The Brian Conley Show was a comedy variety show, and later a comedy chat show, fronted by comedian Brian Conley. It was broadcast in the United Kingdom on ITV between 1992 and 1995, and then 2000 and 2002.
Synopsis
The show was commissioned following Conley's last successful comedy series, Brian Conley: This Way Up. The show lasted for four series, although a live special was shown a year after the series ended, and a Christmas special aired a year after that. Shows were broadcast Saturdays on ITV between 22 February 1992 and 22 July 1995. Repeats began to show a few years later on the now defunct Granada Plus, though episodes stopped showing on the channel a few years before it closed, and has since never been broadcast again. Extracts from various episodes were uploaded to a dedicated YouTube channel, but was subsequently closed due to copyright claims.
The show was a mix of comedy, music, sketches, and variety acts. The first two series were recorded in the Churchill Theatre in Bromley rather than a television studio, giving the show a "live" feel. Conley would perform musical numbers, stand-up routines and sketches, the latter of which were performed on sets that were wheeled out onto the stage, and he'd often change costume in front of the audience. Series three and four were filmed in The London Studios and given a new look. Sketches were now performed on a rotating platform that switched between different sets as it spun. However, Conley's trademark characters were either performed on their own set or were pre-recorded.
Conley decided that the fourth series would be the last when, in an interview with TV Times, he decided to pursue a career on stage. However, after Conley compered the Royal Variety Performance in 1999, the show returned in 2000 albeit in a chat show format, dramatically different to the original show. Whilst it retained Conely's stand-up sets at the beginning of the show, as well as his special guests, sketches and Conley's characters were removed from the show. Whilst this had some fans unhappy, the show managed to pull in some famous guests including Leslie Nielsen and Kathleen Turner. The revival lasted for three series. Series 6 was broadcast on Friday nights, returning to Saturdays for the 7th and final series.
Features
Sketch characters
With the exception of Septic Peg, some of Conley's characters were revived from This Way Up. They were all dropped after the original series run and didn't return for the revival in 2000.
Nick Frisbee and Larry the Loafer
Nick Frisbee was a children's in-vision continuity presenter who had a squirrel puppet sidekick, Larry the Loafer (operated by Ray Tizzard). The premise of the character was to mock children's television presenters at the time, many who had puppet sidekicks – Larry was loosely based, and named after, BBC Saturday morning show Going Live's puppet Gordon the Gopher. Unlike children's television presenters, Nick was crude, and often cared very little for Larry or his viewers. He'd famously treat Larry very harshly, often hitting him with a club, which prompted the audience to 'aww,' to which Nick would reiterate to the audience that "it's a puppet!" Nick would read out letters, poems and jokes "sent in" by viewers with double-entendre names, and show spoof trailers for movies. In the last episode, Larry gets his revenge on Nick by dropping a studio light on him when he appeals for the welfare of loafers.
"Dangerous Brian" Conley
"Dangerous Brian" Conley was Conley's alter-ego stuntman. He would perform stunts that would often vary in danger and ludicrousness, which he'd often not perform. Stunts varied from bungee jumps to riding pizza delivery scooters. From the second series, he was accompanied by commentator John Sachs who would often make fun of Dangerous much to his despair. He was occasionally joined by his scrawny helper, Nearly Dangerous Norris (played by Ray Tizzard) who dressed in a pink costume and often had no idea what he was doing.