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(Redirected from Tarrant On TV) British late-night television programme

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...on Television
Also known as	Clive James on Television Floyd on Television Tarrant on TV It's Clarkson on TV
Genre	Comedy
Starring	Clive James (1982–88, 1997–98) Keith Floyd (1989) Chris Tarrant (1990–96, 1998–2006) Jeremy Clarkson (2020–21)
Country of origin	United Kingdom
No. of series	21
Production
Running time	30–60 minutes (including adverts)
Production companies	LWT (now branded ITV Productions) Watchmaker Productions/Carlton (1997–98) Expectation (2020–21)
Original release
Network	ITV
Release	19 September 1982 (1982-09-19) – 5 October 2006 (2006-10-05)
Release	25 December 2020 (2020-12-25) – 29 August 2021 (2021-08-29)
Related
Tarrant's Ten Years of Television Tarrant on CCTV

...on Television or ...on TV, is a long-running late night television programme on ITV. The programme, which was made first by LWT and then Granada Productions, featured a number of clips from unusual or (often unintentionally) amusing television programmes and commercials from around the world.

The show was first presented by TV critic and journalist Clive James between 1982 and 1988, followed by celebrity chef Keith Floyd in 1989. Chris Tarrant took over as presenter from 1990 to 1996, with James briefly returning in 1997. Tarrant resumed as presenter from 1998 until the show ended in 2006. On Christmas Day 2020, the show was revived for a one-off special with Jeremy Clarkson as host. Another episode with Clarkson aired in April 2021, with a series of three episodes being broadcast after Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? in July 2021.

Early years

The show first began in 1982, hosted by the Australian television critic and satirist Clive James. The series showed funny and bizarre clips from TV shows and adverts from around the world, most notably from the Far Eastern countries of Japan and Korea. The series popularised the Japanese show Endurance which followed numerous contestants as they underwent painful tasks around the world.

After James joined the BBC in 1988, celebrity chef Keith Floyd was brought in for a six-episode series in 1989 before Chris Tarrant took over in 1990.

Later years

For its tenth anniversary in 1992, Tarrant presented a compilation series entitled Tarrant's Ten Years of Television (later 10 Years on TV), which showed clips from the past five series and specials. It also included extra footage that was deemed unsuitable for transmission in the original show.

In 1997, Clive James returned as host for two series, produced by Watchmaker Productions for Carlton Television, in 1997 and 1998.

Tarrant on TV

The show continued to show bizarre clips from all over the world. But they now often included nudity, strong language, and crude or dark humour. Examples include a Japanese crying contest, a Japanese contraception advert, a profane North Korean propaganda film, and an advert showing eggs being fired from the bottom. Tarrant on TV also began to cover more violent and unusual programming such as the Jerry Springer Show or The Man Show. Additionally, many acclaimed public information films were shown from around the world, particularly road safety campaigns from the Transport Accident Commission of Australia and Land Transport New Zealand.

With a different presenter, the format was also altered to include a special guest. On 4 April 1992, Mel Brooks appeared on the show. The show's content focused on different types of humour in Sweden, America and Israel. However the celebrity guest format was dropped by LWT because it was deemed too expensive to pay for cinematic clips and a guest star each week.

The last series of Tarrant on TV was in 2005, with a special broadcast in October 2006. The theme tune between 1996 and 2006 was Syd Dale's "The Penthouse Suite".

It's Clarkson on TV

On Christmas Day 2020, a revival of the show was broadcast, with Jeremy Clarkson hosting a review of the year's television. A second episode was broadcast on 2 April 2021 with a series following in July 2021. Now produced for ITV by Expectation Entertainment, the series has moved away from featuring as many foreign television clips (such as Japanese game show Endurance) as its predecessors, with British dramas such as White House Farm, Quiz and Des critiqued alongside English-language shows on streaming services, such as Love is Blind and Selling Sunset.

Transmissions

No full series was aired between 1985 and 1988, in 1991, 1992, 1994 and 1997; however special episodes were often broadcast.

Regular series

Series	Start date	End date	Host
1	19 September 1982	31 October 1982	Clive James
2	23 October 1983	4 December 1983
3	28 October 1984	2 December 1984
4	5 March 1989	16 April 1989	Keith Floyd
5	21 January 1990	25 February 1990	Chris Tarrant
6 (Tarrant's Ten Years of..)	13 February 1993	20 March 1993
7 (10 Years on..)	19 March 1995	16 April 1995
8	8 September 1996	13 October 1996
9	4 January 1998	22 February 1998
10	3 January 1999	21 March 1999
11	4 January 2000	28 February 2000
12	21 January 2001	18 March 2001
13	3 May 2002	5 July 2002
14	12 September 2002	7 November 2002
15	2 January 2003	25 May 2003
16	6 February 2004	22 March 2004
17 (The Best of...)	10 June 2004	1 July 2004
18	8 October 2004	23 November 2004
19	30 May 2005	27 June 2005