Clowns and Pies

[darrenlee]

Hi,

After reading the post on Charlie Cairoli I found this

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TQWM4XI26bI

I know it's a Rainbow, a kids classic if I may say, but the first few minutes is Jane (of Rod, Jane and Freddy) pieing Jeffery dressed as a clown. I always fancied her when I was a kid....

Darrenlee

[glove-n-pie]

I remember that skit, tho the one in my mind is different as the pies are higher and multi-coloured. (unless they did to pie routines).

It is a good pie skit, jane should have been involved more (obviously), but a good skit non the less.

[Hayley]

I was brought up on Rainbow! Don't remember that sketch though I do remember wanting to be Jane when I was a kid. I hated the guys tho cos they were such pillocks as were the puppets (and Bungle). To think America had Sesame St and we had this!!

[Lizzie_Claymore]

I was brought up on Rainbow! Don't remember that sketch though I do remember wanting to be Jane when I was a kid. I hated the guys tho cos they were such pillocks as were the puppets (and Bungle). To think America had Sesame St and we had this!!

Perhaps this little clip will explain how watching Rainbow turned you into such a kinky fun girl!

[Richard]

That was flucking hilarious! You can come and play with my twanger & balls any time you like, Hay!

[BillShipton]

Looks like one of those excellent VT engineers Christmas tapes to me which were always brilliant. I have a few 10th generation copies about and most of the extracts are now on Youtube. Love them. Doubt Hayley has seen them. If she knew about Jane talking about 'blowing' my guess is she'd have been an even bigger fan!

[Lizzie_Claymore]

Looks like one of those excellent VT engineers Christmas tapes to me which were always brilliant. I have a few 10th generation copies about and most of the extracts are now on Youtube. Love them. Doubt Hayley has seen them. If she knew about Jane talking about 'blowing' my guess is she'd have been an even bigger fan!

That's exactly right Bill. It was either LWT or Thames (can't remember which now) Xmas VT compilation. This was back in the days when VTs were the size of a wardrobe and cost 100 grand a piece (2" Quadruplex or 1" C-wrap - probably equivalent to half a million today, with inflation over 30 years) so they tended to be centralised and the "VT Boys" ruled the roost and gathered up all the out-takes for the Xmas show, as well as persuading cast and crews to re-enact scenes for the 'special'. (They also earned obscene amounts of money, IIRC, and could hold the TV companies to ransom as everything would stop due to their centralised position of power, in the 1970s/80s.)

I had four Ampex VPR2 1" machines running until about 10 years ago but we were forced to get rid in the end. Fortunately, I managed to get one to an enthusiast for preservation. They were spectacular quality - even with a trained eye, the image quality of 30-year old composite PAL tapes was close to component video or digital SD today when viewed "straight out of the can" on a grade 1 studio monitor. (It was the Transmission system (and your domestic receiver in particular) that really mangled the signal, though having said that, the quality of PAL to the home was absolutely miraculous in its time and still more than adequate - they still often use it for commentators' monitors on OBs today, even though the rest of the truck has gone digital.)

I still have an old VHS copy somewhere of a BBC Xmas VT from 1979 (I think) which 'escaped' when it was being piped all round a big broadcast trade show packed with new VT machines being demonstrated. All the other stands saw what was coming in so hit 'record'. (Ha ha!) It's hideously un-PC by today's standards but there are still some very funny bits in there. I hope someone kept the 1" master!

[BillShipton]

Definitely Thames TV. For those who haven't seen these engineers compilations, check out Youtube. As well as being very funny (lots of celebs getting angry!!) they are a treasure trove of clips from 70s/80s TV.

[Lizzie_Claymore]

Doh! Of course it must have been Thames as it was only on during the week!