Tricky TV
| Tricky TV | |
|---|---|
| Starring | Stephen Mulhern |
| No. of series | 3 |
| No. of episodes | 43 |
| Production | |
| Producer(s) | The Foundation |
| Running time | less than 30 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV – (CITV) |
| Original release | 5 September 2005 – 15 October 2010 |
| Chronology | |
| Preceded by | The Quick Trick Show |
Tricky TV is a fast paced modern magic show for CITV. Presented by children's presenter and magician Stephen Mulhern, the show features magic on the street, "wicked wind-ups", illusions, and teaches a number of tricks step-by-step.
Format
The show featured magic tricks ranging from making a tank vanish to making an entire football team appear. The "wicked wind-ups" included a gorilla that came to life and a cinema with exploding popcorn and unstoppable drinks machines. Classic con tricks were also exposed in "Beat the Cheat". Each show usually closed with a performance of a classic "grand illusion", such as Sawing a Woman in Half.
In Series 1 and 2, Mulhern was joined each week by one or more special guest celebrities, who often took part in a number of tricks during the show, and sometimes participated in the show's closing illusion. In series 3, the format was dramatically redesigned as Stephen Mulhern presents more in the background and allows a 'Tricky Team' of young magicians to perform the illusions.
Production
The show is produced by The Foundation, the same company that makes Finger Tips, Globo Loco and Holly & Stephen's Saturday Showdown which also starred Stephen.
Tricky TV was first broadcast in the 4pm slot on ITV from 5 September 2005. Creative consultant was Paul Andrews. The show's executive producer was Vanessa Hill for The Foundation. Series 2 was produced by Ian France and directed by Paul Andrews, The third series was co-produced written and directed by Paul Andrews and has sold to over 100 countries.
Transmissions
| Series | First aired | Last aired | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 5 September 2005 | 13 November 2005 | 10 |
| 2 | 10 March 2006 | 2 June 2006 | 13 |
| 3 | 14 September 2010 | 15 October 2010 | 20 |
Episodes
Series 1
Series 1 consisted of ten episodes, and ran from 5 September 2005 to 7 November 2005.
| Episode | In series | Original air date | Special guest | Episode details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 5 September 2005 | Jennifer Ellison | A full-sized model gorilla comes to life, Stephen makes a dream come true for a class of schoolkids - by causing their teachers to vanish. Jennifer Ellison is amazed by a card trick, and then cut into three in the "Zigzag Girl". |
| 2 | 2 | 12 September 2005 | In this episode, Stephen Mulhern attempts to make a tank disappear, a cookery class gets out of hand, a classic confidence trick is explained in Beat the Cheat and stephen flattens a schoolboy called Josh after putting him through a mangle. | |
| 3 | 3 | 19 September 2005 | Stephen demonstrates the illusion of levitation, customers at an ice-cream van are served up a surprise, and in the closing illusion, someone is left feeling a little cut up in a giant card trick. | |
| 4 | 4 | 26 September 2005 | The Cheeky Girls | In this episode, the Cheeky Girls help Stephen perform a trick with playing cards - by sitting on them. Plus Stephen demonstrates a trick where a handkerchief turns into an egg with a touch of magic. Finally, the Cheeky Girls help Stephen with another trick where he saws them both in half and switches their lower halves. |
| 5 | 5 | 3 October 2005 | Bradley Walsh | In this episode, Bradley Walsh is amazed by a card trick with a football link; Stephen transforms a viewer's old family car; a poster comes to life; a harmless toy terrifies members of the public; and a viewer's mother helps with a dangerous feat. |
| 6 | 6 | 10 October 2005 | Rachel Stevens | In this episode, magical mayhem abounds on a school trip to the cinema, and singer Rachel Stevens is amazed when Stephen performs a mind-boggling trick with her expensive ring, and then saws her in half while she's standing up. Plus, Stephen produces a fridge out of nowhere and encounters the Table of Death, where he has to escape from his shackles before a bed of sharp spikes falls and impales him. |
| 7 | 7 | 17 October 2005 | Jack Osbourne | In this episode, Stephen presents a baffling trick with a box of tissues and shows the secret of card prediction, while guest Jack Osbourne receives some unusual help to overcome his jet-lag. |
| 8 | 8 | 24 October 2005 | Joe Pasquale | In this episode, comedian Joe Pasquale plays a version of Russian roulette, and Stephen tries to turn a pack of cub scouts into brownies. |
| 9 | 9 | 31 October 2005 | Peter Andre | Stephen makes a sleeping person levitate, and singer Peter Andre receives a shock when the presenter attempts a trick using a fearsome fork. |
| 10 | 10 | 7 November 2005 | In this episode, Stephen does a trick with dental floss, a tricky con trick is exposed, and Stephen's special guest helps with a trick where he saws her into three and removes her middle. |
Series 2
Series 2 ran from 10 March – 2 June 2006
| Episode | In series | Original airdate | Special guest | Episode details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 11 | 1 | 10 March 2006 | ||
| 12 | 2 | 17 March 2006 | ||
| 13 | 3 | 24 March 2006 | David Beckham | In this episode, Stephen makes Holly’s wedding ring vanish from inside her closed hand and then reappear inside a rose. He also brings a David Beckham waxwork to life, and then makes Holly disappear while she's floating in mid-air. |
| 14 | 4 | 31 March 2006 | In "Heads Off", Stephen removes Holly's head and places it on a table on the opposite side of the stage. | |
| 15 | 5 | 7 April 2006 | In this episode, Stephen saws Holly in half in an illusion called Clearly Impossible. | |
| 16 | 6 | 14 April 2006 | Stephen locks Holly in a tall upright box and pushes a rack of long fluorescent light-bulbs through her in an illusion called "Neon Nightlife". | |
| 17 | 7 | 21 April 2006 | In "The Disembodied Princess", Stephen makes Holly's body disappear, leaving just her head and legs. | |
| 18 | 8 | 28 April 2006 | In this episode, Stephen uses a small tree house for a Big Trick and teaches magic in the Secret Circle. He also stretches and squashes Holly to impossible sizes in "The Stretcher". | |
| 19 | 9 | 5 May 2006 | Stephen introduces Holly to his idea of "Modern Art" when he saws her in half while she's standing up. | |
| 20 | 10 | 12 May 2006 | Stephen attends a school in Denbigh and puts a schoolgirl called Sophie through an illusion called the Wringer where she is flattened. Holly helps Stephen with an illusion called "Through the Eye of a Needle", where she passes from one barrel to another through a solid piece of wood and four steel bars. | |
| 21 | 11 | 19 May 2006 | Stephen gets right to the point with a gym teacher, a classic confidence trick is exposed in Beat the Cheat, and a French lesson is cut short by a guillotine. | |
| 22 | 12 | 26 May 2006 | Stephen surprises a viewer's mother with some conjuring, and helps her dress the part, before she takes to the high seas for an illusion with pirates. Plus, magic tips for viewers in the Secret Circle, and Stephen's volunteer assistant being cut into nine in an illusion called "The Slicer". | |
| 23 | 13 | 2 June 2006 | In "Girl Through Glass", Stephen pushes Holly through a solid pane of glass, and also cuts her in half. |
Series 3
Series 3 consisted of twenty episodes, and ran from 14 September – 15 October 2010. Episodes 1-14 were presented by Stephen Williams.[1]
| Episode | In series | Original airdate | Special guest | Episode details |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 24 | 1 | 14 September 2010 | ||
| 25 | 2 | 15 September 2010 | ||
| 26 | 3 | 16 September 2010 | ||
| 27 | 4 | 17 September 2010 | ||
| 28 | 5 | 21 September 2010 | ||
| 29 | 6 | 22 September 2010 | ||
| 30 | 7 | 23 September 2010 | ||
| 31 | 8 | 24 September 2010 | ||
| 32 | 9 | 28 September 2010 | ||
| 33 | 10 | 29 September 2010 | ||
| 34 | 11 | 30 September 2010 | ||
| 35 | 12 | 1 October 2010 | ||
| 36 | 13 | 5 October 2010 | ||
| 37 | 14 | 6 October 2010 | ||
| 38 | 15 | 7 October 2010 | ||
| 39 | 16 | 8 October 2010 | ||
| 40 | 17 | 12 October 2010 | ||
| 41 | 18 | 13 October 2010 | ||
| 42 | 19 | 14 October 2010 | ||
| 43 | 20 | 15 October 2010 |
Tricky Quickies
Tricky Quickies was a cut down version of the show which has a duration of 5 minutes. Series 1 had 10 episodes, while series 2 had 15 episodes.
The Quick Trick Show
The Quick Trick Show was a British children's television series. It was presented by Stephen Mulhern, and like its sister show Tricky TV, the show featured magic tricks, "wicked wind-ups", illusions, and taught a number of tricks step-by-step. Five series in total were produced and aired on CITV between 1999 and 2002.
Series Guide
| Series | Premiere | Last in series | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 13 April 1999 | 18 May 1999 | 6 |
| 2 | 23 February 2000 | 5 April 2000 | 7 |
| 3 | 27 February 2001 | 20 March 2001 | 13 |
| 4 | 24 September 2001 | 11 October 2001 | 13 |
| 5 | 16 October 2002 | 18 December 2002 | 10 |
International Broadcasts
Tricky TV was aired in the Philippines on Cartoon Network, in Germany on Super RTL, in the Arab World on MBC 3, in Iceland on Stöð 2, in Norway on NRK Super, in Canada on VRAK.TV, in India on Nickelodeon and in Hong Kong on ATV World.
External links
References
- ↑ "IMDB: Tricky TV". TV Database. IMDB an Amazon Company. Retrieved 21 December 2012.