Does anyone else like the main concept of Jim'll Fix It?

I've long thought that if it hadn't been the controversy that it would cause, a version hosted by Jimmy Carr where adults get to live out their childhood dreams would be a massive success.

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Nrysis@reddit

...but always with a slightly evil twist

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nonsequitur__@reddit

I like that idea. The more obscure, the better. And none of the same safeguarding concerns.

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HotRabbit999@reddit

That's actually a pretty good idea. Would get massive viewing figures & occupy a feel good slot on channel 4 on Saturday nights or something

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HungryFinding7089@reddit

They tried a remake late 2000s. Anyone who knows the show and also knows about Savile - nice idea but misplaced

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WeRW2020@reddit

The fact that it was so popular for so long despite being hosted by that ghoul is a testament to the strength of the format.

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dread1961@reddit

Well, we didn't know at the time. There's a lot of retrospective talk about 'suspicions' and cover ups but as a kid at the time we just thought he was eccentric and funny.

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As a kid I pointed out to my parents that he was grabbing the kids and putting them on his knee and they didn't look happy about it. I told my parents not to put me or my sisters up for it and told my sisters to refuse to go on it.

I told my parents that it was obvious what he was doing, and they told me not to go on about it.

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WeRW2020@reddit

As a kid you absolutely shouldn't have expected anything. It's not on the kids. I am 38 and remember watching the show in the early 90's and not thinking anything about him particularly.

To any adult watching they should've suspected something. I do remember my dad saying that he thought Jim was a weirdo, but he said that about Noel Edmunds too.

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Round_Caregiver2380@reddit

They are both weird but in very different ways.

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TheDarkestStjarna@reddit

The one that sticks in my mind is the girl who wrote and invited Jimmy to her 8th or 9th birthday party. Obviously he never showed up, but he kept the letter.

Roll on 10 years and he surprised her on her 18th birthday (at the pub IIRC). I remember thinking at the time that it was weird, but couldn't really explain why.

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AceOfSpades532@reddit

Absolute miracle he waited until 18 tbh

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TheDarkestStjarna@reddit

I suspect it was a case of 'she's an adult, therefore I can't be accused of anything nefarious'. I'd love to know what she thinks of the whole experience now he's dead.

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PatchyWhiskers@reddit

I remember at the age of 11 having a conversation with a friend about whether we dared apply, because we both knew the host was a "dirty old man."

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Dazz316@reddit

Yeah, people seem to look at them at some everybody knew. That don't advertise these things to people, they hide them. I was a bit lost prophets fan, and I don't remember any lyrics about raping babies.

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MovingTarget2112@reddit

I didn’t. I felt there was something wrong about the bloke but being ten I couldn’t tell what.

My wife wrote in many times as a wee girl. Thank God she was never picked.

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AlGunner@reddit

In those days there were what, 3 or 4 channels maybe. People watched the best of a very limited choice. It probably wouldn't be a success now with streaming and almost unlimited choice of what to watch.

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NoBerryJam@reddit

The concept is great, but definitely not to be done with the BBC ever again.

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Illustrious-Back8174@reddit

Do you remember "whatever you want" Same idea but late 90s I think? Saturday night telly sorta thing

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Timely_Egg_6827@reddit

Could we widen it out to adults too? A lot of them have unfulfilled dreams too and getting a garden relandscape doesn't cover it for a lot.

For a more wholesome alternative format, does anyone remember "Challenge Anneka" where she was givien a task usually for a charity and had to make it happen in 3 days.

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Hard_Loader@reddit

It was cheap TV that managed to sneak advertising onto the BBC under the guise of entertainment. RAF wants to recruit : here's a fix with the Red Arrows. British Rail wants passengers : here's a fix with some train doors. Aging glam rocker wants to revive his career and gain access to children : here's a fix with Gary Glitter.

The whole thing was pretty tawdry and in retrospect downright chilling. Heppy to consign it to the bin of history and weld the lid shut.

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Miserable-Put-2531@reddit

Did he smoke cigars on a kids TV show ?

Obviously that wasn't the worst he was doing

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Hard_Loader@reddit

He had a robotic chair that delivered him cigars on demand.

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Cute_Raspberry62@reddit (OP)

very odd thing if you ask

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TeetheMoose@reddit

Thre idea was very commendable. Even wrote in myself a couple of times. In hindsight, I'm glad my letters didn't get answered. And the people I wanted to meet I can now meet at comic cons anyway.

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Downtown_Physics8853@reddit

Never saw the show, but it seems that it might've been a bit "quid pro quo" from what I've heard about Saville. As a result, this would make any re-boot "tv poison".

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Youbunchoftwats@reddit

I’d have wanked Jimmy off for a ride on the Blackpool Big Dipper tbf.

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posing_a_q@reddit

I don't think that there will be a remake as it is tainted with the association with JS.

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Cute_Raspberry62@reddit (OP)

What about making a new show with a different name?

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posing_a_q@reddit

I really don't know if it could work if it were renamed, as the scandal was a big one, and the association with the show was tied to him. But who knows?

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Far-Fun4526@reddit

It’s not right really is it, also never going to happen, what broadcasted/production company would want to be involved?

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Norman_debris@reddit

You're obsessed.

Stop.

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Cute_Raspberry62@reddit (OP)

There are things I want to know because I am not from the UK, plus asking people from other countries about it does not make sense

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nonsequitur__@reddit

There are documentaries you can watch if you’re interested. Some of us would rather not keep being reminded of him.

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Cute_Raspberry62@reddit (OP)

I know there are documentaries about Jimmy Savile, there are also several videos about him on YouTube.
I made this question recently because I found Jim'll Fix It interesting, nowadays a kid would want to design a character for a video game, or appear in an anime/manga or even become a mangaka or Light Novel writer in a show like that. Also I want to know testimonies of people who participated on Jim'll Fix It.

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nonsequitur__@reddit

Again, I get you but there seems to be repeated posts about him.

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Cute_Raspberry62@reddit (OP)

not just from me?

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nonsequitur__@reddit

I don’t know actually, not checked. Just seems a lot of posts about Jimmy Savile recently.

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Cute_Raspberry62@reddit (OP)

if you check my profile you will know how many of those are mine.

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nonsequitur__@reddit

I’ll take your word for it

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Norman_debris@reddit

Why are you so interested in Jimmy Savile?

He was very popular when he was on telly, he was well-known and fairly well-liked but thought of as odd until his death, and since his death he's been considered a monster and a point of national and institutional shame.

That's the story.

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Cute_Raspberry62@reddit (OP)

To me is very bizarre (and horrible) how he was able to avoid getting arrested during his lifetime, also I know that he was once very popular and beloved (even if according to people many viewed him as suspicious) and that now he is viewed as an old shame.

But I wanted to go deeper and ask some questions related to him since I was not even born yet when Savile was on his heyday (I was born in 2003). Plus since I am not from the UK (and I never lived in the UK) I only knew about Savile a couple of years after his death.

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Webcat86@reddit

I haven't seen your other posts so not sure what you've asked, or said, but I understand what you mean here.

I am from the UK and my wife is not. She doesn't understand why I have been interested enough to watch the documentaries etc on him, and am currently reading the book by Dan Davies that was the foundation for the BBC series with Steve Coogan.

From my point of view, I remember Jimmy Savile being probably the biggest celebrity in the country, when I was a child. People often forget now, but back then people would always speak about the amount of work he did for charity, the marathons he'd run, and what an eccentric British character he was.

Being in my 30s now, I find the whole thing fascinating, and I think more people should too. It's far too easy to look back and cast judgement on how he got away with it, but there are so many lessons to learn from Savile — his behaviours and antics that helped him get away with it, his deliberately-chosen contacts (e.g. as far back as his days as a DJ, he was friends with high-ranking members of the police), and of course the necessary safeguards to protect everyone. Part of how he got away with it wasn't just a fear of people coming forward, but the dismissal of people when they did.

I also think for me, there's a sense of betrayal. Not from him personally, and it's hard to explain, but growing up being told someone is the closest thing to sainthood, then to find out he's as far away as is possible from that, can be difficult to process. It raises doubt about lots of other things and other people, and makes you want to just look closer at the story to learn about it.

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idlesilver@reddit

OP, your apparent obsession with Savile, Harris and their ilk is verging in creepy.

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Cute_Raspberry62@reddit (OP)

It is weird? yes. But I find scary and bizarre how those two nonces were able to get away with their crimes for years (Jimmy was not exposed until his death and Rolf was arrested in the mid-2010s for crimes that took place around the 60s and 80s).

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nonsequitur__@reddit

Why are there so many posts about or related to that cretin at the moment!?

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Cute_Raspberry62@reddit (OP)

I just want to know more about that creep because I am not from the UK and some things can be only asked to people from the UK

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nonsequitur__@reddit

I get what you’re saying but I doubt any of us knew him personally and probably can’t tell you any more than you can find out through the documentaries etc.

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Cute_Raspberry62@reddit (OP)

Probably when I get a Netflix subscription I will watch the Netflix documentary about Jimmy Savile.

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TheDarkestStjarna@reddit

The concept was good, but it could never be revived; it'll always be associated with Saville and the monster he was.

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simonjp@reddit

They did try a reboot - a one off Christmas special, confusingly namedJim'll Fix it With Shane Richie. I think I assumed it was a testing of the waters for a revival.

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Webcat86@reddit

IIRC, that was more of a tribute to Jimmy as he died October of that year, rather than an attempted reboot

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Gauntlets28@reddit

Oh, those brief two months or so where Saville was being honoured as a national hero were weird.

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Webcat86@reddit

I would disagree - he was seen as such while he was alive, and the public revelations didn’t begin for a while

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Gauntlets28@reddit

I dunno, I might be showing my age here but I barely knew who he was before he died. He was just another has-been celebrity that got referenced in passing by my parents or on Channel 5 nostalgia list shows. Then when he died, there was this massive outpouring of grief, and it felt like everyone was just making a big deal out of nothing for a couple of months. Then January-ish rolled around and it turned out the person people were hosting one-off TV shows in honour of turned out to be a monster.

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Webcat86@reddit

I’m going to assume you were pretty young at the time? If you look at my comment history to my reply to OP, you may have a different picture.

Savile was pretty much as big of a celebrity as it can be in the U.K., and largely because of his work in raising money. Today we know that he was using his access to children in hospitals to molest them - but back then, he was seen as a man who wanted to help.

If you haven’t seen them, and have any curiosity, I’d recommend the Louis Theroux documentaries on him, as it will give you a different context for his status.

Jimmy was one of the rare people who was famous for a very long time, and you’re right that his star had somewhat faded by 2011 but you have to factor his age by then as well.

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Gauntlets28@reddit

I think I was about 16/17 when he died, so he was definitely out of the public eye pretty much by the time I was old enough to he aware of who he was.

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Webcat86@reddit

Oh yeah that’s makes a ton of sense. I guess that makes me 10 years older than you, so you missed the true celeb stuff and saw the Savile who went into Big Brother

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Violet351@reddit

I thought they did re boot it but I googled it and it was a one of after he died before all the stories came out

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BlackJackKetchum@reddit

For the sake of those who don't know this, Jacob Rees-Mogg was on the show as a child - his dream was to buy some shares. This duly came to pass.

Alas there is no video evidence that I can lay hands on.

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jordancr1@reddit

Whether he went on the show or not, this was definitely Jacob's childhood dream 🤣.

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Dennyisthepisslord@reddit

It ran for a very long time so yes people did like it.

That said the kids of the past weren't as TV savvy as today's so it wouldn't work in the same way

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Littleleicesterfoxy@reddit

Yeah me and lots of kids from my area wrote to him because we were short of hope as the children of factory workers in the 80s watching our jobs close down in front of our eyes and our families lose their “jobs for life”. He was also a northern accent which wasn’t quite ours but was also far more approachable than the mass of “posh”.

I was honestly surprised when it all came out, I’m not going to say I was one of those who had suspicions all along because I didn’t. I also came to regret a tweet I posted at the time of Stuart Halls arrest of “who next? Rolf Harris!?” Because it seemed so ridiculous.

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InflatableSexBeast@reddit

The main concept seems to have been ‘give a paedophile greater access to children’ with a bonus point that it included lots of vulnerable kids for him to groom.

I’m sure it can work without the whole paedophile component. But if you are a light entertainment host who isn’t a kiddy fiddler, would you want a lifetime of suspicion, and regular press intrusions and police investigations?

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cari-strat@reddit

Great show but I don't think it will ever be successfully revived in a similar format in my lifetime because the memories are just too strong. It is ALWAYS going to have that association with Savile and his horrific behaviour for anyone who was around when it aired.

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Bose82@reddit

It would be good to do something like that again. Lots of nonces still knocking about in the tv industry though so not sure I’d trust anyone with that. I suppose you could have some independent safeguarding involved.

Saying that , a lot of the British public seem to have an issue with kids having free school meals. Can’t imagine how they’d feel about a free ride in a hot air balloon with Jack Grealish

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SarkyMs@reddit

Any old guy from 80s telly who hasn't been arrested must be okay.

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notThaTblondie@reddit

Apart from the terrifying pedo it was a good concept but I preferred challenge Anika

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tgy74@reddit

For the longest time as a kid I thought his name was Jimill

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mellonians@reddit

It's an awesome concept for a show, and the name just works. I'd be keen for Jimmy Carr to host an adult version of the show and popularise it again to reclaim the name. Then once it's reached a critical mass, roll it out for children.

But yes. Id like Jim to fix it for me to read the shipping forecast.

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Ill_Refrigerator_593@reddit

I was never allowed to watch it as a kid. Not because my parents saw through him as many claim these days, but so I wouldn't want things I could never have.

Can't say i feel like I missed out.

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HMSWarspite03@reddit

Your post history is quite disturbing. Your obsession with pedophiles is very unhealthy.

Maybe you need professional help.

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Reis_Asher@reddit

Used to really like this show. It was uplifting. And then I grew up and found out what really went on behind the scenes. Now I don’t think I’d trust the concept, I’d always wonder if it was legit, especially in the age of influencers where a lot of “feel good” content is staged or worse, puts vulnerable people or animals in harm’s way for content.

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rezonansmagnetyczny@reddit

I like the idea of putting a smile on the face of children, especially those who don't have a lot to smile about.

I'd like to never associate that with Jiminy Sicket again.

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