Come Dancing, hosted by the likes of Keith Fordyce and Terry Wogan (and perhaps Katie Boyle and Judith Chalmers, I think) was a competition for old time, Latin American, modern and formation dances. In other words ballroom dancing as opposed to disco, tap or other forms of dance.
Now move on to the late 1990s, where a new wave of singing and dancing talent shows hit our TV screens, with the likes of Fame Academy and Popstars.
The latter sought to find five youngsters who could be manufactured into a new pop group. The eventual winners, Hear'Say, featured Mylene Klass who, despite her vocal limitations, went on to better things. Well, she is attractive and talented in other ways.
But I digress. Anyway, the format was pinched by Simon Cowell who went on to make a fortune by producing Pop Idol and its successor X Factor. On the judging panel, Sharon Osbourne replaced Nikki Chapman and Simon took over the "Nasty Nigel" tag.
Now what's this got to do with Strictly I hear you say. Well, be patient William, all will become clear.
The popularity of these young talent shows brought a new programme to find the best disco dancer. The trailer featured host Graham Norton imitating John Travolta's iconic "walking shoes" sequence from the 1970s hit film Saturday Night Fever. The show was called (if my memory serves me correctly) Strictly Dance Fever. It was very successful.
Now here's the similarity with the singing competitions. Someone – maybe Bruce Forsyth – saw the potential to adapt this format to ballroom dancing, but using celebrities instead of raw talent.
So, just like Simon Cowell, they pinched the idea. As I've explained, the title Come Dancing became synonymous with ballroom dancing, so the transition became Strictly Come Dancing (so it's strictly ballroom dancing, not disco).
Get it? Well I've tried. The fact that it is abbreviated to Strictly is nothing new. We have had ITMA, TW3 and Corrie, for example, when the full title is a mouthful. Why Only Fools and Horses kept its full title, I'm not sure. Hope this explains it.
Brian Davey