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The Generation Game

The Generation Game

Series

The Generation Game

The Generation Game

Series

  • Title:The Generation Game
  • User score:
    9.0
  • First air date:1971-10-02
  • Genres:Reality, Comedy
  • Number of seasons:23
  • Number of episodes:415
  • Status:Ended
The Generation Game was a British game show produced by the BBC in which four teams of two competed to win prizes. The programme was first broadcast in 1971 under the title Bruce Forsyth and the Generation Game and ran until 1982, and again from 1990 until 2002. The show was based on the Dutch TV show Een van de acht, "One of the Eight", the format devised in 1969 by Theo Uittenbogaard for VARA Television. Mrs. Mies Bouwman - a popular Dutch talk show host and presenter of the show - came up with the idea of the conveyor belt. She had seen it on a German programme and wanted to incorporate it into the show. Another antecedent for the gameshow was 'Sunday Night at the London Palladium' on ATV, which had a game called Beat the Clock, taken from an American gameshow. It featured married couples playing silly games within a certain time to win prize money. This was hosted by Bruce Forsyth from 1958, and he took the idea with him when he went over to the BBC. During the 1970s, gameshows became more popular and started to replace expensive variety shows. Creating new studio shows was cheaper than hiring a theatre and paying for long rehearsals and a large orchestra, and could secure a similar number of viewers. With less money for their own productions, a gameshow seemed the obvious idea for ITV. As a result many variety performers were recruited for gameshows. The BBC, suffering poor ratings, decided to make its own gameshow. Bill Cotton, the BBC's Head of Light Entertainment, believed that Bruce Forsyth was best for the job. For years, The Generation Game was one of the strong shows in the BBC's Saturday night line-up, and became the number one gameshow on British television during the 1970s, regularly gaining over 21 million viewers. However, things were about to change. LWT, desperate to end the BBC's long-running ratings success on a Saturday night, offered Forsyth a chance to change channel to host The Big Night.

List of Seasons

Season 1
S1 - Season 1
0.0
16 episodes

Air date: 1971-10-02

Season 2
S2 - Season 2
0.0
17 episodes

Air date: 1972-09-16

Season 3
S3 - Season 3
0.0
23 episodes

Air date: 1973-09-15

Season 4
S4 - Season 4
0.0
22 episodes

Air date: 1974-09-21

Season 5
S5 - Season 5
0.0
16 episodes

Air date: 1975-09-27

Season 6
S6 - Season 6
0.0
19 episodes

Air date: 1976-09-11

Season 7
S7 - Season 7
0.0
18 episodes

Air date: 1977-09-10

Season 8
S8 - Season 8
0.0
16 episodes

Air date: 1978-09-23

Season 9
S9 - Season 9
0.0
18 episodes

Air date: 1979-09-01

Season 10
S10 - Season 10
0.0
19 episodes

Air date: 1980-08-30

Season 11
S11 - Season 11
0.0
18 episodes

Air date: 1981-09-05

Season 12
S12 - Season 12
0.0
14 episodes

Air date: 1990-09-07

Season 13
S13 - Season 13
0.0
17 episodes

Air date: 1991-09-07

Season 14
S14 - Season 14
0.0
16 episodes

Air date: 1992-09-19

Season 15
S15 - Season 15
0.0
16 episodes

Air date: 1993-09-10

Season 16
S16 - Season 16
0.0
16 episodes

Air date: 1994-09-10

Season 17
S17 - Season 17
0.0
17 episodes

Air date: 1995-10-21

Season 18
S18 - Season 18
0.0
16 episodes

Air date: 1996-08-31

Season 19
S19 - Season 19
0.0
22 episodes

Air date: 1997-10-18

Season 20
S20 - Season 20
0.0
20 episodes

Air date: 1998-09-05

Season 21
S21 - Season 21
0.0
21 episodes

Air date: 1999-09-04

Season 22
S22 - Season 22
0.0
19 episodes

Air date: 2000-10-07

Season 23
S23 - Season 23
0.0
19 episodes

Air date: 2001-09-08

Top Cast

Jim Davidson

Jim Davidson

Bruce Forsyth

Bruce Forsyth

Reviews

0 reviews

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