LL
Only recently. I think it took them a long time to realise the Sky series had no value.
NJ
Neil Jones
Founding member
Well it wasn't so much it had "no value", more probably it was more accessible. Prior to taking over Challenge, a lot of the older Sky One stuff (and a few gameshows such as Are You Smarter Than A 10 Year Old and whatever that show Steve McFadden did that only lasted one series IIRC) was wheeled out for airing on Pick. They were later shifted to Challenge, along with Cleverdicks from Atlantic and, for some reason, Brainiac (but only the science shows including Test Tube, but not the History spin-off AFAIK).
:-(
A former member
Yet people were very happy to see the Sky one 1994 series of Blockbusters, Also there was nothing wrong with wheeling out Are You Smarter Than A 10 Year Old for the daytime slot. It still brought some variety into the channel. Sky has brought new life into the Channel, and yes there plenty of modern stuff but we did get alot of classic aswell like 1st series of Wheel of fortunes and many other have it First Series of Bullseye, which hadn't been seen in years. Sky has had to tighten its belt but it still in better shape
KP
Some aspects Sky has done a decent job but do we really want 3-4 eps of Chase and Pointless a day? I like the usual wee gem staples of the Crystal Maze, Price is Right, Catchphrase, Play your Cards right, Family Fortunes, WOF - infact makes a cracking morning of entertainment with a lot of that stuff. The Afternoons/evenings seem lazy.
Likes of WOF & Catchphrase Sky have seemed to show more than the same-old eps previous ownership did late on. A lot of early/Bradley era WOF. Also was an interest to watch the (okay not great) daytime Catchphrase of 2002. I'd actually quite like to see the Paul Hendy & Andy Collins brief eras of WOF & FF. Winning Lines was good (although was hacked to pieces due to the lottery stuff) & loved the People Versus would like to see that again. The Chase/Pointless marathons are quite similar to a few years ago when we seemed to get an avalanche of 1vs100 & In it to win it (it felt like anyway). Less of the poker/wrestling or whatever was on late night is good though.
Funny how in all eras of ownership of Challenge - at certain points they seem to try and make their own commissions. Whether a new show (something like Defectors) or revive something (like Blockbusters) but often it fizzles out.
It does feel a bit stale. That, Pick & Sky 2 are these vehicles churning out stuff/repeats quietly with 50p to play with.
Likes of WOF & Catchphrase Sky have seemed to show more than the same-old eps previous ownership did late on. A lot of early/Bradley era WOF. Also was an interest to watch the (okay not great) daytime Catchphrase of 2002. I'd actually quite like to see the Paul Hendy & Andy Collins brief eras of WOF & FF. Winning Lines was good (although was hacked to pieces due to the lottery stuff) & loved the People Versus would like to see that again. The Chase/Pointless marathons are quite similar to a few years ago when we seemed to get an avalanche of 1vs100 & In it to win it (it felt like anyway). Less of the poker/wrestling or whatever was on late night is good though.
Funny how in all eras of ownership of Challenge - at certain points they seem to try and make their own commissions. Whether a new show (something like Defectors) or revive something (like Blockbusters) but often it fizzles out.
It does feel a bit stale. That, Pick & Sky 2 are these vehicles churning out stuff/repeats quietly with 50p to play with.
BH
BillyH
Founding member
The originals had a phone-in competition all over the breaks, didn't they?
You'd think they wouldn't be on the Challenge copies, but the odd episode of Catchphrase or Supermarket Sweep appears every so often with it still included, Roy/Dale telling you to call a phone number for a competition that closed over twenty years ago.
You'd think they wouldn't be on the Challenge copies, but the odd episode of Catchphrase or Supermarket Sweep appears every so often with it still included, Roy/Dale telling you to call a phone number for a competition that closed over twenty years ago.
VM
They also have copies of Million Pound Drop with 'LIVE' burned in the corner.
The originals had a phone-in competition all over the breaks, didn't they?
You'd think they wouldn't be on the Challenge copies, but the odd episode of Catchphrase or Supermarket Sweep appears every so often with it still included, Roy/Dale telling you to call a phone number for a competition that closed over twenty years ago.
You'd think they wouldn't be on the Challenge copies, but the odd episode of Catchphrase or Supermarket Sweep appears every so often with it still included, Roy/Dale telling you to call a phone number for a competition that closed over twenty years ago.
They also have copies of Million Pound Drop with 'LIVE' burned in the corner.
LL
They did that with the first series of Gladiators. Rather than using the original intros and outros, they'd have one silent break bumper to go into the adverts with (meaning the same game was in the background every time there was a break) and cut straight back to "welcome back to Gladiators" instead of the intro. I'm not sure if Series 1 used to be in Challenge/FTN's library back in the day, but none of the other series' have this butchering present.
Challenge have done some really weird editing with The Cube, they've decided to stick their own advert breaks in rather than just use the ones from the original broadcast (Where Phillip would go 'What will you do? We'll find out after the break')
They did that with the first series of Gladiators. Rather than using the original intros and outros, they'd have one silent break bumper to go into the adverts with (meaning the same game was in the background every time there was a break) and cut straight back to "welcome back to Gladiators" instead of the intro. I'm not sure if Series 1 used to be in Challenge/FTN's library back in the day, but none of the other series' have this butchering present.
BA
Really? I've never seen that myself.
The originals had a phone-in competition all over the breaks, didn't they?
You'd think they wouldn't be on the Challenge copies, but the odd episode of Catchphrase or Supermarket Sweep appears every so often with it still included, Roy/Dale telling you to call a phone number for a competition that closed over twenty years ago.
You'd think they wouldn't be on the Challenge copies, but the odd episode of Catchphrase or Supermarket Sweep appears every so often with it still included, Roy/Dale telling you to call a phone number for a competition that closed over twenty years ago.
Really? I've never seen that myself.
GM
Family Fortunes was another one where Challenge had missed a couple of episodes and the competition question and telephone number appeared on either side of the commercial break.
The originals had a phone-in competition all over the breaks, didn't they?
You'd think they wouldn't be on the Challenge copies, but the odd episode of Catchphrase or Supermarket Sweep appears every so often with it still included, Roy/Dale telling you to call a phone number for a competition that closed over twenty years ago.
You'd think they wouldn't be on the Challenge copies, but the odd episode of Catchphrase or Supermarket Sweep appears every so often with it still included, Roy/Dale telling you to call a phone number for a competition that closed over twenty years ago.
Family Fortunes was another one where Challenge had missed a couple of episodes and the competition question and telephone number appeared on either side of the commercial break.
NJ
Neil Jones
Founding member
Family Fortunes has a few episodes per series where they put a contestant appeal alongside the credits (typically towards the end of a series) and Challenge had no way of editing it out and they used to just stick a "contestant appeal now closed" strap on it instead.
Similar happens when they started showing Stars In Their Eyes and came to the final, particularly the 1993 final - big "do not respond" straps everywhere. The fact they were 0891 numbers and 0891 numbers don't actually work anymore AFAIK is seemingly moot.
Regarding Million Pound Drop, obviously somebody thought a repeat was never going to happen so let's stick a "Live" caption on the recording. Wonder if the clean studio recordings are available for that or just as broadcast?
Similar happens when they started showing Stars In Their Eyes and came to the final, particularly the 1993 final - big "do not respond" straps everywhere. The fact they were 0891 numbers and 0891 numbers don't actually work anymore AFAIK is seemingly moot.
Regarding Million Pound Drop, obviously somebody thought a repeat was never going to happen so let's stick a "Live" caption on the recording. Wonder if the clean studio recordings are available for that or just as broadcast?
Last edited by Neil Jones on 2 August 2017 9:07pm