KELLY BROWN Mum's the Word...What's happened? Saturday night on the TV just ain't what it used to be

Noel’s House Party, the Generation Game, Play Your Cards Right – all were must-see viewing for all the family.

But now what am I supposed to watch on those Saturday nights when I’m at home?

This weekend was the last episode of Ant and Dec’s Push the Button. It’s not something my husband and I have been an avid viewer of, but it was always good entertainment if there was nothing else on.

So bad, it’s good, dating show Take Me Out is no longer on our screens.

And tragically Saturday was the last-ever episode of The Tudors.

So now I don’t think there is a single programme on the television on a Saturday night that we will watch.

Things were so dire this weekend that (while waiting for The Tudors to start) my husband and I resorted to watching Turner and Hooch – a film always guaranteed to make me cry.

Just how did Saturday night television get this bad?

Is it a symptom of the fact that shows such as X Factor take over Saturday nights for what seems like half a year so no-one bothers to make anything else?

Or maybe it is my fault because I have such an aversion to the so-called celebrity talent shows which dominate that I’ve given up looking at the television schedules for Saturdays nights. So I never really know what’s on.

Or maybe Saturday night television years ago was simply not as good as I remember it.

Still, on the bright side, our DVD collection is being given a lot of attention again these days and when the summer comes at least I won’t have a reason to stay indoors.