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Saturday Zoo is a British alternative comedy and chat show series, featuring an eclectic mix of stand-up acts, interviews and music. Hosted by Jonathan Ross, it ran for 13 episodes, beginning in January 1993, on Channel 4.[1][2]
| Saturday Zoo | |
|---|---|
| Starring | Jonathan Ross |
| No. of episodes | 13 |
| Release | |
| Original network | Channel 4 |
| Original release | 16 January – 10 April 1993 |
The series was produced by host Jonathan Ross's own production company, Channel X,[1][3] headed by Kenton Allen.[4] Unlike previous shows, Ross specifically designed it to be "a show that I want to watch" without being particularly interested in viewing figures or popularity.[5] The show was broadcast live, with no possibility for retakes or editing.[6] Writers for the series included Kevin Day and Patrick Marber.[7] The music director and keyboard player was Janette Mason, who also wrote the show's theme tune.[8][9][10]
The series had a number of high-profile guests, including supermodel Naomi Campbell who appeared on the first episode.[11] Other guests included Kylie Minogue,[12] Danny DeVito, Christopher Walken and Jean-Claude Van Damme.[6] Penn & Teller also performed, making their first live appearance on a UK television programme.[13] Musical guests included former Dexys Midnight Runners frontman Kevin Rowland,[14] Del Amitri,[1] Suzanne Vega, Stereo MCs and P.M. Dawn,[6] and k.d. lang performed her recent hit single, "Constant Craving".[15]
The show featured the first appearance on television of Steve Coogan's character Paul Calf,[16] and helped launch the career of political comedian Mark Thomas.[17] Rowland Rivron and Graham Fellows (performing in-character as John Shuttleworth) made regular appearances on the show.[4][11] The Fast Show's Simon Day featured in several sketches.[6]
Saturday Zoo was not well received by critics, who focused on Ross's omnipresence on television at the time. A review in The Independent described Ross as "humour-resistant Teflon".[18] It was subsequently viewed as stalling Ross's high-profile career.[18]
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