HOME

TheInfoList



Click Here for Items Related To - Game for a Laugh
OR:
Game for a Laugh on:   [Wikipedia]   [Google]   [Amazon]

''Game for a Laugh'' was a British
light entertainment Light entertainment encompasses a broad range of television and radio programming that includes comedies, variety shows, game shows, quiz shows and the like. In Great Britain In the early days of the BBC virtually all broadcast entertainment wou ...
programme which ran for 56 editions and four specials between 26 September 1981 and 23 November 1985, made by
LWT London Weekend Television (LWT) (now part of the non-franchised ITV London region) was the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties at weekends, broadcasting from Fridays at 5.15 pm (7:00 pm from 1968 un ...
for the
ITV ITV or iTV may refer to: ITV *Independent Television (ITV), a British television network, consisting of: ** ITV (TV network), a free-to-air national commercial television network covering the United Kingdom, the Isle of Man, and the Channel Islan ...
network.


Description

The show revolved around a variety of
practical jokes A practical joke, or prank, is a mischievous trick played on someone, generally causing the victim to experience embarrassment, perplexity, confusion, or discomfort.Marsh, Moira. 2015. ''Practically Joking''. Logan: Utah State University Press. ...
, either in game-type formats played out within the studio or as often elaborate set-ups on unsuspecting members of the public, either studio-based or shot on location. Studio games included the Dunk Tank (the victim would be lowered into a tank of water) and Pie Chair (a volunteer would be pied when answering a question wrong.) Other games would involve couples from the audience and climaxed with the woman throwing a
custard pie A custard pie is any type of uncooked custard mixture added to an uncooked or partially cooked crust and baked together. In North America, custard pie commonly refers to a plain mixture of milk, eggs, sugar, salt, vanilla extract and sometimes ...
at her husband or boyfriend, giggling mischievously at her handiwork and being allowed to escape without even the suggestion of payback. Each segment would end with the victim being made aware of the joke by a presenter, who would then announce that the person had proved to be "game for a laugh".


Origins

It has been said that the original format was called ''Gotcha'' and was designed as a
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
...
show to be presented by
Paul Daniels Newton Edward Daniels (6 April 1938 – 17 March 2016), known professionally as Paul Daniels, was an English magician and television presenter. He achieved international fame through his television series '' The Paul Daniels Magic Show'', whic ...
,
David Copperfield ''David Copperfield'' Dickens invented over 14 variations of the title for this work, see is a novel in the bildungsroman genre by Charles Dickens, narrated by the eponymous David Copperfield, detailing his adventures in his journey from inf ...
(the British comedian) and
Pamela Stephenson Pamela Helen Stephenson, Lady Connolly (born 4 December 1949) is a New Zealand-born psychologist, writer, and performer who is now a resident in both the United Kingdom and the United States. She is best known for her work as an actress and co ...
. The pilot show was rejected, allegedly, for being 'too vulgar'.
Jeremy Beadle Jeremy James Anthony Gibson-Beadle MBE (12 April 1948 – 30 January 2008) was an English television presenter, radio presenter, writer and producer. During the 1980s he was a regular face on British television, and in two years appeared ...
then rewrote the format, with producer Michael Hill in the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
. According to the show's original producer, Brian Wesley, in his 1982 book on the series, "The ''Game for a Laugh'' birthplace was the Hollywood office of producer Michael Hill." Jeremy Beadle and Hill's
Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...
-based TV production company Hill-Eubanks Group envisaged a show in which "the people were the stars". Hill developed the eventual show with Beadle and with Jeremy Fox, then head of
London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
-based Action Time, and the son of BBC TV executive Sir Paul Fox. Fox then presented the format to LWT. Jeremy Fox also brought to the show a wealth of stunts from ''
Truth or Consequences ''Truth or Consequences'' is an American game show originally hosted on NBC radio by Ralph Edwards (1940–1957) and later on television by Edwards (1950–1954), Jack Bailey (1954–1956), Bob Barker (1956–1975), Steve Dunne (1957–1958), ...
'', a show created by
Ralph Edwards Ralph Livingstone Edwards (June 13, 1913DeLong, Thomas A. (1996). ''Radio Stars: An Illustrated Biographical Dictionary of 953 Performers, 1920 through 1960''. McFarland & Company, Inc. . Pp. 86-87. – November 16, 2005) was an American radio ...
Productions in Hollywood from whom LWT bought the
rights Rights are legal, social, or ethical principles of freedom or entitlement; that is, rights are the fundamental normative rules about what is allowed of people or owed to people according to some legal system, social convention, or ethical the ...
.Wesley, Brian: "Game for a Laugh" (pub Arrow Books, 1982), page 6 At LWT, Head of
Light Entertainment Light entertainment encompasses a broad range of television and radio programming that includes comedies, variety shows, game shows, quiz shows and the like. In Great Britain In the early days of the BBC virtually all broadcast entertainment wou ...
Alan Boyd put the finishing touches to it.


Production

The hosts for its first few series were Beadle,
Matthew Kelly Matthew Kelly (born David Allan Kelly, 9 May 1950) is an English actor and presenter. Having been trained as a theatre actor, he first came to public prominence as a television presenter of ITV light entertainment shows such as '' Game for a ...
, Henry Kelly (no relation) and
Sarah Kennedy Sarah Mary Kennedy MBE (born 8 July 1950) is a British retired TV and radio broadcaster. She presented her daily early morning radio show, ''The Dawn Patrol'', on BBC Radio 2 from 1993 to 2010. In the 2005 Queen's Birthday Honours, Kennedy ...
. When both Kellys and Kennedy left, the hosts were Jeremy Beadle, Martin Daniels (the son of Paul Daniels),
Rustie Lee Rustie Lee (born 22 May 1949) is a Jamaican television personality, television chef, actress and singer. She participated on the Channel 5 reality-television show '' Celebrity Super Spa'' in 2013; ITV's ''Who's Doing the Dishes?'', hosted by Bri ...
and Lee Peck. The final series was hosted by Beadle, Daniels and Debbie Rix. The production team for the series overlapped with the later '' Surprise, Surprise'', which was originally a spin-off format from ''Game For a Laugh'', designed by Alan Boyd to comprise the 'surprising', bizarre and humorous 'real people' elements from ''Game For a Laugh''.


Catchphrase

The series' catchphrase was spoken by the four presenters at the end of the show - "Join us again next week when we very much hope you'll be..." then each of the four would intone, one by one: Henry - "Watching us..." Sarah - "Watching you..." Matthew - "Watching us..." Jeremy - "Watching you...." ''(all)'' - "GOODNIGHT!"


Presenters

Although the other presenters went on to other different types of show, Jeremy Beadle went on to present several more practical-joke type shows, including ''
Beadle's About ''Beadle's About'' is a British television programme hosted by Jeremy Beadle, where members of the public became victims of practical jokes behind hidden cameras. It was produced by LWT for ITV, and ran on Saturday nights from 22 November 1986 ...
'' and became strongly identified with the genre in the UK. Sarah Kennedy had started her career as a newsreader for
BBC Radio 1 BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It specialises in modern popular music and current chart hits throughout the day. The station provides alternative genres at night, including electronica, dance, ...
. In the late 1980s she took over from
Julian Pettifer Julian Pettifer OBE (born 21 July 1935) is an English television journalist. He was president of the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds and is vice president of the Royal Society of Wildlife Trusts and the RSPB. He was voted BAFTA 'Repor ...
as host of the ITV game show '' Busman's Holiday''. She later presented early morning show ''The Dawn Patrol'' on
BBC Radio 2 BBC Radio 2 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. It is the most popular station in the United Kingdom with over 15 million weekly listeners. Since launching in 1967, the station broadcasts a wide range of content. ...
from 1993 until 2010. Henry Kelly went on to present the BBC TV pan-
Europe Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a Continent#Subcontinents, subcontinent of Eurasia ...
an quiz ''
Going for Gold ''Going for Gold'' is a British television game show that originally aired on BBC1 between 12 October 1987 and 9 July 1996. It was revived for Channel 5 from 13 October 2008 to 20 March 2009. Background 1987–96 ''Going for Gold'' was origi ...
''. He also was contracted to deliver
TV-am TV-am was a TV company that broadcast the ITV franchise for breakfast television in the United Kingdom from 1 February 1983 until 31 December 1992. The station was the UK's first national operator of a commercial breakfast television franchise ...
weekend shows and also occasionally doubled on the weekday format. He later became a Sunday morning presenter on the British radio station Classic FM. Matthew Kelly started his career as a stooge to
Hylda Baker Hylda Baker (4 February 1905 – 1 May 1986) was an English comedian, actress and music hall performer. Born and brought up in Farnworth, Lancashire, she is perhaps best remembered for her role as Nellie Pledge in the Granada ITV sitcom ''N ...
. Dressed in drag, he played Cynthia, whom Hylda was always telling to "be soon". He'd also go on to host ''
You Bet! ''You Bet!'' is a British game show that aired on ITV between 20 February 1988 and 12 April 1997, initially hosted by Bruce Forsyth from 1988 to 1990, then by Matthew Kelly from 1991 to 1995 and finally by Darren Day from 1996 to 1997. Forma ...
'' (replacing
Bruce Forsyth Sir Bruce Joseph Forsyth-Johnson (22 February 1928 – 18 August 2017) was a British entertainer and presenter whose career spanned more than 70 years. Forsyth came to national attention from the late 1950s through the ITV series '' Sunday Nig ...
) and ''
Stars in Their Eyes ''Stars in Their Eyes'' is a British television talent series, based on Joop van den Ende's Dutch format ''Soundmixshow''. It featured a singing contest in which members of the public impersonate showbiz stars. The show premiered on 21 July 1 ...
'' (replacing
Leslie Crowther Leslie Douglas Sargent Crowther, CBE (6 February 1933 – 29 September 1996) was an English comedian, actor, TV presenter, and game show host. Biography Crowther was born on Monday, 6 February, 1933 in West Bridgford, Nottinghamshire, son of ...
, with Crowther having been injured in a road accident).


Parody

''Game for a Laugh'' was spoofed in ''
Not the Nine O'Clock News ''Not the Nine O'Clock News'' is a British television sketch comedy show which was broadcast on BBC2 from 1979 to 1982. Originally shown as a comedy alternative to the '' Nine O'Clock News'' on BBC1, it features satirical sketches on then-cur ...
'', in a sketch showing a man (played by
Rowan Atkinson Rowan Sebastian Atkinson (born 6 January 1955) is an English actor, comedian and writer. He played the title roles on the sitcoms '' Blackadder'' (1983–1989) and ''Mr. Bean'' (1990–1995), and the film series ''Johnny English'' (2003–201 ...
) returning home from work to find his wife brutally beheaded. He runs out into the street screaming before being approached by the crew who then shout "Game for a Laugh", whereupon they all share the joke, despite the fact that the man's wife is dead. This parody featured Pamela Stephenson (in the Sarah Kennedy role), who had expected to present the original BBC version of the series. Comedian and eccentric
Spike Milligan Terence Alan "Spike" Milligan (16 April 1918 – 27 February 2002) was an Irish actor, comedian, writer, musician, poet, and playwright. The son of an English mother and Irish father, he was born in British Raj, British Colonial India, where h ...
also parodied the show in his series '' There's a Lot of It About''. The parody version is called "Laugh at a Cretin".


Transmissions


Series


Specials


International versions

On 4 February 1986 a
German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...
version premiered on ARD. It was called "Donnerlippchen" and captured ''Spiele ohne Gewähr'' which means "games without engagement". It was hosted by Jürgen von der Lippe and produced by Michael Hill. The last regular episode aired on 30 April 1988 and on 9 August 1988 the show ended with a "Best of".


References


External links

* *{{UKGameshow, Game_for_a_Laugh 1981 British television series debuts 1985 British television series endings London Weekend Television shows Television series by ITV Studios Hidden camera television series Television series featuring gunge