SW
It was in the one I wrote for TV Cream! That YouTube clip is a bit interesting because it's clearly from some kind of studio tape, but at least we get the bit of business with the hatstand which was the only good thing about it.
When Brucie was on The One Show the other year, Matt said someone had emailed in to say they'd been on Takeover Bid with him, and Brucie said "Oh, we did one series of that and we were lucky to get that!". They actually did two, but it wasn't a particularly interesting series, again the format was too straight to allow Brucie to do all his bits of business.
I don't think this was mentioned in any of the obits.
It was in the one I wrote for TV Cream! That YouTube clip is a bit interesting because it's clearly from some kind of studio tape, but at least we get the bit of business with the hatstand which was the only good thing about it.
When Brucie was on The One Show the other year, Matt said someone had emailed in to say they'd been on Takeover Bid with him, and Brucie said "Oh, we did one series of that and we were lucky to get that!". They actually did two, but it wasn't a particularly interesting series, again the format was too straight to allow Brucie to do all his bits of business.
JA
I imagine nobody remembers the one he did in the mid-00s which was bizarre as the questions were in the form of clips from old BBC gameshows!
SW
Didn't They Do Well!
No, this has been completely forgotten because it came immediately before Strictly - in much the same way Takeover Bid was immediately overshadowed by the return of the Generation Game. As UKGameshows pointed out, the format had been knocking around for a few years and when they signed him up in 2003 it seemed an obvious vehicle for him.
Anyway, it was alright, there were some interesting clips in it, but it was a pretty bog-standard affair. As was the style of the time, if you lost you went home with nothing, which seemed a bit of an un-Brucie thing to do, but it did lead to a great catchphrase I was reminded of today, "You go home with nothing but happy memories... of me!"
I imagine nobody remembers the one he did in the mid-00s which was bizarre as the questions were in the form of clips from old BBC gameshows!
Didn't They Do Well!
No, this has been completely forgotten because it came immediately before Strictly - in much the same way Takeover Bid was immediately overshadowed by the return of the Generation Game. As UKGameshows pointed out, the format had been knocking around for a few years and when they signed him up in 2003 it seemed an obvious vehicle for him.
Anyway, it was alright, there were some interesting clips in it, but it was a pretty bog-standard affair. As was the style of the time, if you lost you went home with nothing, which seemed a bit of an un-Brucie thing to do, but it did lead to a great catchphrase I was reminded of today, "You go home with nothing but happy memories... of me!"
BR
In the same way hardly anybody remembers Jeremy Clarkson presented Robot Wars, he happened to jump ship before its popularity grew.
Coincidence I'm sure.
I guess there is a knack to this "mucking around" lark which Brucie had and many don't. Shows being padded out now by mucking around is a common complaint, though of course Brucie didn't have to please the Twitterverse during his career. Tastes have changed too as well - people were less tolerant of it in his later years on Strictly than earlier in his career.
There was also a UKTV series Brucie's Generation Game - basically a clip show but did feature a conveyor belt finale.
Talking of the Generation Game - already felt Mel and Sue had a tough, but not impossible, challenge in taking it on but after the talk and tributes of recent days it now feels like a complete poisoned challice.
I think hardly anyone remembers Brucie did You Bet, everyone only remembers Matthew Kelly.
In the same way hardly anybody remembers Jeremy Clarkson presented Robot Wars, he happened to jump ship before its popularity grew.
Coincidence I'm sure.
Well, he didn't buy the format but his daughter did see the show on Dutch TV and suggested it to Brucie as a good format for him, and he then suggested it to LWT. As mentioned, he did the first three series and he said he enjoyed it, but he thought there was a bit too much straight presenting involved and not enough opportunities to muck about, so it perhaps wasn't the kind of thing he'd stick with for ages, and it probably worked better with Matthew Kelly who was a straighter presenter and fitted in better with the format.
It's a bit like how I always thought The Price Is Right was Brucie's weakest show because the format was so constricting it didn't give him enough opportunities for him to shine, it was just a relentless procession of games and prizes. His best vehicles were always those with a simple format where he could ad-lib and mess about with the contestants. But it was Brucie who suggested a revival of The Price Is Right to ITV, he saw it when he was on holiday in America and suggested it when they were looking for a new vehicle for him. I know Bruce Gyngell was so happy Brucie was prepared to come to Leeds to film it he turned virtually half the YTV building into his own personal dressing room.
It's a bit like how I always thought The Price Is Right was Brucie's weakest show because the format was so constricting it didn't give him enough opportunities for him to shine, it was just a relentless procession of games and prizes. His best vehicles were always those with a simple format where he could ad-lib and mess about with the contestants. But it was Brucie who suggested a revival of The Price Is Right to ITV, he saw it when he was on holiday in America and suggested it when they were looking for a new vehicle for him. I know Bruce Gyngell was so happy Brucie was prepared to come to Leeds to film it he turned virtually half the YTV building into his own personal dressing room.
I guess there is a knack to this "mucking around" lark which Brucie had and many don't. Shows being padded out now by mucking around is a common complaint, though of course Brucie didn't have to please the Twitterverse during his career. Tastes have changed too as well - people were less tolerant of it in his later years on Strictly than earlier in his career.
I imagine nobody remembers the one he did in the mid-00s which was bizarre as the questions were in the form of clips from old BBC gameshows!
There was also a UKTV series Brucie's Generation Game - basically a clip show but did feature a conveyor belt finale.
Talking of the Generation Game - already felt Mel and Sue had a tough, but not impossible, challenge in taking it on but after the talk and tributes of recent days it now feels like a complete poisoned challice.
BL
Bruce's original generation game was the first instance I became aware of the 'isocam' recording technique - recording one camera more or less permanently on a particular presenter throughout a recording to allow for a 'better' edit in an unpredictable studio environment. Pretty much a standard technique nowadays of course.
For reasons I won't bore you with, I was once involved in editing down PYCR for overseas transmission. You had to 'edit off' the LWT ident at the front from the as transmitted programme. And you had to do it manually as there was no computer/timecode editing facilities. You had to 'get in' just as the ident finished and the titles started ... and all done with a 'punch' of a finger 22 frames before the actual edit point - so rehearse and rehearse until you think you've got it then go for it. Have a look at one on youtube, b****y tight I can tell you.
For reasons I won't bore you with, I was once involved in editing down PYCR for overseas transmission. You had to 'edit off' the LWT ident at the front from the as transmitted programme. And you had to do it manually as there was no computer/timecode editing facilities. You had to 'get in' just as the ident finished and the titles started ... and all done with a 'punch' of a finger 22 frames before the actual edit point - so rehearse and rehearse until you think you've got it then go for it. Have a look at one on youtube, b****y tight I can tell you.
Last edited by bluecortina on 20 August 2017 5:34pm - 4 times in total
GM
nodnirG kraM
For reasons I won't bore you with
We won't have any of that, sir. Bore away.
BL
We won't have any of that, sir. Bore away.
No, this is Sir Brucie's thread. Suffice to say lots of UK programmes were shown outside the U.K and the itv idents weren't required and neither were the commercial breaks.
For reasons I won't bore you with
We won't have any of that, sir. Bore away.
No, this is Sir Brucie's thread. Suffice to say lots of UK programmes were shown outside the U.K and the itv idents weren't required and neither were the commercial breaks.
DE
There was a pilot with Vernon Kay in 2011 but it was a bit crap.
Not because of Vernon, of course (although I did dislike him quite intensely at the time).
http://www.bothersbar.co.uk/?p=4959
Of course, the original PYCR had that brilliant kaleidoscopic title sequence designed by Lambie-Nairn. And it was great fun, too, when the end game finished early and Bruce used up the spare minutes handing out fivers to the audience members.
And the very end of every episode, where as the credits rolled he'd walk off the set, one final wave to the audience and the viewers as he did so... magnificent.
Naturally, none of these were present in the '90s version, but that was OK. But with Challenge having shown this version to death at this stage, one can't help but wonder why they haven't obtained any episodes of the original series. At least the majority of them still exist, don't they?
Play Your Cards Right was the better format for Brucie because it was much simpler and allowed many more bits of business. And of course they never did it without him.
There was a pilot with Vernon Kay in 2011 but it was a bit crap.
Not because of Vernon, of course (although I did dislike him quite intensely at the time).
http://www.bothersbar.co.uk/?p=4959
Of course, the original PYCR had that brilliant kaleidoscopic title sequence designed by Lambie-Nairn. And it was great fun, too, when the end game finished early and Bruce used up the spare minutes handing out fivers to the audience members.
And the very end of every episode, where as the credits rolled he'd walk off the set, one final wave to the audience and the viewers as he did so... magnificent.
Naturally, none of these were present in the '90s version, but that was OK. But with Challenge having shown this version to death at this stage, one can't help but wonder why they haven't obtained any episodes of the original series. At least the majority of them still exist, don't they?
BL
When they were having a big clear out of the props store, I delved in the skip and found an almost complete set of the cards used in PYCR. I would've taken them as a souvenir if they were complete, but they weren't - mainly all the the red suits and hardly any black cards.