TigerTails Radio

TigerTails Radio is a furry Internet radio show based in the United Kingdom, started by TK Tiger in mid-2004. It streams every Monday night at 8.30pm UK time.

In its first season, one three-hour show was broadcast for every day of the year. The show has changed format numerous times, and has raised over £1000 for UK children's charity Comic Relief.

• Address: http://www.tigertailsradio.co.uk/
• Founder: TK Tiger
• Ran from/to: 20 July 2004 - present

List of episodes

Main article: List of TigerTails Radio episodes

TigerTails Radio first broadcast on 20 July 2004, and the first season aired new episodes for every day until the first anniversary of the initial broadcast, at which point the show was cancelled. It was later revived for a second season on February 22, 2006, and aired for 36 episodes until the 16 March 2007 "Second Gunge-a-thon" episode. A third season was aired for 52 episodes from 17 September 2007 to 15 December 2008, with co-host Blaster Hedgie announcing his departure on Show #29 (14 July 2008). The fourth season began airing on March 16 2009, and also ran for 52 episodes. Equipment testing for a fifth season started early April, with the season starting on 24 May 2010, again running for 52 episodes. On 03 January 2011 TigerTails Radio went fully independent, obtaining their own broadcast server for all future shows. The final episode of the fifth season was the "Third Gunge-a-thon" episode which aired on 16 May 2011. A sixth season was scheduled to start on 18 July 2011, the closest Monday to the show's seventh anniversary date of 20 July. However, problems in getting an Internet connection to the studio delayed the start until 22 August. Season 6 started with a single test show, unlike previous seasons which had required multiple test shows to iron out equipment and set up flaws. The season ended on 20 August 2012 after 52 proper episodes. Season 7 had 3 test shows, which started on 29 October 2012. The main season started on 19 November 2012 and ended on 11 November 2013, with a bonus episode airing on the 16 November 2013. During the break between Season 7 and Season 8 the everything in "TK's Booth" was reorganised to give TK more space. As this task was completed sooner than expected, the first test show of Season 8 aired early 2014 with the first full episode airing on March 24 2014. Seasons 8, 9, 10, and 11 all broadcast typical 52 episode seasons. Things remained at Studio C until the end of January 2020 when everything was moved to Studio D, just before lock-down restrictions for Covid-19 were introduced. This caused a mid-season pause during Season 12, with 4 months happening between Episode 18 and Episode 19. Episode 32 of Season 12 saw TigerTails Radio celebrate 16 years of broadcasting. Season 13 started airing on February 22 2021, with Episode 21 celebrating 17 years. A special episode celebrating 1000 Episodes of TigerTails Radio happened on November 15 2021, during Episode 38 of Season 13. Season 14 began on July 18 2002, 2 days before the show hit its 18th anniversary. Season 15 started on November 06 2023 with Kyell Gold as a special guest following a test show on October 30 2023.

Gunge-a-thons

During Season One, TK decided he wanted to see if the cast of TigerTails Radio could raise money for charity. He chose Comic Relief, as their motto is "Do something funny for money", which fit perfectly with the ethos of the show. As being covered with gunge or slime was a traditional Comic Relief activity, TK thought it would be the best way to raise a bit of cash. The event was named the TigerTails Radio Comic Relief Gunge-a-thon. In 2018, the cast did a fourth event, this time for the benefit of the Dog's Trust charity.

Season One's Event

Four victims braved the gunge on a cold evening on 12 March 2005, which was episode 236 of Season One. The idea was simple, the cast would be the victims while the studio guests would bid to be the one to pour the gunge. Deciding to lead by example, TK took the first bucket of gunge, followed an hour later by his co-host Blaster Hedgie. Regular show guests Bungle BearSkunk, and Lazerus101 took the final two buckets, each one spaced an hour apart. Due to the gunge being mixed up the day before the event and stored in a cold kitchen, the experience was an uncomfortable one, especially for Lazerus who was gunged at 1.30am on a night that was close to freezing. All the gungings happened outside on a patio to limit mess made inside the studio.

The total amount raised, from both online donations and the studio guests, was £301.

Guests for the show included Keihound, Dark Lordess (gunging TK), TimmyPup (gunging Laz), and Southpaw, who returned as a victim for the 2007 event.

Season Two's Event

Inspired by the success of the 2005 Gunge-a-thon, TK spent three months planning the TigerTails Radio Gunge-a-thon 2. This time the format would be reworked slightly. Every victim would receive a bucket of gunge as before, however, they would then be subjected to a second bucket of a random mess from a selection of substances bought in for the event. The first bucket would be for the entertainment of the listeners (who were watching via webcam), while the second bucket would be bid on by the studio guests who would then decide the contents. The second bucket options included custard, porridge, shaving foam mixed with water until gunge-like, and eventually the recycled slops collected from the pool after the ingredients ran out.

The event happened on 16 March 2007 and was the final episode of Season Two, episode 36. The total amount raised, again from online donations and studio guests, was £700. Ten furs were gunged, including Lazerus101, SouthPaw, Jowgenetsu, Xell, Tungro, Bungle BearSkunk, WolfPaw, Blaster Hedgie, Tryst, and finally TK Tiger. After going first during the first event, TK thought it fair to reverse the order and let Laz go first. This backfired on him when the victims all sought their revenge, earning TK nine buckets of gunge.

Studio guests who stayed clean included Kashy Fox, Wardy, and TK's friend from the realm of theatre who had been drafted in to help mix and pour the first buckets of gunge.

Season Five's Event

The 2011 Gunge-a-thon took place on 16 May 2011. It was the first event to take place after Red Nose Day, but coincided with the date of episode 52 (the final episode) of Season Five. Other than TK, all the victims were new faces to the gunge, including Xavier, Eeve3, and Felis. Felis was the player of Deal or No Deal, winning an extra four foam pies to be added to his suffering. Due to the worldwide economic situation, the target total of £100 was far lower than previous events, but this target was beaten by the end of the night and thus the show was a success. In order, the victims were Xavier, Eeve3, Werewolfe, Shougo, TK, Anthropuppy, and Felis.

Season Eleven's Event

Following the move to Studio C, the tradition of charity gunge events had somewhat fallen by the wayside. However, with Echo currently in the process of renovating his house, he had a room large enough to host another event. So, on August 13 2018 during Episode 16 of Season Eleven, when Xavier announced quite randomly that when the TigerTails Radio YouTube channel had hit 100 subscribers the cast would lay on another gunge-a-thon event, not only did it take the rest of the cast by surprise, but it also inspired people to reach that goal in just over a week following the announcement. After some deliberation with the cast, TK decided the event would be held to support the Dog's Trust. With the charity on board, TK started getting the preparations in place, which involved visiting one of the trust's rehoming centres and interviewing a spokesperson there. On the weekend before the event, TK and Echo moved the entire studio to Echo's home and took over his lounge, with his dining room becoming the "Gunge Room".

The event took place on November 11 2018 during Season Eleven Episode 28. All four cast members were victim to the gunge, with TK being gunged twice as he wore a lion fursuit. The goal was £400 (£100 for each cast member), with a lion fursuit being gunged should the total go over £500 on the night. The night finished with £550 being raised. Each cast member got 6 buckets of gunge, while the lion got 6 buckets of recycled slops. This was Echo's first time taking part in a gunge-a-thon episode and he was the only cast member to have not had previous experience as Xavier had done one, Hedgie had done two, and TK had taken part in all three prior events. The order of gungings were Xavier, Echo, TK, Hedgie, and the Lion. The final tally ended up being £806 including Gift Aid and donation matching from cast member's places of work, making it the most successful event to date. Despite the lion fursuit being subjected to real gunge (instead of the shaving foam mix other fursuits are subjected to), the lion survived the ordeal after a spell outside in the rain, a rinse in a large bucket, and a trip through the washing machine.

Done and Dusted

The Done and Dusted segment was introduced in Season Three as a period of the show where the cast could give a quick review on something they had watched, played, read, listen to, or otherwise enjoyed. The reviews were never designed to be an in-depth look at any of the subjects, but took a "I enjoyed this and here's why" style of presentation.

During the preparation of Season Five, TK approached local fur Felis to do One Minute Review segments for the Done and Dusted time slot as a way of helping Felis use the equipment purchased for his own podcasting. These reviews were all of video games. After a few reviews, they quickly stopped being sixty seconds in length, and were soon at a normal length of around eight to ten minutes each. Once the review had aired on TigerTails Radio, Felis would then upload his reviews to his personal website and by the end of Season Five, he had accrued over six hours of reviews. After listening to what Felis had to offer, Werewolfe contacted TK and offered his own reviews to the show, reviewing films, TV shows, and books which he considered to contain furry relevant content. Both Felis and Werewolfe have agreed to provide content for Season Six.

Midway through Season Five, TK started Done and Dusted: the Reviews Blog. This was an extension of the Other Stuff portion of the main site in which the cast members could type up a review of something they'd done between shows, or to go into greater detail something they'd mentioned during the time on air. Reviews posted by TK would often be followed by his talking about them on the following show, while Xavier spoke very little about what he put on the blog, instead using the site as a place to vent his views when he wasn't live on air. Following a change of domain host after Season Nine, the blog was quietly discontinued and removed from the site.

Pup Music Radio

Pup Music was a short-lived radio project to carry on where TigerTails Radio left off, after TigerTails Radio Season One had come to a close. A group of listeners, lead by Goten, joined together and created their own show. This new show was originally planned to run under the TigerTails Radio banner, but as neither TK nor BH were comfortable with the idea, the show was named Pup Music (a play on words of the popular music song Pop Muzik). Pup Music later became Furocious Radio, the show for Furocious Entertainment - the Manchester Northern Furmeet site.

TTR24

TigerTails Radio 24 (TTR24 for short) is a playlist set up for times when TigerTails Radio would normally be off-air, or for when a main show can't appear as scheduled. TTR24 often takes over during Christmas and New Years, and can run for many days non-stop. Season Three Show #28 saw TTR24 precede TigerTails Radio's live show for the first time, something which continued until the end of the season. TTR24 then took over for a few weeks before Season Four began in March 2009. Following the purchase of the TigerTails Entertainment server in early 2011, all subsequent airings of TTR24 have happened on their dedicated server. Following the move to Google provided video services from Season 7 onwards, TTR24 has been depreciated.

TigerTails Radio's BBQ in the Common Meets

Announced in the Pre-Season Four shows, the first TigerTails Radio's BBQ at the Common Meet was a planned furmeet to take place in the city of Southampton (UK) during the first weekend of June 2009. While listening to the broadcast of Slaughter House Radio after the meet was announced, TK heard Stuart Otterson call the meet "The TigerTails Radio Convention", which coined the tagline "It's a meet, not a con!". Rough details of the event were listed on the TigerTails Radio Facebook page, with more detailed information appearing on the main TigerTails Radio Website when it was finalised.

Around twenty people turned up (though before the meet TK estimated only around seven would), including other BritFur hosts White Virus from Virus Core Radio and Stuart Otterson from Slaughter House Radio. The meet surprised some attendees by revealing that not all TigerTails Radio listeners are members of the Furry Fandom, though furs and non-furs mingled with great ease.

The first day was spent in a rather green part of Southampton known as Southampton Common, a patch of common land which contains lots of open space and trees. A planned barbecue was a huge success, with a small "instant barbecue" lasting for two hours - over twice its normal length, though Xavier missed it thanks to work commitments and he eventually arrived just after the barbecue had ended. Even the weather held out, providing lots of glorious sunshine without getting too hot. The second day of the meet was spent eating at Chinese restaurants and looking around the shopping areas.

The initial feedback from the meet was positive enough to warrant thinking about another meet late in Season Four, or early in Season Five. Early in the Pre-Season Five shows, Xavier revealed the date for the second planned barbecue in the Common Meet. This time the meet would be mid-July, and would be a single-day only affair.

The date for the second BBQ Meet was 17 July 2010, with the plan being a rough repeat of last year's plans for the first day of 2009's meet. This time, however, Xavier lead the meet, as TK couldn't get the time off work. This meet also featured a walk around Southampton, though the BBQ ended up happening back at the TigerTails Entertainment Studios when TK finished his day job.

The third event took place on 19 August 2012, and was considered a success as the BBQ took place on the common once more. Xavier took the role of chef, while everyone else broke out the Nerf weapons. One of the listeners had also brought lawn badminton equipment, which provided entertainment for those not wishing to be shot with foam darts.

External links

• TigerTails Radio Official Site
• Done and Dusted the Reviews Blog (Now defunct)
• TigerTails Radio on BritFur FM (Now defunct)
• TigerTails Radio on Facebook
• TigerTails Radio on LiveJournal (Live but abandoned)
• TigerTails Radio on Twitter