Today with Des and Mel was a British television

British television

Public television broadcasting started in the United Kingdom in 1936, and now has a collection of free and subscription services over a variety of distribution media, through which there are over 480 channelsTaking the base Sky EPG TV Channels. A breakdown is impossible due to a) the number of...

 series hosted by Des O'Connor

Des O'Connor

Des O'Connor, CBE is an English comedian and singer. A former talkshow host, he was the presenter of the long-running Channel 4 gameshow Countdown for two years...

 and Melanie Sykes

Melanie Sykes

Melanie Ann Sykes is an English television presenter and model.-Career:Melanie Sykes was born to an English father, and an Anglo-Indian mother. She first came to public attention as the bikini-clad girl in the Boddingtons beer advertisements with the broad "Northern" accent in the mid-1990s...

. The show featured celebrity guests, phone-in competitions and chat between the hosts. It was produced by Carlton Television

Granada Productions

Granada Productions was a British commercial television production and distribution company. The company took its name from the successful ITV franchise, Granada Television....

, at The London Studios

The London Studios

The London Studios is a television studio complex which is owned by London Weekend Television and has been home to the London Weekend ITV provider since 1972...

. The show was previously produced at Teddington Studios

Teddington Studios

Teddington Studios is a large British television studio complex located in Teddington, South-West London, providing studio facilities for programmes airing on BBC television, ITV, and Channel 4 along with others...

 for the first series.

Today with Des and Mel was loosely based on the format of the popular American television

Television in the United States

Television is one of the major mass media of the United States. Ninety-nine percent of American households have at least one television and the majority of households have more than one...

 show, Live with Regis and Kelly

Live with Regis and Kelly

Live! with Kelly is a syndicated American television morning talk show, hosted by Kelly Ripa. The show has aired since 1983 in New York City and 1988 nationwide. Tony Pigg has been the show's announcer since its inception...

.

At one stage, the show was given the green light

Greenlight

To green-light a project is to give permission or a go ahead to move forward with a project. In the context of the movie and TV businesses, to green-light something is to formally approve its production finance, thereby allowing the project to move forward from the development phase to...

 for an evening version to be made. For a short time in January 2005, the show appeared in a 5 p.m. slot, but this was soon dropped, and a full prime-time version never came about.

ITV announced on 12 May 2006, that the show had been axed.

Guest Presenters

Paul O'Grady

Paul O'Grady

Paul James Michael O'Grady MBE is an English comedian, television presenter, actor, writer and radio DJ. He is best known for presenting the daytime chat television series, The Paul O'Grady Show and, more recently, Paul O'Grady Live, as well as his drag queen comedic alter ego, Lily Savage, as...

 was a regular guest presenter, with ITV

ITV

ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...

 bosses being so impressed with his performance, that they gave him his own show - The Paul O'Grady Show

The Paul O'Grady Show

The Paul O'Grady Show was a BAFTA award-winning British comedy chat show hosted by Birkenhead-born comedian Paul O'Grady. The format was originally devised by Granada Television and was broadcast on ITV before moving to Channel 4...

(the show later moved to 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...

 in 2006 and ended in 2009). Dale Winton

Dale Winton

Dale Winton is an English radio DJ and television presenter.-Early life:Winton's father, Gary, was "domineering" and died when Winton was 13. Winton was brought up by his mother, actress Sheree Winton...

, Bradley Walsh and Richard Whiteley also covered for Des on occasion. Jenny Powell

Jenny Powell

Jenny Powell , is a British television presenter.-Early life:Powell's parents are from South Africa, she attended Woodford County High School for Girls in Woodford Green and the Italia Conti school in London.-Career:...

- who contributed a regular Friday feature describing various tasks for the show that she had undertaken that week, that was dropped a while into the show's run - occasionally covered for Mel.

On Monday 3 November 2008 and Wednesday 8 April 2009, both Des and Mel filled in as guest hosts on The Paul O'Grady Show whilst Paul had time off.