Do Not Adjust Your Set
Do Not Adjust Your Set ( DNAYS ) was a TV series on the British private broadcaster ITV in the 1960s that was originally conceived as a children's series. It was initially produced by Associated Rediffusion London (under the producer Humphrey Barclay), later by Thames Television (under Ian Davidson) and ran from December 26, 1967 to May 14, 1969 .
title
The name of the show took up an advertisement that was shown by the television company when there was a transmission problem and which was often seen on the screen at the time. The request should prevent the viewer from looking for the cause of the transmission deficiency in his device. In a satirical way, the title now related this instruction to its own program.
occupation
The series was the first appearance of many actors and comedians who later rose to fame, such as Denise Coffey, David Jason and Terry Jones , Eric Idle and Michael Palin , who subsequently appeared with John Cleese and Graham Chapman of At Last the 1948 Show and Terry Gilliam founded the legendary comedian group Monty Python .
In each episode, the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band performed with a song, as did the Bob Kerr's Whoopee Band who made their first appearances in that series. The musicians also played repeatedly as supporting actors in the sketches.
content
Although originally designed as a children's show, it quickly gained cult status among adult viewers. In fact, much of the program could be viewed as an adult format. The way the show appealed to a family audience can be compared to the impact of the TV series The Goodies.
The episodes comprised a series of often bizarre, surreal and time and again satirical skits that were strung together in a disjointed style. This form of representation became much more popular in Monty Python's Flying Circus , the first broadcast of which was broadcast five months after the series ended. At least one sketch from DNAYS was subsequently used again at Monty Python.
In Do Not Adjust Your Set you can already see the tendency towards the absurd, which later became the trademark of Monty Python. In the last episodes of the series, crazy animations were interspersed between the skits , which had been created by the then unknown Terry Gilliam and which were also taken over by the Pythons afterwards. This included parts of his "Christmas cards" animations, which later reappeared in the show section "Joy to the World" and were also used in Gilliam's short animation film Storytime .
A recurring element of the show was Captain Fantastic , a parody of a superhero (Jason ) who had to compete in unlikely, often macabre adventures against his adversary, the evil Mrs. Black (Coffey). Incidentally, these sections were filmed entirely on locations in and around London . The rather scary enemies were the same as those in the series With Umbrella, Charm and Melon .
In 1968 the series won an international award, the Prix Jeunesse, in Munich .
Episodes
- Seasons
- Special programs
Just like another important Monty Python predecessor, the At Last the 1948 Show , many episodes were lost due to the frugality of some senior television employees who dubbed the tapes with other recordings in order to keep the acquisition costs of the then expensive media low. At the time, no one was aware of the importance that these records would have had in documenting the development of British comedy. The intact episodes were seldom repeated.
DVD output
Nine of the fourteen episodes of season one (all likely preserved) were released on DVD in the UK and US in August 2005 . Both editions use the NTSC color broadcast system with Region 0 discs and were first transferred from the original videotapes to film before being used to create the DVD.
The picture on the box suggests that Gilliam’s cartoons are part of these episodes, but they are not. In return, this DVD contains episode no. 7 in which the Bonzo Dog Doo Dah Band plays their song Death Cab for Cutie , which was later featured in the Beatles film Magical Mystery Tour .