Yes I am going to review an episode of Crackerjack, the children's variety TV series which aired from the 1950's to the 1980's, this should be interesting and unique as I never grew up in the 50's, 60's, 70's or 80's so shows like this never existed in my childhood. The show is made of of sketches, game show and music segments as part of the variety format which became an outdated format even when this show was broadcast. I have heard some people compare this to the likes of Blue Peter (Must admit I didn't make any comparisons myself) in that this was the complete opposite, the Anti-Blue Peter, the people who watched Crackerjack were considered rebels whilst the more educated type would probably watch Blue Peter.
So let's get into this show, will it be a cringe worthy look into old TV shows or will it be worthy of some nostalgic value?
It starts off with a pre-titles sketch that vaguely reminds me of the "Dennis Moore" sketch from "Monty Python's Flying Circus", except a lot shorter and a lot less gags but this is only the start so it may improve later on. Next up is a game show segment where you have to carry a marble on the underside of a plate from one end of the studio to the other, kids must have had a lot of imagination for this to be entertaining but it is still better than any game shows that are on today, the prize for this game? A Crackerjack pencil, no badges like in Blue Peter, no medals like in Jim'll Fix It, a pencil, I'm guessing that the BBC must have had budget cuts or something.
Now we move onto another sketch called "The Mystery of Mousetrap Manor" which is a murder mystery sketch and Peter Glaze is holding what looks like a very large marrow which reminds me of the "Hancock's Half Hour" episode "The Marrow Contest", something tells me that a marrow pun is imminent and now Don Maclean appears as a character called Inspector Blower (Trumpet Included, a blowing into trumpet gag imminent too?) with Basil Brush (BOOM ! BOOM!). Wonder what other gags might happen, a Cluedo gag? A Blankety Blank gag? Well yes to both of those actually and the sketch end in a guinea fowl pun, so the sketch entirely relies on cheap puns and cheap gags yet the acting is not bad so good points for the acting but it's debatable on weather the puns and gags work.
Presenter: "What do you think of the show so far?"
Me: "Um kinda meh so far to be honest."
Presenter: "That's not a very nice thing to say here on Crackerjack."
Me: "Yeah well it's my opinion so far."
The next segment is another game with just as much use of imagination as the first game so I won't go into more detail, this is now followed on with a music segment with the band the Bay City Rollers as guests, I think I'll skip this bit. After the music segment there is yet another game segment called Crackerball or Pong if you prefer, you got to give them credit since video games were not popular back in the 70's. Well this episode is nearing it's end with a musical sketch called "Annie Get Your Goon!", in a way the format is like the Two Ronnies series which could be considered a variety show but with more sketches and well scripted ones at that. This sketch isn't bad until Don says a gag about Gary Glitter... Anyway moving swiftly on, the gags are better in this sketch but the musical elements do have a specific taste, that concludes this episodes viewing.
In conclusion I can probably understand why this show was never repeated, it was a product of it's time and the people of my generation (Excluding me of course) will probably have no understanding or respect for a show of this type. The jokes are outdated for today's standards but maybe the cheap gags are deliberate? I can understand why some people see nostalgic value in this show, the acting is surprisingly not bad, notably the performance of Peter Glaze who feels to me at least, the main star of the show. If you are part of the generation that grew up with this show, it's worth a re-watch, if you are not part of that generation, I would give it a miss but maybe watch it for the curiosity value.
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