Game Show Memories – Game Show Stars Part 6.

This is someone who is definitely a game show star to me, and his career spanned five decades. South African-born Bob Holness started his career in radio. He hosted his first TV game show in the UK as long ago as the early-60s, which definitely raised his profile. He then went on to host on BBC Radio 1 (he is in the famous photo of all the launch presenters which also includes Terry Wogan, Kenny Everett, and John Peel).

He also hosted shows on BBC Radio 2 and LBC. By the early-80s, he wasn’t the only one of his family to be in showbusiness, as two of his daughters launched pop music careers, and they both had a hit single in 1982. And then, of course, he went on to become the host of Blockbusters. This was originally planned to feature adult contestants, but then this was changed to teenagers, which turned out to be a wise move.

Now I have already gone on and on in other pieces about why this is one of my all-time favourite game shows, and Bob’s authoritative style is one of the reasons. After coming to an end after about a decade on ITV, Blockbusters was given a reprise and picked up by Sky One. Harold The Hedgehog was reported to be very pleased. He also appeared as a contestant on special editions of a few game shows including Bullseye and Catchphrase.

The next move for his career in the mid-90s was as the host of ITV’s Raise The Roof. This was an interesting show for many reasons, firstly because it gave Bob a game show to host in primetime, along with a little help from his friend ERIC. But the most notable thing is that the star prize was a house worth a six-figure sum, the biggest prize given away on a UK game show up to this point.

There was a rather drawn-out process to determine who would play for this prize (with eliminated contestants memorably receiving “Bob’s Bungalow”, a house-shaped teapot that most certainly was not worth six figures). This was an attempt to bring the game show into a new era, but there was only one series, and it wouldn’t be until when Who Wants To Be A Millionaire came along a few years later that big money game shows really took off.

Bob then went on to host a revival of BBC1’s Call My Bluff in a daytime slot for about five years, which was rather enjoyable too. By the early-2000s, he had just about retired from TV, although he did lend his voice to the DVD interactive game version of Blockbusters. When Bob died about a decade ago, many praised his hosting abilities.

Game Show Memories – Blockbusters 2000.

Blockbusters (Sky One, 2000-2001)

Blockbusters is one of my favourite game shows, maybe it is actually my all-time favourite, it’s so hard to decide, but it’s definitely up there with the best for me. There have been a remarkable amount of revivals over the years, so let’s see what this one had to offer. This was the third revival (17 years on from the first series on ITV), following on from Sky One in 1994 and BBC2 in 1997, and this was also on Sky One. But who would the host now be?

Bob Holness had long gone. As had Michael Aspel. How about Liza Tarbuck. Now Liza first found fame in the ITV sitcom Watching where she had some terrific 80s hair, which had unfortunately gone by this point. In 2000, she was best-known for co-hosting The Big Breakfast alongside Johnny Vaughan, making one of the more entertaining pairings that show had.

First of all, we have a opening sequence that is accompanied by yet another remix of the famous theme. And it’s now in widescreen! Also, the set from the BBC2 version was recycled (although they didn’t get that much use out of it), although the background in the studio has changed from orange back to the more familiar blue/purple. The show also went back to having teenage students (and their mascots) as contestants (the BBC2 and Challenge versions had adults of all ages).

The purple team had changed back to blue, who were on the left, while the white team were on the right. The gameplay was the same of course, now featuring a computer-generated board, but it was still only £5 for every correct answer, that’s just so stingy. At this point I was actually the right age to go on the show, having watched it so regularly when I was much younger and couldn’t have ever imagined being that old at that point was a rather weird feeling. Why didn’t I go on it?

It was a best-of-three, with the losers taking away the consolation prizes of a dictionary book and encyclopedia CD-Rom. I don’t think there were any bonuses hidden behind any questions. The Gold Run was just about the same really, gold to gold in 60 seconds, with £10 for every correct answer if they don’t make it. If they win, they get an incredible prize, one of those very special occasions that money just can’t buy. I also think they went back to having five Gold Runs.

This version of Blockbusters was shown on weekdays at 6pm. It is a surprise to think that even this is two decades ago now. There were 100 editions but there was only one series. Once again, the response from viewers was rather indifferent, although it’s always good seeing the show it just wasn’t considered to be as great as the original version. This didn’t stop Challenge and Comedy Central making their own versions in more recent years.

Game Show Memories – Game Show Marathon.

Game Show Marathon (ITV, 2005-2007)

In 2005, there were several shows to celebrate the 50th anniversary of ITV. It was decided to include some game shows as part of this, so that resulted in the Game Show Marathon. This was shown on Saturday nights and was originally hosted by Ant And Dec. Every week a different game show that had been on ITV would be featured. Every edition would include the show of that week’s original opening sequence (along with the ITV company that produced it’s ident too!).

There would also be a quick look back at history of the show, including contributions from fans and the original host. The first series began with The Price Is Right, as some of the celebrity audience were invited to “come on down”. They returned to take part in other games throughout the series, until there were two remaining. The climax was Family Fortunes, where the two finalists Vernon Kay and Carol Vorderman appeared alongside their families to determine the overall champion.

Also featuring in the first series were Take Your Pick, The Golden Shot, Sale Of The Century, Play Your Cards Right, and good old Bullseye. Any money and prizes that were won were put into a fund, where viewers could enter a competition to win them. Seeing some of these shows return to TV went down rather well with viewers, so two years later there was another series, with Vernon Kay moving from contestant to host.

Another group of celebrities took part, and this time the shows included The Price Is Right, Blankety Blank, The Golden Shot, Name That Tune, Mr And Mrs, and Play Your Cards Right. But among the highlights for me in this series were Bullseye (which was also revived on Challenge around this time), where the celebrities teamed up with professional darts players, because all these years on you still can’t beat a bit of Bully.

And there was also one of the many revivals of Blockbusters. It’s always a pleasure seeing this show, and among those playing and taking their place on the hot spot was Ben Shephard (before he hosted a few game shows of his own including Tipping Point). There was also £50 for a correct answer which was rather generous, it was only £5 in the original version.

Even though the second series had one extra edition, it retained the knockout format. In 2006 there was also an American version of the Game Show Marathon, and this was shown on ITV2. There have also been some rumours that there might be another series, meaning that it’ll be a revival of a revival. Will it include what will be about the 17th different version of Blockbusters? Maybe we’ll find out soon.

Game Show Memories – 35 Years Of Blockbusters.

Today (29 August) is the 35th anniversary of the launch of the British version of one of my all-time favourite game shows Blockbusters, so I thought that I would take the opportunity to have another look back through the show’s history. Blockbusters was based on an American game show that ran from 1980-1982, and it was first shown in Britain on ITV on 29 August 1983. 

Well I say that… actually it depends on what ITV region you were in. The scheduling of Blockbusters is somewhat complicated, and some regions (including my one Thames) didn’t show the first edition until a week later on 5 September. Blockbusters was originally shown five days a week on ITV (and six days a week for a short while), usually after CITV at 5:15pm, and every edition was introduced by the famous theme “Quiz Wizard” by Ed Welch. The first series was also repeated on Challenge a few years ago, and it was terrific to watch. 

The host of Blockbusters was of course Bob Holness, someone who had been working in TV and radio since the 50s, he was also among the launch presenters of BBC Radio 1 in 1967, and he could often be seen in TV Times promoting the show. The idea of the game was a team of two against a team of one, and of course the gameboard featuring the blue and white hexagons that wasn’t computer-generated, so it was a rather impressive feat of engineering. 

Contestants from schools across the UK took part to win prizes, and Blockbusters soon grew in popularity (and thanks to some of the more unusual answers from contestants, Blockbusters also seemed to regularly appear on outtakes shows). Around 1986 the famous dance that was occasionally performed at the end of the show was created. An impressive new opening sequence was also introduced around this time. There was also a lot of merchandise released, including various board games, quiz books, computer games, and even an annual. 

In 1987 there was a spin-off series called Champion Blockbusters where contestants who had won the star prize on the final Gold Run returned to compete against one-another to win more prizes, and we also found out what they were now up to. This series was shown on Saturday evenings on ITV, unfortunately no full editions seem to have turned up online. Champion Blockbusters ran for four series and ended in 1990. 

In 1992 there was a special edition of Blockbusters that was shown as part of the charity telethon Trading Places, where people swapped jobs for the day. So this meant that Bob became a contestant, with fellow game show hosts Jim Bowen and Leslie Crowther also appearing as the opposing blue team. Bob revealed that the best thing about hosting Blockbusters was that because he was stood behind a big desk he didn’t have to wear any trousers. 

In 1993 Blockbusters was still being shown on ITV. But when Carlton replaced Thames as the ITV franchise for weekdays in London, they decided to move the show to 3:20pm before CITV, meaning that ratings slumped and the decision was made that there would no more series. Bob said that it was “an appalling move by a crappy company”. However, when the final edition came Bob finished off with some dignity, saying “I’ve enjoyed it I think more than anything I can remember in my career”, and after about a decade Blockbusters came to an end, joining an elite group of British game shows of which over 1,000 editions had been made. 

But wait! Because in 1994 Sky One decided to buy the show, meaning that Bob unexpectedly returned for one final series (which was repeated in some ITV regions in 1995, and also on Challenge). After that Blockbusters has been revived three times, on BBC2, Sky One, and Challenge (and it also featured in ITV1’s Game Show Marathon). There was also an interactive DVD game voiced by Bob. I’m still a huge fan all these years on and I’d simply like to conclude by saying Happy Anniversary to this classic game show!

Game Show Memories – consolation prizes.

“We hate to lose you, but lose you we must”

Time for something a little different. There used to be a time when however good or bad they did, game show contestants would be given consolation prizes for taking part. Here’s a look at what I think are 16 of the most memorable prizes that were given away. These are the shows where you definitely didn’t go away empty handed…

Backdate. A rather nice electronic organiser.

Big Break. A snooker cue and a trophy, and a waistcoat too if you were lucky.

Blankety Blank. Probably one of the most famous consolation prizes, the chequebook and pen. It’s really isn’t an exaggeration to say that it was more valuable than most of the actual prizes on offer.

Blockbusters. A sweatshirt and a dictionary. Definitely worth having. 

Bullseye. Tankards, darts, and the bendy Bully. Or the badge and chalk holder that were on offer in the early series.

Countdown. What is always called a goodie bag, including cups, books, and the board game too of course. And don’t forget the teapot either.

Every Second Counts. Not surprisingly considering this was a show based around time, a wallclock and some watches.

The Generation Game. Various prizes in the early-90s revival included a telephone and pocket TV that seemingly only ever showed a picture of Bruce Forsyth’s co-host Rosemarie Ford. 

Lucky Ladders. A pair of watches. Now they must be expensive.

Raise The Roof. This was the show where the star prize was a house, so the consolation was a teapot in the shape of a house, often known as “Bob’s Bungalow” (after host Bob Holness).

Small Talk. A trophy that according to host Ronnie Corbett was “crafted by my own fair hand”.

Telly Addicts. Another goodie bag similar to Countdown including books about TV, T-shirts and so on. 

Today’s The Day. A copy of a newspaper from the day that you were born, and maybe a bottle of bubbly too.

Turnabout. Another show that gave everyone a dictionary. Not that exciting, but just any excuse to talk about Turnabout really.

Wheel Of Fortune. Another show that gave away watches and board games.

Wipeout. Early series featured a paperweight, before this was changed to an umbrella. 

And they all had a lovely day.

Game Show Memories – Blockbusters the BBC2 revival.

Blockbusters (BBC2, 1997)

As you should know by now, Blockbusters is one of my all-time favourite game shows. When it ended on ITV after a decade in 1993, there was a brief revival on Sky One a year later. After this, there was another revival in 1997, but this time it was on BBC2 and in a daytime slot. It was hosted by Michael Aspel, best known for hosting shows including This Is Your Life and Give Us A Clue, and there were several changes to the familiar version that was hosted by Bob Holness. 

The show’s opening sequence featured a variation on the famous theme music. There was no change to the basic gameplay, but one of the biggest changes in the format was that instead of students, the contestants were adults of any age. Also, the double team played with purple hexagons instead of blue (and were on the left of the screen), the single team’s hexagons were still white. One thing that didn’t change was that there was still £5 for each correct answer. 

Another change was that for the first time the gameboard was computer generated, and the questions were read off a computer screen. As usual, it was the best of three games, with the first team to win two going on to play the Gold Run. The eliminated contestants took away the consolation prize of a Blockbusters-branded fountain pen. Not bad, but it’s not exactly a T-shirt and dictionary, is it? 

The format of the Gold Run was the same in this version, with some decent prizes on offer, and teams retired after playing three Gold Runs instead of five, before the cycle started all over again. And games would also straddle into the next show if they remained uncompleted. The only thing that people seem to remember about this version was that comedy writer Stephen Merchant appeared as a contestant before he was famous, he didn’t do very well though. 

It is something of a surprise to consider that although Blockbusters is a popular show, this version wasn’t that much of a success. Some viewers felt that Aspel’s presentation was a little stilted, and BBC2 seemed to lose confidence, moving to show from a 4pm slot to 1:40pm by the end of the series, and only one series with 60 editions was made. Another thing that was notable was that the show was in a 25 minute slot, rather than the usual BBC half-hour. 

But that still wasn’t the end of course. In 2000 there was another revival of Blockbusters on Sky One, and this was followed by the version in more recent years on Challenge (which I revived a while back). Again, while these were enjoyable they just didn’t have what made the ITV version so successful. Who knows, maybe ITV may want to give this classic show another go one day.

The YouTube Files – Blockbusters USA.

Blockbusters (NBC, 1980-1982, 1987)

Blockbusters is one of my all-time favourite game shows, it wasn’t until long after I first watched the show on ITV that I discovered that it was based on an American format. I always wondered what that was like, and thanks to the magic of YouTube, I have now been able to see some for myself. The American version of Blockbusters launched in 1980 and was shown on NBC on weekday mornings, replacing The David Letterman Show in the schedules. 

Blockbusters was originally hosted by Bill Cullen, who was a TV presenter veteran in America who hosted a wide variety of game shows throughout his long career. The first thing to notice is that although the basic idea of the game is the same, featuring a team of one taking on a team of two and questions with one-word answers, some notable differences to the British version become clear. First of all, the contestants taking part are adults instead of students. 

Also, the 5×4 gameboard (which wasn’t computer generated at first) featured the single team playing with red hexagons, and the double team playing with white hexagons, and it took a while for me to stop thinking that the white team were going the wrong way across the board. Also, there was no money on offer for each correct answer, but teams won a bonus amount of money if they did win a game. 

The winning team then went on to the Gold Run (originally called the Gold Rush), and just like the UK version, they had to get from one side of the board to the other in 60 seconds, and if they did, they would win a cash prize, usually $5,000. By the end of the series, contestants could play up to 20 Gold Runs, meaning that they could take part on the show for a very long time and win a lot of money. 

Blockbusters wasn’t a big success in America, it ended in 1982 after a couple of years, and launched on ITV a year later where it would run for about a decade, and that’s not including the later revivals. There was also a brief revival of Blockbusters on NBC in 1987. This time Bill Rafferty was the host and a computer-generated board was used. One major change was that the show was now one against one which looks rather odd and if they went to a third deciding game the board was redesigned to be 4×4 to make it a little more equal. 

Discovering American versions of classic game shows definitely has been an enjoyable experience for me, it’s always interesting seeing how shows started out and how they developed in other countries, and when I decided to look for other American game shows that would become a bigger success in this country, and I found a couple more that I liked the look of, and I’ll review those here soon too.

Game Show Memories – Blockbusters (the revival).

Yes this is another piece about Blockbusters, but it is one of my favourite game shows, although this is the last piece I have planned about it for now (unless spin-off Champion Blockbusters ever turns up on YouTube). When Blockbusters ended on ITV in 1993, it remained so popular that there were four revivals. The first was on Sky One in 1994 (still with Bob Holness), then there was another on BBC2 in 1997 with Michael Aspel, and then again on Sky One in 2000.

This will be a piece concentrating on the revival on Challenge in 2012. I do feel that alongside repeating various game shows, Challenge should attempt making more original shows and revivals of classics, so when it was announced that they were making an attempt at bringing back Blockbusters lots of people were very pleased by this news. The host for this revival was Simon Mayo, who was as good a choice as anyone really, and someone who I remember enjoying when he hosted the Radio 1 Breakfast Show in the early-90s. 

So would Blockbusters work in this decade? It was hotly anticipated by viewers. The title sequence featured a rock-style version of the classic “Quiz Wizard” theme which viewers seemed to like. The gameplay was the same, because it should be really. A team of one played a team of two, although they featured older contestants rather than students. Also, they wore name badges, but they didn’t seem to have any mascots with them unfortunately. And there was still £5 on offer for every correct answer, there’s no change. 

Because of advanced technology instead of question cards each question instantly appeared on a screen presumably picked at random from thousands available in a computer. The board was similar to the original version, but it was now 3D and it looked rather good. Eliminated contestants won the consolation prize of a Blockbusters-branded eBook which wasn’t bad, while the winner went on to play the Gold Run of course. 

The Gold Run was once again changed back to being played a maximum of five times before a contestant had to retire, and there were some fairly decent prizes on offer including holidays, which you don’t see given away too often on game shows nowadays. Although this version is only really remembered for one contestant who didn’t really seem to know how to play the Gold Run properly and just went all over the place on the board. 

There was a real buzz around this revival, but when the run of 40 editions came to an end, Challenge didn’t make any more, although they have repeated them often and they even made an extra hour-long celebrity special, but it didn’t linger long in the memory. Because of this I remember someone saying about a year ago jokingly “isn’t it about time there was another Blockbusters revival?”. 

It really is difficult to tell why the revivals aren’t as fondly thought of as the original when the gameplay is the same. Maybe it’s the scheduling, the choice of host and their interaction with the contestants, or how much people want to play along at home. I will always be a fan though and I hope that one day though even if there are no more Blockbusters revivals Challenge do make some more original programming, I’m sure there is a demand for it.

Game Show Memories – Blockbusters first and final series comparison.

Blockbusters is one of my all-time favourite game shows, and now that repeats of both the first series in 1983 and the final series in 1994 have been shown on Challenge, I thought I’d compare the two to discover how the show evolved into a much-loved classic.

Scheduling. First series. The way Blockbusters was scheduled varied for each ITV region, and it was rather erratic, but it was usually shown on weekdays before the 5:45 news. Final series. After ITV dropped the show, which Bob called “a terrible decision”, Sky One picked it up for another series which was shown on weekdays at 7pm, before moving it to 6:30, and four ITV regions then repeated this series in 1995. It was still produced by Central.

Title sequence. First series. The opening featured a nice animation of floating hexagons featuring pictures of various topics that would be featured in the questions, and this was accompanied by the terrific theme music “Quiz Wizard” by Ed Welch. Final series. The famous titles introduced around 1987 were still used, although the end was changed to feature a shot of the studio. Oddly though, a much inferior version of the theme was used which sounded rather cheap and as if it was being played on a clapped-out keyboard. 

Set design. First series. The set already featured the signs of famous figures, although the background featured odd-looking purple and orange blinds, and the colour would change a lot over the years. There was also a monitor on the front of the desk. Also, the white team’s buzzer was low-pitched, and the blue team’s was high-pitched. Final series. The set still featured the famous figures and was now the more familiar blue background, and under the scoreboard were some lights indicating how many Gold Runs the teams had done. The monitor had long-since gone and the buzzer noises had swapped round too. 

Bob Holness. First series. In the first series Bob’s presentation was a little dry, his conversations with the contestants were a little stilted, and he hadn’t developed his catchphrases, with the much less memorable “that’s the connection” being said at the end of every game. Also, Bob didn’t wear his glasses for the whole of the show, and there was much speculation by people as to whether he was hosting sat down or stood up. Final series. Bob had now very much settled into his role, talking to the contestants about their interests, laughing even when they asked for a “P” for the 1,000th time, and ending every game by saying the much catchier “that’s Blockbusters!”. 

Contestants. First series. The contestants were sixth formers so they were all aged 16-18, although many of them looked a lot older, and some of them wore their school uniform as well, although that didn’t last long. Final series. Fashions change of course and lots of contestants in this series seemed to have long hair in a ponytail, and they all enjoyed taking lots of mascots along with them, and Bob always seemed to be amused by the amount of furry friends who appeared. The famous hand jive introduced in 1986 was also regularly seen. 

Gameplay. First series. Because computer technology wasn’t advanced enough for the time, the gameboard was created by seemingly having about 38 slide projectors all stacked on top of one another. There was also £5 for each correct answer. Final series. The board design was the same, although it was slightly zoomed in compared to before. Games also remained the best of three. There was also a bonus question introduced on a gold card which was indicated by a cash till noise where if the contestant got it right they won an extra £5. Bob reprimanded himself in one edition after he referred to it as “a fiver”, gosh, how vulgar. 

The Gold Run. First series. In the Gold Run contestants had 60 seconds to get from one end to the other, with £10 for each correct answer if they didn’t make it. They could play a maximum of five Gold Runs, although this was later reduced to three. Final series. This part of the show never really changed, except that for this series the number of Gold Runs that could be played was increased to five again. I also noticed that Bob said that one relived contestant who completed their Gold Run just in time was “puffing like a grampus” which is a new one on me. 

Prizes. First series. Defeated contestants took away consolation prizes of a sweatshirt and gold-embossed dictionary which both had “Blockbusters 1983” written on them. There was also a bonus prize on offer for the schools that they represented indicated by a sound effect borrowed from Family Fortunes, and some of the Gold Run prizes available included computers which were fancy for the time. Final series. The consolation prizes were still a sweatshirt and dictionary, the schools prizes were still on offer too, but some of the Gold Run prizes seemed a little smaller, maybe this could have been down to budget cuts, but most of what was on offer still impressed. 

Game Show Memories – Blockbusters.

Blockbusters (ITV, 1983-1993) 

Another one of the classics, Blockbusters is one of my all-time favourite game shows, and I must have watched dozens over the years. It’s not a show that needs much explanation really, it still has lots of fans, it is of course the game where two teams of contestants answer general knowledge questions to get across a board of hexagons. The board was not computer-generated in the earliest series so it was a major feat of engineering, seemingly consisting of 40 slide-projectors sat on top of one another and some lightbulbs. 

The show is based on an American format that ran from 1980-1982, with a short revival in 1987. However it was more popular in this country, and there are a few reasons for that. First of all, there was the host Bob Holness, who really was terrific, and watching old episodes again I am struck by how authoritative he is, and I also enjoy his old-fashioned exclamations when the contestants got the right answers including “that’s the one, good heavens!”. He also spawned some memorable catchphrases too. 

There was also the decision to make the contestants sixth-formers from across the country, playing to win prizes for themselves and the schools that they represented. A lot of the contestants on the show were very charismatic and enjoyable to watch with their cuddly mascots, and the show was always played in the right spirit, with lots of people winning some very impressive prizes, plus lots of consolation prizes including sweatshirts and dictionaries. And don’t forget that there was £5 for every correct answer too! And they all did a dance at the end. 

Blockbusters was produced by Central and first appeared on ITV in 1983, becoming the first UK game show to be shown five days a week. The first series was recently repeated on Challenge and again it was rather odd seeing the show before it became properly defined, but the idea was great from the start. The scheduling of the show varied in each ITV region, and it was shown in every slot from Saturday afternoons to Friday evenings, but it did gain a lot of popularity across the country. 

I became a big fan of Blockbusters from practically the very first moment I saw it on TV when I was very young, I just thought it was great and enjoyed watching as much as I could, enjoying the creative title sequence, the brilliant music, and watching the contestants show off their knowledge long before I knew any of the answers myself. There were a few changes to the format over the years, such as reducing the number of Gold Runs played to win the star prize from five to three because so many people wanted to appear and get a chance to stand on the Hot Spot. 

Blockbusters ran for about a decade on ITV and there was even a Saturday Night primetime spin-off called Champion Blockbusters where winning contestants returned to play for more prizes. There was also a lot of merchandise released including quiz books, board games, an interactive DVD, and computer games. The show only ended because when Carlton came along in 1993 they moved the show from a primetime to a daytime slot, meaning that ratings fell and they could no longer justify giving away big prizes, it was a shame seeing the show leave the screens, but it wasn’t over yet. 

The format of Blockbusters is so endearing that there have been four revivals. Sky One revived the show in 1994 with Bob Holness still hosting, and this version was repeated in a few ITV regions. In 1997 there was a short-lived afternoon version with Michael Aspel where this time adult contestants could take part. In 2000 the show went to Sky One again with Liza Tarbuck now hosting and only sixth-formers taking part again. Finally, Challenge themselves tried a version after a successful repeat run with Simon Mayo hosting and adult contestants again. And yet all these years later it’s still £5 for every correct answer. There’s no change.