UK Game Shows 1995: The Year in Review
Chris Dickson
1995 was more a year of farewells in the UK game show scene than
anything else; though we probably have had more hours of game shows aired
in 1995 than any other year, it's hard to see any of the year's new arrivals
starting a long, long run. However, plenty of shows have seen fit to change
their formats over the past 12 months, mostly for the better. Such innovation
means that UK cannot write off the game show format for a few years to come.
That said, Channel Five's imminent arrival in '97 should install a few new
shows (or bring back a few old ones - don't forget, there's a rather strong
connection between Channel Five and Reg Grundy) and it'll be interesting
to see how the other channels react. Cable and satellite continue to
percolate through the nation; though they have added few new games, repeats
of old shows - something I thought you wouldn't really see here - may start
to fill the schedules in the months to come, certainly a good thing. UK
Living seem to be installing a weekday 4pm-6pm game show block (Infatuation,
Lingo, Cross Wits, Lucky Ladders); it'll be interesting to see if that is
continued over the months.
Here is a brief look at some of the games that have been delighting
and disgusting us over '95. I make no claims as to completeness - having
neither cable nor satellite myself I know I'll be missing some. If anyone
can jog my memory as to a few more, or contribute to discussion in any
other way, I would be most grateful.
Probably the first new show of the year was the 4-nation INTERNATIONAL
GLADIATORS which highlighted John Fashanu's lack of presenting ability,
although our Eunice did show the world what she's made of. Apparently "Two
Scoops" Wesley Berry is on the next series, to follow early in '96. Ick.
The regular GLADIATORS season was busy with 3 or 4 new Gladiators (after
bidding farewell to that naughty boy Shadow) and spruced-up presentation,
though not the best contenders ever and still only 5 events before the
Eliminator. Ulrika was fantastic, though, to be quite fair. The GLADIATORS
ASHES version from Brisbane shows that the Australian version out-Britishes
the British one with even flashier presentation and even fewer events. BODY
HEAT moved from Fridays to Saturdays and expanded - it's a tougher test than
Gladiators, but its longer events are a lot less visual and Sally Gunnell has
the face of a horse. Bless her.
Depressingly there were four lurrrve-related shows, none of which were much
cop. That counts the pilot of THE SHANE RICHIE EXPERIENCE; all-singing,
all-dancing, all-cack but probably set for a full series in '96. Can't tell
if CONFESSIONS will return to our screen - if it doesn't by April then I
think one series is its lot. Chris Evans vowed DON'T FORGET YOUR TOOTHBRUSH
wouldn't return, but he said he wouldn't do a second series. Series II was
much more formulaic than series I; however, people were mooting a US version
and that never seemed to happen so I wouldn't rule out another run over here
altogether. BLIND DATE had more overtly sexual questions and answers than
ever before. Perhaps this is why the majority of the few dates I've seen it
fix have been less successful than Blind Date's dates of the past?
However, there seems to be a resurgence in the market for the tea-time
family fun market, though CATCHWORD, TODAY'S THE DAY and FIFTEEN-TO-ONE
have been at the very upper end of the range in terms of intellect required,
their tournament/returning-champion format (and we really wanna see those
returning champions) have made them very worthwhile and extremely watchable.
Catchword has some of the breeziest presentation around and a wonderfully
developed vocabulary; Today's The Day and Fifteen-To-One catered very well
for those with particularly good trivia. Downmarket, COUNTDOWN has never been
the same since Richard Stilgoe and Gyles Brandreth got proper jobs, but it's
always worth investing time in. As the 32nd series approaches a Tournament
of Champions of "Champion of Champions" - oh dear - is a hopeful thought. If
we don't get that then they might match up some of the very few (4 or 5?)
players with undefeated records for one-off matches. Oh, and Matt Chapman's
XCountdown is quite brilliant, come to think of it. INCOGNITO and THINK TANK
were two new attempts at joining the fray - doomed to an early bath, I'd
have thought, but shows in this time-slot have been very resilient over the
years. Stranger things have happened yet.
But what would we do without our favourite post-Neighbours BBC1 1:50 slot
shows, designed to let us all put off our work for... ooh... just a little
longer - time for lunch to settle? Clive Doig can't stop fiddling with his
TURNABOUT but it has the capability to cope. It must have had a different
format for each one of its... ooh... seven? series, and has got somewhat
far away from its origins. A nice show, but don't forget Sporting Triangles.
GOING FOR GOLD has remained resolute and evermore shall do so (unless it
moves to Five, tee hee). Check out _that_ Web page if you haven't done so.
The sampled theme tune is a must. Tom O'Connor debuted THAT'S NEWS TO ME
which has features from about five different shows of yore - it'll probably
shuffle off just as they did. Lastly, TIMEKEEPERS, that quintessential
Action Time show, has had a better series than the '94 version, though a
split pea probably had a better series than the '94 version. As with most
Action Time shows, let them fiddle with it for three or four more series,
iron all the creases out... then watch them kill it and replace it with
something three times as worse. You'd think that they would learn!
Of course completing the daytime line-up is your wonderful ITV 9:25 show,
something to keep you amused after GMTV whilst ITV recovers from its
headache the night before. Dale Winton has been decent enough on SUPERMARKET
SWEEP and Bob Mills has been abrasive enough on WIN, LOSE OR DRAW for them
to probably get more of the same in '96. However CHAIN LETTERS has claimed
yet another victim in Ted Robbins and when it returns in the New Year it
will have its _fourth_ host (coming after Jeremy Beadle, Andrew O'Connor and
Big Ted means it'll be a tough act to follow). Poor old Ted. I went up to
see CL being filmed about 375 days ago, and I haven't been back since.
Actually, in January we'll have CL and WLoD on the same day, which has got
to be a step forward. Will we get a brand new show in '96, perhaps? Maybe
we might even get new versions of Lucky Ladders, or, da da daa, Keynotes!
(It should be pointed out that Keynotes is the UK's version Face The Music.
Not the same format, but certainly the same general cheesiness...)
The kids have had an uninspiring year. FUNHOUSE with Pat Sharp was remarkable
only for a batch of stunningly silly new graphics - it's sort of watchable
for those, though. GET YOUR OWN BACK with Dave Benson Philips cut down from
3 families to 2 and changed in appearance, but not in smell. TERROR TOWERS
with Steve Johnson was a variation on the theme, with some nice presentation
but dull content (though sufficient for a '96 return this month) and RUN
THE RISK lost Shane Richie as host when he decided that he had grown out of
it (yeah, right!) and gained Bobby Davro. No change.
On the non-gunge-imbued side, there was a simple write-in crossword show,
SICK AS A PARROT, a reprise for the kids-getting to try-out go-karts/
motorbikes/jetskis etc. physical show SUPERCHAMPS (not bad at all, actually;
though when it was on a few years ago, on another channel, slightly changed
format, Gary Crowley hosted it surprisingly well, but he has gone on to host
heavy metal middle-of-night shows), and the kids' star show of the summer,
the debut of REACTIVE. Simple interactive 'phone games played live with a
host on speed and with 100 gags to do in 15 minutes. If anyone but Rick
Adams had hosted it, it would have flopped. As it is, we can but hope for
a few more summers of the same! We had jools-and-gizz all from Broadsword
Television this year, always a Bad Thing. What happened to KNIGHTMARE? I
went away to Oxford as it started its eighth series, but when I got back
it had been mysteriously replaced by Broadsword's new VIRTUALLY IMPOSSIBLE,
and it not reappearing is no surprise at all, as even the most patient would
tire of it after 2 or 3 shows. I'd have hoped Knightmare would have had a
big and glorious ending - and I'd have hoped to see it. Still, they're doing
re-runs on the Sci-Fi Channel (of all places!) but at 4pm, so only people
with cable can get it. To be controversial, I'll lump GAMESMASTER in with
kids' game shows, but its new fifth series certainly isn't. However, it is
very good. I know someone who thinks Dominik Diamond is "Fwoar".
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Then there were 1995's evening family fun shows. Matthew Kelly hosted YOU
BET! and raised a whole lot of money for charity doing so, whilst this
year's challenges were measured rather than outrageous. Jim Davidson had
another series of BIG BREAK (which spawned some trick shot shows, rather
too many gags and too few shots, alas) and took care of the GENERATION GAME
hosted formerly by Bruce Forsyth - a new set and lots of audience-voting
bits being added somewhat to the detriment of the format. Also changing
host was PETS WIN PRIZES - Dale Winton was ruthlessly camp as opposed to
Danny Baker who hosted it anarchically, and a whole new fayre atmosphere
was added. Some of their games catered for some very bizarre animals, though.
Baker hosted it better in the days when it sent itself up, but it's still
fair enough. The biggest new launch of '95 was probably RAISE THE ROOF,
offering a house (value varying between 75 and 100 thousand pounds) every
week, and sending Action Time head Stephen Leahy into rapturous interviews
in the Sunday Times and elsewhere. As Leahy correctly points out, the UK is
the world capital of quiz shows - not only watching them more than any other
nation, but also exporting the formats all around the world (shurely shome
mistake?); these points and others he make means that Leahy does well and
truly have his finger on the pulse and know what he's on about. The fact
remains is that he has great difficulty in coming up with good new shows.
Raise The Roof is far too average for its prizes. I can see the size of the
prizes keeping this one going - hopefully they will iron the creases out of
the format, probably by starting all over again with it.
Pray, silence for two shows that ended this year, and hopefully will inspire
shows in the future (in spirit - I'm not sure exact reproductions would be
for the best). The second half of last year's multi-million pound flop
SCAVENGERS sneaked out without fanfare. Its departure will be missed by very
few. However, I am one of the chosen few. It did do some very silly things
but its heart was well in the right place and it was a show that did more
for me than... well, pretty much every other show since THE CRYSTAL MAZE
whose sixth series was its last. Every season, TCM would have new games,
but having fewer per show (and less action per show) meant that the magic
was slowly fading. A shot in the arm was badly required; I had had hopes
that they would spruce it up for a sixth or a seventh series but it may
well be that Chatsworth suspected the sixth would be the last and thought
better of it. Chatsworth Television have made three superb shows in a row
and I wouldn't bet against their next one being as good as or better than
all their others. Look out for "The Magic Carnival" in late '96 or early '97
and keep your fingers crossed. Meanwhile, Gladiators should bear TCM's fate
in the back of its mind. Unless it stops doing things that really annoy the
viewers, I don't think it'll make it into the next century. We shall see.
Also during the week was the end of the first series of the "new" UNIVERSITY
CHALLENGE, which was won by some gits (though the captain's a good bloke -
even if a manic Man U fan) and the start of the second series, which will
probably be won by some more gits. You may suspect that "gits" here refers
to anyone on any other team apart from Keble College with a fair degree of
certainty. Starting their first series through were the next four shows, two
very, very bad, two very, very good. LUCKY NUMBERS looked and sounded
wonderful - then Shane Richie came on and hosted Bob's Full House, again.
THE MIDAS TOUCH was a sound idea in theory with really stupid games, an
appalling end-game and a strong contender for Worst Host Ever. Action Time
had their one good new show of the year (out of four or five) with a very
slick MONKHOUSE'S MEMORY MASTERS - at that point, I hoped it had all clicked
for Action Time, but clearly not. I have my doubts about the end-game but
MMM is one show I'm hoping we get more of this year. Better still was
BRUCE'S PRICE IS RIGHT, though if only we could have had the original TPiR
adapted instead of TNPiR. In fact, Bruce's show falls between stools and I
wouldn't give it another series in its current form. Either pump up the
prizes further and give it a full hour, or pump up the prizes further, lose
Contestants' Row, pack four pricing games in and give the show a new host.
And give it a proper Showcase Showdown, for pity's sake!
During the weeks we have also had a seemingly E-induced new-format KRYPTON
FACTOR - a very brave gamble which may be rewarded with the axe - which
again needs fine-tuning but may eventually be a winner; some superb Stuart
Hall banter in QUIZ NIGHT, a very ordinary quiz; Noel Edmonds and his
bleedin' TELLY ADDICTS, which lost its family emphasis; a random quiz about
antiques called GOING FOR A SONG; Les Dennis slipping an extremely difficult
to win car into FAMILY FORTUNES, which peps the show up a little; Bob Holness
hosted some more BLOCKBUSTERS, now back on ITV with a stunning new theme
and 5 Gold Runs for top contestants (though Yorkshire-Tyne Tees are replacing
it with a duff-looking local infotainment show. Surely this can't be
happening nationwide? If Blockbusters goes, nothing is sacred), Nicky
Campbell hosting WHEEL OF FORTUNE with yet bigger prizes, though still
not playing for cash (look for this to change); Bill Beaumont, who should
have been replaced five years ago, still kicks ass on David Coleman's
gentle celebrity panel game A QUESTION OF SPORT and its direct equivalent
for bland stars THAT'S SHOWBUSINESS being hosted fittingly by Mike Smith.
Its other equivalent, taking us neatly onto the comedy quiz section to
round things off, HAVE I GOT NEWS FOR YOU?, had two stunningly sharp short
series this year - it's back to its best. Also fine was WHOSE LINE IS IT
ANYWAY?; though it has settled into a bit of a pattern, the excellent
improvisation never fails to entertain. THEY THINK IT'S ALL OVER tried to
translate HIGNFY back into sport - er, sort of a nasty A Question Of Sport -
it showed that whilst comedians who know about sport exist and are good,
sportspersons who "know" about comedy are a rather indifferent sort of
proposition. And lastly the wonderful Vic Reeves and Bob Mortimer - both
Teesside lads, I might add - gave us the screamingly funny spoof SHOOTING
STARS; that Xmas special last week (the most hilarious thing on all month
IMHO) showed why Fifties Throwback Mark Lamarr, the unique George Dawes
and of course Uuuuuullllllllrika-ka-ka-ka-ka-ka (to quote the Daily Mail
"who has gone from tabloid hell to comedy heroine" - good call!) have all
got very hopeful-looking 1996s ahead. A second series of Shooting Stars?
Not impossible; as with most comedy shows, multiple series depend on whether
the performers think they have sufficient material rather than anything
else. The UK wants one. How about it, eh, R & M? (Cash paid for a tape
of the Xmas special, BTW. I forgot to tape it. D'oh!)
Positive standouts this year have been: Reactive, Gamesmaster, Scavengers,
Bruce's Price Is Right and Shooting Stars; whilst the various flavours of
Gladiators, Body Heat, DFY Toothbrush II, Countdown, Superchamps, The Crystal
Maze, University Challenge, Monkhouse's Memory Masters, The Krypton Factor
and Have I Got News For You? are a step behind. At the other end of the
scale, Confessions, The Shane Richie Experience, Terror Towers, Lucky Numbers
and The Midas Touch should all have been strangled horribly before birth.
That was 1995 for game shows. I'm not altogether confident for 1996, but I
am hopeful in general for the future of the UK's games. It'll be an
interesting ride. Fasten your seatbelts tightly...
All my best to you all. Have a great 1996! Chris.
Chris M. Dickson chris....@keble.oxford.ac.uk 2nd year M.Math student at
Oxford University but I'm not speaking for them. I'm a TRUE Northerner - I'm
from Middlesbrough. Possibly the UK's heartiest defender of Richard Whiteley
Scavenge, salvage and survive with honour! http://sable.ox.ac.uk/~kebl0110/
Tony Marshall
>hosted some more BLOCKBUSTERS, now back on ITV with a stunning new theme
>and 5 Gold Runs for top contestants (though Yorkshire-Tyne Tees are replacing
>it with a duff-looking local infotainment show. Surely this can't be
>happening nationwide? If Blockbusters goes, nothing is sacred)
Blockbusters has never been back on Border. We get Supermarket Sweep
at 5.10 ! Good Shop.
Whatever happened to 'Your Number Please' with Neil Buchanan. I liked
that.
More 'Shooting Stars' please....
Tony Marshall | #include<tangerine dream.yello.gordon
Carlisle, England | giltrap.neuronium.depechemode.psb's.
to...@globalnet.co.uk | ashra.stranglers.jmj.vangelis.floyd>
Michael John Falkner
:
: Probably the first new show of the year was the 4-nation INTERNATIONAL
: GLADIATORS which highlighted John Fashanu's lack of presenting ability,
: although our Eunice did show the world what she's made of. Apparently "Two
: Scoops" Wesley Berry is on the next series, to follow early in '96. Ick.
Berry will host the next Int'l Glads? I dunno about hosting it -- defending
the title would be better for him. I liked Fashanu myself -- if he's the
same guy I remember from the one that Berry won.
: Depressingly there were four lurrrve-related shows, none of which were much
: cop. That counts the pilot of THE SHANE RICHIE EXPERIENCE; all-singing,
: all-dancing, all-cack but probably set for a full series in '96. Can't tell
Well, Shane Ritchie IS Shane Ritchie, and, knowing from when DG was in
Grease [is Ritchie still in that thing?], it's no surprise that it comes off
a bit campy. Other than that, I like the format...
: altogether. BLIND DATE had more overtly sexual questions and answers than
: ever before. Perhaps this is why the majority of the few dates I've seen it
: fix have been less successful than Blind Date's dates of the past?
Come off it -- you didn't think they wouldn't do that, do you?
: Of course completing the daytime line-up is your wonderful ITV 9:25 show,
: something to keep you amused after GMTV whilst ITV recovers from its
: headache the night before. Dale Winton has been decent enough on SUPERMARKET
: SWEEP and Bob Mills has been abrasive enough on WIN, LOSE OR DRAW for them
: to probably get more of the same in '96.
1> Who is Bob Mills? and
2> Is he better or worse than Shane was on WLoD??
: but dull content (though sufficient for a '96 return this month) and RUN
: THE RISK lost Shane Richie as host when he decided that he had grown out of
: it (yeah, right!) and gained Bobby Davro. No change.
Depends on whether Shane could handle screaming kids in the studio AND in
the Dominion Theatre... :)
: Then there were 1995's evening family fun shows. Matthew Kelly hosted YOU
: BET! and raised a whole lot of money for charity doing so, whilst this
: year's challenges were measured rather than outrageous. Jim Davidson had
Interesting -- tell me more about this show...
: THE MIDAS TOUCH was a sound idea in theory with really stupid games, an
: appalling end-game and a strong contender for Worst Host Ever.
Explain for us in the US...
==========================================================================
Mike Falkner, mfal...@csd.uwm.edu Milwaukee, Wisconsin
"The Electric Youth Renegade" D.G.I.F. #10769
WWW: http://www.uwm.edu/~mfalkner No quotes. (No room!! =))
==========================================================================
Chris M. Dickson
to...@globalnet.co.uk "Tony Marshall" writes:
> >hosted some more BLOCKBUSTERS, now back on ITV with a stunning new theme
> >and 5 Gold Runs for top contestants (though Yorkshire-Tyne Tees are replacing
> >it with a duff-looking local infotainment show. Surely this can't be
> >happening nationwide? If Blockbusters goes, nothing is sacred)
>
> Blockbusters has never been back on Border. We get Supermarket Sweep
> at 5.10 ! Good Shop.
Eek! Nothing _is_ sacred! I'd like to know if Blockbusters is still
showing around the country or if it's just been horribly regionalised.
Actually, the whole 5.10 - 7.00 block is horribly regionalised (apart from the
Early Evening news, of course) what with Home And Away showing at various
different times. Who cares about Home And Away, anyway? (Apart from 10,000,000
dippy kids and bored mums [dons F-P J]). However, if you get Supermarket Sweep
at 5.10, what do you get at 9.25? Take The High Road 5 days a week?
> Whatever happened to 'Your Number Please' with Neil Buchanan. I liked
> that.
Axed, presumably. I think you were in a small minority there, Tony...
> More 'Shooting Stars' please....
The entire _world_ wants more Shooting Stars. Perhaps they could expand the
Vybrosprouts challenge into a half-hour show? :-)
Chris
Chris M. Dickson back at home in Middlesbrough. ch...@dickson.demon.co.uk
I return to Oxford in the middle of January. I'm a big fan of game shows.
Chris M. Dickson
> the title would be better for him. I liked Fashanu myself -- if he's the
> same guy I remember from the one that Berry won.
Berry won't be hosting, but I think someone (was it you, JJ?) said he had a
job on the sidelines, interviewing contestants etc. - I agree, though - it
would be nice for Wesley and Eunice to defend their titles.
> Well, Shane Ritchie IS Shane Ritchie, and, knowing from when DG was in
> Grease [is Ritchie still in that thing?], it's no surprise that it comes off
> a bit campy. Other than that, I like the format...
I don't think Shane _is_ in Grease still. The show isn't really campy, so much
as, well, er, cheesy. Or cacky.
> 1> Who is Bob Mills? and
Short black-haired bloke, sometimes has a daft 'tache, fairly round face...
hosted Games World on Sky for a couple of years and took the mick out of a heck
of a lot of kids, hosted WLoD for one series and has been invited back for a
second. Last series he was nearly as sharp with the WLoD lot as with the kids!
> 2> Is he better or worse than Shane was on WLoD??
If y'ask me, better, on the thinking that he says funny things, whereas Shane
just said random things and hoped they were funny.
> Depends on whether Shane could handle screaming kids in the studio AND in
> the Dominion Theatre... :)
Actually, Shane seemed reasonably at home with the kids. You'd have thought
that he'd wind up doing kids' shows for ever!
> : Then there were 1995's evening family fun shows. Matthew Kelly hosted YOU
> : BET! and raised a whole lot of money for charity doing so, whilst this
> : year's challenges were measured rather than outrageous. Jim Davidson had
>
> Interesting -- tell me more about this show...
Erm. Five, well, acts come on and try and perform stunts of their choice.
Things like setting an outrageously large number of tables in a short period
of time, using a helicopter to break the shell of an egg, knocking a number
of moving targets down within a length of time using hockey balls hit by
hockey sticks from a distance, some feat of memory, etc. These stunts can vary
from merely quite impressive to world-record standard, but have a higher
success record than you'd think, as the acts work out how much they can do in
a certain time period, and set themselves the goal of doing 98% of that (so
about 75% of the challenges result in success with mere seconds to spare).
The background music tunes are outstanding (not in the sense that you'd listen
to tapes of them all day) but work really well for what they are intended to do.
Four celebrities bet points on whether they think the stunts will succeed or
not, and the points are converted into money for charity. I think it's a bit
like "The Guinness Game" but not trying for a WR each time. Good show IMO but
Matthew Kelly's hosting is a bit... grinding.
> : THE MIDAS TOUCH was a sound idea in theory with really stupid games, an
> : appalling end-game and a strong contender for Worst Host Ever.
>
> Explain for us in the US...
Do I have to? :-( Er, I did a CHRIS COMPARES on this when it first came out
in, er, about June, and gave it 2/10. I'l dig it out and stick it on my
Web page. Details of that to follow...
Cheers! Chris.
Ian Collier
>1> Who is Bob Mills? and
Some comedian or other...
>2> Is he better or worse than Shane was on WLoD??
Who could possibly be worse than Shane Ritchie?!
Mills is OK but he still helps the contestants too much (and I hate that
irritating way in which he has to make a big deal about moving half a
metre to the left so that he can draw the ubiquitous and naff viewers'
competition). Bring back Danny Baker!...
Ian Collier - i...@comlab.ox.ac.uk - WWW Home Page:
http://www.comlab.ox.ac.uk/oucl/users/ian.collier/index.html