British light entertainment television series
Game for a Laugh
was a British
light entertainment
programme which ran for 56 editions and four specials between 26 September 1981 and 23 November 1985, made by
LWT
for the
ITV
network.
Description
[
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The show revolved around a variety of
practical jokes
, 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
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
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It has been said that the original format was called
Gotcha
and was designed as a
BBC
show
[1]
to be presented by
Paul Daniels
,
David Copperfield
(the British comedian) and
Pamela Stephenson
.
[2]
The
pilot show
was rejected, allegedly, for being 'too vulgar'.
Jeremy Beadle
then rewrote the format, with producer Michael Hill in the
United States
.
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
-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
-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
, a show created by
Ralph Edwards
Productions in Hollywood from whom LWT bought the
rights
.
[3]
At LWT, Head of
Light Entertainment
Alan Boyd put the finishing touches to it.
Production
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The hosts for its first few series were Beadle,
Matthew Kelly
,
Henry Kelly
(no relation) and
Sarah Kennedy
. When both Kellys and Kennedy left, the hosts were Jeremy Beadle,
Martin Daniels
(the son of Paul Daniels),
Rustie Lee
and Lee Peck. Debbie Rix replaced Rustie Lee for the final series.
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
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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
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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
and became strongly identified with the genre in the UK.
Sarah Kennedy had started her career as a newsreader for
BBC Radio 1
. In the late 1980s she took over from
Julian Pettifer
as host of the ITV game show
Busman's Holiday
. She later presented early morning show
The Dawn Patrol
on
BBC Radio 2
from 1993 until 2010.
Henry Kelly went on to present the BBC TV pan-
European
quiz
Going for Gold
. He also was contracted to deliver
TV-am
weekend shows and also occasionally doubled on the weekday format. He later became a weekday morning presenter on the British radio station
Classic FM
before moving to Sunday mornings.
Matthew Kelly started his career as a stooge to
Hylda Baker
. Dressed in drag, he played Cynthia, whom Hylda was always telling to "be soon". He'd also go on to host
You Bet!
(replacing
Bruce Forsyth
) and
Stars in Their Eyes
(replacing
Leslie Crowther
, with Crowther having been injured in a road accident). He later returned to his roots as an actor.
Parody
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Game for a Laugh
was spoofed in
Not the Nine O'Clock News
, in a sketch showing a man (played by
Rowan Atkinson
) 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
also parodied the show in his series
There's a Lot of It About
. The parody version is called "Laugh at a Cretin".
Transmissions
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Series
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Series
|
Start date
|
End date
|
Episodes
|
1
|
26 September 1981
|
19 December 1981
|
13
|
2
|
11 September 1982
|
4 December 1982
|
13
|
3
|
10 September 1983
|
26 November 1983
|
12
|
4
|
20 January 1985
|
7 April 1985
|
11
|
5
|
12 October 1985
|
23 November 1985
|
7
|
Specials
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Date
|
Entitle
|
25 December 1981
|
Christmas Special
|
11 April 1982
|
Easter Special
|
25 December 1982
|
Christmas Special
|
25 August 1984
|
The Best of Game for a Laugh
|
International versions
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On 4 February 1986 a
German
version premiered on
Erstes Deutsches Fernsehen
. It was called "Donnerlippchen" (a pun with the name of the host and the exclamation ″Donnerlittchen″ which is used like "wow") and captured
Spiele ohne Gewahr
which means "games without warranty". It was hosted by Jurgen 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
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External links
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