Game Show graphics

It’s amazing how lighting can make a huge difference.

https://www.tvforum.co.uk/tvhome/studio-sets-infrastructure-general-technical-45876 might be of interest. Pointless is a great example of how the lighting makes the set on that. However a couple of the pictures of the Pointless set in the thread have been removed by the uploader, I've managed to recover a couple from a cache but I presume they've been removed for a reason so I won't re-upload them directly at this time.

Precisely - for a couple of series the reflection done in the floor was wrongly positioned if you looked carefully. It looked superficially OK but that was it.

I always assumed 1990s catchphrase screens were fake, I guess they were animated on an Amiga in DPaint? They had that kind of look.

Here's the behind the scenes footage of TVS' Catchphrase which shows the graphics on the big screen (I'm guessing the screens use a rear CRT video projector). However, the contestants refer to a separate large TV in front of them:

One technological feat to mention has to be the legendary Blockbusters game board from 1983. A huge set of projectors from floor to ceiling - each hexagon had to be changed manually, and not without some issues in the early days which would have prolonged recordings. Not sure if the original equipment was still in use up right up to its end in 1994 (when transferred to Sky One) or whether it was adapted over the years - I never got to find out. Incredible design for its time.

The board was essentially the same as the US version, and here's a clip from that production which gives some insight behind the scenes.

https://youtu.be/ZwlX8g_TJpo

Back-projected as you say.

The basic principle was nothing new; "The Joker's Wild" from 1972 had a set of spinning slides made to look like a slot machine, back projected onto a similarly huge prop.

For an early example of computerised scoreboards, the 1978 version of "Tic Tac Dough" was interesting. It had nine Apple IIs which were under control of a CP/M based micro that synchronised everything. The system was reworked for the US version of "Strike It Rich", and I believe the UK version in the early years also used a similar setup.

The DNA ran to "Chain Letters" also that continued the use of projection displays and CRTs running quite similar software (along with similar game practices such as booby trap devices that the US producers were find of). All of these shows (Blockbusters excluded) originated from essentially the same production team, as did Catchphrase (Stephen Radosh had worked with Barry-Enright in the 80s, after leaving the US original of Celebrity Squares).

I wonder how long the gap was between ITV saying enough already, and Sky saying we want some of that. did they get in quick enough before Central dismantled the set and the board and flogged it, or did they scrap it and have to rebuild it all again for Sky? I'm sure there are some subtle set changes between the ITV version and the first Sky version.

The later boards were obviously computer controlled, easier and cheaper to do that by the time of the BBC's half-arsed attempt at the format in 1997 and Sky's second stab at it in 2000.

Further reading. The three main go to's for computer controlled systems for game/quiz shows
http://www.kineticpixel.tv/
https://www.ionoco.com/
https://www.barjonas.com/

The Catchphrase buzzer must be flimsy as it tends to break every so often when a contestant is a bit too vigorous with the button.

If you think about it, it's only a dome or block of plastic stuck to a small pressure sensor. Looks great on television, but probably the cheapest part of the overall set.

Thanks for the link, I wonder what computer they used there? They were obviously able to control it as per the contestants request so it was able to generate the appropriate graphics live. I'm loving that huge TV they were wheeling around, although I'm guessing it's actually a rear projection screen?