F to I
F is for Family Fortunes
Famed throughout the land for its electronic raspberry
noise, “ZX81” graphics, and, of course, its
contestants - the thickest, inbred collectives ever seen
on television. Its final, quick-fire, free-association
round led to some of the most fantastic answers ever seen
on TV. Straining the professionalism (and straight faces)
of hosts Bob Monkhouse, Max Bygraves, and Les Dennis were
these clangers:
“Name something you can beat.” Apple
“Some famous brothers.” Bonnie & Clyde
“Something you open other than a door.”
Bowels
“An animals you might see at the zoo” Dog
“A famous Scotsman” Jock
“Something a blind man might use.” A sword
More here
G is for Going For Gold
T he cheesiest, most luridly coloured / dayglo daytime
quiz show of them all. Running for what seemed like
centuries, it featured a mix of British housewives and
European polyglots, competing for a holiday in the Far
East. The terrible ching of its buzzer still reverberates
down the years. The questions, often strongly themed
(“tomatoes”, “countries beginning
with B” etc) weren’t that difficult. Anyway,
it didn’t matter if the contestants lost. They
just appeared on the next day’s show in a slightly
different shirt.
H is for Holness, Bob
The Mr Nice of the quizzing world. In the continuum
of quizmasters, his “Holiness” perhaps represents
precision. Precision silver hair, precision tan, and
precision way of dealing and holding the question cards.
Shiny happy person.
I is for Ingrams, Major
. Boo hiss. Read some fruity details here.
J is for Jeopardy
O ne of the biggest game shows in the US, running for
nearly forty years. Its simple trick was to give the
answers and have the contestant guess the question.
Genius!. An ill-fated UK version presented by Paul Ross
failed to arouse anyone. You can play an online version
here
if you fancy.
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