The Adam and Joe Show started in 1996 with little fanfare, due to it being on late on Friday nights when everyone was stumbling in from the pub, presented from their own bedsit (actually a small studio in Brixton). However, it soon gained a cult following from it's take offs of films/TV programmes using soft toys in all the main roles-something that remained from Take Over TV (series 1 memorably sent up Friends, titled Furends), getting Adam's pops, renamed Baaaad Dad (real name Nigel Buxton), to review the latest single releases (yes, this included Firestarter) and various Candid Cameraesque skits around Brixton. Also several characters turned up, notably Louise and Ken Korda, both played by Adam, both reprised from TOTV.
For the second series, first aired in late '97, they pushed the boat out further than the first series, due to a rise in confidence after gaining their audience. The spoofs moved on to The Toy Patient, Se7en Dwarves and Toytrainspotting (among others), and Baaad Dad was used a lot more, sent around the summer festivals. This included his trip to the Tribal Festival where he smoked his first joint. The shock of seeing him taking several more drags added to the situation.
They also came up with the catchiest song ever made, Football (the chorus of 'Ball ball ball, footie footie footie' was heard at the World Cup), and Ken Korda's first picture, Spinning on the Needlebliss, a warped send up of Trainspotting and Reservoir Dogs, and eventually he got an offer from Carlton to make more films for them, although he tried to sell it to a porn company instead (although I doubt Carol Vorderman appreciated it). The skits were more memorable as well, especially whn Adam went to see if he could in fact organise a piss up in a brewery.
The third, and final, series arrived in 1999. To make sure they went out with a bang, Baaad Dad was sent off to Ibeza whilst the most lavish spoof yet was made, Toytanic, which was also a part of the first night of FilmFour, several months beforehand, to show how far they had come along. Ken Korda also started his own teenybopper group, 1471. Baad Dad even went all the way to LA to record with Coolio! Since they were gunned down at the very end of the series, the two popped up here and there, until A&J activity started again in March 2001 with a new series on Channel 4, as well as a new series of Take Over TV, and another series on E4 (the Channel 4 digital channel).
The Channel 4 series had a few changes. For their outside skits they introduced the Media Chaos Collective, which even included a parody of Jam, which was thought unthinkable. They also introduced People Place, a satire on the mindless daytime TV drivel, as well as Baaad Dad Undercover, where he investigated the fashion world, schools and women's magazines a la Roger Cook.
Of course, the soft toys were back. We got Mark Cousins Tortoise interviewing Guy Richbear about Twat (a send up of Snatch, if you don't get it), as well as American Beautoy and Tufty Club. On the other side of the coin Star Wars figures made the shows The Imperial Family and Big Jabba.
Pi Site/ Requiem for a Dream site/ Sean Gullette's site.
