The Microsoft Sam Show

The Microsoft Sam Show is a British entertainment programme that was the first to air on Toffa on 1 September 2003. Originally produced by Slinky Pictures from 2003 to 2006, the show was then produced in-house by Toffa from 2007 to 2020, before being produced by Toffa Animations from 2020 onwards.

The show's premise centers around a single character ironically named Microsoft Sam, who is known for his appearance through just one image as he is installed in a Windows XP device. In each episode, he would often discuss various subjects or have a go at different activities; most of them are a failure due to his limited capabilities, which he only managed to achieve even more in later years. Later, there would be a number of recurring characters who also happen to be in a similar situation with Sam.

The programme also had a late-night spin-off in Summer 2006 named 'Microsoft Sam: Unseen' which had a similar look and feel, albeit with more adult content. Another spin-off, The Microsoft Gang, which centered on Sam's other allies, ran from 2014 to 2016 in the Summer, followed by a one-off return in January 2020 and returning fully from 2022.

Development
Whilst preparing for the launch of Toffa from mid-2002 and into 2003, the channel's founders, Max Strapps and Eddie Lungs, came up with some ideas for programming to air on the channel. The Microsoft Sam Show began as a concept of a cartoon-drawn character with a computerised voice; the other, Basic Tutorials was a fast-paced parody of DIY tutorials amongst other items.

Although the show regularly aired on Saturdays at 5:45pm, the first episode aired during Toffa's launch day at 3pm, and was the channel's first ever programme, introducing the set-up of the show. As of June 2022, Microsoft Sam has remained in the 5:45pm Saturday teatime slot since its inception, making it one of the few programmes on Toffa to not move day or time.

Early years
Although the main outline for Microsoft Sam's character was complete, there was a surprising lack of content to work with. This meant that many episodes would either see Sam discuss a random subject, provide some opinions with balanced arguments or trying out different activities as it was implied that he wasn't human.

The first proper show aired at the Saturday teatime slot of 5:45pm, a slot which has remained unchanged from then (except during mid-2005). Ratings were steady at 400,000 though several critics disliked the show for being dull and alienating amongst the cheapness, as well as being dubbed as "Max Headroom on the cheap". As Toffa slowly began to grow in popularity during its first year, it wanted to give its programmes more personality. As Microsoft Sam was arguably the most popular, Toffa decided to let him introduce his show from September and would let him do it for a few weeks. This decision proved even more popular and Toffa later announced that this would be a full-time thing.

Initially, in November 2004, Toffa planned to give Microsoft Sam a different format. It was to be a take on the daytime talk show format which would be Toffa's first take on it in order to spice up Microsoft Sam by giving him some new techniques that couldn't be done with his usual format. The long planning and additional animations plus the busy production schedule made producers think twice, and as such, it did not go ahead. If it did, the show would've been off air from the new year to prepare for the new format. Although this did not go in place, the concept was reexplored in 2019 as the first episode in that year's new series saw Microsoft Sam auditioning to be Jeremy Kyle's replacement, following the axing of that show in May that year.

Change in production
Ahead of Series 20, it was announced on 17 April 2021 that The Microsoft Gang would be getting a full series in early 2022. As a result, The Microsoft Sam Show's episode count was decreased, and was also split into two broadcast formats. The first half aired from September to December, followed by The Microsoft Gang from January to March, and the rest of the series from April to July.

On 24 November 2021, a 30-minute Christmas special was commissioned, with it airing on Toffa on Christmas Day, making it the first time the channel aired through the festive period.

Microsoft Sam
The show centers around the main character of Microsoft Sam, a program installed on a Windows XP device. Until 2013, he had a regular costume consisting of a yellow vest as well as grey trousers and black shoes. Afterwards, he still occasionally wore it but often had a variety of outfits to suit certain episodes. Occasionally due to the slow nature of the speed of the software, occasional notifications would pop up that would interrupt him. This would be a particular focus in early editions. Following the end of Windows XP Life Support in 2014, an episode focused on two alternatives of Microsoft Sam: one where he dies, and the other seeing him being upgraded to Windows 7 in a parallel-like situation. Naturally, the latter turned out to be the reality as the former was just a deep thought from Sam during the process.

Another episode just a year later saw Sam upgrade to Windows 10 which remained the case until the first 2020 episode where he was downgraded to an early prototype, yet somehow advanced version of Windows 3.0 albeit with modern features such as the internet. All of this was part of a two-year and two series plan to slowly change the face of Microsoft Sam, including new titles for 2013, the move to HD the following year and finally Sam being installed into Windows 10; finishing the plan in 2015.

In the final episode of Series 18 in 2020 (also the last episode produced in-house by Toffa in a feature-length 30-minute special) Sam is seen being transported through different elements of an advanced Windows 3.0 where it is revealed in the conclusion that the computer is unstable and contains unusual features which causes Sam to jump and transport into a Hare & Tortoise-branded computer, which sets up the next series and the post-Toffa produced era of the show.

The first episode of Series 19 and the first Hare and Tortoise-produced episode (also a feature-length 30-minute premiere) continues from where the finale left off as Sam successfully retains all of his memories at Toffa and makes a peace agreement so that he can at H&T unaffected.