Eric Morecambe and Ernie Wise used to carry around clippings of the reviews from their first TV series as a reminder that they needed to do better. So the story goes. One said ‘the definition of TV: the box they buried Morecambe and Wise in last night’ – or words to that effect.
Running Wild was the show, which aired fortnightly in April and May of 1954. On its off weeks, Panorama was broadcast instead.
Here’s a review of the first show, by James Thomas, that appeared in the London Daily News on April 22nd.
![](http://www.simondunn.me.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/RunningWild01-770x1024.jpg)
Pretty scathing, but it reserves its ire for the production, not the cast, noting that Eric and Ernie are much better than the scripts they have been given.
A similar sentiment was expressed the same day in the Daily Record.
![](http://www.simondunn.me.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/RunningWild02.jpg)
This distinction though, escaped Emery Pearce in the Daily Herald.
![](http://www.simondunn.me.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/RunningWild03.jpg)
![](http://www.simondunn.me.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/04/morecambeandwise-e1650365848423-1024x576.jpg)