It's Only TV...but I Like It

{{Short description|Comedy celebrity panel gameshow}} {{Use dmy dates|date=March 2022}} {{Infobox television | image = It's Only TV.png | image_upright = | image_size = 260 | image_alt = | caption = Title card for series 2–4 | alt_name = | genre = [[Comedy]] [[panel game]] | creator = [[Jonathan Ross]] Andy Davies [[Jon Naismith]] | based_on =  | developer = | writer = | screenplay = | story = | director = David G. Croft Ian Lorimer | creative_director = | presenter = [[Jonathan Ross]] | starring = [[Julian Clary]] [[Jack Dee]] [[Phill Jupitus]] | narrator = | theme_music_composer = [[Pete Baikie]] | open_theme = | end_theme = | composer = | country = United Kingdom | language = English | num_seasons = 4 | num_episodes = 32 | list_episodes = | executive_producer = [[Addison Cresswell]] | producer = Andy Davies [[Jon Naismith]] Shaun Pye | editor = | location = | cinematography = | camera = | runtime = 29 minutes | company = [[Open Mike Productions]] | budget = | channel = [[BBC One]] | first_aired = {{Start date|1999|06|03|df=y}} | last_aired = {{End date|2002|08|16|df=y}} | related =  }} '''''It's Only TV... but I Like It''''' is a comedy celebrity panel gameshow about television. It originally aired on [[BBC One]] from 3 June 1999 to 23 August 2002. Its presenter was [[Jonathan Ross]], and the regular team captains were [[Julian Clary]], [[Jack Dee]] (series 1 only) and [[Phill Jupitus]].

==Overview== The teams played through various rounds in order to gain points. Whichever team had the most points at the end was declared the winner. If both teams had equal points at the end, then the result was declared as a draw with no tie-breaker played.

===Rounds=== There were various rounds played throughout the series, including: * TV Trivia – Each team is shown three clips that have a tenuous link to a moment in television history. It is up to the teams to try and decipher the link. * Bad News or Are You Sitting Down? – The teams are shown a clip from a TV show, but the clip is paused before a piece of bad news is delivered. The teams must guess what bad news is. Programmes varied from soaps such as ''[[Coronation Street]]'' and ''[[EastEnders]]'' to crime dramas such as ''[[The Bill]]'' or ''[[The Sweeney]]'', period dramas such as ''[[Poldark (1975 TV series)|Poldark]]'' or ''[[Martin Chuzzlewit (1994 TV series)|Martin Chuzzlewit]]'' to children's programmes such as ''[[Pingu]]'', ''[[Fireman Sam]]'', ''[[Bob the Builder]]'' and ''[[Noddy's Toyland Adventures|Noddy]]''. * Here's One I Made Earlier – Inspired by the long-running BBC series ''[[Blue Peter]]'', the teams are given ingredients to a real Blue Peter "make" and asked to come up with what they think the presenter made out of them. * Channel Hopping – The guests make their way into the TV screen (in reality, an elevated section of the stage behind Jonathan), and the team captains don special earmuffs to block out any noise. The captains also have a remote control to choose one of five TV programmes, which the guests must mime along to the theme tune in order for their captain to guess the programme. From series 2, this game was played in every episode, having been in half the episodes of series 1. From series 3, each captain would have a pair of earmuffs decorated to look like a certain television programme. * Opportunity Knockers – The teams are shown three clips of performers on talent shows such as ''[[New Faces]]'', ''[[Opportunity Knocks (British TV series)|Opportunity Knocks]]'' or such programmes, and are asked to guess which of the three acts is still performing today. One such clip showed a teenage Toni Warne who in 2012 became a contestant on ''[[The Voice UK (series 1)|The Voice]]''. * Granny Knows Best – The teams are shown a montage of elderly people describing a television programme in an obtuse way, and are asked what programme they are talking about. If they guess it correctly from the first montage the team are awarded five points, but if they don't then they are shown a second montage where the clues become easier but the point value decreases the more clues they get. * Masks – Where the team dons blindfolds and the opposing captain applies masks to the blindfolds of the opposite team, all of whom are faces from the same TV programme. The team then has to ask questions to the opposing side to guess who they are wearing masks of, mainly using yes-or-no questions. The teams could also occasionally score bonus points for guessing the character or personality on their mask. * Dubbing – Each team is shown a clip of a television programme such as ''[[One Man and His Dog]]'', ''[[The Clangers]]'' or ''[[Wildlife on One]]'', but without the sound. The teams then provide a new dub over the clip (usually the team captain providing the narration while the guests provide incidental noises or additional commentary). Shown to the audience, but not the teams, is a list of five words related to the clip. Points are awarded for every word on the list that the teams get correct. * Aliens – In this round, the teams are shown three aliens, one of which appeared in ''[[Doctor Who]]''. The teams then ask the aliens questions as to their identities before voting on which is the real alien. Points are awarded for guessing correctly. * Wine Tasting – The teams are given a wine to taste (which had appeared on ''[[Food and Drink]]'') and are asked to guess what the presenters said about the wine. Points are awarded for each correct description. In one variation of this round, the contestants are asked to taste a beer; in this case, the beer was [[Auto Windscreens Shield#Brewery|Weihenstephaner]]. * Let's Laugh at Foreigners – The teams are shown three acts performing at a [[Eurovision Song Contest]], and are asked which act got the fewest points. * Are You Being Serviced? – The teams are shown a clip from a sitcom, usually ''[[Are You Being Served?]]'', after which the round was named, and the clip is paused before the punchline is delivered. The teams have to guess what the punchline is. * Charley Says – Based on the ''[[Charley Says]]'' series of public information films, the teams are shown a [[public information film]], which is paused before the message is delivered. The teams have to guess what the film's message is.

The show always ended with a quickfire round with the teams on their buzzers. The three quickfire rounds were: * Catchphrase – Played in series 1, the teams simply had to complete the unfinished catchphrases read out by Jonathan. * Who Said That? – Played in series 2 and 3, Jonathan would read out a line of dialogue from a TV programme and the teams have to guess the character or person who said it. * Quickfire Trivia – Played in series 4, this was a straightforward round of quickfire trivia questions, also incorporating catchphrases and identifying two TV personalities morphed together into one picture.

==Return== The show returned on 5 March 2011 for a special during the BBC's ''24 Hour Panel People'' in aid of Comic Relief 2011. The show's former team captain Jack Dee hosted with [[Ulrika Jonsson]] and [[Charlie Brooker]] as team captains. The guests were [[David Walliams]], [[Danny Wallace (comedian)|Danny Wallace]], [[Tom Deacon (comedian)|Tom Deacon]] and [[Penny Smith]].

==Episodes== The coloured backgrounds denote the result of each of the shows:

:{{Color box|#ffdddd|border=darkgray}} – indicates Julian's team won :{{Color box|#ddffdd|border=darkgray}} – indicates Jack's/Phill's team won :{{Color box|#ffffdd|border=darkgray}} – indicates the game ended in a draw

===Series 1 (1999)=== {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" |- ! scope"col" style="width:30px;"|No. ! scope"col" style="width:60px;"|Episode ! scope"col" style="width:145px;"|First broadcast ! scope"col" style="width:300px;"|Julian's guests ! scope"col" style="width:300px;"|Jack's guests ! scope"col" style="width:60px;"|Scores |-style="background:#fdd;" !scope="row"|{{Center|1}} | 1x01 || 3 June 1999 || [[Ant & Dec]] and [[John Thomson (comedian)|John Thomson]] || [[Caroline Aherne]] and [[Antony Worrall Thompson]] || 15–6 |-style="background:#dfd;" !scope="row"|{{Center|2}} | 1x02 || 10 June 1999 || [[Fay Ripley]] and [[Barbara Windsor]] || [[John Challis]] and [[Neil Morrissey]] || 15–17 |-style="background:#fdd;" !scope="row"|{{Center|3}} | 1x03 || 17 June 1999 || [[Leslie Ash]] and [[Bill Tarmey]] || [[Patsy Palmer]] and [[Rowland Rivron]] || 22–19 |-style="background:#fdd;" !scope="row"|{{Center|4}} | 1x04 || 24 June 1999 || [[John Leslie (TV presenter)|John Leslie]] and [[Wendy Richard]] || Sarah White and [[Richard Whiteley]] || 21–14 |-style="background:#ffd;" !scope="row"|{{Center|5}} | 1x05 || 1 July 1999 || [[Michael Van Wijk|Wolf]] and [[John Inman]] || [[Mark Lamarr]] and [[Trevor and Simon|Trev & Simon]] || 13–13 |-style="background:#fdd;" !scope="row"|{{Center|6}} | 1x06 || 8 July 1999 || [[Nigel Havers]] and [[Lorraine Kelly]] || [[Jayne Middlemiss]] and [[Tim Healy (actor)|Tim Healy]] || 30–11 |- !scope="row"|{{Center|7}} | 1x07 || 15 July 1999 || [[Leslie Grantham]] and [[Carol Smillie]] || [[Leslie Phillips]] and [[Jamie Theakston]] || TBC |- !scope="row"|{{Center|8}} | 1x08 || 22 July 1999 || [[Ainsley Harriott]] and [[Melanie Sykes]] || [[John Noakes]] and [[Les Dennis]] || TBC |}

===Series 2 (2000)=== {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" |- ! scope"col" style="width:30px;"|No. ! scope"col" style="width:60px;"|Episode ! scope"col" style="width:145px;"|First broadcast ! scope"col" style="width:300px;"|Julian's guests ! scope"col" style="width:300px;"|Phill's guests ! scope"col" style="width:60px;"|Scores |--style="background:#fdd;" !scope="row"|{{Center|9}} | 2x01 || 24 February 2000 || [[Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen]] and [[Adam Rickitt]] || [[Ulrika Jonsson]] and [[Leslie Phillips]] || 20-6 |- !scope="row"|{{Center|10}} | 2x02 || 2 March 2000 || [[Davina McCall]] and [[Dean Sullivan]] || [[Esther Rantzen]] and [[Max Beesley]] || TBC |- !scope="row"|{{Center|11}} | 2x03 || 9 March 2000 || [[Anna Ryder Richardson]] and [[Angela Griffin]] || [[John Sergeant (journalist)|John Sergeant]] and [[Noddy Holder]] || TBC |- !scope="row"|{{Center|12}} | 2x04 || 16 March 2000 || [[Shane Richie]] and [[Gloria Hunniford]] || [[Alice Beer]] and [[Jack Docherty]] || TBC |- !scope="row"|{{Center|13}} | 2x05 || 23 March 2000 || [[Shaun Williamson]] and [[Donna Air]] || [[Norman Wisdom]] and [[Meera Syal]] || TBC |- !scope="row"|{{Center|14}} | 2x06 || 30 March 2000 || [[Keith Chegwin]] and [[Amanda Holden]] || [[Peter Davison]] and [[Suggs (singer)|Suggs]] || TBC |-style="background:#dfd;" !scope="row"|{{Center|15}} | 2x07 || 6 April 2000 || [[Oz Clarke]] and [[Kirsty Young]] || [[Fern Britton]] and [[Andy Kane|"Handy" Andy]] || 8–17 |- !scope="row"|{{Center|16}} | 2x08 || 13 April 2000 || [[Boy George]] and [[Charlotte Coleman]] || [[Esther McVey]] and [[Phil Daniels]] || TBC |}

===Series 3 (2001)=== {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" |- ! scope"col" style="width:30px;"|No. ! scope"col" style="width:60px;"|Episode ! scope"col" style="width:145px;"|First broadcast ! scope"col" style="width:300px;"|Julian's guests ! scope"col" style="width:300px;"|Phill's guests ! scope"col" style="width:60px;"|Scores |-style="background:#fdd;" !scope="row"|{{Center|17}} | 3x01 || 23 February 2001 || [[Nick Bateman (television personality)|"Nasty" Nick]] and [[Lisa Rogers]] || [[Claire Sweeney]] and [[Ainsley Harriott]] || 16–12 |-style="background:#fdd;" !scope="row"|{{Center|18}} | 3x02 || 2 March 2001 || [[Richard Blackwood]] and [[Valerie Singleton]] || [[Gail Porter]] and [[Graham Cole]] || 11–10 |-style="background:#fdd;" !scope="row"|{{Center|19}} | 3x03 || 9 March 2001 || [[Dermot O'Leary]] and [[Liz Smith (actress)|Liz Smith]] || [[Linda Barker]] and [[Richard Whiteley]] || 16–15 |-style="background:#fdd;" !scope="row"|{{Center|20}} | 3x04 || 16 March 2001 || [[Patrick Kielty]] and [[Keith Duffy]] || [[Vanessa Feltz]] and [[Jeremy Spake]] || 23–12 |- !scope="row"|{{Center|21}} | 3x05 || 23 March 2001 || [[Ralf Little]] and [[Gaby Roslin]] || [[Emma Noble]] and [[Rich Hall]] || TBC |- !scope="row"|{{Center|22}} | 3x06 || 30 March 2001 || [[Jim Bowen]] and [[Philippa Forrester]] || [[Tricia Penrose]] and [[Fred MacAulay]] || TBC |- !scope="row"|{{Center|23}} | 3x07 || 13 April 2001 || [[Rowland Rivron]] and [[Linda Robson]] || [[Doon Mackichan]] and [[Les Dennis]] || TBC |-style="background:#ffd;" !scope="row"|{{Center|24}} | 3x08 || 20 April 2001 || [[Craig Doyle]] and [[Jilly Goolden]] || [[Michelle Collins]] and [[Laurence Llewelyn-Bowen]] || 15–15 |}

===Series 4 (2002)=== {| class="wikitable plainrowheaders" style="text-align:center;" |- ! scope"col" style="width:30px;"|No. ! scope"col" style="width:60px;"|Episode ! scope"col" style="width:145px;"|First broadcast ! scope"col" style="width:300px;"|Julian's guests ! scope"col" style="width:300px;"|Phill's guests ! scope"col" style="width:60px;"|Scores |-style="background:#ffd;" !scope="row"|{{Center|25}} | 4x01 || 28 June 2002 || [[Joe Mace]] and [[Jennie Bond]] || [[Terry Wogan]] and [[Ainsley Harriott]] || 19–19 |-style="background:#dfd;" !scope="row"|{{Center|26}} | 4x02 || 5 July 2002 || [[Ian McCaskill]] and [[Myleene Klass]] || [[Lucy Speed]] and [[Richard Blackwood]] || 8–9 |- !scope="row"|{{Center|27}} | 4x03 || 12 July 2002 || [[Vernon Kay]] and [[Debra Stephenson]] || [[Angela Rippon]] and [[Jo Brand]] || TBC |- !scope="row"|{{Center|28}} | 4x04 || 19 July 2002 || [[Barbara Windsor]] and [[Keith Harris (ventriloquist)|Keith Harris]]{{efn-ua|Harris was accompanied by his puppets, [[Orville the Duck]] and Cuddles the Monkey.}} || [[Carol Smillie]] and [[Adam and Joe]] || TBC |-style="background:#fdd;" !scope="row"|{{Center|29}} | 4x05 || 26 July 2002 || [[Ed Byrne (comedian)|Ed Byrne]] and [[Angela Griffin]] || [[David Dickinson]] and [[Steven Pinder]] || 17–15 |-style="background:#ffd;" !scope="row"|{{Center|30}} | 4x06 || 2 August 2002 || [[Cannon and Ball]] and [[Gina Yashere]] || [[Patsy Palmer]] and [[Stuart Hall (presenter)|Stuart Hall]] || 14-14 |- !scope="row"|{{Center|31}} | 4x07 || 9 August 2002 || [[Roy Walker (comedian)|Roy Walker]] and [[Katy Hill]] || [[Diarmuid Gavin]] and [[Nicholas Bailey]] || TBC |- !scope="row"|{{Center|32}} | 4x08 || 16 August 2002 || [[The Krankies]] and [[Goldie]] || [[Coleen Nolan]] and [[Gary Beadle]] || TBC |}

==External links== *{{UKGameshow|It's_Only_TV..._but_I_Like_It}} *{{British Comedy Guide|tv|its_only_tv_but_i_like_it}} *{{IMDb title|0202739}}

[[Category:1990s British comedy television series]] [[Category:2000s British comedy television series]] [[Category:1999 British television series debuts]] [[Category:2002 British television series endings]] [[Category:BBC panel games]] [[Category:English-language British television shows]] [[Category:Television series about television]] [[Category:1990s British game shows]] [[Category:2000s British game shows]]