How would you change Top of the Pops?

How about developing a break-away strand of TOTP to act as a middle of the road music show which featured pop-ish groups but towards a more 18-22 age range ie Travis, etc - something between TOTP and Later with Jools! With TOTP make it a rule that NO-ONE can mime - all must sing live, that'll cut out the chaff from the wheat in today's charts!
Tom, UK

A Put me in charge of the Radio 1 playlist for 6 months !

Sample:
"TOTP has always reflected the charts which, in its heyday were varied with many different types of music. Now that the only people who buy singles are 12 year old girls it's inevitable that TOTP will suffer from a lack of diversity. The only answer is to feature different charts e.g. rock chart, country chart, pop chart, indie chart rather than just the Top 40.
Andrew Davies, UK "

Don't talk to any of them.

also, how about actually moving the show to SUNDAY NIGHTS at 7pm or earlier to tie in with the Radio 1 Top 40? it could be repeated later in the week (like everything else) and this would give it fresher feel. i'm sure they could book the artists as normal knowing whats being released the Monday before and having a good idea of what position they'd end up at.

Let people mime, who gives a fuck, it's not Later With Jools Holland.

But if someone is going to mime and not have good costumes/dancing/gimmicks then say no.

Record the show as near to transmission as possible so that if people fuck up entertainingly there's no time to correct the mistakes.

TOTP should reflect the music that is in the charts. This is basic. Most weeks in the top 20 there is pop, hip-hop, r&b, rock, ballads, dance tunes - the charts are already eclectic enough, producers just need to realise that and not worry so much about whether an 18 year old boy will like it more than a 12 year old girl or vice versa. Ideally the mindset should be "I want to see X on TOTP so I'd better buy the single" not "Who cares they'll show some indie/pop/rap shite anyway".

If you can't get a performer on show a video, there's no shame in it - don't get on some cockmonkeys who are at #36 just because they'll do the show.

Not at all: I loved the show in the 80's and they all mimed then didn't they??!! Only earnest rock acts with 'keep music live' stickers on their amps would want live singing, and thankfully there aren't too many of them in the charts these days.

but what about the fantastic pet shop boys performances where thay did NOTHING? although i suppose that's kind of a gimmick

Adam B exactly - doing nothing well is fine. Swaying about on a stool is not.

Peters' first priority should be getting the timeslot moved - bare minimum being a shift to Friday 7 PM, clear of Corrie. Sundays would be brilliant, cos what with it not being a weekday the chances are that Peters could swing it an hour slot too - BUT Sunday is traditionally the day of the maturer person on all channels. 7 PM Sunday means that TOTP comes off a run of Last Of The Summer Wine, Songs Of Praise and Antiques Roadshow - hardly any of the viewers of those programmes will stay on for TOTP, and moving them about the schedule would result in massive complaints. Realistic best case scenario, as cobbled together by a 20-year-old who has no experience in telly, is that Peters opens up his revamp by moving it to Friday at 7 and building the ratings up. Once the BBC see that it can pull in the viewers again, he can dislodge one of the godawful docusoaps or investigative documentary bollocks, which the Beeb presumably sees as bankers on weeknights.

Presenters MUST be shaken up. The current rotation they run consists of eight or nine people who are rubbish, possible exception of Fearne Cotton. Certainly none of the current male hosts (Bacon, Murray, Theakston) should be near it - they don't give a toss for the programme or the music, they basically just come across as careerists who are crap and who think they're 'above this sort of thing'. Most of the women are autocue reading harridans, again firmly cast from the careerist mould. They all seem to be plucked from this horrible rotating cast of 'professional TV presenters' that does the rounds on almost all the 16-24 demographic programmes on telly at the moment, as well as a lot of the radio targeted at the same age group. This loop has to be broken somehow.

If they need a rotation, make sure it's people who are sufficiently different and strong enough personalities to create some kind of impression (analogy - remember when Boris Johnson hosted Have I Got News For You? What about when Hugh Dennis or Sanjeev Bhaskar or Alexander Armstrong or Liza Tarbuck did?). Ideally they will not present any other programme, so that they are identified with TOTP and TOTP is identified with them. In a good way.

Most importantly, be sure they know that they are not bigger than the programme, and that they are proud of the output, they want to make sure that it is doing as well as it possibly can.

More points as I remember 'em...

- the no.1 every week, live or video.
- new entries or climbers in the top 10
- new entries or climbers 11-20
etc etc down to 31-40. If someone's straight in at #36 then fine, good for them, they should be on the show but not if it means getting rid of a new entry at #12 just because the #12 won't appear 'live'.

God I'd love to see Westwood on TOTP. Especially if it's when Victoria Beckham feat. MOP comes out.

Specialist charts yeah - or an airplay or reader-voted chart purely for pre-releases, which would help keep the material fresh in these days of six-week radio lead-ins.

Can TOTP really afford to lose more viewers. My mum used to watch it all the time in the eighties back when it got 10 million viewers and she was that age bracket.

but it's agreed that adam and the ants were MENTAL what were they thinking of?

Double emphatic NO to any attempt at making it more 'mature'. It's about pop trash.

But yes to making people do more interesting stuff on stage. Make the inclusion of at least one 'headfuck' act per show compulsory.

"Well tell you what listeners, if you all go and tidy up your rooms I'll play the new single from 50 Cent!"

That makes much more sense!

this thread reminds how U&K it is i get a video capture card so i can start flooding the net with grabbed TOTP performances of yesteryear

You see.... they'll have kept getting older too!

Babs Lord (now Babs Powell of course) must be pushing 60 by now!

So, I'm afraid you're just going to have to settle for Fearne Cotton..... ;~)**

Fearne is lovely and is quite *70's* in a way, but the thought of PP gyrating to 'Philedelpia Freedom' makes me come over all..all..

But yes, Babs must be nearly 60, and looked pretty grim last time I saw her on TV - on one of those I Luv the 70's progs.

All radio: 43.6 million
All BBC: 31.9 million
All commercial: 31.4 million
BBC Radio 1: 9.8 million
BBC Radio 2: 13 million
BBC Radio 3: 2 million
BBC Radio 4: 9.6 million
BBC Radio Five Live: 5.8 million
Classic FM: 6.5 million
Capital: 7.6 million
Virgin Radio: 2.7 million
talkSPORT: 2.1 million

Do you remember Legs & Co. dancing to The Clash's "Bankrobber"? I was laughing so hard I thought I was going to do meself a mischief!

More pertinent solutions:
1. Do not whine about loss of ratings when you schedule it opposite Coronation Street.
2. Get rid of the EastEnders problem (pre-1985, TOTP was routinely 45-60 minutes long) - perhaps schedule for 8:00-9:00 on a Thursday, so as to catch and keep the EastEnders audience (yes, I know that presents BBC1 with The Bill problem, but Holby City's done pretty well against The Bill on Tuesdays. Market it correctly and it will work).
3. Get rid of anonymous call centre presenters and employ people with personality, using the example of Ant & Dec on CD:TV as a template.
4. Stop trying to be "cool." TOTP's essence is naff family viewing, which makes it all the more compelling when a band like the Pistols or the Mondays gatecrash the studio.
5. Stick to the Top 40, which currently isn't in too bad a state, qualitatively speaking.

They should also do a segment where viewers' parents comment on the quality of the music on show.

Sorry Ned, I think you'd be far too polite and restrained.

Alex In NYC howling with apocalyptic fury at trembling 12 year old schoolgirls because they wanted to see S-Club; or threatening to bring down plagues that would make the ones in the Bible look mild and unimaginative by comparison if anyone dared to dishonour the fire by buying the new Steps single so that it appeared in the following week's chart 'though.... yeah, I think that might just work!

also - Peters still has a foot in the door at Capital. XFM & Capital DJ's, as such, may well get thrown into the mix... as such, I think Shaun Keaveny is a probable.

The scheduled appearances by The Corrs and The Dave Matthews Band have had to be postponed indefinitely because the presenter has accidently violently attacked a number of fans of those bands with a large ceremonial sword.

The Secrets Of Magic
Sat 2 Aug, 8:35 pm - 9:30 pm 55mins

Nick Knowles invites a celebrity panel to uncover the secrets behind the tricks and illusions of his team of magicians.

BBC One seems to be superglued to the policy of going with what it knows, and letting anything other than Fame Academy or their flagship dramas have an hour in the week wouldn't fall into that bracket. As Marcello called it, it's the Eastenders problem, in that there must be at least one half hour show to fit around it. BBC One's weeknight schedules cling to DIY, Gardening, and Watchdog spin-offs like the plague. Cowey's view that TV Pop shows are only for kids seem to be the norm at the channel. They are scared.

I agree with Marcello pretty much entirely (with the proviso that presenters with character means Simon & Miquita) but am flabbergasted by the thought that ToTP was longer pre-1985. Is that true? I have no memory of that at all. I guess you know better than I do but I thought it went 7pm ToTP 8pm Tomorrow's World. This is not important obv.

I don't rate Vernon or June.

I was thinking of something a minute ago. Can't remember what though.

And before you jump down my neck, the fact is if my suggestions were to come to fruition you'd all bloody well watch it wouldn't you?

top of the pops should always play the number one - regardless (because it's , duh, top of the pops) new entries, high climbers - no non movers or falling down 3 places. also something from the high midweek sellers who'll feature in the top 40, maybe, the following week. maybe take a risk and play something by something hovering outside the top 40, like they did with heaven 17's play to win and human league's rock'n'roll.

revamp the graphics and set. change the theme tune. try and get something timeless as a theme - something immediately identifiable as being top of the pops' theme. not some throwaway piece of music that will date before the end of the month. (eg - the popworld music)

You'd think.

It was always 7.30-8.00 as now (After Tomorrow's World).

Maybe they could introduce more interactive elements into the show - having the audience vote for best performance, or a 'battle of the bands' type thing, or better yet voting a song to be deleted, heh

Are you sure you don't mean January 14th?

January 15th 1971 was a Friday and (apart from the initial 6 week pilot run I believe) TOTP was always on a Thursday.

Ooooh I don't know what's wrong with me today but I'm in a horribly nit-picking mood, I really am!

But I actually think it would enfranchise more people besides the TSGs. Loads of people have opinions about pop and what's in the charts without feeling any need to actually buy the product. Potentially it could create a public conversation about pop in the same way you get about Big Brother evictions. The Flaunt chart is actually pretty interesting in the way that songs go up and down the chart and have some kind of life beyond the way that songs are spunked into the sales charts for one week by marketing budgets.

I just picked the date 15th at random! I was only one day out!

Most importantly for dance acts who don't really exist have an Adam and Joe-esque puppet montage, or interpretive dance or something really stupid. And continue this for Travis too.

If a band can't make it, its up to TOTP to take the piss out of them a bit (maybe a miming band of none lookalikes).