Epic Gameshow
Alan Carr on reviving not one, but five classic game shows!
SATURDAY / ITV
I’m looking forward to a wallow in nostalgia as Alan Carr revamps not one, but five classic TV game shows, including Play Your Cards Right, Take Your Pick! and Bullseye. We visit Alan during filming to find out how he feels about following in the footsteps of the shows’ legendary original hosts…
ALAN CARR’S EPIC GAMESHOW
NEW SAT / ITV / 8.15PM / EP 1 of 6 / ENTERTAINMENT
The old ones are still the best, so they say, and it certainly feels that way as TV Times arrives on the set of Epic Gameshow, a brand-new ITV series bringing back the best light-entertainment shows of yesteryear.
Comedian Alan Carr hosts slightly revamped versions of classic TV programmes including The Price Is Right (‘Come on down!’), Take Your Pick! (who remembers the gong and the boxes?), Play Your Cards Right (‘You get nothing for a pair, not in this game!’) and Strike It Lucky (‘What is a Hot Spot not?!’) with a heavy helping of nostalgia and fun.
When we step into the studio (the series was filmed last year), the crew are busily preparing for Bullseye, and we see a giant dartboard as well as mascot Bully – TV royalty no less!
Determined to get the full experience, we search for the show’s most famous prize, a speedboat, but can’t find one. Perhaps it’s out the back…
As Alan lets us have a go at the game (predictably, we did much better at the quiz questions than the darts element!), it’s clear that he’s thrilled to be reviving these much-loved shows.
‘It’s a real honour, it makes me feel all warm and squishy inside,’ says Chatty Man star Alan, 43, as he sits down to tell us more…
You’re bringing back a different game show each week – but which is your favourite?
Bullseye, definitely; that’s the one taxi drivers talk to me about. On paper, it sounds pretty boring, just watching a load of fat old men throw darts – but it’s really tense! Also, it’s nice for me to be the bit of eye candy on the screen… It’s so nostalgic hosting that show and, of course, we have a speedboat – anyone I have spoken to about doing this just asks if we have one. Worryingly, some people also seem to think Bully was real. My friend asked me what he was like to work with. I was like, ‘He’s a cartoon from
the 1980s!’
First up is a celebrity version of Play Your Cards Right, with stars such as Martine Mccutcheon, Ore Oduba, Chris Ramsey plus Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford…
It’s a lot of fun but it gets quite emotional. There’s a lot of money at stake and the charities are so close to the celebrities that in the Epic End Game there are tears. I’m glad this is the first one because I think people have a lot of affection for Play Your Cards Right and, of course, it will always be associated with Sir Bruce Forsyth. I can obviously never replace him, but I hope I captured some of his enthusiasm, warmth and sparkle.
Take Your Pick! looks like a tricky presenting gig, trying to catch contestants out on the ‘Yes-no’ game. Was it tough?
It was exhausting thinking up new things to say, and some of these contestants were like spies. They had definitely practised. But I had such a laugh doing it and it makes you realise how many game shows these days have nicked ideas and format points from these shows. Take Your Pick! involves picking a box and seeing what’s inside, a bit like [C4 hit] Deal or No Deal
– yes, Noel Edmonds, you will be hearing from our lawyers!
How does it feel following in the footsteps of the likes of Sir Bruce Forsyth (Play Your Cards Right and The Price Is Right) and Des O’connor (Take Your Pick!)?
Well, I’m doing all their catchphrases, like, ‘Don’t be cheeky,’ and, ‘Didn’t they do well?’ I hope people like it! I once shared a dressing room with Des, Bruce and Ronnie Corbett at the Royal Variety Performance – the stories they had were great. Brucie wanted to hear the audio feed for the actual show, so I was behind the telly turning the volume up. He kept saying, ‘Higher! Higher!’ I thought, ‘Is he taking the mickey?’
Are there any other shows you’d like to bring back?
I mentioned 3-2-1 [which ran on ITV from 1978-1988, hosted by Ted Rogers], but I feel when you look back, it didn’t make any sense. You’re playing a quiz and then a bin comes out… Who wants to win a bin?!
Has this made you fancy hosting a brand-new game show?
Yeah, I would if the format’s right. I feel [BBC1’S] Pointless is great.
I like it because it’s very simple, and those are the shows that work. I’ve done a few pilots for new quizzes before, but this series is like when you go on safari and you want to see the ‘Big Five’ – these are the ones that started it all.
Would you make a good game-show contestant?
I did Deal or No Deal once and I started crying! It was because I was gambling with the charity’s money. I would be rubbish at the darts on Bullseye and fairly useless at guessing the value of things on The Price Is Right. I could do Strike It Lucky maybe, because that’s just pressing the button, really. Actually, I could do the questions on Bullseye – I used to love the spelling round because you’d get the Bully cartoon going across the screen. There’s a special category this time – Famous Alans! I was delighted when they put [World War Two codebreaker] Alan Turing on the £50 note – it’s nice to see an Alan doing well in life, isn’t it?
ALAN CARR’S EPIC GAMESHOW
is previewed on pages 32-33