You Bet!

After watching yet another Popstars/Pop Idol/Fame Academy type show last night, some friends and I had a conversation about what Saturday night TV used to be like in the UK before we became bombarded with non-stop talent shows populated by mostly talentless wanna-bes. During the conversation, You Bet! was mentioned and the memories came flooding back! The aim of the game was for celebrities to bet on the outcome of events such as 'Can this man identify every Queen song just from hearing the drum beat?' or 'Can this insane person jump over a row of Double Decker buses whilst on fire?' (that type was usually reserved for the finale).

Exciting though this was, it got better. Firstly, audience participation was involved. The studio audience would also bet on the outcomes, and however many were right would earn the same amount in money for charity. Also, you could play along at home amongst the family of course. Secondly, if a celebrity bet that the person could do the challenge, but they failed, the celebrity would have to pay the forfeit of doing the challenge themselves. So, the audience got even more fun seeing well known faces doing things that they would not normally do. Although the heyday of this show was the classic 1989-1993 period (Bruce Forsyth/Matthew Kelly), it was still great when it made a comeback with Darren Day as presenter. A simple idea will always make great television, but unfortunately You Bet! is no more. So, until a return to classic Saturday night TV arrives, I'll be found here, reminiscing!

..it's all true, for years You Bet was THE diamond in the big, shiny, intricate crown that is British Saturday night television. The premise of the show is well documented here and I will not repeat what has been said. My favourite "bet" of all time saw a man make 30 clay pots in 3 minutes. Anyone who has even a basic interest in pottery will understand how difficult that would be. ...but that was the joy of "You Bet" - it featured real life, miracle makers. The man who lived up the street who could use a fork lift truck to turn a magazine page. The cultural importance of this programme cannot and should not be underrated. I knew people (without video recorders) who would literally postpone their holiday's so as not to miss an episode. It touched people and was a real pre-cursor to all these interactive gameshows as featured on digital TV nowadays. One evening, I ran up a debt of over £10 with my brother simply because I thought it was impossible for British astrologist Patrick Moore to play the xylophone in the buffet car of a British Rail train....

Life affirming, truly original TV. BRING IT BACK !!!

This is interesting. You Bet, a slightly different game show from the traditional mold that existed when this first came out, is actually quite good. In a nutshell, an audience bets on whether somebody or a group of people can do something considerably impossible. Their percentage split is then used as points for the celebrities. So if 82% of the audience guesses that the challenger can do something, and if the celebrity also thinks he can do it (and if the challenger does do it) then the celebrity get 82 points. At the end of the show all the audience and celebrity points are added together then multiplied by 4 to give a money donation which then goes to the celebrity's choice of charity.

The show, just like most of the material that's passed through terrestrial TV these days, now lives on satellite television, although the Matthew Kelly era is the most often seen followed by the Darren Day era. Brucie's era has yet to make an appearance.

A wide range of challenges were featured throughout the run, memory challenges such as being able to identify who won a particular Grand Prix in whatever engine in whichever year given. Physical challenges such as pole vault over some high bar and throw a tennis ball at some velcro to make it stick, get 15 balls in two and a half minutes. Even little children got involved with their own challenges at times with the emphasis on the "aww, they're cute. They lost but they're still cute" factor. And of course everybody got a memento whether they won their challenge or screwed it up altogether.

The show introduced its "Celebrity Challenge" as well. When this went out initially, people at home phoned in to bet whether the celebrity completed the challenge or not and so another charity donation went out accordingly. Obviously, this "phone in to register your vote" stuff is cut out of the Challenge repeats but they left the "result" in on the start of the next show.

I do prefer the Matthew Kelly era, the Darren Day episodes look rubbish by comparison in terms of the music and general presentation. Ironically enough though, Darren Day did go on to present Don't Try This At Home which is essentially the same thing as You Bet without any of the betting stuff. And it wasn't as good either.