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tv production
ownstairs, there is a man in a fedora sitting next to a man in a fez. The former looks confused and a little upset. He thought he would be the strangest person in today’s audience. The
warm-up walks into the room and the crowd erupts in claps and whoops. And the show hasn’t even started yet. Upstairs, Assistant Floor Manager Rhiannon Ward carefully arranges a hamper of Christmas goodies, while children dressed in day-glo road safety gear look on glumly. The other guests mill around picking at the sandwiches. One is dressed in a tweed suit and is smoking an unlit pipe.
Talk shows are a dime a dozen. Makeovers, entertainment, celebrity guests, lifestyle, competitions. You know the drill. But in a crowded arena, just outside the snooping eye of a ter-
restrial viewer lies LivingTV’s Loose Lips. A show that sticks to the format, but takes each piece and weaves it into a twisted sibling. It’s no co-inci- dence that the production team sat down at the start of the run to watch the American take on this type of show. From toddler aerobics to live spiders and snakes, this little pro-
gramme often has more in common with Leno and Letterman than Fern [Britton] and Philip (Schofield).
A staple of cable channel LivingTV since its launch on March 31 this year,
the hourlong programme – hosted by Melinda Messenger and Richard Arnold – acquired an ebullient and dedicated following. At first an after- noon show, going out live at 2 pm, it was since promoted to the evening slot at 6p.m., before settling into its current incarnation at ten past five every week- day. It is finally making way for a new
live psychic magazine show that will be taking over its slot from 24 November. The bread and butter of the channel, the new paranormal show will be the first of its kind.
Made by indie production compa- ny Scream Films (behind programmes like Sky One’s recent documentary Rachel Hunter: Laid Bare and the mega-successful Dale’s Wedding for the BBC), Loose Lips started out very simply, says Series Editor Paul
Flexton. “The ethos of the show was to create something in the afternoon to
rival the terrestrial channels. Something quirky and fun.”
They set about recruiting model- turned-presenter Melinda Messenger and GMTV’s showbiz journalist,
Photos main: Front row of gallery; above l-r: Paul Flexton preparing the show in the gallery; Richard Arnold and Melinda Messenger on set; Paul Denny operating; Gallery
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