Marky B

At the moment,the only game shows I watch is Deal or No Deal,which I know is not a favourite on this site and Countdown. Goldenballs I can't understand (the great Jasper Carrot should be doing something better),I am sure the BBC take on thickos so that the £10,000 jackpot will never be won on The Weakest Link and Who Wants To Be A Millionaire has lost its sparkle.
However,going back a bit,what was your favourite game shows. I used to like Blockbusters when the unflappable Bob Holness presented it,the Golden Shot with the irreplaceable Bob Monkhouse and Anne Aston,Bullseye with Jim Bowen and even Blankety Blank under Les Dawson's watch.
Ta Ta
Marky B

I once shot an elephant in my pyjamas - how he got in my pyjamas,I'll never know

faginsgirl

I love goldenballs! The faces of the contestants when they have been had are evil! .

I`m not keen on deal or no deal, although I can see why people get hooked, some of the contestants are really too over the top for me.

I used to like `the generation game` with both Bruce Forsyth and Larry Grayson.

`Shut that door!`

We`re changin` lodggggggggings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Marky B

I read today that someone tricked a pensioner by "stealing" £90,000. Not for me.
I used to like The Generation Game when it was on in the seventies,but couldn't get away with the newer ones.
Ta Ta
Marky B

I once shot an elephant in my pyjamas - how he got in my pyjamas,I'll never know

DB7

As mad as it was I used to enjoy 321, and would actually try working out the frequently nonsensical clues. The innocence of youth...

faginsgirl

90,000 from a pensioner? well I`m all for game show winners but some people are just walking sess pits. .

Me, I would wanna share with my component whatever was at stake if they had helped build up the money!

I used to like `play your cards right` too.

We`re changin` lodggggggggings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Steve Crook

Blockbusters was great. But I always did prefer shows where the contestants have to show some intelligence.

And when they had to pick the initial letter there was always the chance of someone uttering the immortal line "Can I have a P please Bob"
Or even a schoolgirl saying "Can I have U please Bob"

Steve

batman

I enjoyed Blockbusters. IIRC they tried an adult version (no, not that sort of 'adult') and it wasn't half as good.

Bob Holness played James Bond in a radio version of Moonraker in the 50s.

Having pain is the worst thing in the whole world!

Hugo Fitch

Anyone else sad enough to stay in on a Saturday night may have caught "Duel" which is pretty good I reckon ( although I would have watched a blank screen rather channel hop and risk one second's showing of Hanks' desecration of "The Ladykillers"). Next they'll do a remake of "Tight Little Island". Back to game shows, my mum once appeared on Criss Cross Quiz in the days when contestants had to stand up-and the host was some dapper bloke whose name I have forgotten.

hankoler

I liked 15 to 1 , anyone seen Are you smarter than a ten year old , there are some real dumb ones on there.

Capture King

Yeah, I watch it all the time, I prefer the Dick & Dom ones better than the Noel Edmonds ones.

Jackdaw

I remember the show - there was also a junior version, I think.
At this distance it's difficult to put different presenters to the correct shows, but I think the host was David Gell - dark hair, glasses, and probably Canadian.
Am I right, Sir?

David Brent

Whatever happened to Bamber Gascoine?

Dave.

Steve Crook

A sad story. He created University Challenge almost single handed (from the American College Bowl quiz). He set most of the questions himself in the early days and his questioning was firm yet polite, and his judgement scrupulously fair. Phrases he often used which became catchphrases include: "Your starter for ten" and "I'll have to hurry you".

Then he was booted off that and Jeremy "Paxo" Paxman took over with his more abrasive, bullying style. With his catchphrases like "Oh, come on", "Surely, you must know that".

Bamber "Bambi" Gascoigne has hardly ever been seen on our TV screens since, just the occasional appearance in a chat show.


He returned in 1998 to present the Red Dwarf special Universe Challenge (a position he acquired by blowing up Jeremy Paxman, who was played by Chris Barrie, with a bazookoid, a weapon from the series), a contest between the actors of the show and a set of fans; the fans won by a narrow margin.

In the 1970s he presented The Christians, a television documentary series on the history of Christianity.

In recent years he has devoted much of his time in establishing an online history encyclopaedia called "History World".

In the early hours of Wednesday August 8, 1979 Gascoigne was witness to the burial by Kit Williams, the author of Masquerade, of a valuable golden hare in an earthenware jar "somewhere in Britain". The treasure hunt which followed was pursued worldwide and chronicled in the book Quest for the Golden Hare.

In the Young Ones episode "Bambi" he is parodied by Griff Rhys Jones as "Bambi Gascoigne" (with considerable emphasis being placed on the resemblance of his name to the Disney character). He was also portrayed by actor Mark Gatiss in the film Starter for Ten (2006).

His name appears in one version of the Monty Python "Lumberjack Song" when Michael Palin sings of the "Quercus maximus Bamber Gascoigneii", and in the Python song "I Like Traffic Lights" the singer points out that his name is not Bamber.

Bamber Gascoigne is also an authority on the history and techniques of printmaking and graphic reproduction, with publications such as Milestones in Colour Printing and How to Identify Prints.

His latest project is TimeSearch which presents a number of timelines.

Steve

David Brent

Many thanks for that Steve. Very interesting.

I remember Bamber and his "Starter for ten" very well.
I have never seen the Paxman version of the series.
I wonder why Bamber was replaced?

Dave.

Hugo Fitch

No I don't think you are. I googled "Criss Cross Quiz" and found that there are a fair few websites devoted to game shows- which kept me away from what I really should have been doing for about an hour ! The dapper bloke I had in mind was Jeremy Hawk- not his real name apparently but a stage name he adopted because his nose was shaped like a hawk's beak. David Gell hosted "Concentration" and according to one source ( but not another) he hosted Junior Criss Cross Quiz . I remember his voice on Radio Luxemburg- the station of the stars.