday Night Live (1985–1988) at IMDb
Saturday Live (1996) at IMDb
Saturday Live Again! (2007) at IMDb
Friday Night Live (2022) at IMDb
BFI.org.uk - transmission information for Saturday Live and Friday Night Live

[1] "BBC - Comedy Guide - Saturday Night Live". 6 April 2005. Archived from the original on 6 April 2005.

[2] "Saturday Live/Friday Night Live – Nostalgia Central". 27 September 2014.

[3] "BBC - Comedy Guide - Saturday Live". www.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 6 March 2005. Retrieved 30 June 2022.

[4] "BBC - Comedy Guide - Friday Night Live". www.bbc.co.uk. Archived from the original on 4 February 2005. Retrieved 30 June 2022.

[5] Bennett, Steve (27 November 2007). "ITV reveals its new Saturday Live". www.chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 24 October 2022.

[6] Bennett, Steve (22 August 2022). "Channel 4 to revive Friday Night Live". www.chortle.co.uk. Retrieved 21 October 2022.

[7] Baska, Maggie (22 October 2022). "Trans comedian Jordan Gray praised for iconic naked Friday Night Live performance". Retrieved 24 October 2022.

[8] "Jordan Gray: Trans comedian strips naked on Channel 4 for Friday Night Live revival". The Independent. 22 October 2022. Retrieved 23 October 2022.

[9] "BBC Comedy Guide - Saturday Live". Archived from the original on 16 January 2005. Retrieved 18 March 2023.

[10] "BBC Comedy Guide - Friday Night Live". Archived from the original on 4 February 2005. Retrieved 18 March 2023.

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v t e Ben Elton
Television	The Young Ones (1982) There's Nothing to Worry About! (1982) Alfresco (1983) Saturday Live/Friday Night Live (1985) Happy Families (1985) Filthy Rich & Catflap (1986) Blackadder II (1986) Blackadder the Third (1987) Blackadder Goes Forth (1989) Ben Elton: The Man from Auntie (1990) Mr. Bean (1990) Stark (1993) The Thin Blue Line (1995) The Ben Elton Show (1998) Blessed (2005) Get a Grip (2007) Ben Elton Live from Planet Earth (2011) The Wright Way (2013) Upstart Crow (2016-2020)
Theatre	Gasping (1990) Silly Cow (1991) Popcorn (1996) Blast from the Past (1998) The Beautiful Game (1998) We Will Rock You (2002) Tonight's the Night (2003) Love Never Dies (2010) The Upstart Crow (2020)
Novel	Stark (1989) Gridlock (1991) This Other Eden (1993) Popcorn (1996) Blast from the Past (1998) Inconceivable (1999) Dead Famous (2001) High Society (2002) Past Mortem (2004) The First Casualty (2005) Chart Throb (2006) Blind Faith (2007) Meltdown (2010) Two Brothers (2012) Time and Time Again (2014) Identity Crisis (2019)
Film	Maybe Baby (2000) Three Summers (2017) All Is True (2018)

v t e Stephen Fry
Bibliography and filmography
Autobiographies	Moab Is My Washpot (1997) The Fry Chronicles (2010) More Fool Me (2014)
Novels	The Liar (1991) The Hippopotamus (1994) Making History (1996) The Stars' Tennis Balls (2000)
Non-fiction	Paperweight (1992) Stephen Fry's Incomplete and Utter History of Classical Music (2004) The Ode Less Travelled (2005) Mythos (2017) Heroes (2018) Troy (2020)
Audio	Saturday Night Fry (1988) Stephen Fry's Podgrams (2008)
Films	Bright Young Things (2003, written and directed) The Magic Flute (2006, written)
Television	The Crystal Cube (1983) Saturday Live (1985–1987) A Bit of Fry & Laurie (1987–1995) Stephen Fry in America (2008) Last Chance to See (2009) Fry's Planet Word (2011) Stephen Fry: Out There (2013) Stephen Fry's 21st Century Firsts (2020)
See also	Fry and Laurie Donald Trefusis

v t e BAFTA TV Award for Best Comedy Entertainment Programme
1981–2000	Yes Minister (1981) Yes Minister (1982) Yes Minister (1983) Hi-de-Hi! (1984) The Young Ones (1985) Only Fools and Horses (1986) Just Good Friends (1987) Blackadder the Third (1988) Only Fools and Horses (1989) Blackadder Goes Forth (1990) The New Statesman (1991) One Foot in the Grave (1992) Absolutely Fabulous (1993) Drop the Dead Donkey (1994) Three Fights, Two Weddings and a Funeral (1995) Father Ted (1996) Only Fools and Horses (1997) I'm Alan Partridge (1998) Father Ted (1999) The League of Gentlemen (2000)
2001–2020	Da Ali G Show (2001) The Sketch Show (2002) Alistair McGowan's Big Impression (2003) Little Britain (2004) Little Britain (2005) Help (2006) That Mitchell and Webb Look (2007) Fonejacker (2008) Harry & Paul (2009) The Armstrong & Miller Show (2010) Harry & Paul (2011) Stewart Lee's Comedy Vehicle (2012) The Revolution Will Be Televised (2013) A League of Their Own (2014) The Graham Norton Show (2015) Have I Got News for You (2016) Charlie Brooker's 2016 Wipe (2017) Murder in Successville (2018) A League of Their Own (2019) Taskmaster (2020)
2021–present	The Big Narstie Show (2021) The Lateish Show with Mo Gilligan (2022) Friday Night Live (2023)