The Word, Series 3, Episode 17, 05/03/93

The Word – Series 3, Episode 17 (5 March 1993)

This week on The Word, it’s business as usual: chaos, controversy, and more crotch-grabbing than is medically advisable.

Jonathan Ross rolls onto the sofa in a swirl of cheeky anecdotes, oversized jackets, and mock-Cockney charm. Between reminiscing about his early Rice Krispies adverts and nervously retelling the time he asked Madonna about her breasts, Ross proves why he was the nation’s favourite Saturday-night zookeeper. He also manages to look mildly traumatised by the studio crowd, though that may just be the trousers.

Across the pond, rapper-turned-Hollywood-actor Ice-T gives us a tour of his luxury LA pad—complete with assault rifles, missile launchers, and a neighbour who yells racist slurs out the window. Between flexing his arsenal and defending Cop Killer, Ice insists he’s not courting controversy—he’s just saying whatever comes into his head and letting Warner Bros lose $120 million cleaning up after him. Parenting tip of the night: yes, he keeps a pump-action shotgun by his kid’s bedroom.

On the live music front, it’s a stacked bill:

Da Lench Mob, straight off Ice Cube’s label, make their first UK TV appearance with “Freedom Got an AK,” because nothing says Friday night on Channel 4 like militant West Coast rap.

Jamiroquai, still wearing his giant fuzzy hat, drops a dose of acid jazz before anyone realises it’ll soon soundtrack every wine bar in Britain.

Monie Love brings playful, rapid-fire rhymes.

And Phoebe Legere attempts to seduce the nation with an accordion, proving not every instrument is sexy no matter how hard you try.

Somewhere in between, the show careens from Jonathan Ross’s naked viewing habits, to Madonna’s cushions, to a heartfelt debate over whether “kitten” is an appropriate middle name for a child. (Spoiler: not if your dad is Ice-T.)

The result? Another gloriously unfiltered hour where celebrity gossip collides with gangsta rap, acid jazz, and accidental innuendo. A fever dream of the early ’90s: half Top of the Pops, half drunken stag night, and entirely The Word.