Smile was a British Sunday morning children's programme created for CBBC, which first aired in 2002 and was originally shown on the CBBC Channel. The presenters of Smile were Fearne Cotton, Reggie Yates, Devin Griffin (credited as DJ Devstar), Barney Harwood, Rochelle Humes (then known as Rochelle Wiseman), and Kirsten O'Brien with guest presenters including Stacey Cadman, Mohini Sule, and Nigel Clarke.
It was moved to BBC Two to make way for Dick and Dom in da Bungalow. Although Dick and Dom finished in 2006, Smile never moved back to the CBBC Channel. The final programme was broadcast on 26 August 2007, from 7:30 until 10:00 on BBC Two.
Smile was one of CBBC's Saturday mornings shows, a series of children's magazine programmes that had been broadcast on CBBC over the years.
Plot[]
Primarily a children's magazine programme featuring celebrity guests, Smile also encouraged audience participation through competitions and games. It won an Indie Award for its interactivity, going on later to win two Children's BAFTAs.
A number of cartoons and other programme acquisitions have been transmitted during Smile on a rotational basis. Principally these included: Arthur, Batfink, BB3B, Even Stevens, Jakers, Legend of the Dragon and The Likeaballs.
When the show first aired in 2002, it was likened to Saturday morning TV on a Sunday, except without an audience. It had celebrity guests, interviews, performances, games and 'built in' CBBC shows and cartoons.It had a very different feel with Fearne, Reggie and DJ Devstar however once they left the shows style changed and was aimed at the younger end of CBBC audience. Eventually it became rather formulaic. As a result, the programme became more game oriented. To enable the show to evolve, further changes were made. In the revamp, Rochelle Wiseman was lost.
Between 2006 and 2007, Smile began to target the younger audience CBBC wanted to get, and with Barney and Kirsten now the two remaining presenters the show took on a battle of the sexes format. The celebrity guests and some items were dropped, although the cartoons remained, but the main significant change was that children were invited onto the set to take part.
Presenters[]
The original presenters were Fearne Cotton, Reggie Yates and Devin Griffin (credited as DJ Devstar). In 2003, Devin left to concentrate on his radio career. Soon after, Fearne and Reggie left in 2004 and were replaced by Barney Harwood and Rochelle Humes, former S Club 8 singer and a current member of the girl group The Saturdays. In 2005 Kirsten O'Brien joined the team. On 26 March 2006, Rochelle Humes left the Smile team of presenters.
Narrators[]
From 5 January 2003 until 26 August 2007, During the Games Games Games duration of Smile, the original narrators were Fearne Cotton and Devin Griffin. Devin left the narrator in 2003 and replaced by Reggie Yates. Soon after, Fearne and Reggie left the narrators in 2004 and were replaced by Barney Harwood and Rochelle Humes. On 26 March 2006, Rochelle Humes left the Smile team of narrators and replaced by Kirsten O'Brien from 2 April 2006.
Features and games[]
Throughout the duration of Smile, a number of games were featured, including Bandit Bites, Bath the Bear, Drop Da Beatz, Nev It Up, Nev's Pie Jarmies, Nev's Socks, Rap It Up and What Do You Fink. Many of the games are still available on various sites. The original Smile website one week before closure is archived.
Games Games Games[]
This was a series of games that pitted boys against girls, competing for a prize. The losing team had to get into Nev's bath of gunge. The Games were Bear Pairs, Duckey Bounce, Nev's Jam Buster, Bandit Bites and Quick On The Draw.
Rumble the Jumble[]
The object of the game was to write down any letters which appeared at the bottom right-hand corner of the screen. Once all the letters were collected, they formed an anagram of another word which participants need to decipher. The next stage was to draw a picture of or make something representing the word. Competition entrants then sent in their work into the programme.
Dressing Up[]
Around the beginning of the show, Nev dressed up. Viewers were asked send in pictures of themselves dressed up in the same way. Dressing up included the following themes: people (clowns, grannies, pirates, waiters and The Doctor from Doctor Who); animals (crabs, frogs, hedgehogs, owls); objects (garden gnomes, trains); food (Christmas puddings) and anything red for Comic Relief Red Nose Day.
Nev's Little Chefs[]
Every week on Smile, kids showed Nev how to cook, with recipes including Apple Smiles, Breakfast Feast, Banana Lollies, BlueBeary Muffins, French Bread Pizza Boat, Jelly Beary Sundae, Nev's Biscuits, Nev's Mush, Watermelon Lemonade and World Cup Biscuits.
Nev Sports[]
Sports and activities featured on the programme included basketball, climbing, cricket, karate and tennis.