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Gameshow Marathon (British game show)

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Gameshow Marathon
Presented byAnt & Dec
Vernon Kay
Country of originUnited Kingdom
No. of series2
No. of episodes15
Production
ProducersGranada and Thames (2005)
ITV Productions and Talkback Thames (2007)
Running time60–90 minutes
Original release
NetworkITV, STV, UTV
Release17 September 2005 (2005-09-17) –
26 May 2007 (2007-05-26)

Gameshow Marathon is a British game show, broadcast on ITV from 17 September 2005 to 26 May 2007. After a quick retrospective look at the history of the particular show, the show itself is recreated. This involves recreating the original set and using original opening programme titles, including the appropriate producer ident (excluding Blankety Blank). All participants are celebrities, and any prizes won go into a "Viewer Prize Mountain" which is awarded to a viewer via a phone-in competition.

Series 1 (2005)

Ant & Dec's Gameshow Marathon is a seven-episode special event aired in 2005 on Britain's ITV Network, as part of a celebration of ITV's 50th anniversary. In it, hosts Ant & Dec presided over recreations of seven classic game shows that had been seen on the network. Six celebrity contestants competed in a series-long tournament, receiving a donation to their favourite charity for their participation. In addition, home viewers were given the opportunity to win the cash and prizes each episode's winning contestant "won" via telephone.

The programme was co-produced by Granada Productions/ITV Productions and Thames Television/Talkback Thames.

The shows recreated were:

Show Years aired on ITV Original producer(s) Date of Gameshow Marathon appearance
The Price Is Right 1984–1988, 1995–2001 Central, Talbot Television, Fremantle, Grundy, Yorkshire 17 September 2005
Take Your Pick! 1955–1968, 1992–1998 Associated-Rediffusion, Thames, Central 24 September 2005
The Golden Shot 1967–1975 ATV 1 October 2005
Sale of the Century 1972–1983, 1997–1998 Anglia, Grundy 8 October 2005
Play Your Cards Right 1980–1987, 1994–1999, 2002–2003 LWT, Talbot Television, Fremantle, Grundy, Thames 15 October 2005
Bullseye 1981–1995 ATV, Central 22 October 2005
Family Fortunes 1980–1985, 1987–2002 ATV, Central, Carlton 29 October 2005

The celebrity contestants in series 1 were:

The series was run as a three-round tournament. In the first round, each show was played by every contestant who had not already won a show. The four winners from the first round then competed in single-elimination format.

Carol Vorderman was the eventual winner of the series. The Golden Shot was broadcast live like the original show, and Sale of the Century had a dedication at the end to comedian Ronnie Barker, who had died five days earlier.

Following the series, several of the shows were revived; Bullseye returned on the game show channel Challenge, followed by The Price Is Right and Family Fortunes (in a celebrity format) on ITV, the latter hosted by one of the Gameshow Marathon celebrities, Vernon Kay. (Ironically, on Kay's Family Fortunes, the Vorderman family would play the game again. They did not win on their second attempt, however.)

Les Dennis presented the prizes each week to the winners of the home viewer competition.

Progression

Round Show Winner Eliminated
First The 'Price' Is Right Carol Vorderman No eliminations
Take Your Pick! Patsy Kensit
The Golden Shot William Roache
Sale of the Century Vernon Kay Eamonn Holmes, Ruby Wax
Semi-finals Play Your Cards Right Carol Vorderman Patsy Kensit
Bullseye Vernon Kay William Roache
Final Family Fortunes Carol Vorderman Vernon Kay

Series 2 (2007)

Series 2 logo.

Gameshow Marathon was presented by series 1 runner-up Vernon Kay. The programme aired every Saturday night on ITV from 7 April to 26 May 2007.

The shows that were played were:

Show Years aired on ITV Original producer(s) Date of Gameshow Marathon appearance
The Price Is Right 1984–1988,
1995–2001,
2006–2007
Central, Talbot Television, Fremantle, Grundy, Yorkshire, Talkback Thames 7 April 2007
Blockbusters 1983–1993 Central, Talbot Television 14 April 2007
Blankety Blank 2001–2002 Grundy, Thames* 21 April 2007
The Golden Shot 1967–1975 ATV 28 April 2007
Name That Tune 1983–1987 Thames 5 May 2007
Mr. & Mrs. 1964–1988, 1999 TWW, HTV, ATV, Border, Action Time, Carlton 12 May 2007
Bullseye 1981–1995 ATV, Central 19 May 2007
Play Your Cards Right 1980–1987,
1994–1999,
2002–2003
LWT, Talbot Television, Fremantle, Grundy, Thames 26 May 2007

* Was previously shown on BBC One, from 1979 to 1990 and 1997 to 1999.
Bold type indicates the pre-programme ident used.

The celebrities competing in series 2 were:

There was a slight change to the format for this series. As before, each show in the first round was played by those celebrities who have not already won a show. However, the remaining rounds were each a single show played by all celebrities still in the tournament: five in the quarter-final, three in the semi-final and two in the final.

The celebrity panellists for Blankety Blank were Andrew Castle, Fern Britton, Joe Pasquale, Holly Willoughby, Vic Reeves, and Lorraine Chase.

The special guests on The Golden Shot were Jo Brand and Jim Bowen.

The celebrity conductor on Name That Tune was Noddy Holder. The celebrity instrument players were Antony Cotton on the tubular bells, Carley Stenson on the recorder, Adele Silva on the xylophone and Kelvin Fletcher on the swanee whistle. The celebrity pianist in the Bid-a-Note round was Myleene Klass.

In Mr. and Mrs., the celebrities invited their real-life partners to play along.

On Bullseye, the celebrities were paired up with professional dart players. Andrea Catherwood was paired with Martin Adams, Graeme Le Saux was paired with Phil Taylor and Michael Le Vell was paired with Raymond van Barneveld. Tony Green reprised his role as the scorer.

On Play Your Cards Right, each celebrity invited another celebrity to play with them. Graeme Le Saux played with Kyran Bracken and Michael Le Vell played with Kym Ryder.

On the Blankety Blank and Mr and Mrs editions, the more recent revivals of both series were not mentioned on Gameshow Marathon, due to Blankety Blank having been presented by Paul O'Grady (no footage of him), who was then in a legal dispute with ITV.

Following the series, two of the shows were revived; Mr. and Mrs. (in a celebrity format) on ITV in 2008 and Blockbusters on Challenge in 2012 for one series.

Lionel Blair presented the prizes each week to the winners of the home viewer competition.

Progression

Round Show Winner Eliminated
First The Price Is Right Graeme Le Saux No eliminations
Blockbusters Ben Shephard
Blankety Blank Michael Le Vell
The Golden Shot Andrea Catherwood
Name That Tune Jamelia Wendy Richard
Quarter-final Mr. and Mrs. Andrea Catherwood
Michael Le Vell
Graeme Le Saux
Jamelia
Ben Shephard
Semi-final Bullseye Graeme Le Saux
Michael Le Vell
Andrea Catherwood
Final Play Your Cards Right Michael Le Vell Graeme Le Saux

International versions

Country Local name Host(s) Game shows recreated Channel Original run
 France Le marathon des jeux TV Nagui and Pascal Sellem Que le meilleur gagne
Fa Si La Chanter
Le Juste Prix
Question pour un Champion
Une famille en or
France 2 August 2006
 Germany Gameshow-Marathon Oliver Pocher and Oliver Petszokat Der Preis ist heiß
Geh aufs Ganze!
Hopp oder Topp
Glücksrad
Ruck Zuck
Bube, Dame, Hörig
Familien-Duell
ProSieben 2007
 Hungary Születésnapi kvízmaratont tart Till Attila Szrencsekerek
Esti Broadway
Multi Milliomos
All az Alku
TV2 2007
 Israel Play It Big Avri Gilad Nuts
Family Feud
Wheel of Fortune
Squares
Play It (The Pyramid)
More or Less (The Price Is Right)
It's my Secret
Parallel Minds (Mastermind)
Channel 2 2010–2011
 Mexico Gameshow Marathon Marco Antonio Regil Atinale al Precio
100 Mexicanos Dijeron
Televisa 2007
 Portugal Superconcurso – Jogo De Sempre Jorge Gabriel O Preço Certo
Entre Famílias
Palavra Puxa Palavra
Jogo de Cartas
Com a Verdade M'Enganas
Um, Dois, Três
RTP1 2007
 Turkey Yarişma Maratonu Özgü Namal and Emre Altuğ Kaç Para?
Seç Beckalim
Şansini Dene
Yüzyilin Indirimi
Aşaği Yukari
Parola
Aileler Yarişiyor
Kanal D 2006
 United States Gameshow Marathon Ricki Lake The Price Is Right
Let's Make A Deal
Beat The Clock
Press Your Luck
Card Sharks
Match Game
Family Feud
CBS 31 May – 29 June 2006

In Mexico, it also has its own version of Gameshow Marathon as well, as part of Teleton's charity funds for 2007. Marco Antonio Regil hosts the marathon, which includes its versions of The Price Is Right (Atínale al Precio) and Family Fortunes (100 Mexicanos Dijeron). It's on Televisa.