I got round to watching this week's episode last night - and must say found it quite enjoyable, but what about the omissions ?

How can anyone make an "in depth" programme about Light Entertainment / music on TV and NOT even mention Entertainment USA?

Several of the progs mentioned - eg Revolver, which was scrapped after only 7 shows - can hardly be described as having contributed to the development of music on TV, whereas Ent USA ran for several series and was quite innovative.

Shows just how you can distort things if you really try !

With all due respect, Entertainment USA was not just a music programme, as it covered tv, films, sports, music and many other things. Music was just a small part of the programme.

True. It was also quite a good travelogue. I suppose it all depends on how you define Light Entertainment.

then, as use of videos caught on (mainly through MTV) we adapted series by series until there was very little music by the last series - a few minute long excerpts.
I always believed the trick with good TV is to adapt ahead of the audience and remove flagging items or ideas, replacing them with clever, new ones.
Nobody else in TV seemed to think this way. Even the hits just kept the format.
I can't tell you how fast I bored of clever formats like Millionaire, X Factor, Weakest Link, RSCook... but they were great to start with.
Then the suits take over.
Dead eyes; no imagination.
You'll recognise the types in today's music world.

what made Ent. USA so interesting for me was the holistic cultural and social angle of the programme. Quite simply, it made it work beyond a simplistic overview of pop music in the States.