Much like a loved one or close friend who's passed - I prefer to remember it for the good times, not for the times it was suffering...
Rather than be critical I'd rather be positive.. Many here might be too young to remember but in it's early years the Footy Show was groundbreaking.. For the older bastards here, you may know this but I think it's worth noting..
Before is started, Fatty was a regular guest on the Midday Show along with Simon O'Donnell to do sports previews etc. He'd have everyone rolling around laughing so Ch9 said bugger it - have your own show...
So he got Peter Sterling & Steve Roach to join him, and there it started. They literally had zero experience hosting a show and somehow it worked in their favour. It was off-the-cuff stuff which did have a great mix of footy talk and funny stuff..
It also got a lot of viewing from women/ mums and people who generally weren't footy fans. New audience reach which was really pioneering stuff.. because footy / sports shows up to that time were pretty much a mans' club. Think of Sportsworld with the Moose and the like.... Women loved Fatty Vautin and the show rated brilliantly.
It really was "The Show" of the week for most people I knew.. Must see stuff and everyone would be in the office the next day bantering about it '''how about when fatty ...etc etc".
A lot changed when Fatty has his accident in 2005. Many forget he was shooting a skit and fell off the back of a truck, whacked his head and was in a really bad way - he survived where he could easily have died and was smacked with severe depression and other symptoms, memory loss etc. He was off TV for a long time (I cant recall how long but think around 9 months...). He was never the same. Neither was the show..
Anyway I'll remember the Footy show for the good times and when it was at its best. A bit like the Simpsons for mine.
Like the Simpsons Seasons 1-6 were its absolute glory days - will always make me laugh no matter how many times I've seen it, season 6-12 were good. 12 onward.... well..
I agree.
I said this in another thread. I havent watched the show for a while and I knew it was going down hill then plus when Thursday night was regular and the Matty Johns show was on I switched over and stayed with them ever since. Matty Johns added balance, humour but also serious footy talk.
The Footy Show tried to be serious at times but their jokes were terrible and they tried the same thing over and over again.
Having said that, I think there was a great period before 2005, back then where they won some logies. Interesting when they won their first logie was I think when the shown in Victoria at an earlier time.
They had Fatty, Sterlo, Cheif and the occassional guest host, most of the time, Matty Johns, Fittler and Girds.
I do remember when they first started and it wasnt terrible. Fatty, Sterlo and Blocker were the originals, plus then Bozo and a few others were guests. Then the following year Hadley comes in and a lot of people started to notice it more with their comedy.
I dont recall the Hadley Vs Ribot incident but there a video of Mario Vs Ribot when the Super League war occured so apparently Hadley ripped into Ribot about it
Despite those dark times in League the Footy Show would try and lighten up the audience.
I do agree when Fatty got hurt in 2005 he wasnt exactly the same. He was off for most of the year, and when he came back he could barely read the teleprompter and sometimes throw to Sterlo to introduce guests.
I think once he got injured, Matty Johns and Sterlo left it went down hill.
I think the segment where some woman sucked cream off crusher cleal's toes was the high watermark
I doubt there would be any footage of that floating around unless someone has recorded that and hasnt uploaded the video. To this day I dont think the network has ever shown a repeat, and also the Mr Methan incident.
Back on the cleal incident, that grabbed headlines the next day and there was a 2 page spread of the episode and people were outraged.
I remember it quite well, basically it was a challenge to see who was the maddest Origin fan. That woman wanted to suck cream off Cleal's toes, you had a guy wanting to walk on hot coals, another one get a tatoo of a cockroach, and some QLD fans sleeping at Lang Park.
There was one particular woman that wanted to go on a date with Daley, correct me if I'm wrong, but she took it too far and Daley looked so embarrassed.
Of course that wasnt the only episode without controversy. There was the moment the Matty Johns story broke and Fatty consoled him at the start of the show. When they showed a Sterlo lookalike of a baby and members of the panel were laughing. Fatty asking a bloke who won $1,000 if hes going to spend it on alcohol.
Unfortunately some things you cannot make a joke about and it appeared TFS ran out of ideas.
