Alex Trebek has died

Netflix UK has a couple of series of Jeopardy so I figured I'd watch an episode, and I have to agree that it's amazing how such a dull format has lasted so long. Is it just lacking in energy because of the lack of studio audience?

I think it's just a format that wouldn't work here but that doesn't stop it from, quite evidently, being an institution in the US. Winning streaks on Jeopardy! seem to come with the same sort of prestige as winning the likes of Mastermind or Fifteen to One. Neither of which are necessarily exciting or ground breaking formats, they're simple, well established, enjoyable shows.

It’s weird that Catchphrase which was a US gameshow format that flopped in its home country became a staple in the UK

Same with Strike It Lucky/Rich

So I stand alone on Jeopardy. Well each to their own I say. That's fine, world would be boring if we all agreed on the same thing.



That happened a lot in the 1980s, a format fell through the floor in the US was more successful over here (and sometimes elsewhere too). Blockbusters and Strike It Rich were the two most other obvious examples of formats we took, tweaked and had great success with, Blockbusters we tweaked it slightly (which I believe the later revival in the US subsequently copied only with adults and not sixth-formers), while Strike It Rich had a painfully flimsy format, but over here the game (in the later years anyway) took a back stage to the contestants.

My first ever trip to the US was in 1989. Two things stand out from seeing the telly there. One was Star Trek the Next Generation, the other was Jeopardy, which I found strangely addictive. I now also seem to have the theme music stuck in my head 😬

And sometimes a series was picked up over here, that failed to get beyond pilot stage in America.

LWT's Punchlines a case in point. Piloted for Metromedia Networks (which Fox brought up to form the spine of their network) and not picked up - yet, someone at LWT saw the pilot and seeing it was a different take on celebrities in boxes or rows (see Blankety Blank and Celebrity Squares) brought the format, and it ran with moderate success over here in the early 1980's.

Chain Letters was another. Barry and Enright piloted it as a third syndicated show when Hot Potato was cancelled by NBC, but unfortunately chose 1985, when the bottom fell out of the syndicated game show market in the States, to do so. So it failed to sell.

I believe Mark Maxwell-Smith, a writer for Crosswits and creator of Chain Letters, pitched the programme to Tyne Tees as an aside, and the latter found the idea interesting.

Wink Martindale who worked with Barry and Enright seems to think the pilot is kicking around somewhere still. Would be interesting to see it.

Was Chain Letters the one which had a jingle which sounded like ‘Win a Sofa’?

Yes, it was. Used to love the 9.25am gameshows on ITV when I was growing up. There was one with a massive keyboard too but the name escapes me.

All Clued Up.

Lost in the depths of the TVS archive.