Session 102 - A brief history of British game shows. The first ever British game
show was "Spelling Bee" in 1938. Transmitted live from the BBC Studios,
the format of the show simply involved a puddle of guests being asked to spell a
series of words. The show was short lived as the Second World War resulted in
television closing down and on its return did not produce any notable game
shows. In 1951 that all changed with the launch of "What's My Line", a panel show in
which contestants with unusual occupations perform a mime of the job that
they do, then field yes-or-no questions from four celebrities aiming to
work out the contestant's job. In 1955, ITV came into being, a commercial station
that brought into revenue and allowed for game shows to offer cash prizes, the
first one being "Take your Pick". The game opened from a qualification game where
the contestants had to respond to the questions master's questions without
saying "Yes or No". Those who qualified were asked three general knowledge
questions, and if answered correctly would get to pick one of ten keys, each
one corresponding to a numbered box. The host would try to buy the keys off the
contestant, who would either sell back the key or open the box. Some of the boxes
contained booby prizes, others contained legitimate prizes. This brought on a game
show frenzy and by 1958 there was a quiz show on 6 nights of the week. A similar
fever existed in the USA and as a result, many different formats emerged and was
subsequently copied. Shows like "The 64,000 Dollar Question"
and "Twenty One" enjoyed immense success. "Take Your Pick" remained one of the
leading shows of audiences but was unfortunately
axed due to a loss of the franchise. Despite the launch of the BBC's second channel,
in 1964, there are not many offerings to fill in the void left by "Take Your Pick".
"Call My Bluff" was the only game show of any note on this channel, whilst ITV aired
the highbrow, "University Challenge". The 70s brought with it a political
incorrectness as comedians and sitcoms aired their dirty laundry on ITV. To
counter this, the BBC produced several game shows with the functional,
upstanding family at its base, shows like "Ask the Family" and "Generation Game".
Though the "Generation Game" and shows to come like "Family Fortunes" held with the family
orientated format, the strike culture that was sweeping across Britain again
altered the face of television game shows. ITV's "Sale of The Century" capitalised on
the BBC's all-out strike and won over 21.2 million viewers, the highest
ever rating for an ITV game show. The translation of American game shows on to
British television kept the genre alive but it was "The Krypton Factor" that was
one of the first new-style game shows to be exported to the USA. Launched in 1977
by ITV, "The Krypton Factor" combined quiz, puzzle and physical challenges and put
four contestants through "the ultimate mental and physical tests". The title of
the show was a reference to Superman's home planet Krypton. Each episode
consisted of six rounds, Mental Agility; Response; Intelligence;
Observation; Physical Ability and General Knowledge. The Mental Agility round was
originally called the "Personality" round in which contestants were
set creative tasks such as rewriting nursery rhymes as news reports or inventing
limericks on a given topic. Other rounds included dexterity tests,
spot the difference, assault courses, spatial awareness tests, and question
rounds. Contestants went head to head, with the overall winner of each episode
moving on to the next stage with a chance to take it to the final to win
The Krypton Factor Superperson of the Year. The show aired for 17 series
consecutively, with no show produced in 1994. It made a return in 1995 but was
not seen again until 2009/2010. Although it was very successful in
Britain it did not do so well in the U.S. producing only two series. The first
was a five-week limited series that aired in 1981 and the second premiered
on September 15, 1990 and ran until September 7, 1991. So successful was "The
Krypton Factor" that it has crashed on merchandise including clothing and
sports bags, made popular by the show itself as all contestants would receive
these items with the Krypton Factor logo on them as gifts for appearing on the
programme. Several books have been published concerning the show and in
1989 a Krypton Factor quiz book was published. There have also been computer
game and an interactive DVD Board Game. Adrenalin, a company that offers
corporate entertainments, paintball, orienteering, mountain biking and
survival training in North Yorkshire, markets itself as the home of the
obstacle course from the TV series, which offers the paying public a chance to
take on the Assault course.
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