Tiswas (reputedly standing for one of 'This Is Saturday, Wear A Smile', 'Today Is Saturday, Watch And Smile' or 'Today Is Saturday, What A Shambles') was an anarchic Saturday morning children's British TV show of the late 1970s and early 1980s which also had a fanatical following among students and the childrens' parents. Originally produced as a Midlands region programme by
ATV, within a couple of years it had been taken up by most of the
ITV network. Hosted by
Chris Tarrant and
Sally James[?], it also featured a young
Lenny Henry together with
Bob Carolgees[?] and Spit, the Dog.
A feature of the show was the cage wherein initially the child audience, and later their fathers, were confined and periodically doused in water (one spin-off of the show was the hit Bucket of Water Song), while the show was also frequently visited by the Phantom Flan Flinger who would throw the eponymous flans around the studio at all and sundry.
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