AUSSIE TV GAME SHOWS

In 1956, the first game show to appear on Australian television was TCN9's Name That Tune hosted by Bruce Gyngell.  Since then, game shows have become a popular fixture with Australian viewers and have featured regularly and prominently, particularly on the commercial networks.

However despite all the numerous game shows and formats that have hit our screens since 1956, only four game show formats stand out at the most successful.

Bob Dyer's Pick-A-Box began as a radio program in 1948.  With the advent of television in the 1950s, several radio programs made the switch to the new medium and Pick-A-Box was no exception.

Beginning on Sydney's ATN7 and Melbourne's GTV9 (later changing over to HSV7) in 1957, Pick-A-Box with husband and wife team Bob and Dolly Dyer, became an early favourite with viewers every Monday night.  It was one of the first major national shows on Australian TV and host Bob Dyer collected a TV Week Gold Logie in 1961 for Most Popular Personality on Television. 

Although the basic format of the show was quite simple - quizzing contestants on questions of general knowledge - Dyer claimed that Pick-A-Box launched a number of innovations in the production of game shows on Australian TV, and championship contestants became celebrities.  The most famous being Barry Jones who went on to become a member of Parliament in the state of Victoria.

Dyer, who produced and packaged the show for the Seven Network, decided in 1969 that it was time to start thinking about ending the show.  After approximately 900 episodes, Pick-A-Box ended in 1971.  As they owned the program, the Dyers then reviewed most of the archived episodes - kept a few as souvenirs and discarded most of them.  The couple then retired to Queensland where Bob pursued his other great love, fishing.

It was 1981 before the Pick-A-Box format was revived.  The Nine Network resurrected the format under the title Superquiz, and hosting the program was another husband and wife team, Bert and Patti Newton.  Superquiz rated well but Nine did not continue the program after the first year.

The format was tried again in 1989 on the financially troubled Ten Network - once again as Superquiz.  Hosting this time was former daytime TV host Mike Walsh, and Deborah Hutton.  As with most Ten Network programs at the time, Superquiz was short lived.

Bob and Dolly Dyer
(Picture: TV Week, 1973)

Bert and Patti Newton
(Picture: The Australian Women's TV Weekly, 1980)

Although Sale Of The Century began in 1980, its origins dated back to 1970 with the popular Seven Network game show Great Temptation.

Great Temptation, with Tony Barber and Barbie Rogers, was a huge success for Seven with both daytime and prime time editions of the program.  In 1973, Barber won the TV Week Gold Logie.

The show only faltered when, in 1974, Seven decided to move Great Temptation from the 7pm timeslot to the later 8.30pm timeslot - to try and drag viewers away from the rival 0-10 Network's hugely popular series Number 96.  Number 96 won the battle and Great Temptation was gone by 1975.

Producer Reg Grundy decided to revive the format in 1980 using the original overseas title Sale Of The Century.  The Nine Network took on the program and in an unusual move, launched it halfway through the 1980 ratings season in the all-important 7pm timeslot.  Hosted once again by Tony Barber, joined this time by actress Victoria Nicholls, Sale Of The Century was an immediate success for Nine achieving record ratings for the timeslot. 

In 1982, Nicholls left and was replaced by Delvene Delaney, who in turn was replaced by actress Alyce Platt in 1986.  In 1990 both Barber and Platt decided to leave the program.  Sale continued into 1991 with a new team - Glenn Ridge, whose only other TV work was in regional television, and model Jo Bailey. 

Bailey was later followed by Nicky Buckley, and then Karina Brown.

In 2000, Nine re-labelled the show Sale Of The New Century, reverting back to the shorter title in 2001.  Declining ratings led to Nine "resting" the program at the end of the year with plans to launch a revamped Sale later.

In May 2005, Nine finally re-launched the program as Temptation, adapting the former 1970s title.  Hosting the new program is Ed Phillips and Livinia Nixon.

Tony Barber and Barbie Rogers
(Picture: TV Week, 1971)

Temptation 2005-style with Ed Phillips and Livinia Nixon

The Price Is Right, like many Australian TV game shows, took its format from the US.  The show made its first appearance in Australia with local versions in each of Sydney and Melbourne in the 1950s.

In 1963, the Seven Network launched the first 'national' version with host Horrie Dargie.  The show later re-appeared on the 0-10 Network in 1973 with host Garry Meadows.   The 1973 version was successful enough that 0-10 produced both daytime and night time editions.

The next appearance came in 1981 with the slightly re-titled The New Price Is Right, with host Ian Turpie for the Seven Network.  Screening weeknights as a lead in to the news, the show was produced in Melbourne's Festival Hall as Seven's Melbourne studios were not large enough to house the mammoth production.  Seven continued the show until 1985.

In 1989, Network Ten revived The Price Is Right as a weekly format on Saturday nights, once again with Turpie as host.  However the show failed to raise enough interest up against Nine's popular Hey Hey It's Saturday.

Nine was next to pick up the format in 1993 with host Larry Emdur, slotting the show in a late afternoon timeslot.  This version ran until the late 1990s.  In June 2003, Nine once again revived the program, again with Emdur, as the lead in to Nine's 6pm news. 

Following a prolonged battle with Seven's Deal Or No Deal, The Price Is Right ended in December 2005.

1973 host Garry Meadows with hostesses Jacqueline Merton, Anne Davidson and Jenny Hoyle.
(Picture: TV Week, 1973)

1981 host Ian Turpie with Celeste Billinge, Roz Roy and Suzy Moore
(Picture: TV Week)
(Picture: TV WEEK, 1981)

Another radio quiz show to make the change to television was  Wheel Of Fortune, launching on TCN9 in 1959.  The modest afternoon program was hosted by Reg Grundy and marked the beginning of what would become a global television empire in Grundy Television Productions (Grundy has since sold the company and it is now part of the international FremantleMedia Group).

After a long break, Wheel Of Fortune was revived in July 1981 as an early evening program.  Although it had the same title as the 1959 program, the format was quite different.  Produced by Grundys at the studios of ADS7 Adelaide for the Seven Network, hosted by Ernie Sigley and Adriana Xenides.  Sigley left the show in 1984, replaced by radio identity John Burgess. 

In a controversial step in 1996, Seven replaced Burgess with Tony Barber and moved production to Sydney.  The show underwent a major revamp with new segments.  The new format and host was not a hit with viewers and the program soon reverted back to its traditional format.  In 1997, Barber was replaced with Rob Elliott.

Xenides continued with the program until the late 1990s - becoming the longest serving game show hostess in the world - and was later replaced by Sophie Falkiner.

In 2004, Elliot was replaced by Steve Oemcke and the presentation was revamped.  The timeslot changed from 5.30pm to 5pm to accommodate the new game show Deal Or No Deal which has given Seven a stronger lead-in to the 6pm news.

In 2005, Wheel Of Fortune took an extended break but returned early in 2006 with new host Larry Emdur and  Laura Csortan.  However despite promising audience numbers, Seven cancelled the program mid-year with Wheel Of Fortune making its final appearance on Friday 28 July 2006.

In March 2008, the Nine Network announced it had bought the format to Wheel Of Fortune and had signed up Tim Campbell, formerly of rival Seven Network programs Home And Away and National Bingo Night, to host the new show which is expected to be slotted in the 5.30pm timeslot leading in to the news.

John Burgess and Adriana Xenides
(Picture: The Sunday Mail TV Scene, (Brisbane) 1992)

original text © TelevisionAU
revised 31 March 2005
revised 23 January 2006
revised 29 July 2006
revised 29 March 2008

DO YOU REMEMBER ?
Other Australian TV Game Shows:

$50,000 Letterbox
1 vs 100
A Question Of Sport
All-Star Squares
Almost Anything Goes
Battle Of The Sexes
Bert's Family Feud
Blankety Blanks
Blind Date
Burgo's Catchphrase
Cash Bonanza
Casino 10
Catch Us If You Can
Celebrity Squares
Celebrity Tattletales
Coles £3000 Question
Coles $6000 Question
Concentration
Crossfire
Deal Or No Deal
Dog Eat Dog
Double Dare
Family Double Dare
Family Feud
Flashback
Generation Game
Give It A Go
Greed
High Rollers
Hot Spell
Hot Streak
It Could Be You
It's A Knockout
It's Academic
I've Got A Secret
Jackpot Quiz
Jeopardy
Keynotes
Let's Make A Deal
Man O Man
Mastermind
Matchmates
Million Dollar Chance Of A Lifetime
Moneymakers
National Bingo Night
Now You See It
Perfect Match
Personality Squares
Play Your Cards Right
Pick Your Face
Power Of 10
Press Your Luck
Quizmaster
RockWiz
Say G'day
Say When
Spending Spree
Spicks And Specks
Supermarket Sweep
Tell The Truth
The Celebrity Game
The Con Test
The Great TV Game Show
The Love Game
The Main Event
The Newlywed Game
The Oz Game
The Rich List
The Weakest Link
Three On A Match
Treasure Hunt
Trivial Video Show
Total Recall
Video Village
Vidiot
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire
Who What And Where?

Eddie McGuire, host of 1 vs 100 (2007)

1950s

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