TVGoHome
Encyclopedia
TVGoHome was a website
which parodied the television
listings style of the British
magazine Radio Times
. It was produced fortnightly from 1999 to 2001, and sporadically until 2003, by Charlie Brooker
. The site now exists only in archive form. TVGoHome columns also appeared for a short time in Loaded magazine, sometimes edited from their original web version.
The website gained a cult following, partly due to its tie-up with the technology newsletter Need To Know, and its use of strong language, surreal imagery and savage satire reminiscent of the work of Chris Morris
. Regular targets for abuse were the Daily Mail
, Mick Hucknall
of Simply Red
, and the TV presenters Rowland Rivron
and Nicky Campbell
. TVGoHomes most consistent target, however, was fictional. Nathan Barley
, an ex-public-school media wannabe living off his parents' wealth, had his life chronicled in a fly-on-the-wall documentary series (in the TVGoHome universe) entitled simply 'Cunt'. The programme mocked the "new media" scene that developed around the turn of the millennium in Hoxton
and Shoreditch
in east London
and its population of middle-class web designers, DJs and magazine producers, their obsessions with absurd fashions and gadgetry, their inevitably feeble attempts at creativity and their tireless and ludicrous efforts to embody the cutting edge of urban cool. A spinoff book of the same title was later released featuring old and new material.
Brooker has cited the increasing absurdity of reality television
as one of the main reasons he stopped writing TVGoHome. The ideas for real life shows such as Touch the Truck, in which contestants must continually touch a truck for 24 hours in order to win the truck as a prize, were the kind of idea that at one point would only have existed as a satirical creation of Brooker's website. Now that they were becoming a reality, Brooker felt it was time to stop.
In 2006, Brooker began a regular column in The Guardian
, featuring new TVGoHome listings.
A TVGoHome comedy sketch show was produced in 2001, consisting of six half-hour episodes broadcast on E4, later compiled into a smaller number of 'highlights' shows for broadcast on Channel 4
. It was written by Brooker, among others, and directed by Tristram Shapeero
, who also directed the controversial Brass Eye
special on paedophilia
. The sketches included new material and skits based on previous TVGH entries.
A spin-off from TVGH was Unnovations, based on a parody of the Innovations catalogue; this was turned into a TV sketch/sitcom series, broadcast on UK Play in 2001-02; since that channel's demise, it has not been repeated.
A sitcom entitled Nathan Barley
, based on a character first featured within TVGoHome columns, was co-written by Brooker with Chris Morris
, and was broadcast in February 2005.
Charlie Brooker's 2009 Channel 4 TV-themed panel review show You Have Been Watching
features TVGH-style spoof listings pages in its opening title sequence.
Website
A website, also written as Web site, web site, or simply site, is a collection of related web pages containing images, videos or other digital assets. A website is hosted on at least one web server, accessible via a network such as the Internet or a private local area network through an Internet...
which parodied the television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
listings style of the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
magazine Radio Times
Radio Times
Radio Times is a UK weekly television and radio programme listings magazine, owned by the BBC. It has been published since 1923 by BBC Magazines, which also provides an on-line listings service under the same title...
. It was produced fortnightly from 1999 to 2001, and sporadically until 2003, by Charlie Brooker
Charlie Brooker
Charlton "Charlie" Brooker is a British journalist, comic writer and broadcaster. His style of humour is savage and profane, with surreal elements and a consistent satirical pessimism...
. The site now exists only in archive form. TVGoHome columns also appeared for a short time in Loaded magazine, sometimes edited from their original web version.
The website gained a cult following, partly due to its tie-up with the technology newsletter Need To Know, and its use of strong language, surreal imagery and savage satire reminiscent of the work of Chris Morris
Chris Morris (satirist)
Christopher Morris is an English satirist, writer, director and actor. A former radio DJ, he is best known for anchoring the spoof news and current affairs television programmes The Day Today and Brass Eye, as well as his frequent engagement with controversial subject matter.In 2010 Morris...
. Regular targets for abuse were the Daily Mail
Daily Mail
The Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
, Mick Hucknall
Mick Hucknall
Michael "Mick" Hucknall is a British singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of the British band Simply Red, and is recognisable for his smooth, distinctive voice and wide vocal range, as well as his red curly hair.-Early life:...
of Simply Red
Simply Red
Simply Red were a British soul band that sold more than 50 million albums over a 25-year career. Their style drew influences from blue-eyed soul, new romantic, rock, reggae and jazz...
, and the TV presenters Rowland Rivron
Rowland Rivron
Rowland J. Rivron is a British comedian, musician, writer and television presenter.-Early life: Rivron was brought up in Hillingdon, West London and attended Abbotsfield Secondary School...
and Nicky Campbell
Nicky Campbell
Nicholas Andrew Argyll "Nicky" Campbell is a Scottish radio and television presenter and journalist. He is known for his time presenting on programmes such as the consumer affairs programme Watchdog...
. TVGoHomes most consistent target, however, was fictional. Nathan Barley
Nathan Barley
Nathan Barley is a Channel 4 sitcom written by Charlie Brooker and Chris Morris, starring Nicholas Burns, Julian Barratt and Claire Keelan. The series of six weekly episodes began broadcasting on 11 February 2005 on Channel 4...
, an ex-public-school media wannabe living off his parents' wealth, had his life chronicled in a fly-on-the-wall documentary series (in the TVGoHome universe) entitled simply 'Cunt'. The programme mocked the "new media" scene that developed around the turn of the millennium in Hoxton
Hoxton
Hoxton is an area in the London Borough of Hackney, immediately north of the financial district of the City of London. The area of Hoxton is bordered by Regent's Canal on the north side, Wharf Road and City Road on the west, Old Street on the south, and Kingsland Road on the east.Hoxton is also a...
and Shoreditch
Shoreditch
Shoreditch is an area of London within the London Borough of Hackney in England. It is a built-up part of the inner city immediately to the north of the City of London, located east-northeast of Charing Cross.-Etymology:...
in east London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
and its population of middle-class web designers, DJs and magazine producers, their obsessions with absurd fashions and gadgetry, their inevitably feeble attempts at creativity and their tireless and ludicrous efforts to embody the cutting edge of urban cool. A spinoff book of the same title was later released featuring old and new material.
Brooker has cited the increasing absurdity of reality television
Reality television
Reality television is a genre of television programming that presents purportedly unscripted dramatic or humorous situations, documents actual events, and usually features ordinary people instead of professional actors, sometimes in a contest or other situation where a prize is awarded...
as one of the main reasons he stopped writing TVGoHome. The ideas for real life shows such as Touch the Truck, in which contestants must continually touch a truck for 24 hours in order to win the truck as a prize, were the kind of idea that at one point would only have existed as a satirical creation of Brooker's website. Now that they were becoming a reality, Brooker felt it was time to stop.
In 2006, Brooker began a regular column in The Guardian
The Guardian
The Guardian, formerly known as The Manchester Guardian , is a British national daily newspaper in the Berliner format...
, featuring new TVGoHome listings.
Recurring programmes
- Cunt, a fly-on-the wall series featuring Nathan BarleyNathan BarleyNathan Barley is a Channel 4 sitcom written by Charlie Brooker and Chris Morris, starring Nicholas Burns, Julian Barratt and Claire Keelan. The series of six weekly episodes began broadcasting on 11 February 2005 on Channel 4...
, a "new media" type kept housed and up to date with the latest pointless technological gadgets through constant parental financial support. Barley is depicted as being of absolutely no value to society, with no morals and even less intelligence, and having many friends (all of whom are exactly like him). On one occasion he attempts to let his girlfriend down over a 6 month period, ultimately ending in his confident, happy girlfriend being sectionedMental Health Act 1983The Mental Health Act 1983 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom which applies to people in England and Wales. It covers the reception, care and treatment of mentally disordered persons, the management of their property and other related matters...
. He is subject to almost pathological levels of hatred from the writer of the billing of the show. - Daily MailDaily MailThe Daily Mail is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper owned by the Daily Mail and General Trust. First published in 1896 by Lord Northcliffe, it is the United Kingdom's second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun. Its sister paper The Mail on Sunday was launched in 1982...
Island, a reality TV show where several normal people are deposited on an island and not allowed access to any media other than the strongly right-wing and conservative Daily Mail newspaper, leading to them becoming progressively more irrational as the series progresses - for example, tying teenage lovers together with sacks on their heads and beating them , or sealing a teenager caught masturbating into a coffin filled with broken glass and dog faeces and throwing it over a cliff and their language devolving into rhetorical questions and sarcastic snorts. - Get Hen!, a bizarre interactive programme in which home viewers fire lightguns at a dancing hen inserted into various pieces of film.
- Mick Hucknall's Pink Pancakes, in which Mick HucknallMick HucknallMichael "Mick" Hucknall is a British singer and songwriter. He was the lead singer of the British band Simply Red, and is recognisable for his smooth, distinctive voice and wide vocal range, as well as his red curly hair.-Early life:...
of Simply RedSimply RedSimply Red were a British soul band that sold more than 50 million albums over a 25-year career. Their style drew influences from blue-eyed soul, new romantic, rock, reggae and jazz...
fame presses his testicles against various transparent surfaces, including shop windows, glass coffee tables and Chinese riot shields. Briefly succeeded by Mick Hucknall's Spud Tip Challenge, in which he quite simply balanced a baby new potato on the end of his penis. - Ricky's Luck, a drama featuring Ricky who suffers appallingly bad luck in just about everything he does. The 'Ricky' featured is almost certainly based on/actually meant to be EastEndersEastEndersEastEnders is a British television soap opera, first broadcast in the United Kingdom on BBC One on 19 February 1985 and continuing to today. EastEnders storylines examine the domestic and professional lives of the people who live and work in the fictional London Borough of Walford in the East End...
character Ricky ButcherRicky ButcherRichard Francis "Ricky" Butcher is a fictional character from the BBC soap opera EastEnders, played by Sid Owen. Introduced as a school boy in 1988, Ricky is one of the longest-running, male protagonists to feature in EastEnders. Owen originally left the role in 2000 to pursue a music career...
, noted for having constantly bad luck throughout his tenure on the soap. The title is also likely a play on Tucker's Luck a spin-off of children's series Grange HillGrange HillGrange Hill is a British television drama series originally made by the BBC. The show began in 1978 on BBC1 and was one of the longest running programmes on British television...
. - Patrick Kielty's Streets of Fundom, where Patrick KieltyPatrick KieltyPatrick Kielty is an Irish comedian and television personality from Dundrum, Northern Ireland.-Background:He was affected by The Troubles in Northern Ireland. On 25 January 1988 his father, businessman Jack Kielty, was shot dead by the Ulster Defence Association /"Ulster Freedom Fighters" , a...
proceeds to perform various completely spurious actions while roaming the streets of Britain, such as wearing a Viking helmet, climbing onto the back of a man dressed as a cartoon Hitler and then letting off party poppers each time he passes an elderly woman.
Television series based on TVGH
The TVGoHome format itself, or elements derived from it, have featured within several television comedy and entertainment programmes.A TVGoHome comedy sketch show was produced in 2001, consisting of six half-hour episodes broadcast on E4, later compiled into a smaller number of 'highlights' shows for broadcast on Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
. It was written by Brooker, among others, and directed by Tristram Shapeero
Tristram Shapeero
Tristram Shapeero is a British director of television comedies, including Brass Eye, Smack the Pony, Green Wing, Community and Absolutely Fabulous.- Director :...
, who also directed the controversial Brass Eye
Brass Eye
Brass Eye is a UK television series of satirical spoof documentaries. A series of six aired on Channel 4 in 1997, and a further episode in 2001....
special on paedophilia
Pedophilia
As a medical diagnosis, pedophilia is defined as a psychiatric disorder in adults or late adolescents typically characterized by a primary or exclusive sexual interest in prepubescent children...
. The sketches included new material and skits based on previous TVGH entries.
A spin-off from TVGH was Unnovations, based on a parody of the Innovations catalogue; this was turned into a TV sketch/sitcom series, broadcast on UK Play in 2001-02; since that channel's demise, it has not been repeated.
A sitcom entitled Nathan Barley
Nathan Barley
Nathan Barley is a Channel 4 sitcom written by Charlie Brooker and Chris Morris, starring Nicholas Burns, Julian Barratt and Claire Keelan. The series of six weekly episodes began broadcasting on 11 February 2005 on Channel 4...
, based on a character first featured within TVGoHome columns, was co-written by Brooker with Chris Morris
Chris Morris (satirist)
Christopher Morris is an English satirist, writer, director and actor. A former radio DJ, he is best known for anchoring the spoof news and current affairs television programmes The Day Today and Brass Eye, as well as his frequent engagement with controversial subject matter.In 2010 Morris...
, and was broadcast in February 2005.
Charlie Brooker's 2009 Channel 4 TV-themed panel review show You Have Been Watching
You Have Been Watching
You Have Been Watching is a British comedy panel game presented by Charlie Brooker, produced by Zeppotron for Channel 4 and filmed at BBC Television Centre and Riverside Studios in London. It first aired on Tuesday 7 July 2009, for a weekly eight-episode run...
features TVGH-style spoof listings pages in its opening title sequence.