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Challenge - June 2016 onwards

#ChallengeAccepted (June 2016)

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JO
Jonwo
Here's Australian Deal or No Deal, as been mentioned, it's very different to the British format:
PA
paul_hadley
As I’m super lazy tonight - what were the differences between Rich and Lucky or was it simply a rebadged show?
GM
Gary McEwan
As I’m super lazy tonight - what were the differences between Rich and Lucky or was it simply a rebadged show?


Slightly more outlandish but in essence still the same show.
JA
james-2001
As I’m super lazy tonight - what were the differences between Rich and Lucky or was it simply a rebadged show?


Slightly more outlandish but in essence still the same show.


I don't think it was any more outlandish than the later series of Strike It Lucky were.

In all honesty I just see it as the same show with a new look, the format's pretty much the same. Though obviously there were a fair few behind the scenes changes too, not least it moving from Teddington to the South Bank as a result of LWT taking over. And bigger prizes, but that would have happened anyway even if it stayed at Thames because of the lifting of the prize limits in 1993.

One noticable difference between the two was on the final game, when they shuffled the arrows, questions and hot spots, they could be in any order, so all three choices on one row could be the same thing. Whereas on Strike It Rich they made it so each row only had one of each.

I think Strike It Rich did have more ridiculous prizes, but from what I heard from people who've been on the show, they never got the prizes anyway, just a cash equivalent.

Somehow I find myself liking Strike It Lucky more because of its dated charm, somehow I don't like the more modern graphics and set of Strike It Rich as much. Though admittedly it must have been looking dated well before 1994 (probably why they tried updating the set in 1990- but they kept the same blocky graphics on the screens!).
Last edited by james-2001 on 26 May 2020 8:19pm - 3 times in total
JA
james-2001
UKGameshows has a video of the "final episode" of Strike It Rich, though I notice it has a 1998 copyright, and there are episodes with a 1999 copyright date. Though I guess that's not too unusual with the way ITV treated gameshows at the time, keeping them in the can for ages, swapping them round, showing odd episodes randomly months after they'd shown any others, starting new series before they'd even shown all the episodes of the previous one etc. Presumably that was a holdover from the previous series which was shoved on after they'd shown all the episodes of the final series.

In fact the strangest way they treated a gameshow was by starting to run series 12 of Catchphrase before they'd shown any of series 11(Series 11 having sat on the shelf since 1996, but didn't start airing until well into 1998, and didn't end until 1999, mixed in with episodes from series 11 and 13). And I think the tapes of series 11, 12 and 13 must have been thrown in the air and picked out in random order with the way they were shown over 1998 and 1999. Treating Catchphrase oddly wasn't even new, as Series 9 which was made under TVS in 1992 wasn't shown until it was spread out over 1993 and 1994. Then some unaired episodes from Series 8 made in 1991 were tacked on to the end of that run, then they went straight in series 10 the week after they showed the last one.
Last edited by james-2001 on 26 May 2020 8:39pm - 2 times in total
BR
Brekkie
Wasn't the name change down to some sort of legal dispute rather than any change in format?
JA
james-2001
Wasn't the name change down to some sort of legal dispute rather than any change in format?


I think so, as Thames owned the Strike it Lucky name. Of course, both versions of the show had ended up in common ownership within a few years anyway, once Grundy and Thames had been subsumed into Pearson.
GM
Gary McEwan
Wasn't the name change down to some sort of legal dispute rather than any change in format?


Am I right in thinking that Thames held the rights to Strike It Lucky and wouldn't give the name to LWT hence Strike It Rich?
CO
Coronavision
Strike It Rich was the name of the original US version.

If there were legal problems then its interesting that they carried over the significant changes Thames made to the Kline and Friends format.
CO
Coronavision
Also worth pointing out the original US version of Catchphrase ran around the same time as Strike It Rich, the UK versions of both began around the same time, both flopped in the US and ended after one season whereas both become very long running successes in the UK.


You couldn't sell a new game show format in the US in the mid-late 1980s for love nor money. The industry had all but dried up, Merv Griffin's shows had eaten what interest there was left, even Mark Goodson couldn't find a successful New format around this time and was reduced to digging up old ones. In fact, arguably the last successful Goodson format was 1980's Blockbusters (Child's Play, Body Language and Trivia Trap all bombed), and even Blockbusters rated poorly throughout its run. Without such a colossus churning out new stuff the rest of it floundered.
Last edited by Coronavision on 26 May 2020 9:06pm
JO
Jon
Presumably the changes to the format were agreed with Kline and Friends and they retained the rights to those changes but not the name. The other theory I remember hearing (and this was just from an everyday person) was that it sounded too much ‘Lucky Strike’ so didn’t use the name for that reason. But as I say, that’s the thinking of someone who wouldn’t have known about the different production companies.
JO
Jonwo
Also worth pointing out the original US version of Catchphrase ran around the same time as Strike It Rich, the UK versions of both began around the same time, both flopped in the US and ended after one season whereas both become very long running successes in the UK.


You couldn't sell a new game show format in the US in the mid-late 1980s for love nor money. The industry had all but dried up, Merv Griffin's shows had eaten what interest there was left, even Mark Goodson couldn't find a successful New format around this time and was reduced to digging up old ones. In fact, arguably the last successful Goodson format was 1980's Blockbusters (Child's Play, Body Language and Trivia Trap all bombed), and even Blockbusters rated poorly throughout its run. Without such a colossus churning out new stuff the rest of it floundered.


I imagine when Millionaire came along in both the UK and US, it rejuvenated the gameshow market but also made many shows look old hat.
Last edited by Jonwo on 26 May 2020 9:40pm

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