Strike It Lucky
Encyclopedia
Strike It Lucky was a popular British
television
game show
from 1986 to 1999, originally produced by Thames Television
for ITV
, and presented by the British comedian Michael Barrymore
. It was based on the American
show of the same name that aired in 1986
.
In its formative years, it became well known for the outlandish and often highly eccentric contestants it featured - Barrymore would often spend over 5 minutes talking to them. The introductory footage of the prizes on offer were also noteworthy, often filmed in black-and-white with a slapstick style. In 1987, it was the fifth most watched programme on UK television. The Thames Television version of the show was recorded at Teddington Studios
, and later Pinewood Studios
.
From 1996, the new version aired under the title Strike It Rich; this being the title of the short-lived American
game show
Strike it Rich
on which it was based, and it moved (with a re-designed set) to The London Studios
. The reason for the name change was that the show was now being co-produced by LWT
(historically, Thames's bitter rival in the London area) with Fremantle
, so despite now being owned by the same company as Fremantle (at the time, Pearson - the ultimate copyright holders), Thames were unwilling to allow LWT use of the original title. There is also the factor that when the show was first exported to the UK, the Independent Broadcasting Authority
's prize limits were still in place, and "Rich" was probably dropped from the title because of the relatively low value of prizes on offer; by the time it returned as Strike It Rich the limits had been lifted and it was giving away a substantially higher value of prizes.
The show is one of very few ITV programmes to have been produced by both Thames and LWT (weekday and weekend ITV franchise holders in London, respectively).
Each monitor, bar the last, hides a prize or a "Hot Spot". There was always between five to eight Hot Spots hidden between all three teams' monitors, but by later series there was normally two per team. Each time the team in control reveals a prize, they win that prize and can decide to either bank the prize(s) and pass control to their opposing team or reveal another monitor. Deciding to keep playing is a risk because if at anytime they reveal the Hot Spot, they lose all the prizes earned at that point and control goes the opponents. But, if they can make their required number of moves without hitting the Hot Spot, not only they bank their prizes but they also keep their turn and answering another question.
The last monitor of the ten for each team is a question. The team can decide to answer it then or bank their prizes. The monitor before the question normally hides a holiday. A wrong answer forfeits the prizes not banked and the game continues, while a right answer wins the game. The question normally begins with 'Who struck it lucky/rich...?' or 'You would strike it lucky/rich if...".
Before playing the bonus game with the winning couple, Barrymore would run through the prizes won by the other two couples before bidding them farewell. Occasionally, if a couple won very little, Barrymore would give them something anyway. These varied from hitting the couple's last two screens himself to claim prizes for them (the final two screens were usually valuable prizes, such as a holiday) or, if a couple had prizes and lost them as a result of a Hot Spot, Barrymore would reinstate those prizes for the couple. On one occasion, a husband and wife who were both hard of hearing told Barrymore at the start of the show that they hoped to win a new car. After winning very little, Barrymore told them at his agent could acquire a new car for them.
Instead of playing the game across the board they now play top, middle or bottom, choosing one of the three monitors in each row to play.
Hidden throughout the 30 monitors are 10 arrows signifying a free move, another 10 are Hot Spots and the final 10 are true or false questions earning a move on a correct answer or a Hot Spot on an incorrect one. These are randomly allocated throughout the board.
On each column of monitors, the winning couple elects to hit the top, middle or bottom one. The aim of the game is for the couple to get from one side to the other without hitting more Hot Spots than they bid. If they get to the other side the board without hitting more Hot Spots than they bid, they win £3,000 if they bid two, £2,000 for three and £1,000 for four. In later series if they failed to match or beat their bid they won 10% of the cash prize they were aiming for (£300, £200 and £100 respectively), with every move without a Hot Spot they made, before they went over their bid. In later series, the cash prizes increased to £10,000/£7,000/£5,000, with consolation prizes increased to £500/£350/£250.
On a 1997 special, contestants who took part would donate their winning to cancer research
, with three contestants suffering from the disease, including one man who had his voice box
removed. The first players, a man who was known for his funny outrageous behavior, won the game with his daughter and played for £10,000. As they went for £10,000, only two hotspots were allowed. The first three moves turned out to be hotspots, and the game should have ended. Barrymore would not let the couple lose charity money, and completely ignored the hotspots and moved on anyway, in which at one point, the producer off screen was telling Barrymore off, in which he replied "Don't make a face at me...". The couple hit six hotspots in the end, and lost at the final screen, where a hotspot appeared. Barrymore ignored this again, and gave them £10,000 anyway.
An interactive DVD
of Strike It Lucky went on sale throughout the UK on November 13, 2006. Produced by Fremantle Home Entertainment, and with over 2,000 questions available, the original host of the show, Michael Barrymore
, provides links to the game play, which stays loyal to the format of its television
equivalent.
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
television
Television program
A television program , also called television show, is a segment of content which is intended to be broadcast on television. It may be a one-time production or part of a periodically recurring series...
game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
from 1986 to 1999, originally produced by Thames Television
Thames Television
Thames Television was a licensee of the British ITV television network, covering London and parts of the surrounding counties on weekdays from 30 July 1968 until 31 December 1992....
for ITV
ITV
ITV is the major commercial public service TV network in the United Kingdom. Launched in 1955 under the auspices of the Independent Television Authority to provide competition to the BBC, it is also the oldest commercial network in the UK...
, and presented by the British comedian Michael Barrymore
Michael Barrymore
Michael Kieron Parker , better known by his stage name Michael Barrymore, is a British comedian who appeared as a presenter of game shows and light entertainment programmes on British television in the 1980s and 1990s. These included Strike It Lucky, My Kind of People, My Kind of Music and Kids Say...
. It was based on the American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
show of the same name that aired in 1986
Strike It Rich (1986 game show)
Strike it Rich is an American game show that aired in syndication during the 1986–87 television season. It was hosted by Joe Garagiola with Theresa Ring as prize model and Bob Hilton as announcer....
.
In its formative years, it became well known for the outlandish and often highly eccentric contestants it featured - Barrymore would often spend over 5 minutes talking to them. The introductory footage of the prizes on offer were also noteworthy, often filmed in black-and-white with a slapstick style. In 1987, it was the fifth most watched programme on UK television. The Thames Television version of the show was recorded at Teddington Studios
Teddington Studios
Teddington Studios is a large British television studio complex located in Teddington, South-West London, providing studio facilities for programmes airing on BBC television, ITV, and Channel 4 along with others...
, and later Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios
Pinewood Studios is a major British film studio situated in Iver Heath, Buckinghamshire, approximately west of central London. The studios have played host to many productions over the years from huge blockbuster films to television shows to commercials to pop promos.The purchase of Shepperton...
.
From 1996, the new version aired under the title Strike It Rich; this being the title of the short-lived American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
game show
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
Strike it Rich
Strike It Rich (1986 game show)
Strike it Rich is an American game show that aired in syndication during the 1986–87 television season. It was hosted by Joe Garagiola with Theresa Ring as prize model and Bob Hilton as announcer....
on which it was based, and it moved (with a re-designed set) to The London Studios
The London Studios
The London Studios is a television studio complex which is owned by London Weekend Television and has been home to the London Weekend ITV provider since 1972...
. The reason for the name change was that the show was now being co-produced by LWT
London Weekend Television
London Weekend Television was the name of the ITV network franchise holder for Greater London and the Home Counties including south Suffolk, middle and east Hampshire, Oxfordshire, south Bedfordshire, south Northamptonshire, parts of Herefordshire & Worcestershire, Warwickshire, east Dorset and...
(historically, Thames's bitter rival in the London area) with Fremantle
FremantleMedia
FremantleMedia, Ltd. is the content and production division of Bertelsmann's RTL Group, Europe's second largest TV, radio, and production company...
, so despite now being owned by the same company as Fremantle (at the time, Pearson - the ultimate copyright holders), Thames were unwilling to allow LWT use of the original title. There is also the factor that when the show was first exported to the UK, the Independent Broadcasting Authority
Independent Broadcasting Authority
The Independent Broadcasting Authority was the regulatory body in the United Kingdom for commercial television - and commercial/independent radio broadcasts...
's prize limits were still in place, and "Rich" was probably dropped from the title because of the relatively low value of prizes on offer; by the time it returned as Strike It Rich the limits had been lifted and it was giving away a substantially higher value of prizes.
The show is one of very few ITV programmes to have been produced by both Thames and LWT (weekday and weekend ITV franchise holders in London, respectively).
The Main Game
Three teams of two compete to win cash & prizes by going across an archway of TV monitors on stage. On a team's turn, one member of that team was given a category with six possible answers. That player then must decide how many answers he/she must give (either two, three, or four) for two, three or four moves on their respective 10 monitored archway. If the player can complete the contract, their partner gets to move across their archway, otherwise the opposing team gets to complete the contract.Each monitor, bar the last, hides a prize or a "Hot Spot". There was always between five to eight Hot Spots hidden between all three teams' monitors, but by later series there was normally two per team. Each time the team in control reveals a prize, they win that prize and can decide to either bank the prize(s) and pass control to their opposing team or reveal another monitor. Deciding to keep playing is a risk because if at anytime they reveal the Hot Spot, they lose all the prizes earned at that point and control goes the opponents. But, if they can make their required number of moves without hitting the Hot Spot, not only they bank their prizes but they also keep their turn and answering another question.
The last monitor of the ten for each team is a question. The team can decide to answer it then or bank their prizes. The monitor before the question normally hides a holiday. A wrong answer forfeits the prizes not banked and the game continues, while a right answer wins the game. The question normally begins with 'Who struck it lucky/rich...?' or 'You would strike it lucky/rich if...".
Before playing the bonus game with the winning couple, Barrymore would run through the prizes won by the other two couples before bidding them farewell. Occasionally, if a couple won very little, Barrymore would give them something anyway. These varied from hitting the couple's last two screens himself to claim prizes for them (the final two screens were usually valuable prizes, such as a holiday) or, if a couple had prizes and lost them as a result of a Hot Spot, Barrymore would reinstate those prizes for the couple. On one occasion, a husband and wife who were both hard of hearing told Barrymore at the start of the show that they hoped to win a new car. After winning very little, Barrymore told them at his agent could acquire a new car for them.
The Bonus Game
The game begins by having the winning couple bidding on how few Hot Spots they will hit with a bid of fewer Hot Spots earning more money if completed, but being more difficult to achieve.Instead of playing the game across the board they now play top, middle or bottom, choosing one of the three monitors in each row to play.
Hidden throughout the 30 monitors are 10 arrows signifying a free move, another 10 are Hot Spots and the final 10 are true or false questions earning a move on a correct answer or a Hot Spot on an incorrect one. These are randomly allocated throughout the board.
On each column of monitors, the winning couple elects to hit the top, middle or bottom one. The aim of the game is for the couple to get from one side to the other without hitting more Hot Spots than they bid. If they get to the other side the board without hitting more Hot Spots than they bid, they win £3,000 if they bid two, £2,000 for three and £1,000 for four. In later series if they failed to match or beat their bid they won 10% of the cash prize they were aiming for (£300, £200 and £100 respectively), with every move without a Hot Spot they made, before they went over their bid. In later series, the cash prizes increased to £10,000/£7,000/£5,000, with consolation prizes increased to £500/£350/£250.
On a 1997 special, contestants who took part would donate their winning to cancer research
Cancer research
Cancer research is basic research into cancer in order to identify causes and develop strategies for prevention, diagnosis, treatments and cure....
, with three contestants suffering from the disease, including one man who had his voice box
Voice box
Voice box could mean:* The larynx , colloquially known as the voice box, is an organ in the neck of mammals involved in protection of the trachea and sound production....
removed. The first players, a man who was known for his funny outrageous behavior, won the game with his daughter and played for £10,000. As they went for £10,000, only two hotspots were allowed. The first three moves turned out to be hotspots, and the game should have ended. Barrymore would not let the couple lose charity money, and completely ignored the hotspots and moved on anyway, in which at one point, the producer off screen was telling Barrymore off, in which he replied "Don't make a face at me...". The couple hit six hotspots in the end, and lost at the final screen, where a hotspot appeared. Barrymore ignored this again, and gave them £10,000 anyway.
Merchandise
In 1988 a board-game created by Parker, of Strike it luckyAn interactive DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
of Strike It Lucky went on sale throughout the UK on November 13, 2006. Produced by Fremantle Home Entertainment, and with over 2,000 questions available, the original host of the show, Michael Barrymore
Michael Barrymore
Michael Kieron Parker , better known by his stage name Michael Barrymore, is a British comedian who appeared as a presenter of game shows and light entertainment programmes on British television in the 1980s and 1990s. These included Strike It Lucky, My Kind of People, My Kind of Music and Kids Say...
, provides links to the game play, which stays loyal to the format of its television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
equivalent.
Transmissions
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External links
- Strike It Lucky at BFI
- Michael Barrymore's Strike It Rich at BFI