Mad for It

Mad for It is a British game show for children which was produced by Carlton Television broadcast on ITV from 2 September 1998 to 31 March 2000. Series 1 was hosted by former Nickelodeon presenters Mike McClean and Yiolanda Tokkallos. Series 2 was hosted by Mike McClean, Danielle Nicholls, and Nigel Mitchell. There was also a regular character called Pie Boy, played by Alex Verrey, who would go around hitting random people in the studio with flans in a manner like The Phantom Flan Flinger from Tiswas.

Mad for It
GenreGame show
Presented byMike McClean
Yiolanda Tokkallos (1998-99)
Danielle Nicholls (2000)
Nigel Mitchell (2000)
Opening theme"Harmonica Man" by Bravado
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series2
No. of episodes39
Production
Production locationCarlton Studios[1]
Running time25 minutes
Production companyCarlton Television
Release
Original networkITV
Original release2 September 1998 (1998-09-02) –
31 March 2000 (2000-03-31)

Games in the show

Games included were:

  • Stars Up Their Noses: Contestants are given 30 seconds to show their talent. The name of the game is derived from impersonation talent show Stars in Their Eyes. This competition was won at the end of the second series, by the then fifteen-year-old Katie Melua.[2]
  • Box Clever: Contestants answer questions and pick a prize from a box if correct.
  • That's My Pet: Contestants need to guess which is their pet amongst several similar looking animals.

A frequent feature of Mad For It was "gunge", a green slimy goo which was regularly poured onto losing contestants and occasionally on the hosts themselves. Those who lost the games were sent to a "Dungeon of Gunge" – an enclosure directly beneath a large nose, which expelled gunge onto the hapless prisoners. In the last episode, the tables were turned and the pie boy ended up getting shoved in the dungeon.

The most notable contestant on Mad For It was Katie Melua, who appeared on the show when she was fifteen.[3] She won the "Stars Up Their Noses" game after singing "Without You" by Badfinger. If she had lost the challenge, she would have been gunged.

The show was considered a parody of "adult programmes like Blind Date and Stars in their Eyes".[4]

Episode Guide

Episode 1 (2 September 1998)
Backchat with the Bedheads
Stars Up Their Nose - Heat 1
Order Act Talent Result
1 Acquiess 5-piece male rock band performing the song "Supersonic" by Oasis Eliminated
2 Tom Fieldhouse Unicycling and diablo juggling to "Harmonica Man" by Bravado Heat Winner
3 Lucy Kingsnorth Singing the song "Ain't That Just the Way" by Lutricia McNeal Eliminated
How Far Will You Go?
That's My Pet

Episode 2 (9 September 1998)
Backchat with the Bedheads
Smarty Pants
Stars Up Their Nose - Heat 2
Order Act Talent Result
1 Aaron Buckingham Singing the song "No Matter What" by Boyzone Eliminated
2 Bethanie Hooton Dancing to "C'est la Vie" by B*Witched Eliminated
3 Melanie Femi-Ola Singing the song "How Do I Live" by LeAnn Rimes Heat Winner
Make It a Date

Episode 3 (16 September 1998)
Backchat with the Bedheads
Stars Up Their Nose - Heat 3
Order Act Talent Result
1 The Spice Boys Dancing and miming the song "Wannabe" by Spice Girls Eliminated
2 Instant Replay 4-piece girl group singing the song "Power of a Woman" by Eternal Eliminated
3 Stephen and Michael Line dancing to "Kung Fu Fighting" by Bus Stop and Carl Douglas Heat Winner
Make It a Date
That's My Pet

Episode 4 (23 September 1998)
Backchat with the Bedheads
Sad or Bad?
Stars Up Their Nose - Semi Final 1
Order Act Winner of Talent Result
1 Tom Fieldhouse Heat 1 Unicycling and diablo juggling to "Harmonica Man" by Bravado Semi Final Winner
2 Melanie Femi-Ola Heat 2 Singing the song "How Do I Live" by LeAnn Rimes Eliminated
3 Stephen and Michael Heat 3 Line dancing to "C'est la Vie" by B*Witched Eliminated
How Far Will You Go?

Transmissions
SeriesStart dateEnd dateEpisodes
12 September 199810 March 199926
27 January 200031 March 200013

References
  1. "Ex-ITV Regional Studios". TV Studio History. Retrieved 15 July 2020.
  2. "Katie Melua talks about new album". The Bolton News. 21 August 2007. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  3. "Katie Melua looks back in time before Roundhouse anniversary show". Ham & High. 26 September 2013. Retrieved 21 September 2023.
  4. Davies, Máire Messenger (27 September 2001). 'Dear BBC': Children, Television Storytelling and the Public Sphere. Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-0-521-78560-0.

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