The Best of sm:tv Live so Far

The three-and-a-half-year story of how SM:TV went from less than auspicious beginnings to critical and popular acclaim is perfectly captured in the enthusiastically titled Best of SM:TV Live So Far!. Part of a long line of Saturday morning kids TV that is as appealing to grown-ups as well as the younger audience, SM:TV did much to recapture the anarchic, chaotic feel of 70s classic Tiswas. The show's strength lay primarily in the chemistry between its three presenters Cat Deely and the splendid Ant and Dec. All the high points are collected here at dizzying pace--Wonky Donkey, Chums, Splatoon, Challenge Ant--and there is huge fun to be had in watching various celebrities make fools of themselves, the myriad mistakes and the presenters trying to keep it all together. With Ant and Dec having now departed for pastures new and more mature (despite Deely's burgeoning comic talent, they were the show's lynch pin), how well the format will work remains to be seen. For now, however, let us remember them this way. —Sam Locker