The Joy of Text (2001)

Directed by

Peter Orton

Genre

documentary film

Country

United Kingdom

How it feels

A themed night of TV programmes on BBC One from 2001 all about text messaging. It includes a variety show with celebrity guests and games, a documentary on odd uses of texting, and a segment on the darker side of the practice.

datedgimmickylightheartedcheesyunpolishedtrivialepisodic

What happens

The Joy of Text was a themed night of television programmes centred on text messaging, shown on BBC One. It was broadcast on 9 June 2001, and featured three TV programmes: The Joy of Text: Live, Text Maniacs and X Text. The first programme, The Joy of Text: Live, was a 40-minute entertainment variety show hosted by Ulrika Jonsson and Terry Alderton, featuring celebrity guests and text-related games. This was followed by Text Maniacs, a documentary looking at surprising examples of text messaging use. X Text, the final programme, looked at the seedier side of texting. The Joy of Text received negative reviews from media commentators, who criticised the night for its poor script and lack of entertaining content. Fewer than 3 million viewers tuned into the series. Viewers sent in a record 500,000 text messages during the show, some of which were compiled to form a tie-in book, also titled The Joy of Text. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

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