"after Central Independent Television producer Graham C. Williams spotted the show in 1981 and produced a pilot in 1982. The difference was that instead of adults, who appeared on the American edition, the UK edition was produced for sixth formers. Bob Holness was the original presenter staying on for the first ten series of the first incarnation and a 1994 revival on Sky One., Bob commented in 1988: ""When Central TV were looking for someone to host Blockbusters I was thought of. It was remembered that I'd done TV programmes of much the same sort, such as ""Junior Criss Cross"
"Blockbusters (U.S. game show) Blockbusters is an American game show which had two separate runs in the 1980s. Created by Steve Ryan for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions, the first series debuted on NBC on October 27, 1980, and aired until April 23, 1982. In the first series, a team of two family members competed against a solo contestant. ""Blockbusters"" was revived on NBC from January 5 to May 1, 1987, but featured only two solo contestants competing. Bill Cullen hosted the 1980–82 version, with Bob Hilton as announcer. Johnny Olson and Rich Jeffries substituted for Hilton on occasion, with Jeffries"
"Blockbusters (UK game show) Blockbusters is a British television game show based upon an American game show of the same name in which contestants answer trivia questions to complete a path across or down a game board of hexagons. The programme premiered on 29 August 1983 on ITV and ran for ten series, ending on the ITV network on 19 May 1993. ""Blockbusters"" was revived for four additional series, the most recent of which aired on Challenge in 2012. ""Blockbusters"" was created by Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions and originated as an American series in 1980. The UK version was created"
"Quiz"" which I compered in the 1960s and which was also a question and answer show. One led to the other."" A 1997 edition featuring adults was produced for one series on BBC Two with Michael Aspel presenting. Sky One brought ""Blockbusters"" back under its original rules in 2001 with Liza Tarbuck at the helm, and the Challenge series was presented by Simon Mayo. The show's first series, in 1983, was recorded at the ATV Elstree Centre (which was still owned by Central until 1984 when it was sold to the BBC). Subsequent series were produced at Central's Lenton Lane"
"nomination for Best Game Show Host, his first ever, for hosting the show. Blockbusters (U.S. game show) Blockbusters is an American game show which had two separate runs in the 1980s. Created by Steve Ryan for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions, the first series debuted on NBC on October 27, 1980, and aired until April 23, 1982. In the first series, a team of two family members competed against a solo contestant. ""Blockbusters"" was revived on NBC from January 5 to May 1, 1987, but featured only two solo contestants competing. Bill Cullen hosted the 1980–82 version, with Bob Hilton as"
"Blockbusters (Australian game show) Blockbusters was an Australian children's game show, broadcast on the Seven Network, where players from two schools competed over the course of a week (five episodes), in a rolling format - where games could be started in the middle of an episode, and stopped and continued on the next episode. The school team earning the most points (based on questions answered from the main game, except tie-breaks) won a major prize for their school, such as an encyclopedia. The show was hosted by Michael Pope. It ran in Australia from 1991 to 1994. The game board"
"Bamber Gascoigne Arthur Bamber Gascoigne (born 24 January 1935) is a British television presenter and author, best known for being the original quizmaster on ""University Challenge"", which ran from 1962 to 1987. Gascoigne is the elder son of Lieutenant-Colonel Derek Ernest Frederick Orby Gascoigne (himself the son of Brigadier-General Sir Ernest Frederick Orby Gascoigne) by his marriage in 1934 to Mary Louisa Hermione O'Neill, a daughter of Captain the Hon. Arthur Edward Bruce O'Neill and Lady Annabel Hungerford Crewe-Milnes. His great-grandfathers include Robert Crewe-Milnes, 1st Marquess of Crewe, and Edward O'Neill, 2nd Baron O'Neill. He is a nephew of Sir"
"their three children, Carol (known as Nancy Nova), Ros and Jon, and seven grandchildren. Bob Holness Robert Wentworth John Holness (12 November 1928 – 6 January 2012) was an English radio and television presenter and occasional actor. He presented the British version of ""Blockbusters"". Holness was born in Vryheid, Natal, South Africa. When he was seven, his family moved to England, initially to Herne Bay, Kent where his grandfather Nathaniel was brought up, then later to Ashford, Kent. After attending Ashford Grammar School and briefly Eastbourne College he went on to Maidstone College of Art (now the University for the"
"Jay Jackson Jesse Greene ""Jay"" Jackson (November 4, 1918 – August 16, 2005) was an American radio and television quiz show host and announcer. Jackson was the master of ceremonies of the panel quiz show ""Twenty Questions"" when it aired on the ABC Television Network starting in early 1953 and ending in May 1955. He then hosted the nighttime version of the popular quiz show ""Tic-Tac-Dough"" from its debut on September 12, 1957 through September 1958, yielding that job to Win Elliot for the remaining 13 weeks of the show's nighttime run (September 1957 – December 1958). Jackson was featured"
"original series. Contestants were required to perform tasks (called ""problems"" by Collyer) within a certain time limit which was counted down on a large 60-second clock. If they succeeded, they were said to have ""beaten the clock""—otherwise, ""the clock beat them"". The show had several sponsors over its run, with the most longstanding being the electronics company Sylvania. Substitute hosts on the original version included Bill Hart (1951), John Reed King (1952), stunt creator Frank Wayne (1953), Bob Kennedy (1954), Win Elliot (1955), and Sonny Fox, who became Collyer's permanent substitute from 1957 to 1960. Collyer was referred to in"
"answering a question, and are provided with a safety net that grants them a guaranteed cash prize if they give an incorrect answer, provided they reach a specific milestone in the quiz. The original series aired for 30 series and a total of 592 episodes, from 4 September 1998 to 11 February 2014, and was presented by Chris Tarrant. Over the course of its run, the original series had around five contestants walk away with the top cash prize of £1 million, and faced a number of controversies during its run, including an attempt to defraud the show of its"
"the weekday editions and were presented by Bamber's son, Buster, with Bambette's role filled by Bonnie, his daughter. At one point in the quiz's history the red, yellow and green keys were sensible answers and the blue was mostly reserved for a stupid response although this was sometimes the correct one. This was later generally stopped and all the keys would usually have sensible answers. The quiz started off at 20 questions, then it went down to 15 and then 12. On very few special occasions it was 30, however one question wrong and contestants had to start from the"
"consolation prize for each question in a failed Gold Run, the game would be terminated early if the board became completely blocked from black spaces. A board game was released by Croner in the 90s. Blockbusters (Australian game show) Blockbusters was an Australian children's game show, broadcast on the Seven Network, where players from two schools competed over the course of a week (five episodes), in a rolling format - where games could be started in the middle of an episode, and stopped and continued on the next episode. The school team earning the most points (based on questions answered"
"a relatively uncommon feat in the years prior to cable TV's expansion into the commercial market. The original host of the NBC show was John Barbour, who did not understand the show's concept and considered it a straight talent show, as opposed to Barris' parody concept. Barris dropped Barbour at the last minute; in order to save the show, Barris followed the advice of an NBC executive who suggested that he should host his own show. Barris' jokey, bumbling personality; his accentuated hand-clapping between sentences (which eventually had the studio audience joining in with him); and his catchphrases (he would"
"board), and the next player to give a correct answer would win the game, unless the contestant chose a panel which did not give them win, which may sometimes be considered as a safety tactic, although this rarely happened when a victory was imminent. All players received a ""Blockbusters"" Concise Oxford Dictionary and sweatshirt in the original ITV series. By 1985, the ""Blockbusters"" computer game was added. Within a year, the sweatshirt had been replaced by a ""Blockbusters"" branded cardigan in a choice of colours and a ""Blockbusters"" embossed filofax accompanied the dictionary (replaced by an electronic organizer by 1988)."
"afterwards, while regularly assisting main announcer Gene Wood in warming up the audience. He later went on to announce for the short-lived 1987 revival of ""Blockbusters"" which was hosted by Bill Rafferty. Jeffries had also announced the final two weeks of the original ""Blockbusters"" in 1982, which was hosted by Bill Cullen. During this time Jeffries was a frequent substitute announcer. Among the shows he subbed on were ""Password Plus"" and ""The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour"", substituting for Wood; ""Time Machine"", where he subbed for Charlie Tuna, and ""Love Connection"", where he subbed for Wood, once again, which was his"
"Bob Holness Robert Wentworth John Holness (12 November 1928 – 6 January 2012) was an English radio and television presenter and occasional actor. He presented the British version of ""Blockbusters"". Holness was born in Vryheid, Natal, South Africa. When he was seven, his family moved to England, initially to Herne Bay, Kent where his grandfather Nathaniel was brought up, then later to Ashford, Kent. After attending Ashford Grammar School and briefly Eastbourne College he went on to Maidstone College of Art (now the University for the Creative Arts). He then worked for a printing company before returning to South Africa."
"""Blockbusters"" was eight matches. Following the change, each champion was permitted to stay up to 10 matches. The limit was later increased to 20 wins, and several previously undefeated 10-time champions were invited to compete again on the show. The same board layout was used, with the left and right sides now colored gold, and the object was to complete a path across the board within 60 seconds. Each hexagon now contained up to five letters, standing for the initial letters in the correct response to a clue (e.g. for ""EK"" and a clue of ""Former mayor of New York"
"board game based on the series is currently the prize sent to listeners who beat the panel. The BBC aired a version on radio from 28 February 1947 to 1976 with TV specials airing in 1947 and 1948 plus a series from 1956 to 1957. On radio, the subject to be guessed was revealed to the audience by a ""mystery voice"" (originally Norman Hackforth from 1947 to 1962; he was later a regular panelist). Hackforth became well known amongst the British public as much for his aloofness as his apparent knowledgeability. The series was originally presented by Stewart MacPherson. The"
"answer all the questions, they would subsequently be gonged off the stage. If successful, however, contestants would answer more questions to win modest monetary prizes. At the climax of the show, contestants would be offered the choice of whether to ""take the money"" (take all money they had earned so far) or ""open the box"", which could contain good prizes such as a holiday or a washing machine. It could also contain booby prizes such as a mousetrap or a bag of sweets. The first version was hosted by Michael Miles. After its demise, Miles hosted a similar show for"
"someone's eye out! Knob News!' in a very similar fashion to Monkey News. ""Rockbusters"" was conceived by Karl Pilkington and was played on Ricky Gervais and Stephen Merchant's long running XFM radio show between 2002–2004 and brought back in 2005. It debuted on 12 October 2002 as a phone-in, but converted to an e-mail competition the following week. Despite punning in its title, the game has very little in common with ""Blockbusters"". It is played as follows: Karl gives three clues, which he considers ""cryptic"" but are in reality convoluted colloquialisms which often depend on the answer being mispronounced. Along"
"charities. During his pre-game appearance he recounted how the show was done 2,000 years earlier—""It wasn't this hippy-happy-dappy game you've got here … the moment you walked out of your cave—Jeopardy!"" On the March 17, 2014 airing of the current ""Jeopardy!"" hosted by Alex Trebek, Brooks and Reiner read an entire category of clues as their characters. Mel Brooks adapted the character to create the 2500 Year Old Brewmaster for Ballantine Beer in the 1960s. Interviewed by Dick Cavett in a series of ads, the Brewmaster (in a German accent, as opposed to the 2000 Year Old Man's Jewish voice)"
"Question?"", when skeptical network executive Ed Vane rejected his original concept of the game, claiming, ""It doesn't have enough jeopardies."" ""Jeopardy!"" was not the first game show to give contestants the answers and require the questions. That format had previously been used by the Gil Fates-hosted program ""CBS Television Quiz"", which aired from July 1941 until May 1942. The first three versions of the show were hosted by Art Fleming. Don Pardo served as announcer for the original NBC version and weekly syndicated version, but when NBC's revival ""The All-New Jeopardy!"" launched in 1978, Pardo's announcing duties were taken over"
"also featured an edited version of the show's opening titles. It was announced on 10 November 2011 that game show channel Challenge would revive the show in 2012, under the name """"All New Blockbusters"""", with adult contestants rather than students. Forty episodes were recorded from 9 to 19 February 2012 with Simon Mayo hosting the show. The series started airing on 14 May 2012 with the first episode dedicated to the memory of original host Bob Holness, who died on 6 January 2012. The series also featured contestant Claire Scott who made her third appearance on ""Blockbusters"". The show aired"
"buzzer should he catch the team repeating an answer or giving an incorrect answer. For a brief time while Dr. Gross was away, Walter Cronkite filled in. Dr. Gross eventually became the university's president, and namesake of its fine arts program. Actor Walter O'Keefe and humorist and TV personality Sam Levenson served as Shriner's substitutes. Kenny Williams (who from 1960, until before is death in 1985, would be the ""voice"" of nearly all the game shows produced by Merrill Heatter & Bob Quigley) was the announcer. In 1957, Ed McMahon made his network TV debut as the show's announcer. Milton"
"Raymond Baxter Raymond Frederic Baxter OBE (25 January 1922 – 15 September 2006) was an English television presenter and writer. He is best known for being the first presenter of the BBC Television science programme ""Tomorrow's World"", continuing for 12 years, from 1965 to 1977. He also provided radio commentary at the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II, the funerals of King George VI, Winston Churchill and Lord Mountbatten of Burma, and the first flight of Concorde. Baxter was born in Ilford in Essex. His father was a science teacher. He was educated at Ilford County High School, a grammar school"
"David Jacobs (broadcaster) David Lewis Jacobs, CBE (19 May 1926 – 2 September 2013) was a British broadcaster perhaps best known as presenter of the BBC Television 1960s peak-time show ""Juke Box Jury"", and as chairman of the long-running BBC Radio 4 topical forum ""Any Questions?"" Earlier radio work included small acting parts: over the years he played himself or presenter characters in film, television and radio productions. Jacobs finally stepped down as a BBC Radio 2 presenter shortly before his death, his career having spanned more than 65 years. Jacobs was born to a Jewish family, the youngest of"
"containing climbing, balancing, and cargo nets. The contender with the most points received a half second head start for every 1 point they were in front by. The show was originally presented by Glenn Hicks - executive producer of the first four series - and Ursula Staplefeldt. Following Glenn's departure from the show in 2000, he was replaced by James Lennox when it was resurrected for its penultimate fifth series in 2001. The referees were legendary South African cricketer Cyril Mitchley (1999 - 2000) and international strongman Wayne ""The Boss"" Price (2001). The timekeepers over the show's run were Ingrid"
"2005/early 2006. Gervais immediately picked up on his self-proclaimed nickname, and imagined he looked like Milhouse from ""The Simpsons"". This competition, initially named Crosswords before adopting a listener's suggestion, was introduced when Karl was finding it hard to come up with new ""Rockbusters"" clues. A well-known phrase from the show, such as ""You never see an old man having a Twix"" was split up into words of different songs. The competition was to guess the songs played. In this instance Gerry & The Pacemakers' cover of Rodgers and Hammerstein's ""You'll Never Walk Alone"" made up the first two words of"
"could produce their own versions. The first show was presented by Virginia Stride and Gordon Rollings. Other presenters throughout the 24-year run included Only four of these presenters presented the programme during all three decades of its existence, namely Brian Cant (1964–85), Carol Chell (1966–88), Johnny Ball (1967–84 & 1986–87) and Chloe Ashcroft (1969–88). Chell was both the longest-serving presenter and the one who made the most appearances on the programme (763 in total). Other presenters who were on the programme for 10 or more years included Julie Stevens, Derek Griffiths, Fred Harris, Don Spencer, Sarah Long, Floella Benjamin, Stuart"
"original broadcast, a full unedited version was broadcast on BBC 7, the digital radio channel dedicated to re-runs of classic shows. Different versions of the show could be heard in different contexts. The television broadcast began with pre-show announcements by the producer, John Browell, and introduction of the participants, followed by warm-up routines by the cast. The broadcast proper begins with Spike Milligan, Peter Sellers and Harry Secombe each trying and failing to lead the other two in saying ""It's great to be back."" This was the start of the show from the radio audience's point of view. Announcer Andrew"
"Blocker, Henry Fonda, Tommy Smothers, Don Rickles, Don Adams, Carl Betz, the animated Daffy Duck and Foghorn Leghorn and Joey Heatherton. On the April 9, 1970 episode, Paulsen sang the song ""Did I Ever Really Live?"", which was from his Mercury record album, ""Live at the Ice House"". The show was cancelled after 13 episodes. MPI put the entire series out on DVD in 2009. More recently the series has been added to the Amazon Prime Video lineup Pat Paulsen's Half a Comedy Hour Pat Paulsen's Half a Comedy Hour is an American half-hour television variety show that ran on"
"announced on 3 December 2018 that Dara O'Briain would host the revived version for Comedy Central. 20 new episodes, broadcast over two series, are set to be recorded early next year and will include two celebrity specials. ""Blockbusters"" spawned a number of items of merchandise. 12 quiz books were released from the show which also led to a spin-off: ""Blockbusters Gold Run Volumes 1–5"" being produced. In 1986, Waddingtons created a board game version of the show, which was named ""Game of the Year"" in 1986 by The British Association of Toy Retailers. This led to several successful spin offs;"