The Dame Edna Experience

Last updated

The Dame Edna Experience
DAME EDNA EXPERIENCE.jpg
Series One DVD cover (North America)
Created by Barry Humphries
Presented by Dame Edna Everage
Starring Barry Humphries
Emily Perry
The Laurie Holloway Orchestra
Narrated by Robin Houston
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of episodes14 (inc. 2 specials)
Production
Production locationsLWT Studios
London
Running time60 minutes
Production company London Weekend Television
Release
Original network ITV
Original release12 September 1987 (1987-09-12) 
22 December 1989 (1989-12-22)
Related

The Dame Edna Experience is a British television comedy talk-show hosted by Dame Edna Everage. It ran for twelve regular episodes on ITV, plus two Christmas specials. [1] This show was also aired in re-runs with Dutch subtitles in the Netherlands.

Contents

Programme

The first seven aired for the first time in 1987, the next seven in 1989. It was directed by Ian Hamilton and Alasdair MacMillan and produced by London Weekend Television. Regulars on the program, besides Dame Edna, were her "bridesmaid" Madge Allsop (played by Emily Perry) and Robin Houston who was the announcer, with orchestra conducted and arranged by Laurie Holloway.

Each program featured several celebrity guests, [2] usually three, but some programs included up to eight guests. There would also be other invited "guests" (such as Kurt Waldheim and Imelda Marcos), who, once introduced at stage right, would fall victim to a trap door or something similar and fail to make it to their chair.

DVD releases

The entire series was released on DVD (for Region 1) by BBC Video in June 2004, and can now also be purchased as a complete set including the 1987 Christmas special and the three An Audience with Dame Edna specials, plus other material. [1]

The series was released for Region 2 by Network DVD in the UK in 2007, as a four-disc set. It includes the 1987 Christmas special and the one-off 1990 Christmas special A Night on Mount Edna with guests Mel Gibson, Charlton Heston, Gina Lollobrigida and Julio Iglesias.

For reasons unknown, neither the Region 1 or the Region 2 releases include the 1989 Christmas special "The Dame Edna Satellite Experience" that ended the second series and featured Ursula Andress, Yehudi Menuhin, and Robert Kilroy-Silk.

Season One episodes and guests

Several potential guests were "aborted" throughout the series. Kurt Waldheim, Zsa Zsa Gabor, Larry Hagman and Barry Humphries were announced as guests, but Dame Edna decided to abort the interviews as they entered the set. Hagman and Gabor were permitted to appear after apologising to Dame Edna (off camera), whereas Waldheim and Humphries were not. Charlton Heston fell down the staircase accidentally, preventing his initial interview. Both Jeffrey Archer and Cliff Richard were ejected midway through their interviews; Cliff only as a demonstration and warning to future guests and Archer because Dame Edna was bored with him.

Season Two episodes and guests

Both Imelda Marcos and Princess Michael of Kent were introduced as guests, but fell foul of Dame Edna's security system and were ejected from the studio.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jeffrey Archer</span> English author and politician (born 1940)

Jeffrey Howard Archer, Baron Archer of Weston-super-Mare is an English novelist, life peer, convicted criminal, and former politician. Before becoming an author, Archer was a Member of Parliament (1969–1974), but did not seek re-election after a financial scandal that left him almost bankrupt.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charlton Heston</span> American actor and political activist (1923–2008)

Charlton Heston was an American actor and political activist. As a Hollywood star, he appeared in almost 100 films over the course of 60 years. He played Moses in the epic film The Ten Commandments (1956), for which he received his first nomination for the Golden Globe Award for Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama, and the title role in Ben-Hur (1959), for which he won the Academy Award for Best Actor. He also starred in The Greatest Show on Earth (1952), Secret of the Incas (1954), Touch of Evil (1958) with Orson Welles, The Big Country (1958), El Cid (1961), The Greatest Story Ever Told (1965), Khartoum (1966), Planet of the Apes (1968), The Omega Man (1971) and Soylent Green (1973).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zsa Zsa Gabor</span> Hungarian-American socialite and actress (1917–2016)

Zsa Zsa Gabor was a Hungarian-American socialite and actress. Her sisters were actresses Eva and Magda Gabor.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Eva Gabor</span> Hungarian-American actress and businesswoman (1919–1995)

Eva Gabor was a Hungarian-American actress, businesswoman, singer, and socialite. She voiced Duchess and Miss Bianca in the animated Disney Classics, The Aristocats (1970), The Rescuers (1977), and The Rescuers Down Under (1990). She was popular in her role on the 1965–71 television sitcom Green Acres as Lisa Douglas, the wife of Eddie Albert's character Oliver Wendell Douglas. Gabor was successful as an actress in film, on Broadway, and on television. She was also a successful businesswoman, marketing wigs, clothing, and beauty products. Her elder sisters, Zsa Zsa and Magda Gabor, were also actresses and socialites.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Barry Humphries</span> Australian actor and comedian (1934–2023)

John Barry Humphries was an Australian comedian, actor, author and satirist. He was best known for writing and playing his stage and television characters Dame Edna Everage and Sir Les Patterson. For his delivery of dadaist and absurdist humour to millions, his biographer Anne Pender described Humphries in 2010 as not only "the most significant theatrical figure of our time … [but] the most significant comedian to emerge since Charlie Chaplin".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dame Edna Everage</span> Fictional Australian character

Dame Edna Everage, often known simply as Dame Edna, was a character created and performed by Australian comedian Barry Humphries, known for her lilac-coloured hair and cat eye glasses ; her favourite flower, the gladiolus ("gladdies"); and her boisterous greeting "Hello, Possums!" As Dame Edna, Humphries wrote several books, including an autobiography, My Gorgeous Life; appeared in several films; and hosted several television shows.

<i>Green Acres</i> American television sitcom

Green Acres is an American television sitcom starring Eddie Albert and Eva Gabor as a couple who move from New York City to a country farm. Produced by Filmways as a sister show to Petticoat Junction, the series was first broadcast on CBS, from September 15, 1965, to April 27, 1971.

Sir Leslie Colin Patterson is a fictional character which was created and portrayed by Australian comedian Barry Humphries. Obese, lecherous and offensive, Patterson is Dame Edna Everage's exact opposite: she is female, refined, Protestant and from Melbourne; he is male, uncouth, Roman Catholic and from Sydney.

Anne Charleston is an Australian actress, notable for her career locally and in the United Kingdom in theatre and television. Charleston started her career in theatre in the mid 1950's, and has been a staple of the small screen since the early 1960s, starting with roles in telemovies, before making appearance in the various Crawford Productions series starting from the latter 1960s and 1970s and had several roles in series Prisoner

<i>Robert Montgomery Presents</i> American TV series or program

Robert Montgomery Presents is an American dramatic television series which was produced by NBC from January 30, 1950, until June 24, 1957. The live show had several sponsors during its eight-year run, and the title was altered to feature the sponsor, usually Lucky Strike cigarettes, for example, Robert Montgomery Presents Your Lucky Strike Theater, ....The Johnson's Wax Program, and so on.

<i>Climax!</i> American anthology TV series

Climax! is an American television anthology series that aired on CBS from 1954 to 1958. The series was hosted by William Lundigan and later co-hosted by Mary Costa. It was one of the few CBS programs of that era to be broadcast in color, using the massive TK-40A color cameras pioneered and manufactured by RCA, and used primarily by CBS' arch-rival network, NBC. Many of the episodes were performed and broadcast live, but, although the series was transmitted in color, only black-and-white kinescope copies of some episodes survive to the present day. The series finished at #22 in the Nielsen ratings for the 1955-1956 season and #26 for 1956-1957.

<i>Les Patterson Saves the World</i> 1987 Australian film

Les Patterson Saves the World is a 1987 Australian comedy film starring Barry Humphries as his stage creations Sir Les Patterson and Dame Edna Everage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Emily Perry (English actress)</span>

Patricia Emily Perry was an English actress and dancer. Born in Torquay, Devon, she was best known for her recurring role as Madge Allsop, Dame Edna Everage's long-suffering, silent "bridesmaid" from Palmerston North, New Zealand.

<i>December Bride</i> Television series

December Bride is an American sitcom that aired on the CBS television network from 1954 to 1959. It was adapted from the original CBS radio network series of the same name that aired from June 1952 through September 1953.

Sweethearts is an American television game show which aired from September 12, 1988 to September 8, 1989. It was based on the 1987 British series of the same name. The show was syndicated throughout the United States by Multimedia Entertainment.

Dame Edna's Neighbourhood Watch was a comic game show created by Barry Humphries for ITV in the UK. It was televised on Saturday nights.

Madge Allsop is a fictitious character invented by satirist Barry Humphries as the long-time companion of his most popular and enduring character, Dame Edna Everage. First mentioned in Edna's monologues in the 1960s, Madge was subsequently depicted on stage, TV and film, over three decades, by several people. The character was discontinued following the retirement of British actress Emily Perry, who played the role for over 15 years.

Madeleine Grace Orr was an Australian-born film, stage and TV actress who worked for many years in London. She is best known as the first person to portray Madge Allsop, bridesmaid and companion to Barry Humphries' most popular and enduring comic character, Dame Edna Everage.

The Joan Rivers Show is an American talk show hosted by comedian Joan Rivers that premiered on September 5, 1989, in broadcast syndication. The show aired for five seasons, and ended in December 1993. The show was nominated for numerous Emmy Awards, with Rivers winning the Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Talk Show Host in 1990. The series was produced by PGHM Productions, Joan Rivers's production company, in association with Tribune Entertainment, and distributed by Paramount Domestic Television for its first season and Tribune Entertainment for its final three seasons.

References

  1. 1 2 Gans, Andrew (6 October 2004). "The Dame Edna Experience: The Complete Collection DVD Now in Stores". Playbill. Retrieved 27 January 2016.
  2. "Dame Edna: She's More Famous Than You". CBS News. 5 April 2010. Retrieved 27 January 2016.