3-2-1

3-2-1 occasionally crops up in these list shows broadcast by Channel 4 . It's interesting to see that it's not well regarded thirty years down the line when it was highly popular during its broadcast . The reason for its popularity was probably down to the fact that it contained the most expensive prizes being given away , things like a brand new car or an expensive holiday with the danger of choosing the legendary booby prize dusty bin

What is striking in hindsight is how terminally thick some of the contestants were and it's in these list shows we're treated to a pair of couples who are asked what composer is famous for his water music :

" Oh Handel's water music " replies one couple

" So the composer is ? ... " asks compare Ted Rogers

" Schubert " comes the reply , which is the wrong answer so Rogers hands the question over to the other couple who reply :

" Beethoven "

Having said that not even the likes of Albert Einstien or Stephen Hawkings would be able to decipher the clues on the final part of the show where the winning couple try and figure what the prizes are via a series of riddles . This part of the contest is more of a guessing game best summed up in a spoof sketch on THE RUSS ABBOT SHOW

" We mentioned a garage and what would you keep in a garage ? A bin perhaps ? We also mentioned car keys what would you put car keys in ? A bin perhaps ? Yes you've won the booby prize dusty bin "

More of a guessing game than a contest

This is one of those 80's programmes which crop up on cheap cable channels and when you watch it you can't believe that this was Saturday evening prime time entertainment and 15-20 million people would watch it.its a bizarre cross between a quiz/gameshow and variety show.Basically,the idea was to interpret totally in penetrable cryptic poems which represented a prize, and the contestants would have to reject prizes and hope they got something tidy and not the booby prize of a dustbin, represented by the 'hilarious' character Dusty Bin. It was called 3-2-1 cos three couples would be whittled down to 2 via a quiz for the main part of the programme and then to 1 couple for the climactic choosing of the prize. The host , Ted Rodgers did this sort of visual 'catchphrase' where he would hold up 3 fingers, then 2, then 1 finger at a speed which dazzled the easily impressed people of the 80's. The weirdest bit was that instead of just bringing out all the clues to the prizes at once, there would be variety segments where various seaside comics, singers, dancers and magicians such as Keith Harris and Orville and The Krankies would do a few minutes of an act, or if the money was a bit tight that week then the in-house dancers 'the Brian Rodgers Connection' would do a turn. The act would then come over to Ted and the contestants and Ted would ask either where they were doing 'Summer Season/Pantomime" depending on the time of the year and they would read out the cryptic poems which made no sense and an item which was also supposed to be a clue but had no connection to the prize we later find out it represents. The couples would get to 'reject' the prizes one by one, supposedly by deciphering the clues, but actually by blind guess work. Once they picked an item to reject, Ted would open the envelope the poem was written on and read out an incredibly contrived and tenuous explanation for the clue, and the contestants were none the wiser as he went along until he shouted "Its the car/holiday/dusty bin!". Thered be another little quiz to knock out another couple and the final couple would get the choice out of the last few clues and win either a holiday,car, kitchen suite or a dustbin. Fantastic.

As a mere lad in the 1970s, I recall 3-2-1 seeming to last all night, but on seeing it recently on a game show channel it was only an hour long! Helmed by Ted Rogers (with his legendary quick fingered countdown) and assisted by the slightly mechanised Dusty Bin, the show was a curious hybrid of quiz, sketch and variety show, with initial rounds of questions to reduce three couples to one, who then moved on to the final clues round and had to watch (or endure!) various sketches after which a performer from said sketches would deliver and read out a baffling clue that represented a prize (from holidays and fridges to a speed boat!), but the couple had to beware as one prize was the dreaded bin! The choosing of the clues was invariably just pure guesswork as they were truly abstract and pretty much unsolvable through the use of any kind of logic, and as the series progressed the Chris Emmett-fronted comedy sketches (always according to a theme) gave way to guest star turns (including Bernard Bresslaw and Frankie Howerd) and then more club-like variety acts (although one did include an early appearance of Mark Heap). Of the latter stage, one episode's theme was 'Saturday Night,' which is, I think you will agree, a bit vague. However, of this period I do remember an 1980s alternative comedy troupe whose (I thought hilarious) surreal act concluded with the camera cutting back to a clearly totally bemused Ted Rogers. So, in some respects it was a bizarre spectacle (although some episodes did feature the glorious Caroline Munro), but it was certainly an original approach to the TV quiz show.

This was a show that you could win prizes but only if you could work out the riddles. If you picked the right one you won the prize but if you picked the wrong one you won a dustbin or as on the show Dusty Bin. The person who was the host was a man who's claim to fame was doing three, two, one with his fingers very fast and a catch phrase of 'Don't go away now.'

I used to watch 3-2-1 on Saturday evenings during the 1980's and it was usually the prime time show on ITV. It was much better that the rubbish that is now shown on Saturday evenings.

Three couples competed against each other and the first to go was at the first round, a quiz. The other two went on for the acts and a member of the act bought back an envelope with a rhyme, along with an object as a clue to what the prize could be. The contestants then had to pick one of these, hoping it would be Dusty Bin as all they would win if that was the last one at the end was a brand new dustbin. The prizes were usually cars or holidays. Every couple also taken home with them a ceramic Dusty Bin.

This show was hosted by the late Ted Rogers and one of his female assistants for a few years was actress Caroline Munro (The Spy Who Loved Me).

I use to enjoy this on a Saturday evening and was a shame it finished.