Game Show Memories – Game Show Stars Part 11.

This is some whose career has lasted for more than five decades, and it has had more ups and downs than most other TV hosts. Noel Edmonds joined BBC Radio 1 in the late-60s, and he was their youngest host, and I think he was the youngest host just about anywhere on BBC Radio at the time. By the 70s he had got into TV, including hosting Top Of The Pops, Swap Shop, and a revival of Juke Box Jury.

In the early-80s, he hosted The Late Late Breakfast Show, a live show where he seemed to have an interest in trying TV firsts and various pranks whilst wearing horrible sweaters. An attempt to break into American TV in the mid-80s was unsuccessful though. Going into the late-80s, he hosted Telly Addicts, Whatever Next…, and The Saturday Roadshow.

In the early-90s he had one of the biggest successes of his career with Noel’s House Party, which at first was a very enjoyable live Saturday Night show, and went on to do very well in the ratings, and there was even a spin-off chart-topping single and everything. Into the mid-90s, he hosted Noel’s Telly Years, and the first edition of The National Lottery Live.

The late-90s were not a good time for Noel though. After running for over a decade, the format of Telly Addicts was changed completely, and this only hastened the show’s end, rather than give it a new lease of life. And, Noel’s House Party, which had also gone through several format changes and long since stopped being the talk of viewers, came to an end as well.

Some people thought that he could’ve taken the opportunity to go on a rant, but his closing speech on that show did come across as suitably sincere. Not long after this, he left the BBC after 30 years, on a rather sour note it seems, and left the screen. It was about six years later that he finally returned when he was invited to host Channel 4’s new game show.

At first, Deal Or No Deal was an exciting and tense show, whether there was a rather large (or rather small) amount of money at stake. He then hosted Everyone’s A Winner, a live BBC1 Saturday Night show that made people feel that he had worked his way back up to the top and was back where he belonged, although this was only ever going to be an intentional one-off.

He also hosted a few shows for Sky, including the game show Are You Smarter Than A Ten-Year-Old? After a year or two, Deal Or No Deal was doing well, but this meant that this was rather milked for everything it was worth and viewers felt that this was overkill, along with endless specials, and the show was on Channel 4 every day of the week at one point.

As the years went by, Noel’s hosting style became increasingly eccentric too, taking the whole thing way too seriously, as if this was an underground cult that worshiped “blue” numbers, and along with the way he treated contestants, this began to be mildly unsettling. When Deal Or No Deal did finally come to an end, there had been over 3,000 editions, only Countdown has had more editions of a UK game show.

Channel 4 did promise him more shows though, there was also Cheap Cheap Cheap, which was rather risky and something a little different, this was an interesting idea that was half-game show half-sitcom, but it was so obvious that this was going to be a flop, and there was the one-off Sell Or Swap that was live and featured plenty of pointless running around.

He then surprised viewers with his next move, although you’d think that his 50 years in TV and radio would equal a little more than coming last on I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! After this, he just about retired from showbusiness, and although he has always been someone who divides opinion, I’m definitely on the side of thinking that he has been a great talent.

More TV Memories – Noel’s House Party first and final series comparison.

Noel’s House Party was a show which ran on BBC1 for 169 editions in eight series from November 1991 to March 1999. It changed a lot over the years and although once it was very popular by the time it ended it had fallen out of favour with viewers. How did the show go from being professional and entertaining to a past-it directionless mess? After tracking down the first and final editions on YouTube I decided to do a comparison of the main elements of the show to try and determine what exactly changed.

Opening sequence. First series. Noel’s House Party was the third part of Noel’s Saturday night trilogy, following from The Late Late Breakfast Show (1982-1986) and The Saturday Roadshow (1988-1990). It was fairly similar to The Saturday Roadshow, but instead of coming from a different location every week, it always came from the great house in the village of Crinkley Bottom, and it was also shown live. Noel was also very fond of wearing loud shirts. Final series. The opening theme was remixed after a few series and then changed altogether, and by this point only consisted of a short burst of “House Of Fun” by Madness. Noel also wore rather drab shirts by his standard, and it was starting to become clear that Noel’s 30-year career with the BBC was coming to an end, and he wouldn’t be seen regularly on TV again until 2005. One positive though was that this series was one of the earliest shows made in widescreen. The shrieking studio audience was something that remained constant throughout however. 

Set design. First series. The house was laid out so that Noel could do a lot of running about which he seems to enjoy, with various segments of the show taking place in different parts. Final series. The design of the house was another thing that was totally changed by the end. For example, Noel had to go up a flight of stairs to meet his guests and it seemed less welcoming. 

Celebrities. First series. Famous faces were very eager to take part at first, with Ronnie Corbett appearing regularly in comedy sketches among many others, it was definitely a good place to get yourself seen. Final series. I’m sure that Noel said that he was disappointed that by this point famous people would only appear on the show if they had something to promote such as their new single, and a character was introduced called Father Seamus Plug who would tell us what they were promoting. At least he was much less irritating than the “my brother Liam” character from a while earlier. Noel also famously walked out of an edition revealing his frustration at the lack of big names and good ideas on offer. 

Games. First series. These included The Lyric Game, where contestants had to sing famous songs, What Till I Get You Home!, which made its debut on The Saturday Roadshow and was where parents had to guess what answers their child would give to win prizes, and Grab A Grand, where viewers could phone in and a celebrity could win up to £1,000 for them, and this was also a chance for Noel to indulge in his long-standing fondness for endlessly fiddling around with various telephones. Final series. Games became ever more overblown, with Grab A Grand spin-offs including the ridiculous Grab A Grand Piano. There were other ideas such as The Big Pork Pie, where people had to reveal an embarrassing story about themselves, the Number Cruncher, where you could play for a prize if a phone-box was in your area, Cash For Questions, which consisted of people spinning round on a wheel and then having to find bags of money in a dark room against the clock, and in this series Sofa Soccer, where viewers phoned in to try and direct footballs past a goalkeeper for money. What Til I Get You Home! was also revived for a celebrity special with Paul Ross and his family. 

NTV. First series. This was the segment where the star of the show could be you! Using innovative technology for the time, a camera was secretly placed in a viewer’s house, and then they could cut to it and they would appear live on screen much to their surprise and talk to Noel. Final series. This was another feature that featured ever more complicated setups in the endless failed attempts to make the show bigger and better, trying to surprise people in ever more ambitious ways. I remember Noel in a later edition after one prank saying “that went really well”, as if he was surprised that it actually went to plan.   

Gunge. First series. Another feature kept on from The Saturday Roadshow, this was where studio audience members would be surprised and end up in the tank, and occasionally two celebrities competed against one another, with a viewer phone vote determining who went in. Final series. Again this became increasingly complicated, with the tank being turned into a car wash, then a train ride, and even this always enjoyable feature began to feel stale. 

Gotchas. First series. Another The Saturday Roadshow feature, Gotcha Oscars as they were called at the time was where a celebrity would be stitched-up. Henry Cooper received the first one. Mr Blobby started out as a parody of a children’s TV character in some setups, but he eventually became popular enough to have a number one single in 1993. Final series. After a name change to simply “Gotcha” and a redesign of the trophy, this was another area like NTV which featured ever more elaborate set-ups, such as trying to prank more than one person at a time. The one with Richard Whiteley was good though. Mr Blobby was also dropped from the show for this series, until his inevitable return at the end, but too many viewers had long-since turned off and that was that. 

More TV Memories – Noel’s House Party.

Noel’s House Party (BBC1, 1991-1999)

This is one of the best around. Noel’s House Party is the third part of the Noel Edmonds Saturday night trilogy, following on from The Late Late Breakfast Show and The Saturday Roadshow and I’ll be reviewing both those shows soon too.

It was really a continuation of those shows. Noel’s House Party was a live show that supposedly came from a country mansion in a village called Crinkley Bottom and every week lots of famous faces would turn up in the various features. For the first few series or so the show was clearly very well put together and attracted impressive ratings. 

There would of course be the Gotchas, where a prank was played on a celebrity and lots of these were very memorable, with a compilation of the best ones being released on VHS. In the second series a character called Mr Blobby was introduced which would be a parody of a children’s TV show that people thought they were working on. However, he was so popular with viewers that he became a TV star for real, and such was the popularity of the show at the time he even had the Christmas Number One single of 1993, which was a great honour. 

There were other great things such as games including Grab A Grand and Wait Till I Get You Home where contestants in the studio and at home could win lots of prizes, and the innovative NTV where we could take a look into a viewer’s home. There were also lots of celebrities at the door to take part in comedy sketches, much to the delight of the particularly rowdy audience. And you could never forget the gunge tank either, of course. 

But it couldn’t last. Although it was so enjoyable at first and won many awards, there were then changes to the format where once again there were promises that the show would become “bigger and better”, but it became worse really. Because of this, even Noel pulled out of the hosting the show one week, feeling that the format had become tired. Eventually it ran to eight series, but by the end it was no longer the talk of viewers and even Noel admitted the show should’ve ended a few series earlier. 

It was still rather a shame when the show ended though because it just about brought Noel’s 30-year association with the BBC to an end, having also been a prominent radio presenter in the 70s and 80s, and he barely appeared on TV at all for the next five years, until he returned in 2005 with Deal Or No Deal and it was great to see him back on our screens. I still feel that Noel’s House Party is one of the best shows of its era and at its best it was great mainstream Saturday night entertainment for all the family.