Blankety Blanks (Australian Game Show)
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''Blankety Blanks'' is an Australian
game show A game show (or gameshow) is a genre of broadcast viewing entertainment where contestants compete in a game for rewards. The shows are typically directed by a game show host, host, who explains the rules of the program as well as commentating a ...
based on the American game show ''
Match Game ''Match Game'' is an American television panel game show that premiered on NBC in 1962 and has been revived several times over the course of the last six decades. The game features contestants trying to match answers given by celebrity paneli ...
''. It was hosted by
Graham Kennedy Graham Cyril Kennedy Order of Australia, AO (15 February 1934 – 25 May 2005) was an Australian entertainer, comedian and variety performer, radio and television host as well as a personality and actor of theatre, television and film. He wa ...
on the 0-10 Network from 1977–1978. ''Blankety Blanks'' had a two-season run from 1977 to 1978. It was screened at a rate of five, thirty-minute episodes each week, stripped across an early evening timeslot. In Sydney and Melbourne, it was broadcast in the 7pm timeslot across both seasons. It was a ratings success, beating the flagship current affairs programs '' Willesee At Seven'' on the
Seven Network Seven Network (stylised 7Network, and commonly known as Channel Seven or simply Seven) is an Australian commercial free-to-air Television broadcasting in Australia, television network. It is owned by Seven West Media, Seven West Media Limited, ...
and '' A Current Affair'' on the
Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...
, and on occasions achieving ratings in the low 40s. It was only after this ratings success that Network Ten revealed Kennedy was paid an unprecedented $1 million per season. In 1978, Kennedy won a TV Week
Gold Logie Award for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television The Gold Logie Award for Most Popular Personality on Australian Television, commonly referred to simply as the Gold Logie, is an award presented annually at the Australian Logie Awards The TV Week Logie Awards (known colloquially as The Log ...
. When Kennedy had a bout with
pneumonia Pneumonia is an Inflammation, inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as Pulmonary alveolus, alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of Cough#Classification, productive or dry cough, ches ...
, announcer Don Blake was forced to host the show for an episode.


Gameplay

Two contestants, including a returning champion, competed. The contestants were always a man and a woman – at no point during the series did two people of the same gender compete. The object was to match the answers of the six celebrity panelists to fill-in-the-blank statements. The main game was played in two rounds. The challenger was given a choice of two statements labelled either "A" or "B." Kennedy then read the statement. Many of the show's questions were designed as ''double entendres'', such as "Joan and Paul went to bed and Joan asked Paul to (BLANK) her". The celebrity panelists wrote their answers on cards, after which the contestant gave their answer. Kennedy then asked each celebrity in turn, beginning in the upper left hand corner, to reveal their response. The contestant earned one point for a matching answer (or reasonably similar as determined by the adjudicator – producer Tony Connelly who was dubbed by Kennedy "Tony the moustache twirler"). After completion of the round, Kennedy read the question on the other card for the returning champion and play was identical. The challenger again began Round 2, with two new questions, unless he/she matched everyone in the first round. Only panelists that a contestant didn't previously match played this round. If the players tied with the same score at the end of the round the scores were reset to 0–0. Play continued until there was a clear winner. The winner of the game went on to play the ''Super Match''. The contestant had to match a word in a fill-in-the-blank phrase with the most popular response given in an audience survey. The contestant could consult three panelists for suggestions. The most popular answer in the survey was worth $100, the second-most popular $50, and the third most popular $25. The contestant won the amount of the answer they matched with. If a contestant failed to match any of the three answers, the bonus round ended. If successful the contestant had the opportunity to win 10 times that amount (either $250, $500 & $1,000 depending on the bonus round) in the "Head-To-Head Match". In this part of the game, they must match another fill-in-the-blank response with a celebrity panelist of his or her choice. If successful, he/she won the money accumulated in both parts of the round. Either way, the winning contestant could keep playing until defeated by another challenger.


Running gags

Many questions were quotations of a fictional character named Cyril, and would begin "Cyril said..." with the quotation recited by Kennedy in a stereotypical gay male voice (Cyril was Kennedy's middle name). Another recurring character in the questions was Dumb Dora – a joke borrowed from ''Match Game''. A recurring comedy skit between Kennedy and Gray involved discussion about a man named "Dick", leading to "Did Dick?", "Dick did!" exchanges between Kennedy and Ugly Dave Gray. Kennedy's risque brand of humour often nudged the boundaries of contemporary Australian broadcasting standards. Peter Hough was the crew member behind the show's sets pulling the lever that uncovered the correct answers on the board. During the second episode he was dubbed "Peter the Phantom Puller" by Kennedy. To reveal each answer in turn, Kennedy would call out "Peter could you have a pull", "Pull it Peter!", etc. In one episode Kennedy came on with a prepared list of "rude" words which were deemed acceptable to be spoken on-air. Throughout the episode, he would suddenly launch into a chant of "wee poo bum, wee poo bum!"


History

The series was a Reg Grundy production based on the long-running American game show ''
Match Game ''Match Game'' is an American television panel game show that premiered on NBC in 1962 and has been revived several times over the course of the last six decades. The game features contestants trying to match answers given by celebrity paneli ...
'', which had been created by
Mark Goodson Mark Leo Goodson (January 14, 1915 – December 18, 1992) was an American television producer who specialized in game shows, most frequently with his business partner Bill Todman, with whom he created Goodson-Todman Productions. Early life and e ...
and
Bill Todman William Selden Todman (July 31, 1916 – July 29, 1979) was an American television producer and personality born in New York City. He produced many of television's longest-running shows with business partner Mark Goodson, with whom he created ...
. Indeed, the ''Blankety Blanks'' set looked almost identical to its American counterpart. The series also used a similarly stylised logo. One of the conditions Kennedy requested when he started ''Blankety Blanks'' was the right to choose the members of the panel. If they worked well they would be retained, but if they didn't, they wouldn't be asked back. The first episode aired on TEN-10 Sydney on Monday, 24 January 1977 at 7:30pm, where it was telecast Monday to Friday. After six weeks of broadcasting at 7:30pm the show was moved into the 7pm slot, where it remained through to the end of its first season on Friday 2 December 1977. After summer break, the show returned to TEN-10 on Monday 9 January 1978 and remained at 7pm Monday to Friday for its entire second season. In October 1978 the series came up for renewal, and Ten was keen to renew the series. Kennedy consulted key panelist Ugly Dave Gray about the potential renewal. Gray felt he had used every joke he had done in his career and exhausted the comic potential of the formula and expressed a desire to not continue with the series. Kennedy observed that the ratings were down from earlier figures; although earlier figures were unusually high (ratings in the 40s), recent figures in the 30s range were still extremely high. In any event, Kennedy informed Ten that he would not be continuing with the series, and the show ended its run on TEN-10 Sydney on Friday 3 November 1978. The series has been repeated many times since its original run. It was shown on all four Network Ten stations, particularly ATV-10 Melbourne, numerous times between January 1985 and January 1987. In the 2000s it aired on
Foxtel NXE Australia Pty Ltd, trading as the Foxtel Group, is an Australian pay television company that operates cable television, direct-broadcast satellite, direct broadcast satellite television, and IPTV streaming services. It was formed in April ...
's TV1. In January 2009,
The Comedy Channel The Comedy Channel (promoted on air as comedy) was an Australian subscription television channel available on Foxtel, and Optus Television. The channel ceased broadcasting on 1 September 2020. History A joint venture between Artist Services ( ...
began screening back-to-back episodes on Friday nights. A
DVD The DVD (common abbreviation for digital video disc or digital versatile disc) is a digital optical disc data storage format. It was invented and developed in 1995 and first released on November 1, 1996, in Japan. The medium can store any ki ...
set of 30 episodes was released in late 2005.


Revivals

The game show has been revived twice in Australia since the Graham Kennedy series. The first of these, a 1985-1986 version hosted by Daryl Somers on the
Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...
, had moderate success. A second revival hosted by
Shane Bourne Shane Jerome Bourne (born 24 November 1949) is an Australian stand-up comedian, actor, musician, and television host. Early life and education Shane Jerome Bourne was born on 24 November 1949 in Melbourne, Victoria. He was raised by his mot ...
followed in 1996–97, again on the
Nine Network Nine Network (stylised 9Network, and commonly known as Channel Nine or simply Nine) is an Australian commercial free-to-air television network. It is owned by parent company Nine Entertainment and is one of the five main free-to-air television ...
. Its regular panelists included Marty Fields,
Rhonda Burchmore Rhonda Suzanne Burchmore Medal of the Order of Australia, OAM (born 15 May 1960) is an Australian entertainer, most notable as an actress, recording artist and singer in musical theatre, she has appeared in numerous television shows and briefly ...
, Tim Smith,
Kerri-Anne Kennerley Kerri-Anne Kennerley (née Wright; born 22 September 1953) is an Australian television and radio presenter, actress and singer. She has more than 50 years in the industry, and is an inductee into the Logie Hall of Fame. Kennerley co-hosted Netw ...
, Nicky Buckley,
Ian "Molly" Meldrum Ian Alexander "Molly" Meldrum Order of Australia, AM (born 29 January 1943) is an Australian music critic, journalist, record producer and musical entrepreneur. He was the talent coordinator, on-air interviewer, and music news presenter on the ...
,
Jane Turner Jane Turner (born 1 December 1960) is an Australian actress, comedian and Logie Award-winning comedy series creator and screenwriter. She is widely known for her role as Kath in the TV sitcom ''Kath and Kim''. Career Jane Turner, although ...
and Sam Newman. This had slightly more success than the 80s revival, lasting two seasons. Both of these versions followed the same format as the Kennedy version, but with a top prize of $5,000 (Audience Match amounts were $500–$250–$100, equaling those from the 1973–1982 American versions of ''Match Game''). In the second round of the 1990s revival, both players and the panel wrote their answers to the same statement and the player who played second in the first round chose whether to play with the top or bottom row and each match scored 2 points.


See also

* List of Australian game shows * ''
Match Game ''Match Game'' is an American television panel game show that premiered on NBC in 1962 and has been revived several times over the course of the last six decades. The game features contestants trying to match answers given by celebrity paneli ...
'' * '' Blankety Blank''


References


External links

* * {{IMDb title, id=0229107, title=Blankety Blanks (1996–1997) 1970s Australian game shows 1980s Australian game shows 1990s Australian game shows Network 10 original programming Nine Network original programming 1977 Australian television series debuts 1997 Australian television series endings Television series by Fremantle (company) Australian television series based on American television series