Unique even minus Ant and Dec!!! (SMTV)

Member Name: Feefo

Product:	SMTV
Date:	17/03/02 (546 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Very wide appeal, Formatted but not boring, Still fairly unpredictable

Disadvantages: Finding it's feet with presenter changes, James Redmond leaving

I like SMTV and I am one of the "more mature" viewers. But that is the great thing about this childrens' programme, it does appeal to a wide audience.

I read an article recently about Anthony Mcpartlin and Declan Donnely who were the up and coming presenters of the programme at the time, alongside Cat Deeley which said that the programme appealed to children and young adults in their twenties and thirties.

The format when the three presented was a good "mixed and balanced" bag of music, games with interactive elements for the children to join in both live and over the phone at home.

There was lots of humour especially from Ant and Dec's special "Morecombe and Wise" style. Their charisma charmed the socks off us, making people like me have a "not so bad morning after the night before".

Certain games had particular associations to the presenters, like Wonky Donky which became almost as famous as the presenters themselves, such was it's appeal.

The presenters seemed to have effortless fun and genuinely enjoyed each others' company. It seemed a winning combination.

They enjoyed performing spoofs of programmes like "Friends" for us called "Chums" where famous guest stars would make special appearances.

I enjoyed all of this and then of course Ant and Dec left the show to do other things such as presenting "Pop Idol". These two have been acting and presenting since they were very young, and are moving on and up in the world.

I didn't think it were possible for SMTV to replace such amazing people. However, I was pleasantly surprised in the four strong presenting team which appeared on their departure.

Cat Deeley remained and joining her was Tess Daley (who I don't know too well) but I have seen her presenting a music show recently.

Joining the girls were James Redmond who had recently l
eft his character Finn in Hollyoaks behind, and a successful career as an actor and Brian Dowling. Brian of course was discovered in Big Brother two last year.

James and Cat were to head the team and were the main presenters, with Brian and Tess as more minor ones. They would also team up for the programme which immediately followed SMTV, CD UK.

The format remained a strong one with games such as "Eat my Goal" where guest stars would have numbers on their backs which the audience couldn't see nor the people at home.

Children would ring up and pick a number and the star with that number would try to win a prize for them by getting a goal past Brian the goalkeeper.

James was the commentator recently for that sketch for a few weeks. He also was ostensibly the "lead" in the star trek type spoof as was Cat with the other two taking less important roles.

The Star Trek spoof was quite amusing, but I got side-tracked by James'impressions of Elvis. I thought he was quite talented at the impressions and dancing and singing.
None of these talents had been visible when he played Finn in Hollyoaks.

There were interviews with guests who had unusual and interesting jobs as well as with the more obvious star choices.

The new sketch which was the new "Chums" of Ant and Dec's day was "Casually", a spoof of BBC1's "Casualty". This was actually pretty spot-on, funny enough for adults and children although perhaps relying too heavily on innuendo.

While the new presenters were finding their feet, and I and I know many others have claimed that Ant and Dec were successfully replaced by the newcomers, disaster struck.

Something has been going on to shake things up. I'm sure Cat Deeley has been planning her leaving for some time. Now suddenly, without warning James Redmond was sacked and at the same time Cat has left.

It re
mains to be seen how the programme will shape up from now. I watched it this morning and saw that it has retained it's format admirably. I thought that Tess and Brian held the programme together very well with help from their friends.

When you consider that Brian has no television experience, it makes you even more surprised. The presenters that were left only had a few days after James' departure to "pick up the pieces".

I wish James luck as I feel very sorry for whatever has gone wrong there.
And hope the programme continues to give as much pleasure to the many people it has done to date.

Summary: