''The Word'' was a 1990s

Channel 4 Channel 4 is a British free-to-air public broadcast television network operated by the state-owned Channel Four Television Corporation. It began its transmission on 2 November 1982 and was established to provide a fourth television service ...

television programme in the United Kingdom.

Format

The show's presenters included

Terry Christian Terence Christian (born 8 May 1960) is a British broadcaster, journalist and author. He has presented several national television series in the UK including Channel 4's late night entertainment show '' The Word'' (1990–1995) and six series o ...

, comedian

Mark Lamarr Mark Lamarr (born Mark Jones, 7 January 1967) is an English comedian, writer, radio DJ, and television presenter. He was a team captain on '' Shooting Stars'' from 1995 to 1997, and hosted '' Never Mind the Buzzcocks'' from 1996 to 2005. Early l ...

, Dani Behr, Katie Puckrik,

Jasmine Dotiwala Jasmine Dotiwala is a British broadcaster, producer, and columnist. Dotiwala has worked with television and radio news platforms such as MTV, Channel 4 and BBC Radio London. Early life Jasmine Dotiwala grew up in Southall, West London, where ...

Alan Connor Alan Connor (born 1972) is a British writer, journalist and television presenter. First seen on Channel 4's youth entertainment programme '' The Word'' in 1995, he later appeared on ''The Big Breakfast'' and BBC Radio Five Live and was a BBC ...

, Amanda de Cadenet and Huffty. Originally broadcast in the old '' Tube'' time slot of 6 pm Friday evenings, ''The Words main live show was shifted to a late-night timeslot from 9 November 1990. The magazine format allowed for interviews, live music, features and even game shows. The flexible late-night format meant that guests could do just about anything to be controversial. There was also an 'I'll do anything to be on television' section called "The Hopefuls" which ran for half of series 4 and half of series 5 in which people did generally repulsive things in order to get featured on the programme.

Production

The show was the brainchild of

Charlie Parsons Charles Andrew Parsons is a British television producer known as the creator of the '' Survivor'' franchise. He also created ''The Big Breakfast'' and '' The Word''. Education Parsons was educated at Tonbridge School, a boarding independent scho ...

and Christian and was originally produced for series 1 and 2 by the production company 24 Hour Productions, which later became Planet 24. Paul Ross was the series editor on series 3 and 4, and became executive producer for series 5. Jo Whiley worked as a researcher/band booker on series 2 and half of series 3 and is credited as having given

Nirvana ( , , ; sa, निर्वाण} ''nirvāṇa'' ; Pali: ''nibbāna''; Prakrit: ''ṇivvāṇa''; literally, "blown out", as in an oil lamp Richard Gombrich, ''Theravada Buddhism: A Social History from Ancient Benāres to Modern Colomb ...

their historic and notorious first TV appearance. The programme ran for five series from 1990 to 1995. From the start, there was considerable

tabloid Tabloid may refer to: * Tabloid journalism, a type of journalism * Tabloid (newspaper format), a newspaper with compact page size ** Chinese tabloid * Tabloid (paper size), a North American paper size * Sopwith Tabloid The Sopwith Tabloid an ...

backlash against the show. In mid 2000, Channel 4 screened a short-running compilation series titled ''Best of The Word'', which mostly featured music performances. Tango sponsored the show in 1994.

Notable moments

's international television debut performance of " Smells Like Teen Spirit", with

Kurt Cobain Kurt Donald Cobain (February 20, 1967 – April 5, 1994) was an American musician who served as the lead vocalist, guitarist and primary songwriter of the rock band Nirvana. Through his angst-fueled songwriting and anti-establishment persona ...

declaring Courtney Love to be "the best fuck in the world." * Singer/guitarist

Donita Sparks Donita Sparks (born April 8, 1963) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter most notable for being the co-founder of the band L7. Sparks also initiated, performed, and released original material with her solo project, the band Donita S ...

of L7 removing her jeans and underwear during a performance, the full-frontal nudity displayed when she drops her guitar being briefly broadcast. * The TV debut of

Oasis In ecology, an oasis (; ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environment'ksar''with its surrounding feeding source, the palm grove, within a relational and circulatory nomadic system.” The location of oases has been of critical imp ...

playing "

Supersonic Supersonic speed is the speed of an object that exceeds the speed of sound ( Mach 1). For objects traveling in dry air of a temperature of 20 °C (68 °F) at sea level, this speed is approximately . Speeds greater than five times ...

". * Rage Against the Machine playing "

Killing in the Name "Killing in the Name" is a protest song by American rock band Rage Against the Machine, and appears on their 1992 self-titled debut album. It was released as the lead single from the album in November 1992. It features heavy drop-D guitar riff ...

", resulting in a stage invasion with guitarist

Tom Morello Thomas Baptist Morello (born May 30, 1964) is an American guitarist, singer, songwriter, and political activist. He is best known for his tenure with the rock band Rage Against the Machine and then with Audioslave. Between 2016 and 2019, More ...

and singer Zack de la Rocha both being stopped from performing by the chaotic crowd. *

Lynne Perrie Lynne Perrie (born Jean Dudley; 7 April 1931 – 24 March 2006) was an English actress, singer and television personality, best known as Mrs Casper in Ken Loach's 1969 film '' Kes'', Mrs Petty in the television series ''Queenie's Castle'', and a ...

, best known for her role as Ivy Tilsley in soap opera ''

Coronation Street ''Coronation Street'' is an English soap opera created by Granada Television and shown on ITV since 9 December 1960. The programme centres around a cobbled, terraced street in Weatherfield, a fictional town based on inner-city Salford. Orig ...

'', performing a tuneless rendition of the

Gloria Gaynor Gloria Gaynor (née Fowles; born September 7, 1943) is an American singer, best known for the disco era hits " I Will Survive" (1978), " Let Me Know (I Have a Right)" (1979), " I Am What I Am" (1983), and her version of " Never Can Say Goodbye" ( ...

song " I Will Survive". * A very drunk

Oliver Reed Robert Oliver Reed (13 February 1938 – 2 May 1999) was an English actor known for his well-to-do, macho image and "hellraiser" lifestyle. After making his first significant screen appearances in Hammer Horror films in the early 1960s, his ...

giving a barely coherent interview before performing " Wild Thing" by The Troggs with Ned's Atomic Dustbin." * Shabba Ranks advocating crucifixion of homosexuals, which received universal condemnation including from presenter Lamarr.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Word (TV series), The 1990 British television series debuts 1995 British television series endings British music television shows Channel 4 original programming Television series by ITV Studios Television shows shot at Teddington Studios