Challenge TV - September 2011 onwards

I suppose that could just about be possible. Seems unlikely though.

Christmas Day was a Sunday in 2005, so it should've aired that day. However, it'd pretty much just be a normal episode, no special twists were added until series 2.

See also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deal_or_No_Deal_UK_special_episodes
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deal_or_No_Deal_(UK_game_show)

Initially though the extra weekend episodes were on Saturdays, so I'm not sure it would have.

Yes, it was saturday for quite a while - as Countdown also aired on Saturdays before it. How long did that one last?

TNA Wrestling has just been confirmed to remain on Challenge for another two years.
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/media/news/a355080/tna-impact-wrestling-to-remain-on-challenge-tv.html

Well, Challenge's Cult Classics vs Modern Masters weekend has got off to a very poor start. At 4pm we just had a standard Christmas ident with a generic voice over promoting Quizical. The CA certainly didn't mention that it was the start of the special weekend. They didn't even mention what programme they were about to show (The Crystal Maze, the very first episode I think), just 'This is Challenge'. The Crystal Maze then started and part way through the opening titles the screen went completely black and a Cult Classics vs Modern Masters IPP appeared at the bottom of the screen, after this disappeared the picture came back again. The IPP was obviously meant to appear over the picture, rather than instead of it. You would have thought on a an automated channel like Challenge, these kind of things would be checked before they were put in the system.

In other news, the episode of 3-2-1 on Thursday should be the 1986 Christmas special, I think. They skipped this episode last time (although they did show the 1987 Christmas special). I suspect they will skip it again though.

And finally, is the Now and Next banner on Challenge all to cock for anyone else watching on Sky? It currently shows that Classic Who Wants To Be A Millionaire is on for me, but here I am watching The Crystal Maze.

This just in, the Snake Charmer episode of Catchphrase is on again right now.

EDIT: We got the same error with the IPP at 17:00 too. Looks like we will see a blank screen at the start of every programme shown after 4pm this weekend.

Did Bullseye have '2 prizes'?

I've noticed on the most recent Challenge episodes anyway that 9 times out of 10 if they win the 101 or more gamble it is a holiday...yet if they lose the prize is usually something like a car!

Jim Bowen spoke on a very good Channel 4 documentary about the producer doing a deal with a speedboat company, so when the contestants won the prize it was a speedboat but when they lost it was something else. Wouldn't be allowed nowadays, probably wasn't allowed then actually.

What was that Channel 4 documentary? I don't think it has been repeated. I think it also featured an interview with the Johnson family from Family Fortunes. Bob Johnson who is famous for answering 'Turkey' to the first three questions on Big Money had died some years before.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aloNixbli6g&feature=related the most strangest top prize, but that still you can £2000 that still a lot you can get!

£2000 was worth a lot more in 1987 than it would today thanks to the power of inflation. If the same prize was offered today adjusted for inflation it would be worth just over £4.5k, but of course in TV terms you'd easily be looking at instead of a £2000 "voucher" if you like, throw in a trip to New York as well as the shopping.

I presume the fashion prize on Bullseye in 1987 was the only time it was ever won, and/or was it ever tooted as "have a look at what you could have won"?

It's an awful prize for a show like Bullseye which generally featured large men who probably spend about £10 on clothes per year and were hardly going to buy all the stuff featured

Didn't you watch the clip? It featured a very large gentleman and a very small gentleman. As long as those clothes vouchers are redeemable in High and Mighty and Small and Elegant then they are laughing. It was probably nice for them to meet and shake hands with real life models too. Look at it from their point of view, it was a day away from their mundane lives and something to tell the fellas down t'pit. They will each have a nice suit to be buried in now too, which must give them some peace of mind.

The most striking thing about that clip was the continuity announcer actually talking about the programme he is ruining. It makes a nice change from Challenge promoting Quizzical every five minutes.

I think there was at least one other occasion when fashion vouchers were given away on Bullseye too.