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Mad for It
Genre Game show
Presented by Mike McClean
Yiolanda Tokkallos (1998-99)
Danielle Nicholls (2000)
Nigel Mitchell (2000)
Opening theme "Harmonica Man" by Bravado
Country of origin United Kingdom
Original language(s) English
No. of series 2
No. of episodes 39
Production
Production location(s) Carlton Studios
Running time 25 minutes
Production company(s) Carlton Television
Distributor ITV Studios
Release
Original network ITV
Picture format 4:3
Original release 2 September 1998 (1998-09-02) – 31 March 2000 (2000-03-31)

Mad for It is a British game show for children which was produced by Carlton Television broadcast on ITV from 2 September 1998 to 31 March 2000. Series 1 was hosted by former Nickelodeon presenters Mike McClean and Yiolanda Tokkallos. Series 2 was hosted by Mike McClean, Danielle Nicholls and Nigel Mitchell. There was also a regular character called Pie Boy, played by Alex Verrey, who would go around hitting random people in the studio with flans in a manner similar to The Phantom Flan Flinger from Tiswas.

Games in the show

Games included were

  • Stars Up Their Noses: Contestants are given 30 seconds to demonstrate their particular talent. The name of the game is derived from impersonation talent show Stars in Their Eyes. This competition was won at the end of the second series, by the then fifteen-year-old Katie Melua.
  • Box Clever: Contestants answer questions, and pick a prize from a box if correct.
  • That's My Pet: Contestants need to guess which is their pet amongst several similar looking animals.

Much beloved of children's television, a frequent feature of Mad For It was "gunge", a green slimy goo which was regularly poured onto losing contestants and occasionally on the hosts themselves. Those who lost the games were sent to a "Dungeon of Gunge" – an enclosure directly beneath a large nose, which expelled gunge onto the hapless prisoners. In the last episode, the tables were turned and the pie boy ended up getting shoved in the dungeon.

The most notable contestant on "Mad For It" was Katie Melua, who appeared on the show when she was fifteen. She won the "Stars Up Their Noses" game after singing "Without You" by Badfinger. If she had lost the challenge, she would have been gunged.

Transmissions

Series Start date End date Episodes
1 2 September 1998 10 March 1999 26
2 7 January 2000 31 March 2000 13
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