''...on Television'' or ''...on TV'', is a long-running

late-night television Late-night television is one of the dayparting, dayparts in television broadcast programming. It follows prime time and precedes the overnight television show graveyard slot. The slot generally runs from about 11:00 p.m. to 2:00 a.m., ...

programme on ITV. The programme, which was made first by

LWT London Weekend Television (LWT; now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 ...

and then

Granada Productions ITV Studios Limited is a British multinational television media company owned by British television broadcaster ITV plc. It handles production and distribution of programmes broadcast on the ITV network and third-party broadcasters, and is bas ...

, featured a number of clips from unusual or (often unintentionally) amusing television programmes and commercials from around the world. The show was first presented by TV critic and journalist

Clive James Clive James (born Vivian Leopold James; 7 October 1939 – 24 November 2019) was an Australian critic, journalist, broadcaster, writer and lyricist who lived and worked in the United Kingdom from 1962 until his death in 2019.Keith Floyd Keith Floyd (28 December 1943 – 14 September 2009) was a British celebrity cook, restaurateur, television personality and "gastronaut" who hosted cooking shows for the BBC and published many books combining cookery and travel. On television, ...

in 1989.

Chris Tarrant Christopher John Tarrant (born 10 October 1946) is a retired English broadcaster, television personality, radio DJ and stand up comedian. He is best known for presenting the ITV children's television show '' Tiswas'' from 1974 to 1981, and th ...

took over as presenter from 1990 to 1996, with James briefly returning in 1997. Tarrant resumed as presenter from 1998 until the show ended in 2006. On Christmas Day 2020, the show was revived for a one-off special with

Jeremy Clarkson Jeremy Charles Robert Clarkson (born 11 April 1960) is an English television presenter, journalist, farmer, and author who specialises in Driving, motoring. He is best known for hosting the television programmes ''Top Gear (2002 TV series), T ...

as host. Another episode with Clarkson aired in April 2021, with a series of three episodes being broadcast after ''

Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? ''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (WWTBAM) is an international television game show franchise of British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, currently owned and licensed by Sony Pictures Televis ...

'' in July 2021.

Early years

The show began in 1982, hosted by the Australian television critic and satirist

Clive James Clive James (born Vivian Leopold James; 7 October 1939 – 24 November 2019) was an Australian critic, journalist, broadcaster, writer and lyricist who lived and worked in the United Kingdom from 1962 until his death in 2019.Endurance Endurance (also related to sufferance, forbearance, resilience, constitution, fortitude, persistence, tenacity, steadfastness, perseverance, stamina, and hardiness) is the ability of an organism to exert itself and remain active for a ...

'' which followed numerous contestants as they underwent painful tasks around the world. After James joined the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

in 1988, celebrity chef

Keith Floyd Keith Floyd (28 December 1943 – 14 September 2009) was a British celebrity cook, restaurateur, television personality and "gastronaut" who hosted cooking shows for the BBC and published many books combining cookery and travel. On television, ...

was brought in for a six-episode series in 1989 before

took over in 1990.

Later years

For its tenth anniversary in 1992, Tarrant presented a compilation series entitled ''Tarrant's Ten Years of Television'' (later ''10 Years on TV''), which showed clips from the past five series and specials. It also included extra footage that was deemed unsuitable for transmission in the original show. In 1997, Clive James returned as host for two series, produced by Watchmaker Productions for

Carlton Television Carlton Television (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV franchise holder for London and the surrounding counties from 9.25am every Monday to 5.15pm every Friday. The company is now managed with London Weekend Tele ...

, in 1997 and 1998.

''Tarrant on TV''

The show continued to show bizarre clips from all over the world. But they now often included nudity, strong language, and crude or dark humour. Examples include a Japanese crying contest, a Japanese contraception advert, a profane North Korean propaganda film, and an advert showing ping pong balls being fired from the bottom. ''Tarrant on TV'' also began to cover more violent and unusual programming such as the ''

Jerry Springer Show ''Jerry Springer'' is an American first-run syndicated talk show that was hosted by Jerry Springer. The show ran for twenty-seven seasons from September 30, 1991, to July 26, 2018, in which it broadcast 3,891 episodes. It was taped at the NBC ...

'' or ''

The Man Show ''The Man Show'' is an American sketch comedy television show on Comedy Central that aired from 1999 to 2004. It was created by its two original co-hosts, Adam Carolla and Jimmy Kimmel, and their executive producer Daniel Kellison. The pilot ...

''. Additionally, many acclaimed

public information film Public information films (PIFs) are a series of government-commissioned short films, shown during television advertising breaks in the United Kingdom. The name is sometimes also applied, ''faute de mieux'', to similar films from other countries, ...

s were shown from around the world, particularly road safety campaigns from the

Transport Accident Commission The Transport Accident Commission (TAC) is the statutory insurer Insurance is a means of protection from financial loss in which, in exchange for a fee, a party agrees to compensate another party in the event of a certain loss, damage, ...

of Australia and

Land Transport New Zealand Land Transport New Zealand was a Crown entity in New Zealand, tasked with promoting safe and functional transport by land, and includes responsibilities such as driver and vehicle licensing. It was created on 1 December 2004 by the Land Transpo ...

. With a different presenter, the format was also altered to include a special guest. On 4 April 1992,

Mel Brooks Melvin James Brooks (né Kaminsky; born June 28, 1926) is an American actor, comedian, filmmaker, and songwriter. With a career spanning over seven decades, he is known as a writer and director of a variety of successful broad farces and parodie ...

appeared on the show. The show's content focused on different types of humour in Sweden, America and Israel. However the celebrity guest format was dropped by LWT because it was deemed too expensive to pay for cinematic clips and a guest star each week. The last series of ''Tarrant on TV'' was in 2005, with a special broadcast in October 2006. The

theme tune Theme music is a musical composition which is often written specifically for radio programming, television shows, video games, or films and is usually played during the title sequence, opening credits, closing credits, and in some instances at ...

between 1996 and 2006 was

Syd Dale Syd Dale (20 May 1924 – 15 August 1994) was an English self-taught composer and arranger of big band, easy listening and library music. His themes and underscore music played an important role on television, radio and advertising media of the ...

's "The Penthouse Suite".

''It's Clarkson on TV''

On Christmas Day 2020, a revival of the show was broadcast, with

hosting a review of the year's television. A second episode was broadcast on 2 April 2021 with a series following in July 2021. Now produced for ITV by Expectation Entertainment, the series has moved away from featuring as many foreign television clips (such as Japanese game show ''Endurance'') as its predecessors, with British dramas such as ''White House Farm'', ''Quiz'' and ''Des'' critiqued alongside English-language shows on streaming services, such as ''Love is Blind'' and ''Selling Sunset''.

Transmissions

No full series was aired between 1985 and 1988, and in 1991, 1992, 1994 and 1997; however, special episodes were often broadcast.

Regular series

Revived series

Specials

Hosted by

Clive James Clive James (born Vivian Leopold James; 7 October 1939 – 24 November 2019) was an Australian critic, journalist, broadcaster, writer and lyricist who lived and worked in the United Kingdom from 1962 until his death in 2019.Chris Tarrant Christopher John Tarrant (born 10 October 1946) is a retired English broadcaster, television personality, radio DJ and stand up comedian. He is best known for presenting the ITV children's television show '' Tiswas'' from 1974 to 1981, and th ...

: *Special 9: 30 December 1990 *Special 10: 4 January 1992 *Special 11: 4 April 1992 *Special 12: 11 July 1992 *Special 13: 26 September 1993 *Special 14 (''Tarrant's Ten Years of..''): 17 September 1994 *Special 15 (''Tarrant's Ten Years of..''): 24 September 1994 *Special 16: 27 December 1997 (Christmas special) *Special 17: 10 May 1998 (''Best of TV Series 9'') *Special 18: 16 May 1999 (''Best of Series 10'') *Special 19: 7 May 2000 (''Best of Series 11'') *Special 20: 25 March 2001 (''Tarrant on CCTV'') *Special 21: 20 January 2002 (''Tarrant on CCTV'') *Special 22: 7 July 2002 (''Tarrant on CCTV'') *Special 23: 23 November 2002 *Special 24: 14 December 2002 *Special 25: 5 May 2003 (''Tarrant on CCTV'') *Special 26: 4 September 2003 *Special 27: 23 October 2003 *Special 28: 7 November 2003 *Special 29: 24 December 2003 *Special 30: 13 May 2004 (Japan special) *Special 31: 5 July 2004 *Special 32: 31 August 2004 *Special 33: 5 October 2006 Hosted by

: *Special 34: 25 December 2020 *Special 35: 2 April 2021

''It's Clarkson on TV'' series

References

External links

* *
''Tarrant on TV''
at

BFI The British Film Institute (BFI) is a film and television charitable organisation which promotes and preserves filmmaking and television in the United Kingdom. The BFI uses funds provided by the National Lottery to encourage film production, d ...

''Clive James on TV''
at BFI
''Tarrant on CCTV''
at BFI {{DEFAULTSORT:On Television 1982 British television series debuts 2021 British television series endings 1980s British comedy television series 1990s British comedy television series 2000s British comedy television series 2020s British comedy television series British television series revived after cancellation British English-language television shows ITV comedy London Weekend Television shows Television advertising Television series about television Television series by ITV Studios Advertising in the United Kingdom Television series about advertising