Blankety Blank

1979

Blankety Blank

6.3 | en | Comedy

Blankety Blank is a British comedy game show based on the 1977–1979 Australian game show Blankety Blanks. The British version ran from 18 January 1979 to 12 March 1990 on BBC One, hosted first by Terry Wogan and later by Les Dawson. Regular members of the celebrity panel on this version included Kenny Everett, Lorraine Chase, Gareth Hunt, Gary Davies, and Cheryl Baker. A revival fronted by Lily Savage was produced by the BBC from 26 December 1997 to 28 December 1999, followed by ITV from 7 January 2001 to 10 August 2002. This version was produced by Grundy, then Thames.

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Seasons & Episodes

EP20 Episode 20

Jan. 01,0001

The final episode of the Lily Savage era, which included appearances from Will Mellor, Claire Sweeney, and John Craven.

EP19 Episode 19

Jan. 01,0001

Panellists making their only appearance on this edition are Antony Audenshaw, David Dickinson and Denise Robertson.

EP18 Episode 18

Jan. 01,0001

The sole appearances on the panel of Emily Symons, Nick Pickard, Jane Gurnett and Christopher Price.

EP17 Episode 17

Jan. 01,0001

Guest panellist Kevin Woodford has lost his voice, but it's not a problem for a contestant's boyfriend sat in the audience - he's prepared to do horse impressions to liven up the show.

EP16 Episode 16

Jan. 01,0001

Philip Middlemiss and Ben Shephard make their sole appearances on the panel, while joining them are Dale Winton, June Sarpong, Gloria Hunniford and Sue Jenkins.

EP15 Episode 15

Jan. 01,0001

This week sees four celebrities make their sole guest turns on the panel: Heather Peace, Kate Garraway, Chris Bisson and Nell McAndrew.

EP14 Episode 14

Jan. 01,0001

Alexandra Fletcher, Joe Mace and Jennie Bond appear on the panel for a single time, sat with one of the show's longest-serving regulars: June Whitfield, who has appeared with all three main hosts of the programme.

EP13 Episode 13

Aug. 17,2002

"The atmosphere in here tonight, can you feel it?" asks Lily, "It's like a public hanging." On the panel for the first and only time is Michael Garner, joined by regulars Carol Smillie and Judith Chalmers.

EP12 Episode 12

Aug. 10,2002

Lily and panellist Fiona Phillips are joined by five celebrities new to the series: Robin Cousins, Raji James, Meg Johnson, Lesley Joseph and Greg Proops.

EP11 Episode 11

Aug. 03,2002

The only appearances for Ross Burden, Charlie Dimmock and Lisa Riley. Joining them is Leslie Grantham, who has been on the show since the days of Les Dawson, and June Whitfield, who has been with the show right from its very first series.

EP10 Episode 10

Jul. 27,2002

Four newcomers put in their only appearances on the panel: Simon Rouse, Elizabeth Estensen, Sue Cleaver and Natalie Casey.

EP9 Episode 9

Jul. 20,2002

Tris Payne takes a break from "Real Rooms" to put in his single appearance on the show. Seated around him are some familiar faces on the panel, including a favourite of Lily's: Sherie Hewson.

EP8 Episode 8

Jul. 13,2002

"Right, well I'm off," claims Lily, "it's gonna be one of these nights, I'm sorry." Unfortunately for Lily, the show's only just started. Among the panellists are Tim Vincent, H and Naomi Russell.

EP7 Episode 7

Jul. 06,2002

Shobna Gulati, Gary Turner and Anna Ryder Richardson make their sole appearances on the panel.

EP6 Episode 6

Jun. 29,2002

Sean Wilson makes the first of two appearances on the show, while Mickey Poppins puts in his sole showing as a panellist. Also making her only appearance is Mary Unfaithful from "Lily live".

EP5 Episode 5

Jun. 08,2002

The debut of Kevin Kennedy and Patsy Palmer on the show, and Amanda Barrie returns as a panellist for the first time since 1979.

EP4 Episode 4

May. 25,2002

An all-new panel line-up this week, as Naomi Ryan and H make their debuts, while making their sole appearances are Marc Crumpton, Helen Fraser, Lowri Turner and Gareth Hunt.

EP3 Episode 3

May. 18,2002

"I can't bear that kind of thing" says Lily, after being told one of the contestants used to work with drag queens. Neil Fox and Coleen Nolan make their only appearance, but are joined by some of Lily's regulars, including John Leslie.

EP2 Episode 2

May. 11,2002

Melanie Kilburn makes her debut on the panel, while Tina Hobley and Oz Clarke make their sole appearances.

EP1 Episode 1

May. 04,2002

Lily wears a football-themed outfit to start off the new series and welcome another Savage to the show - Leicester City midfielder Robbie.

6.3 | en | Comedy , Family | More Info

Released: 1979-01-18 | Released Producted By: , Country: United Kingdom Budget: 0 Revenue: 0 Official Website:

Synopsis

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Cast

Paul O'Grady

Director

Producted By

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Trailers

Cast

Paul O'Grady

as Lily Savage - Presenter

Our Cilla Death In Venice The Life and Times of Vivienne Vyle Comic Aid Celebrity Driving School Outtake TV Chimera The New Statesman Blankety Blank

Reviews

studioAT Blankety Blank began this year (2016) in focus, due to the death of its original host, Terry Wogan, and ended it through a one off (i.e. ITV testing the water) special, hosted by David Walliams.It's a show that needs a good host, because the format is so simple it can become a bit dull.Every host has brought their own spin to it, and if given the chance I'm sure Walliams would do the same.One thing that is for sure though is that if you do it well, the show becomes synonymous with you. And that's a potentially wonderful thing. Whether ITV take the plunge, risk the legacy, by bringing it back full time remains to be seen.

Brendan Richards One of Great Britian's long-running popular game shows has indeed proved to be the perfect laughter tonic for anyone.I've only seen a couple of episodes from the Les Dawson era, but I must admit that, despite the "tacky" prizes (well... they really weren't THAT tacky!) and the catchy/annoying theme song (so I won't bother reciting it), the Brits really did a fantastic job keeping contestants and fellow viewers entertained with funny quirks and in-jokes.I might as well close my review with this quirk:'When Brendan Richards finished writing his comment of the show, he said, "If you laugh too much watching this show, you'll literally laugh your BLANK off."'(Don't forget, the clue is on this large thing made of hypertext and all that other stuff)

richard.fuller1 In Great Britain, the show would be called "Til Death To Us Part". In America, it would be reworked into "All In The Family."In the UK, it was "Steptoe and Son". In America, the show was redone as "Sanford and Son" with Redd Foxx (Funnier still, there was an episode when Sanford and son went to see a Jewish version based on them, called Steinberg and Son. I thought this was very interesting). In England, it was "Man About the House." In the states, it became "Threes' Company" with John Ritter and Suzanne Somers. All classic American shows, all originating from oversea in England. Now we come to this one called "Blankety Blank". It began in 1977, went through three hosts and developed a reputation for bad parting gifts. In America, it was known as "Match Game" followed by the current year, changing the numerals at the end of each year. I do recall Match Game '73, I think I remember Match Game '72. The last one I remember may have been Match Game '75. I can't say I recall Match Game '76.Basically, Match Game went off when this Blankety Blank began, it seems. The show clearly had a much longer run than Match Game did. When I saw Blankety Blank whilst on vacation in England, I sat flabbergasted, going "it's Match Game. It's Match Game" and no one had an ever-loving clue what I was talking about. And I had not a clue who any of those "celebrities" were, but then I didn't know who Lily Savage was either!It was the exact same set-up that I watched on "Blankety Blank" as used to be on Match Game. Contestants on the left, six celebrities on the right. I can't recall now how they were arranged on BB, but on MG they were in two rows of three, six up top, six below. It was the exact same arrangement. Well, no drag queen, I'm afraid. But we did have Charles Nelson Reilly!Match Game's reputation became incredible raciness. Everything on American game shows in the seventies was sexual innuendoes. You couldn't say long, tomatoes, ripe, juicy, tender, etc, without loud laughter. Match Game was the king of this behavior. Of the six celebrities, three were constant regulars. The middle star in the top row was Brett Somers, who was Jack Klugman's ex-wife on the Odd Couple. Charles Nelson Reilly was beside her, the third celeb on the top.And the middle star on the bottom? It was Richard Dawson, just before he would get Family Feud. The host was Gene Rayburn, who played right along with all the insinuations. "Don't put your BLANK in there," or "She pulled his BLANK" Rayburn would say constantly on the show, giving a grin. It burned out quickly in America. Clearly England managed to make it work much longer, even when it became a bad joke. Just very interesting to see the table reversed for once and England borrows from America for a change.

GarryQ A simple parlour game. Answer a question and hope as many of the celebrity panel of six as possible gave the same answer. The concept is simple, and was never designed to keep you on the edge of your seat. It cheered you up after a day at work, and relaxed you after that evening meal. Hopefully relaxed enough not to bother getting up to switch channels (OK we got TV remote after the USofA).Its run has seen three very different hosts, the overbearing 'Terry Wogan' (qv) (why didn't he stay in that bank in Ireland?) was followed by quirky northern comic ' Les Dawson' (qv) . Six years after Les's sad, sudden death the show came back with Lily Savage, the loud-mouthed, brash, welfare-claiming friend of 'Paul O"Grady' (qv) . The prizes reinforced the idea that the show was just fun. They were so bad they became a running joke, and I can't even remember what the winners got, but when losers were presented with their consolation ornament who can forget the cry `Blankety Blank Chequebook and Pen'?