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 Telly Years.

Noel’s Telly Years (BBC1, 1996-1997)

Noel Edmonds has hosted a lot of TV shows over the years, and for every success in the 80s and 90s, there were a couple of shows that were less remembered. In the 80s, there was Telly Addicts, but there were also The Time Of Your Life (a little like This Is Your Life if it concentrated on a single year instead of a famous person) comedy prank game thing Whatever Next, and the unsuccessful trip to America that I reviewed recently. In the 90s, along with Noel’s House Party, there were also Noel’s Addicts (a show that I have no memory of at all rather oddly, although it seems I didn’t miss much), and this one.

Noel’s Telly Years focused on a different year in every edition, ranging from the late-50s to the late-80s. There was also a testcard-themed opening sequence, maybe not very original, but a clue that this was going to be half-an-hour of unashamed nostalgia. Noel (wearing a typically horrible sweater) would be joined by some celebrity guests who made the headlines in the year featured, whether they were pop stars, TV personalities, sportspeople, and so on. Find out if Noddy Holder can remember anything about 1972.

They would also be asked various questions about what happened in the year, such as taking a trip in the TV Time Tunnel, where various clips were pulled out of the archive, and there was also a True Or False round. There would also be a few adverts featured as well, that could now be seen as rather embarrassing. At least they won’t be featuring the Brush-O-Matic again… oh no!!

This is ridiculous now… how many more times?

Although there were a few rounds with points on offer, I wouldn’t really class this as a game show as such, I suppose it can be best described as a cross between The Time Of Your Life and Telly Addicts. There were two series of Noel’s Telly Years, and the second one had a slightly different format, as a few comedians who weren’t necessarily famous in the year featured contributed, and any show that gets Tim Vine and Bradley Walsh involved can’t be all bad.

The only other show that I can remember Noel hosting on the BBC in the 90s after Noel’s House Party ended was The World Of The Secret Camera, which was just laughing at some old pranks, before he dropped off the scene altogether for the next five years or so. As for Noel’s Telly Years, it wasn’t too bad, and I enjoyed it more than other old TV games such as As Seen On TV and Show Me The Telly or whatever it was called.