The 11 O'Clock Show
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| The 11 O'Clock Show | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Satire, comedy |
| Developed by | Talkback |
| Presented by | Brendon Burns (series 1) Fred MacAulay (series 1) Iain Lee (series 2-4) Daisy Donovan (series 2-4) Jon Holmes (series 5) Sarah Alexander (series 5) |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| No. of seasons | 5 |
| No. of episodes | 144 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 30-35 minutes |
| Original release | |
| Network | Channel 4 |
| Release | 30 September 1998 – 8 December 2000 |
| Related | |
| Da Ali G Show | |
The 11 O'Clock Show is a satirical late-night British television comedy series on Channel 4, which featured topical sketches and commentary on news items. It ran from 30 September 1998 to 8 December 2000, most notably, while hosted by Iain Lee and Daisy Donovan. The show is noted for launching the careers of Ricky Gervais and Sacha Baron Cohen.
Hosts and presenters
The 11 O'Clock Show underwent a number of line-up changes during its run. There are numerous cases of external segment reporters becoming studio hosts, and vice versa. Notable presenters and cast members included:
- Iain Lee
- Daisy Donovan
- Mackenzie Crook
- Paul Garner
- Sacha Baron Cohen
- Ricky Gervais
- Fred MacAulay
- Brendon Burns
- Dan Demetriou
- Sarah Alexander
- Jon Holmes
- Rich Hall
- Alex Lowe
- Will Smith
- Tommy Vance
- Ricky Grover
- Danny Boyd
- Marc Wootton
- Jason Priestley
Going on to success
The 11 O'Clock Show introduced a number of performers who have gone on to much greater success.
- Iain Lee, who went on to host Channel 4 breakfast show RI:SE in 2003, and went on to forge a successful career in radio.
- Alex Zane, who later went on to present shows such as Rude Tube and Celebrity Scissorhands, and has a successful career as a DJ.
- Ricky Gervais, who went on to co-create The Office,Extras, Derek and the hit film The Invention of Lying, along with becoming a top stand up performer.
- Paul Garner went on to star in E4's The Pilot Show, VH1's BSTV, and write both series of the award winning Strutter.
- Sacha Baron Cohen, who went on to create Da Ali G Show and films Borat, Brüno and The Dictator.
- Mackenzie Crook, who also went on to The Office as well as TV to Go, before a role in the Pirates of the Caribbean films.
- Sarah Alexander, who had appeared on TV before, and went on to play Susan Walker in Coupling, Dr Angela Hunter in Green Wing and Mel Cook in The Worst Week of My Life.
- Jon Holmes co-created Dead Ringers, stars in The Now Show and hosts his own show on XFM London.
- Brendon Burns, who went on to co-host I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here! Live! amid other regular television appearances.
- Marc Wootton who went on to star in Shirley Ghostman and My New Best Friend.
- Andre Vincent , John Mann and Shaun Pye were all writers on the show.
- Comedy writer/performers who also wrote on the show include Alex Lowe, Robert Webb, Rhys Thomas, Tony Way, James Bachman, David Mitchell and Charlie Brooker. The latter two writers went on to co-present and write for 10 O'Clock Live, a later series which mixed comedy and news.
Controversy
In January 2000, the show came under criticism from the Broadcasting Standards Commission following viewer complaints about comments that were made on the show about recently deceased TV presenter Jill Dando, Bobby Willis (the husband of entertainer Cilla Black) and golfer Payne Stewart.[1]
References
- ^ "Channel 4 rapped over Dando". BBC News. 27 January 2000. Retrieved 1 April 2013.