TFI Friday - Ten Moments Of Infamy
Remember the talk of Chris Evans' baby being reborn online? Oh well, whether or not it's been aborted, here's what comes to my mind when Ron Grainer's Man In A Suitcase theme hits these days...
i) Chris Evans offers Shaun Ryder his shoes if he can refrain from swearing. He can't
With its being broadcast live a huge part of its appeal, TFI Friday was no stranger to the occasional F-bomb. Indeed, with the likes of Ewan McGregor having already turned the air blue, there was considerable pressure on swear-friendly Black Grape frontman Ryder to keep it clean. As a further inducement, Chris Evans pulled off the rather swanky pair of boots he was wearing and said the former Happy Monday could keep them if he could make it to the end of the interview without uttering expletive. "They're Patrick Cox!" burbled Ryder excitedly, “and Patrick's a fucking good..." Cue the singer shaking his head while the sheepish host retrieved his footwear.
ii) Black Grape cover The Sex Pistols' ‘Pretty Vacant’
Such was the fallout from the above incident that it was agreed that, were Ryder to reappear on TFI, any conversation would have to be pre-recorded. Unfortunately, no one had bothered to think what might occur during a live song performance. It was then, a particularly fretful looking host who was called on to apologise after Ryder sang ‘Pretty Vacant’ with so much aggression and Anglo-Saxon language, he made John Lydon look like Gary Lineker. The upshot was more fines and talk of the show being suspended. “What a fucking rotter!” as Steve Jones might have concluded.
iii) The stare-off contest that reduced a child to tears
Chris Evans has long got decent mileage out of his ability to interact well with kids: witness his ace radio bit The Kids Are Alright But Only If They’re Completely Wrong. For the most uncomfortable moment involving children on live television that didn’t also feature Jimmy Savile, we urge you to track down the footage of the TFI competition that saw two kids stare-off against one another with the not-inconsiderable prize of a family car at stake. Study the face of the defeated small person and you might wonder why Evans doesn’t have a lock on playing Ebenezer Scrooge each and every Christmas.
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