Tonight, nearly 20 years after it first aired – TFI Friday is returning to TV. The one-off special will see Chris Evans welcome a whole host of celebrity guests for what looks set to be the most. TFI Friday returned to screens for a 90 minute special on Friday 12th June and drew a peak audience of 4.2m comfortably beating all its terrestrial competitors. The show also attracted the highest share of viewers aged 16-34 with an impressive 30% share of the demographic for the slot. Jun 11, 2015  What are the key facts you need to know? TFI will be broadcast at 9pm on Friday, June 12 on Channel 4 - later than the original 6pm slot which the series had in its late 90s heyday. “I’ve got TFI Friday on my mind” Tonight sees a one-off return of Chris Evans’ TFI Friday at 9pm on Channel 4 in the UK. Despite the original studio where the popular show was filmed having since been demolished, the programme makers have done their best to recreate the look and feel of the studio as it was back in its heyday.

1. Tfi Friday Near Me
2. Tfi Friday Original Time Slots
3. Tfi Friday Menu
4. Tfi Friday Restaurant
5. Tfi Friday Original Time Slot Machine

TFI Friday was all the good bits of a Friday night on the town without having to actually go out and face all of those awful, drunk people. Chris Evans films a 'Top Gear' style slot for his new 'TFI Friday' programme which is to air soon (x74 HQ). Andrew Lowry on Chris Evans’ unlikely return to glory. Something strange happened recently. A Jurassic film was in cinemas with a Terminator on the way, and a ginger bloke was introducing Liam Gallagher from a bar. The TFI Friday bar. Britain seemed to fall through a temporal vortex into the Nineties, presided over by one Chris Evans.

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

TFI Friday was a light entertainment show, produced by Ginger Productions, and hosted by Chris Evans and broadcast on Fridays at 6 pm on Channel 4 from 1996 to 2000, with a repeat later that night. Officially, the title stood for 'Thank Four It's Friday', though a less innocuous interpretation of the initials, 'Thank Fuck It's Friday', was clearly implied. The name was a reference to the popular phrase 'Thank God it's Friday'. The show's theme tune was actually Ron Grainer's theme from Man in a Suitcase.

Inspiration for other shows

During November and December 1999, the show included a segment titled 'Someone's Going To Be A Millionaire!', inspired by the ITVgame showWho Wants to Be a Millionaire? (which would not have its first million pound winner until November 2000). TFI Friday paid out the promised £1 million jackpot on 24 December 1999, becoming the first British TV show to do so. The show became one of Britain's breakthrough TV programmes, kickstarting the careers of many rock and indie bands. It also created a new approach to the popular TV show format, which others have copied, yet few have emulated the same success of TFI Friday.

The format

The show regularly featured live music, mostly of the then-popular Britpop school. A snippet of 'The Riverboat Song' by Ocean Colour Scene, a band particularly championed by Evans, was used as an introduction to guests, as they walked the length of a walkway up into the 'bar' to be interviewed by the host.

Viewers repeatedly asked if they could have the TFI Friday Mug (or one like it) that graced Evans table every week so the production company created a limited run of 1,000 mugs which were offered for sale at a prohibitive price and for a limited period of time, after which, the remaining stock was destroyed live on air when it was dropped from the roof of the television studio.

Controversy

The show attracted controversy when Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder said 'fuck' several times. Following the first interview on the show in which he had used the word, he was not allowed to be interviewed live. During a Stars in Their Eyes skit, Ryder performed (as Johnny Rotten) the Sex Pistols' 'Pretty Vacant'. The section was transmitted live, as it was not an interview. Ryder shouted 'fuck' several times. Subsequently, Ryder has been barred from appearing live on any Channel 4 programme - he is the only person listed by name in the Channel 4 transmission guidebook. Ewan McGregor also used the controversial word on the show. In the wake of Ryder's antics, TFI Friday was then forced to go out pre-recorded.

The show gained more notoriety when, as part of a competition, two children were forced to go head to head in order to win their parents a car. After the competition was won, the boy who had lost then started to cry, which caused the tabloids to pounce on the show believing it to be shameless. The next edition showed the boy with the consolation prize of a lot of toys, an apparent attempt to mitigate controversy, but which was followed by another contest which again ended with the losing child crying. The Independent Television Commission gave Channel 4 a formal warning following these two incidences, and the competition feature never appeared again on the programme. ^[1]

In 1999, US rock band Slipknot made a rare appearance on British television via this show. The band are renowned for wearing masks while performing, therefore hiding their identities (although side project acts like Stone Sour see lead singer Corey Taylor reveal himself). During the performance of 'Wait and Bleed' two cameras were lost, and were not seen since. The following week a viewers letter was read on the show complaining about the bands image, saying it frightened her children, only for Chris Evans to say he can reveal their identities, as the production crew installed hidden cameras in their dressing room. When the so-called hidden footage was shown, one of the 'band members' removed his mask, only for the person in question to be Lionel Blair.

As the years wore on, the format began to look stale, and viewing figures began to steadily fall. As a result, Channel 4 announced that the next series of TFI Friday was to be the last. Chris Evans then promptly left the show, leaving the final series to be presented by a host of guest presenters, including the Spice Girls, Davina McCall and Elton John.

The final broadcast was on 22 December 2000, with Elton John in the hot seat, while Victoria Beckham was the last ever guest on the show.

In September 2005, Evans announced that he would be returning the TFI Friday format to TV, with OFI Sunday. The first edition was broadcast on 20 November 2005, but was not as successful and soon axed.

Regular features

Features on the show included:

• Freak or Unique - Every week, there would be five people waiting outside the studio, of whom three would be selected to show off a special if freakish talent (such as juicing an orange with their shoulders, or drinking milk which they then forced out of their tear ducts). A running gag throughout the run was the 'Incredibly Tall Old Lady' who would always be waiting outside the studio. She was never nominated (mainly because it was obviously an old woman standing on a box)
• Baby Left Baby Right: A small child was placed on a cushion and the guest was asked which way it might fall
• Fat lookalikes - People who looked like fat versions of celebrities which was then followed in later series by Asian lookalikes
• What Does The Fat Bloke Do? - An overweight man was invited on set and asked about his occupation, before dancing and leaving
• Comment From The Cafe - Evans would rope in Cedric (the proprietor of a local eaterie) to perform various embarrassing skits. Cedric became famous for his catchphrase 'Hellooooooooo!' and wooden acting
• Ugly Blokes - Unattractive gentlemen would have the opportunity to turn down the amorous advances of a 'gorgeous girl' (Catalina Guirado). A photo of footballer Peter Beardsley was shown during the 'Ugly Bloke' theme tune
• It's Your Letters - A wide assortment of viewers' letters (this was introduced by a burst of Reef's 'Place Your Hands', re-recorded for the show with the words 'It's Your Letters' replacing the original chorus of 'Put our hands on').
• Fishbowl Challenge: A goldfish in a bowl would have two toy bridges for company. Which would it swim under first?
• Another running gag was directed at the show's producer, Will MacDonald (aka Wicked Will, of MTV's Most Wanted fame), where everyone in the bar would point their fingers, begin to swivel them and chant 'Wiiillll' very creepily
• Will: Pub Genius - Will MacDonald would demonstrate a trick that could be performed using tools commonly found in a pub
• Wooden Bird with Purple Hair - Chris Evans would amuse the audience with a small nodding wooden woodpecker (with purple hair), that slid down a pole whilst an accompanying song was played
• The Lord of Love - The veteran actor Ronald Fraser dressed in a quilted smoking jacket would recite love poems to girls in the audience
• Wurthers - The shows cue card man. He became a frequent star of the show alongside Chris, during the last series of the show in which he was host. At the start of every show, they would both engage in telling a joke working alongside each other, with Wurthers finishing the joke with 'I'm only joking of course!', with Chris then replying 'He's only joking of course!'. This became a frequent running gag before eventually fading out, with this being replaced with Chris sending Wurthers out on a task. The first and most memorable of these was sending him outside to look for a mini driver, while it was raining. Near the end of the show he found one and told her to say hello to the actor Minnie Driver, by waving at the camera who was at the same time being interviewed on the show with David Duchovny. The segment was originally a one-off, before being made a regular feature on the show
• Show Us Your Face Then - someone in a football mascot outfit is introduced to the audience and invited to show them their real face

Tfi Friday Near Me

One-offs

• A member of the crew was sent into a butchers shop to order a few items, while randomly shouting 'Horray!' at random intervals. This urged the butcher to kick the crew member out, unaware there was a camera hidden in his jacket. The butcher in question was invited to the audience and made an appearance. Before the film-footage was shown of the incident, Chris Evans shouted 'Horray!' with the audience repeating this, before saying it works in a crowd but not anywhere else.

References

1. ^'Watchdog raps TFI Friday'. BBC News. 27 September 1999. http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/458891.stm. Retrieved 9 April 2007.

External links

• TFI Friday at the Internet Movie Database
• TFI Friday at TV.com

TFI Friday is an entertainment show that was broadcast on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom. It was produced by Ginger Productions, written by Danny Baker and hosted by Chris Evans, for the first five series. The sixth series was hosted by a number of guest presenters. The show was broadcast on Fridays at 6pm from 9 February 1996 to 22 December 2000, with a repeat later that night. Its theme tune was Ron Grainer's theme from Man in a Suitcase, in keeping with Evans' frequent use of 1960s television themes in his work.

A one-off revival episode of the show was broadcast on Channel 4 on 12 June 2015. The episode was well received; on 23 June 2015, Channel 4 announced that it had commissioned a full revived series, which began airing on 16 October 2015.

In 2016, Channel 4 announced that there were no plans for any further series.

• 1Format
• 3Controversies
• 5Revival
• 6Regular features

Format[edit]

The show regularly featured live music, mostly of the then-popular Britpop school. A snippet of 'The Riverboat Song' by Ocean Colour Scene, a band particularly championed by Evans (and the very first band to play on the show, with the same song), was used as an introduction to guests, as they walked the length of a walkway up into the 'bar' to be interviewed by the host.

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Viewers repeatedly asked if they could have the TFI Fridaymug (or one like it) that graced Evans' table every week, so the production company created a limited run of 1,000 mugs. These were offered for sale at a prohibitive price and for a limited period of time, after which, the remaining stock was destroyed live on air when a washing machine was dropped on to them from the height of the television studio.

Inspiration from/for other shows[edit]

During November and December 1999, the show included a segment titled 'Someone's Going to Be a Millionaire!', inspired by the ITVgame showWho Wants to Be a Millionaire? (which would not have its first million-pound winner until November 2000). TFI Friday paid out the promised £1 million jackpot on 24 December 1999, becoming the first British TV show to do so. Heavily inspired by David Letterman's Late Night show^[2] it became one of Britain's breakthrough TV programmes, inspiring a genre of Friday night entertainment.

The show also was known for hosting many British rock bands from the 'Britrock' stable at the time, as well as being able to successfully invite American bands onto the show while touring in the country.

Guest presenters[edit]

In the summer of 2000, Channel 4 announced that the sixth series of TFI Friday was to be the last. Chris Evans left the show moments after this announcement, leaving the final series to be presented by a number of guest presenters.

Tfi Friday Original Time Slots

• 10 November 2000 – Spice Girls
• 17 November 2000 – Big Brother 1 contestants ('Nasty' Nick Bateman, Anna Nolan, Craig Phillips, Melanie Hill)
• 24 November 2000 – Davina McCall and Dermot O'Leary
• 1 December 2000 – Sara Cox
• 8 December 2000 – Donna Air and Huey Morgan
• 15 December 2000 – Davina McCall and Dermot O'Leary
• 22 December 2000 – Elton John

Controversies[edit]

Swearing[edit]

Tfi Friday Menu

The show attracted controversy when Happy Mondays frontman Shaun Ryder said 'fuck' several times. Following the first interview on the show in which he had used the word, he was not allowed to be interviewed live, then during a Stars in Their Eyes skit, Ryder performed (as Johnny Rotten) the Sex Pistols' 'Pretty Vacant'. The section was transmitted live, as it was not an interview. Ryder shouted 'fuck' several times.^[3] Subsequently, Ryder has been barred from appearing live on any Channel 4 programme – he is the only person listed by name in the Channel 4 transmission guidebook.^{[citation needed]} Despite this, he reappeared for the live 20th Anniversary Special in June 2015.

In 1996, Ewan McGregor also said 'fuck' on the show, when ranting about the Conservative government of the time.^[4] In the wake of Ryder's and McGregor's antics, TFI Friday was forced to be pre-recorded. In episode 2 of the 2015 series, actor Nicholas Hoult was heard saying 'oh fuck it' after Chris Evans asked him to play the trombone. Evans immediately apologised afterwards.

Car competition[edit]

The show gained more notoriety when as part of a competition, two children were forced to go head to head in a stare-out contest to win their parents a car. After the competition was won, the boy who had lost then started to cry, which led the tabloid press to attack the show. The next edition showed the boy with the consolation prize of an assortment of toys, an apparent attempt to mitigate controversy, but which was followed by another staring contest (this time for a speedboat), again ending with the losing child crying. The ITC gave Channel 4 a formal warning following these two incidents, and the competition feature never appeared again on the programme.^[5][6] On the 2015 revival show, both losing children (now grown up) were invited back and given a free holiday to Barbados with their families. Chris Evans also took this opportunity to apologise for what they did to them, acknowledging that it should never have happened.

Selected list of performers[edit]

Revival[edit]

In September 2005, Evans announced that he would be returning the TFI Friday format to TV, with OFI Sunday airing on ITV. The first edition was broadcast on 20 November 2005, but was not as successful and quickly axed. On 30 July 2014, Evans announced during his BBC Radio 2breakfast show that TFI Friday could be returning to Channel 4, after being asked to host a 20th anniversary special (despite the gap having been only been 19 years), as well as a new series, in 2015.^[7] During his radio breakfast show on 24 February 2015, Evans revealed that the show would return on Channel 4 on 12 June. It aired from the Cochrane Theatre in Holborn, TFI Friday's previous home at Riverside Studios having been demolished.^[8]

List of slot machines at mgm national harbor. On 23 June 2015, it was confirmed that Channel 4 had commissioned a new series, which started airing on 16 October 2015, with U2 opening and closing the show.^[9][10] On 7 July 2016, Channel 4 confirmed it had 'no plans' to commission more episodes of TFI Friday.^[11]

Episodes[edit]

• The Open Mic Night special only featured the Open Mic performances in the repeat. Due to time restraints, none of the performances could be broadcast during the first broadcast, and were subsequently edited into the repeat (making the repeat 85 mins long instead of the usual 60). ELO's performance of 'Livin' Thing' was also only broadcast during the repeat.

Tfi Friday Restaurant

Regular features[edit]

Features on the show included:

• Freak or Unique – Every week, there would be five people waiting outside the studio, of whom three would be selected to show off a special if freakish talent (such as juicing an orange with their shoulders, or The Girl Who Cried Milk). A running gag throughout the run was the 'Incredibly Tall Old Lady' who would always be waiting outside the studio. She was never nominated (mainly because it was obviously an old woman standing on a box)
• Baby Left Baby Right: A small child was placed on a cushion and the guest was asked which way it might fall
• Fat lookalikes – People who looked like fat versions of celebrities which was then followed in later series by Asian lookalikes
• What Does the Fat Bloke Do? – An overweight man was invited on set and asked about his occupation, before dancing and leaving
• Comment from the Cafe – Evans would rope in Cedric (the proprietor of a local eatery) to perform various embarrassing skits. Cedric became famous for his catchphrase 'Hellooooooooo!' and wooden acting
• Ugly Blokes – Unattractive gentlemen would have the opportunity to turn down the amorous advances of a 'gorgeous girl' (Catalina Guirado). A photo of footballer Peter Beardsley was shown during the 'Ugly Bloke' theme tune
• It's Your Letters – A wide assortment of viewers' letters (this was introduced by a burst of Reef's 'Place Your Hands', re-recorded for the show with the words 'It's Your Letters' replacing the original chorus of 'Put your hands on').
• Fishbowl Challenge: A goldfish in a bowl would have two toy bridges for company. Which would it swim under first?
• Another running gag was directed at the show's producer, Will MacDonald (aka Wicked Will of MTV's Most Wanted fame), where everyone in the bar would point their fingers, begin to swivel them and chant 'Wiiillll' very creepily
• Will: Pub Genius – Will MacDonald would demonstrate a trick that could be performed using tools commonly found in a pub
• Wooden Bird with Purple Hair – Chris Evans would amuse the audience with a small nodding wooden woodpecker (with purple hair), that slid down a pole whilst an accompanying song was played.
• The Lord of Love – The veteran actor Ronald Fraser dressed in a quilted smoking jacket would recite love poems to girls in the audience.
• Wurthers – The shows cue card man. He became a frequent star of the show alongside Chris, during the last series of the show in which he was host. At the start of every show, they would both engage in telling a joke working alongside each other, with Wurthers finishing the joke with 'I'm only joking of course!', with Chris then replying 'He's only joking of course!'. This became a frequent running gag before eventually fading out, with this being replaced with Chris sending Wurthers out on a task. The first and most memorable of these was sending him outside to look for a mini driver, while it was raining. Near the end of the show he found one and told her to say hello to the actor Minnie Driver, by waving at the camera who was at the same time being interviewed on the show with David Duchovny. The segment was originally a one-off, before being made a regular feature on the show.
• Show Us Your Face Then – someone in a football mascot outfit is introduced to the audience and invited to show them their real face.
• Sink or Swim – The studio audience (and viewers) were invited to speculate as to whether a chosen animal (e.g. a mouse or a snake) would sink or swim in a fishtank. To gasps of concern from the audience, the mouse turned out to be a good swimmer.

2015 series[edit]

• Too good not to be on TV - Unheard of acts appear on the show performing their talents.
• Slip and slide - Guests see who can go down the slip and slide the fastest.
• Cute contest purely for ratings - A celebrity will judge which thing or person is the cutest out of a possible three.
• Noah's killer question - Evans' son Noah asks a question in order to try and put them under pressure.
• It's Your Letters – Viewers' letters read out. Introduced by Coldplay, who took over from Reef in episode 4.

Transmissions[edit]

Tfi Friday Original Time Slot Machine

References[edit]

1. ^ ^ab'10 BRILLIANT THINGS YOU'D FORGOTTEN ABOUT TFI FRIDAY'. ShortList.com. 11 June 2015. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
2. ^Ellen E Jones (12 June 2015). 'TFI Friday changed the British chat show format — but not entirely for the better'. Independent.co.uk. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
3. ^'Shaun Ryder/ Black Grape on TFI Friday'. YouTube. Retrieved 8 July 2009.
4. ^Keegan, Simon (12 June 2015). 'TFI Friday the iconic moments: From Kylie snogging Geri Halliwell to Shaun Ryder swearing'. The Mirror. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
5. ^'Watchdog raps TFI Friday'. BBC News. 27 September 1999. Retrieved 27 September 2009.
6. ^'GOOD EVANS. TFI FRIDAY GETS A TICKING OFF'. The Free Library. 28 September 1999. Retrieved 12 June 2015.
7. ^'Chris Evans is 'bang up' for TFI Friday return on Channel 4'. Digital Spy. Retrieved 25 August 2014.
8. ^George Bevir (12 June 2015). 'Finding a new home for TFI Friday'. broadcastnow.co.uk. Retrieved 2 August 2015.
9. ^'TFI Friday: Channel 4 commissions eight more shows — BBC News'. BBC. Retrieved 25 June 2015.
10. ^Mohan, Isabel (16 October 2015). 'TFI Friday: Chris Evans's return was more cute than controversial - highlights'. The Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 16 October 2015.
11. ^'Channel 4: 'No plans' for TFI Friday return'. BBC. 7 July 2016. Retrieved 7 July 2016.

External links[edit]

• TFI Friday on IMDb
• TFI Friday at TV.com