Lost late night 90s TV shows we loved to watch after the pub; Many will remember heading home and catching an episode. (2024)

Byline: By, Jess Molyneux & Lee Grimsditch

Before the days of streaming services and television channels showing content all hours of the day, satellite TV was becoming more popular in the 90s -and new programmes were emerging even later into the night. Our UK terrestrial channels were shaking things up as ITV and Channel 4 began regularly broadcasting late into the night.

With the new shows came edgier and racier content that audiences had never seen before. And if you were of that generation, you'll likely remember heading home after last orders at your local pub to catch an episode.

It's now almost inconceivable that until the mid-to-late 1980s, all British TV stations closed down for the night at around 12:30am. But by the early '90s, gone were the days of hearing a blast of the national anthem before the screen dissolved into static, the MEN reports.

During the decade, a number of late-night shows emerged and pushed the boundaries, but they could also be ground breaking in both their format and content. Here, we take a look back at just a number of late-night shows that were part of the after-pub late-night telly in the 1990s.

This list isn't intended to be comprehensive, but includes a number of now lost TV shows from the 90s that many ECHO readers will remember. You can see our list below.

The Word

Often controversial but never dull, The Word pushed the boundaries of television with its chaotic mix of music and attitude. The live late-night Channel 4 show was originally presented by former M.E.N music columnist Terry Christian and was in fact named after his column, who was joined by actress Amanda de Cadenet and later the likes of Dani Behr, Katie Puckrik and Mark Lamarr.

The Word ran from 1990 to 1995, with Oasis making their TV debut on the show performing Supersonic. But it's for other, more controversial, moments that the show will forever be remembered. In one episode, the singer from all female band L7 performed naked from the waist down.

And then there was a heavily inebriated Oliver Reed taking part in barely coherent interview before performing Wild Thing with Ned's Atomic Dustbin. In another episode, presenter Mark Lamarr fiercely challenged singer Shabba Ranks for disgusting remarks he made about gay people on the show.

There was also the infamous Hopefuls section, which saw members of the public perform vulgar stunts to appear on TV, such as eating worm sandwiches, wearing shoes full of dog poo, and full on snogging a pensioner. They just don't make them like The Word any more

The Hitman and Her

Tucked away in the early hours of ITV's late night weekend programming schedule was The Hitman and Her. Hosted by Pete Waterman and Michaela Strachan, the show ran from 1988 until 1992, right at the time acid house and trance music boomed in the UK club scene.

The show revolved around filming the dance acts and clubbers in the most buzzing nightclubs around the UK. Episodes were often recorded on a Saturday night, speedily edited, and shown a few hours later in the early hours of Sunday morning.

The Hitman and Her also featured regular dancers who went on to have successful music careers. This includes Take That's Jason Orange, as well as Jimmy Constable and Spike Dawbarn of boy band 911.

Whilst on air, The Hitman and Her visited two popular Aintree nightclubs, Fallows and The Paradox. Over the years, they also did episodes at the likes of Palm Court in Southport, Falcon's Crest in Formby, and The Ritzy in Bromborough, Wirral, the ECHO previously reported,

The James Whale Show

The UK's original 'shock jock', James Whale has had a successful radio career since the 1980s. But it was his hit radio show broadcast on Radio Aire in Leeds that also made its way to TV in the 1990s.

Broadcast late night on ITV, the show was chaotic and often featured adult discussion with live studio guests and listener phone ins, as well as hosting live music. Steve Coogan was also a regular guest on the show at the start of his career.

The show ran between 1988 and 1992 as The James Whale Radio Show. It then changed its name to Whale On between 1993 and 1994 coinciding with show's move from Yorkshire to London, before changing again to The James Whale Show in 1995.

One reviewer on IMDB describes the show as "a cross between Parkinson, the Tube and Bizarre magazine". That pretty much sums it up.

God's Gift

This lairy late-night dating show on ITV ran for two series between 1996 and 1998. The premise was simple, each week male contestants would try and outdo each other to win the affections of the female audience through a series of games to prove their sex appeal.

The winner would then take an audience member of their choosing out on a date, which was filmed and shown on the following week's show. The first series was one of the first presenting jobs for a young Davina McCall, while the second series was presented by an equally fresh-faced Claudia Winkleman.

Incidentally, God's Gift is also the TV show where a young Paddy McGuinness made his TV debut as a contestant. The show was trashy TV at its finest -you could almost smell the CK One, Tommy Girl and pheromones through the TV. But that's kind of what made it compulsive, post-pub viewing.

Eurotrash

Racy and eccentrically European, or just a chance to show a bit of late-night smut on British terrestrial telly However you remember it, Eurotrash was a big a hit for Channel 4 back in the 1990s and Noughties.

Presented by Antoine de Caunes and Jean-Paul Gaultier, Eurotrash ran for 16 series from 1993 to 2004. The 30-minute magazine style show took a surreal look at unusual people and topics in Europe and further afield.

The ultimate in post-pub lowbrow entertainment, Eurotrash contained copious amounts of nudity and sex alongside features like show jumping rabbits, or a man who makes "works of art" using his bodily excretions. It was all given a firm tongue-in-cheek treatment, mainly thanks to the comical voice translations of the people involved being read out in British regional accents like broad Lancashire or Brummie.

In Bed with Medinner

Hosted by Chester born comedian Bob Mills, In Bed with Medinner ran on ITV for three series starting in 1992. The show's title was a parody of Madonna's 1991 film In Bed with Madonna, with Mills wandering around the set of his TV flat, telling surreal anecdotes before sitting down in front of a big TV to take the ps out of footage from the ITV archives. Thanks to Mills' often hilarious observations and surreal quips, the show was a winner.

No doubt In Bed with Medinner was an inspiration for Harry Hill's TV Burp, which later followed a similar format. Mills also presented the popular 1990s daytime show Win, Lose or Draw and has been a regular presenter on talkSPORT.

The Girlie Show

The Girlie Show was first broadcast on Channel 4 in 1996. It was show conceived in the reignited spirit of female empowerment, perhaps most broadly personified by the Spice Girls' oft-repeated mantra of 'Girl Power'.

The prevailing 'lad' culture in the UK, typified at the time in the celebration of drinking culture and naked women found in men's magazines such as FHM and Loaded, spawned a counter-culture reaction -the 'ladette'.

The 'ladette' was a young woman who could behave in as boisterous, vulgar and cock-sure way as any of the 'lads' around her. Welcome to The Girlie Show.

A mix of interviews, music, features and stunts involving guests and the live audience, the show only ran for two series, but still managed to cause a stir during its short life. The Girlie Show also handed Bolton's very own Sara Cox her first TV presenting job, alongside fellow presenters Sarah Cawood, Claire Gorham and US model Rachel Williams.

The Girlie Show's most memorable feature was a segment known as the 'Wr of the Week'. Here one of the presenters would rattle off a damning monologue, criticising a celebrity who had done or said something that week that lived up to the accolade.

The 11 O'Clock Show

Arriving at the tail-end of the '90s, Channel 4's The 11 O'Clock Show took a satirical swipe at the week's news and contained topical comedy sketches. Running for five series between 1998 and 2000, the show was anchored by Daisy Donovan and Iain Lee, but it's the regular contributors that The 11 O'Clock Show is best known for.

Both Ricky Gervais and Sacha Baron Cohen launched their comedy careers on the show. Ricky played an obnoxious and cutting news commentator, taking over the slot formerly featuring Baron Cohen in character as Ali G.

Of course, both have now gone on to have massive careers in Hollywood as the UK's biggest comedy exports.