Little Big Shots (UK TV series)

Last updated

Little Big Shots UK
Little Big Shots UK title screen.png
Genre
Created by
Based on Little Big Shots
by Ellen DeGeneres and Steve Harvey
Written by
  • Lee Stuart Evans
  • Alan Connor
Directed by
  • Liz Clare (Series 1)
  • Ollie Bartlett (Series 2)
Creative director(s)Liam Lunniss
Presented by Dawn French
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s)English
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes11 (as of 20 May 2018)
Production
Producer(s)
  • Andy Rowe
  • Emma Taylor
Production location(s) BBC Studioworks
Editor(s)
  • Dominic Bell
  • Scott Edwards
  • Matt Pratt
  • Mike Brierly
Camera setupMultiple
Running time60 minutes (inc. adverts)
Production company(s) Wall to Wall
Distributor Warner Bros. Television Productions UK
Release
Original network ITV
Picture format HDTV 1080i
Audio format Stereo
Original release1 March 2017 (2017-03-01) 
present
Chronology
Related shows Little Big Shots

Little Big Shots (also known as Little Big Shots with Dawn French) is a British television talent show that premiered on ITV on 1 March 2017. The series is hosted by Dawn French and based on the American show of the same name created by Ellen DeGeneres and Steve Harvey who is also the host of the original. [1] The series is produced by Wall to Wall. In June 2017, it was confirmed it would return for a second series, also with six episodes. [2]

Television Telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images

Television (TV), sometimes shortened to tele or telly, is a telecommunication medium used for transmitting moving images in monochrome, or in color, and in two or three dimensions and sound. The term can refer to a television set, a television program, or the medium of television transmission. Television is a mass medium for advertising, entertainment and news.

Talent show event, television or radio program that focuses on the potential audition of singers, dancers, models and the like

A talent show is an event in which participants perform the arts of singing, dancing, lip-syncing, acting, martial arts, playing an instrument, or other activities to showcase skills. Many talent shows are performances rather than contests, but some are actual contests. In the instance of a contest, participants may be motivated to perform for a reward, trophy, or prize of some kind. For example, a high school might not have many students with any interest in performing in front of the student body for the sole purpose of performing alone and may offer different prizes as an incentive for these students to participate in the contest.

ITV (TV channel) Commercial television channel in the United Kingdom

ITV is a British free-to-air television channel. Previously a network of separate regional television channels, ITV currently operates in England, Wales, Scotland, the Isle of Man and the Channel Islands.

Contents

Format

The show, unlike shows such as The X Factor , has no judges, winners or losers. In each episode, Dawn French talks to a 3– to 13-year-old child about their talent, before the child performs it in front of a studio audience. Some talents shown include singing, dancing, cooking and karate. [3]

<i>The X Factor</i> (UK TV series) British reality television music competition

The X Factor is a British reality television music competition to find new singing talent. The contestants are aspiring singers drawn from public auditions. Created by Simon Cowell, the show began in 2004 and has since aired annually from August/September until December. The show is produced by Fremantle's Thames and Cowell's production company Syco Entertainment. It is broadcast on the ITV network in the UK and simulcast on Virgin Media One in Ireland. "X Factor" refers to the undefinable "something" that makes for star quality. The series consists of auditions, bootcamp, judges' houses, several weeks of live shows, semi-finals and the final. The series had a spin-off behind-the-scenes show called The Xtra Factor, which aired directly after the main show on ITV2. This lasted for the first thirteen series, when it was cancelled by ITV in January 2017. It is replaced by an online spin-off show Xtra Bites exclusively on the ITV Hub. The first three series were presented by Kate Thornton, then from series four to eleven, the show was presented by Dermot O'Leary. Series 12 was presented by Caroline Flack and Olly Murs with O'Leary returning for series 13 onwards.

Dawn French English actress and comedian

Dawn Roma French is a British actress, writer, comedian and presenter from Holyhead, Wales. She is best known for starring in and writing for the BBC comedy sketch show French and Saunders with comedy partner Jennifer Saunders and for playing the lead role as Geraldine Granger in the BBC sitcom The Vicar of Dibley. French has been nominated for seven BAFTA TV Awards and also won a BAFTA Fellowship with Jennifer Saunders.

Transmissions

SeriesEpisodes First aired Last aired
161 March 201712 April 2017
2622 April 201827 May 2018

Episodes

Season 1 (2017)

The first series began on 1 March and ended on 12 April 2017. It contained six episodes and was broadcast on Wednesdays.

No. in seriesNo. in seasonTitleLittle Big ShotsOriginal air date
11Episode 1
  • A nine-year-old Kung Fu warrior
  • A pocket sized piano maestro
  • A Filipino internet sensation
1 March 2017
22Episode 2
  • An ice cream maker who flies in from India
  • The world-class B-girls
  • David Bowie's littlest fan
8 March 2017
33Episode 3
  • A little big magician that pulls off amazing tricks
  • A 5-year-old member of Mensa
  • A 9-year-old personal trainer
  • A super-sassy 7-year-old dancer from North Carolina
15 March 2017
44Episode 4
  • A 5-year-old Irish dancer who has won 48 trophies
  • A 12-year-old ventriloquist from Oklahoma
  • Yorkshire's own little big stunt man does some hair-raising scooter tricks
  • A seven-year-old Texan spelling bee champion
  • A 12 year old Michael Jackson who is a West End star!
29 March 2017
55Episode 5
  • A little big shepherd
  • A 13-year-old tap dancing champion
  • An online toy reviewer
  • 11 world champion street dancers
5 April 2017
66Episode 6
  • A 13-year-old pop star with a multimillion fan base
  • Tap dancing twin brothers from LA
  • A 10-year-old super-speed cup stacker
  • A miniature George Formby plays the ukulele
12 April 2017

Season 2 (2018)

The second series of Little Big Shots began on April 22, 2018. As per the first series, this series will feature six episodes, but instead air on Sundays. The final episode will air on May 27, 2018, due to the live Britain's Got Talent finals.

Series Twelve of Britain's Got Talent, a British talent competition series, began broadcasting in the UK during 2018, from 14 April to 3 June 2018. For this series, the live episodes were broadcast from Hammersmith Apollo, and presented by Declan Donnelly only; while Anthony McPartlin suspended his TV commitments on 19 March 2018, he still appeared in the audition episodes as these had already been filmed in January and February earlier that year. Compared to previous years, this series featured a higher number of participants for the judges to select semi-finalists from, not counting those who received the Golden Buzzer, and saw the return of the Judges' Vote to the show's format.

No. in seriesNo. in seasonTitleOriginal air date
71Episode 122 April 2018
82Episode 229 April 2018
93Episode 36 May 2018
104Episode 413 May 2018
115Episode 520 May 2018
126Episode 627 May 2018

Reception

Little Big Shots received positive reviews. Viewers said that the show "lifted the spirit" and "[was a] ray of sunshine". [4] Tim Dowling from The Guardian said "Little Big Shots appears to be the kind of cheap and cheerful fare designed to be broken into viral chunks and slapped up on YouTube afterwards: heartwarming moments from a sickly-sweet box of delights." [5]

Tim Dowling American journalist

Robert Timothy Dowling is an American journalist and author who writes a weekly column in The Guardian about his life with his family in London.

<i>The Guardian</i> British national daily newspaper

The Guardian is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as The Manchester Guardian, and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers The Observer and The Guardian Weekly, the Guardian is part of the Guardian Media Group, owned by the Scott Trust. The trust was created in 1936 to "secure the financial and editorial independence of the Guardian in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of the Guardian free from commercial or political interference". The trust was converted into a limited company in 2008, with a constitution written so as to maintain for The Guardian the same protections as were built into the structure of the Scott Trust by its creators. Profits are reinvested in journalism rather than distributed to owners or shareholders.

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References

  1. "Dawn French to host Little Big Shots on ITV". itv.com . 25 August 2016. Retrieved 2 March 2017.
  2. Solutions, Powder Blue Internet Business. "ITV orders more Little Big Shots : News 2017 : Chortle : The UK Comedy Guide". www.chortle.co.uk.
  3. "Little Big Shots".
  4. "Dawn French hailed for Little Big Shots talent show - Independent.ie".
  5. Dowling, Tim (2 March 2017). "Little Big Shots review: Dawn French's cheap and cheerful talent show for children". the Guardian.