That Music Show

Series one, episode one
The lack of a genuinely unmissable music show is one of contemporary television’s most glaring omissions. Without something to reflect what’s going on now, TV is in grave danger of slumping entirely into a nostalgic coma of its own making.

Is ‘That Music Show’ the answer? Well, given that the first thing we see is Primal Scream playing 1994’s ‘Rocks’, almost certainly not. So does it work on any other level? What we’re dealing with here is a lairy, pubby quiz show. Tonight, Nick Grimshaw presides over a battle between the also-rans of 1995 – Rick Witter, Heather Small, Cheese Bloke from Blur – and various representatives of 2005 – including Maggot and bafflingly, Sharlene Spiteri.

The result? Lots of drunken shouting and unwarranted smugness. Oddly, it does rather call to mind the spirit of the mid-’90s – think ‘The Girlie Show’ or ‘TFI Friday’ in a post-‘Never Mind the Buzzcocks’ world. But not quite as good as that sounds. And that doesn’t even sound that good…