Philip Jones, Thames Television's head of light entertainment, asked his son who he would like to see on television - he replied Kenny Everett. The show's format was conceived over lunch and a walk between producer David Mallet and Everett himself, having decided that they could not watch on television what they wanted to watch. Originally, the Video Show consisted of Everett in the role of a visual DJ linking studio performances from bands, singers, and the show's resident dance troupeHot Gossip, along with occasional sketches and Captain Kremmen cartoons. As the series grew in popularity, the linking material became longer and more varied - to such an extent that the final series, renamed The Kenny Everett Video Cassette, focused far more heavily on the comedy with just one musical guest per week. The Video Show was also noteworthy in that the sketches were performed to the studio crew and technicians with their laughter heard on the finished programme, unlike Everett's later BBC series, The Kenny Everett Television Show, which used a live audience. Bloopers were often not edited out of sketches. Two pilot episodes were made, which are believed to no longer exist. Initially, the series was produced at Thames' Euston Road headquarters in central London, recorded in small studios usually designated for news and current affairs programming. Production was later transferred to the much larger Teddington Studios.
Episode guide
Series 1
The first episode of the Video Show aired at 6:45pm on Monday, 3 July 1978. The eight-part series continued until 21 August 1978 and consisted mostly of musical performances, alongside Hot Gossip routines and Captain Kremmen cartoons. Regular comic characters included 'Sid Snot', 'Angry of Mayfair' and Everett dressed as a chicken. A Best of... compilation aired in some regions after the end of the series.
The following year, series one won the BAFTA television award for Best Light Entertainment Programme.
Series 2
Prior to the second series, the programme returned on New Year's Day 1979 in most ITV regions with the Didn't Quite Make it in Time for Christmas Video Show, which also aired in a shortened version on 18 April 1979 - as ITV's entry for the Golden Rose of Montreux. Series Two began at 7:00pm on Monday, 19 February 1979 with an extended ten-episode run and a greater reliance on comedy material. Musical guests that appeared in this series were:
The Video Show returned at 11:00pm on New Year's Eve 1979 with an hour-long special, Will Kenny Everett Make it to 1980? on most of the ITV network. Series 3 ran for eight episodes, starting at 7:00pm on Monday, 18 February 1980. Musical guests that appeared in this series were:
Everett's last New Year's special, The Kenny Everett New Year's Daze Show aired at 11:50pm on New Year's Eve 1980 over most of the ITV network. Ulster Television never aired this special, while Grampian and Scottish broadcast it two days later. The final series, renamed The Kenny Everett Video Cassette saw the show moved to Thursday evenings at 7:30pm in a bid to compete with BBC1's Top of the Pops. Unhappy with the scheduling of the series, among other issues, Everett left Thames and moved to BBC Television. Musical guests that appeared in this series were:
During the 1980s, several VHS, Betamax and Laserdisc compilations of the series were released by Thames Video. A six-DVD set containing four series - plus the three New Year specials - was released in November 2018. These are edited down, however, due to licensing issues restricting the use of certain musical acts in some episodes.
