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Cheesey. Â Tacky. Â Inane. Â Stupid. Â Cheap. Â Brilliant. Â All words that could be used to describe TV game show Blankety Blank. Â First airing in 1979 and continuing throughout the whole of the 1980’s, this was a game show that not so much broke the mould, but was made with the mould after it had already been broken.
Initially hosted by Terry Wogan, the Irish TV presenter who was never off the telly back then, the show was a panel based quiz show. Â Six celebrities (most of whom were genuinely famous at the time, unlike today’s poor excuse for celebrity line ups) sat in a three up three down set. Â Two contestants appeared on a revolving section of floor and the game began.
Terry would ask a phrase with a word missing, replaced by the word blank, and the contestant would think of a word to fill the gap. Â Normally these phrases had the potential to be full of innuendo, causing many a smirk on the celebrity panel, yet they were worded so that a clean(ish) answer could always be given. Â Each of the panel wrote down their answer on a card, and the contestant had to choose the word which they felt would match with most of the celebrities. Â Here is an example:
The vicar is really looking forward to judging the vegetable competition this year. Â He can’t wait to get his hands on Miss Chumley’s blanks.
When faced with this question many contestants would play it safe and pick something like cabbages, except this was not the safe bet as the celebrities usually had far dirtier minds. Â The bold contestant that chose melons was far more likely to win.
The winning contestant then got to play the Supermatch Game, which involved a single word followed by a blank. Â They were allowed to ask three celebrities to fill in the word, and could then choose one of their answers or come up with their own. Â A board revealed the top three answers suggested by the studio audience, with the least popular worth “fifty blanks” and the most popular “150 blanks”, which basically meant which of the prizes they got to win.
Oh! Â The prizes. Â This is where the word cheap fits the show perfectly. Â If you were lucky 150 blanks might be something like a TV set, but was more likely to be a Teas Maid, which was a sort of alarm clock combined with a kettle that woke you up with a cup of tea. Â To be fair to the BBC though, the reason for this was because they didn’t want to appear to be frittering the TV licence fees away, and to be honest it made the show much more charming because of it.
The cheapness of the show also extended to its jingles. Â A lot of work went into the theme tune which went like this:
Blankety Blank, Blankety Blank (dum dum dum)
Blankety Blank, Blankety Blank (dum dum dum)
Blankety Blank, Blankety Blank, Blankety Blank (pause) Blankety Blank.
The intro to the Supermatch game was little better:
Blankety Blank, Blankety Blank (dum dum dum)
Blankety Blank, Blankety Blank (dum dum dum)
Supermatch Game, Supermatch Game, Supermatch Game (pause) Supermatch Game.
For me though, the one thing that I looked forward to most was when Kenny Everett was a guest on the panel during Wogan’s era. Â Terry carried a long stick like microphone dubbed Wogan’s Wand, and this generally ended up being bent or broken by Mr. Everett at some point. Â I’ll finish with a clip of Kenny doing his worst! Â Also, check out just how bored looking the contestant is!
Search for Blankety Blank items on Amazon.co.uk
I wish I could remember some of them, but Les Dawson’s constant finding of new ways to describe how cheap it all was used to be the highlight of the show when he was hosting it.
Actually, the not-so-fabuloso prizes on Blankety-Blank (and all other UK game shows of that era) was due to the maximum prize limit set by the Independent Broadcasting Authority. These limits remained in place until the 1990s. Having said that, Blankety-Blank did plumb new depths with their checkbook & pen combo!
[…] many classic game shows air, and on many you counted yourself lucky if you walked away with just a Blankety Blank silver cheque book and pen, a new dustbin or a tankard, Bendy Bully and a set of Bullseye darts. […]
[…] In 1981 Kenny had jumped channels from ITV to the BBC, or the Beeb as he used to call it. I’m not sure if he invented this nickname or not, but he certainly used to use it a lot. Kenny went on to make five series of The Kenny Everett Television Show, and it is this show that I will always remember Kenny for most. Well, that and his appearances on Blankety Blank! […]
I was on Blankety Blank with Les Dawson. Even though I won, I still have the cheque book. The microwave/combined oven (very modern in the late 80’s) is long gone, but it did serve me well.
Suzi
Hi Suzi. It’s great to hear from someone who was a contestant on the show, and it’s also good to hear you still have the Blankety Blank Cheque Book and Pen.
Regarding the BBCB&P, was it a real pen and was the thing as heavy as it looked. It seemed pretty solid from the picture shown on screen each week.
Can you remember which celebrity guests were on the panel too? I’d love to know.
Blankety Blank was essential viewing in my house and seeing that Cuddly Kenny Everett (his words, not mine) was on, just made it extra special. The bending of the wand was always waited for. I also remember Lorraine ‘Luton Airport’ Chase being a regular along with Barry Cryer
I do remember the tie-break and was always bemused at how the contestants never had the same answer, even though it was sometimes more obvious than a slap in the face what the answer should be – something sinister going on there, I think
Big Boo, I too was a contestant on Blankety Blank and have my chequebook and pen. I was on in 1989 with Les Dawson. The pens were Parkers and the chequebook silver plated. I also have the name plate that appeared in front of me. all of the guests signed it for me after. I have to say Les was the most incredible person. I speant all day with him. He was exactly the same as you saw him on the show no airs or graces, just a true friendly northern bloke. Our guests included Julian Clary (as a very young man then) Danny La Rue, Polly James, amongst others. Hope this is of interest to you
Thanks Dave, always like to hear from people who experienced things I write about first hand. Sounds like you had a great day with Les and the rest of the stars (or perhaps I should say “stars”).
Very pleased you still have the Blankety Blank Cheque Book and Pen (does the pen still work?), but having your name plate too is icing on the cake.
Hiya all, loving to hear your stories about Blankety Blank. I work for a BBC radio station in the midlands and we are looking to speak to someone who still has thier Cheque Book and pen and who will come into the station and talk to us about it! If so, get in touch its Ninadg3@hotmail.com