Live & Kicking went without much of a fuss (Live & Kicking)

Member Name: pmcds

Product:	Live & Kicking
Date:	16/11/08 (55 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Was great to start with

Disadvantages: Petered out and withered away

Live & Kicking was the BBC's attempt at a revival of the Saturday morning show for kids. When I was younger, Saturday morning TV was one of the things to look forward to during the week at school, but the situation appears to have gradually deteriorated over the past 15 years or so.

Live & Kicking was at its prime when presented by Zoe Ball and Jamie Theakston. The presenters had a way of attracting the kids to the show, making it fun and also appropriate. Sadly, the show began to get a little risque as the presenters changed, and the complaints started rolling in particularly where the content was concerned. Presenters such as Katy Hill and Trey Farley did their level best to keep a sinking show floating but to no avail.

Live & Kicking combined energetic presenting with a good mix of games and cartoons. As a kid, the cartoons were my highlight of Saturday morning TV shows, and Live & Kicking incorporated some popular ones such as Rugrats and Smart Guy, interspersed with a good range of entertainment. There were always guests relevant to kids, whether it be a cast member of a popular kids show or someone from the music world, and the combination was often successful. I remember thinking that Live & Kicking was the best show on a Saturday for a while, but as it grew less respected, SM:TV with Ant & Dec and Cat Deeley took over in terms of ratings and respectability.

Sadly, it ended not being the great it was when it started. The earlier years for Live & Kicking were the better ones, but children's attention spans are limited, and change is always good. Saturday morning TV still changes on a regular basis - there is more of a shift towards digital TV now anyway, with many kids' channels to choose from, so a wide variety of entertainment is more readily available. I must admit, though, I still enjoy the Saturday morning kids shows on BBC and ITV. Just don't tell my 4 year old son!

Summary: Started great, but got worse before going off air