TV Pop Diaries
Pop Music on British Television 1955 - 1999

"Didn't he do well...?"

Bored with hosting a seemingly repetitive Generation Game Bruce was looking for a new game himself. What he didn't want was another game show, perhaps something that could show off his multiple and considerable talents. So he left and headed for the West End where The Travelling Music Show should have been a huge success, but four months' later it was all over and he found himself without a gig.

The problem for Bruce was that the BBC had Saturday nights sewn up, The Generation Game, Juliet Bravo or All Creatures Great And Small, and American cop shows like Kojak and Starsky and Hutch, Match of the Day, Parkinson. No real reason to change over to ITV. In the days before wireless remote controls people were less likely to physically get up from their chair and press the ITV/Channel 3 button on their telly. All ITV could offer was the vulgar Mind Your Language, talent show New Faces or a big movie, a James Bond if you were lucky. There was only one way that ITV could win the Saturday Night war, and that was to wave a very big carrot under their noses in an attempt to lure away all the talent that the BBC had. And it worked, kind of.

It had certainly worked for Stanley Baxter when he moved from the BBC to London Weekend in 1973, so what was the problem, why wouldn't it work for all the others? Morecambe and Wise, Dick Emery and Mike Yarwood all ended up at Thames, but lost any credibility as their writers and producers stayed with the BBC, sometimes for legal or contractual reasons. Any talent worth their weight would recognise that there's a necessary support team behind them, except of course for Tony Hancock. So they had to start all over again, but it was too late.

Bruce not re-joining the BBC was seen as nothing less than an act of treachery and he would live to regret it. The BBC were seen as bad losers and the war of words led to tabloids feasting on the fallout. Then, unexpectedly, the lights changed and traffic went in the opposite direction when Larry Grayson, previously London Weekend's property left the company, not just to join the BBC, but to replace Bruce as host of The Generation Game. He made the show his own, just as Bruce had done.

Talking to the Daily Mirror ahead of the first show Bruce bragged "The show's going to be a winner. The new show gives me the chance to do everything I'm capable of. I'll dance, sing, chat, crack jokes, introduce games - and involve the audience." Anthea Redfern in the same article claimed "We're feeling our way as we go along," she says. "I'm keeping my fingers crossed that the public like the show."

Bruce would be offered £15,000 per show and LWT felt justified in their deal, just wait until the you see the project, Bruce Forsyth's Big Night. It would be nearly two hours' long, live, each Saturday night. Bruce would present singers, dancers, a game show (oh dear), sit-coms and other things they'll think of later on, all live. Other curiosities were the inclusion of a re-boot of 1950's BBC radio favourite The Glums and Charlie Drake's 60's hit The Worker, a Beat The Goalie game, a fancy dress parade, while the video game explosion was represented by TeleTennis, a version of Pong, which would have the contestants shout at the screen in order to move the racquet. Bruce had found himself back in Beat The Clock/Generation Game territory.

According to the Daily Mirror each show was budgeted at £250,000, meaning that they were willing to buy their way into the hearts of the public, and it worked. Once. The first show knocked All Creatures Great And Small and the new Larry Grayson led Generation Game off the top spots. The BBC had tried to replace Morecambe and Wise with The Little and Large Show, but just couldn't.

If they had spent a quarter of a million quid on each show, it really didn't show. Spending tons on guest stars made the show look odd and shoddy. One review by a viewer likened the show to a tour of a holiday camp. Bruce's opening song about ITV not costing you anything, was unwise, also not true.

The first show hit big, with guest star Bette Midler who seemed to get the gag and went along with it. It also contained the first round of the United Kingdom Disco Dance Championships judged by dance legends Labi Siffre and Suzi Quatro. The Pyramid Game, hosted by Steve Jones (a host within a show that already had a host) would take up the middle aisle of the show. Elton John turned up for the next edition which meant LWT had probably won the pools, but the public had decided after the first show not to watch it again and the ratings plummeted. Show 3 had Jack Jones, while Dolly Parton and Sammy Davis Jr popped up on the fifth show. Cannon and Ball would turn up to the studios each week in case they were needed, but were quickly dropped. Also dropped, or excused from the mess, was Anthea Redfern, Bruce's then wife and previous co-star on The Generation Game. The 11th November show saw its running time cut by 30 minutes, while the following week LWT seem to further remedy the problem by moving it to an earlier time slot 6.00 - 7.30 pm with guests Demis Roussos and Charles Aznavour.

On the 1st December 1978 LWT announced that the show was to be retired early, having dropped out of the top twenty ratings after the first three weeks. News of the show's fate made headlines the following day. It was also news to the host. David Bell, London Weekend's head of light entertainment told the Daily Mirror "It didn't work. The public resented us making Bruce a compere again." Now, says Mr. Bell, London Weekend plan two shows - one to be run by Forsyth and the other by "someone less extrovert." LWT seemed to blame the host.

The 9th December show welcomed Petula Clark to what was left of the show, while Karen Carpenter appeared the following week, explaining that her brother Richard had the "flu". He was in fact at home recovering from opioid addiction. The show concluded with a compilation on New Year's Eve, presumably it wasn't in the mood to actually wish anyone a happy new year, but strangely it wasn't quite over yet as it resurfaced for a one-off show on Good Friday 1980, possibly hoping that the public had seen sense and would welcome it back. Despite Bruce being parachuted into a new hit game show, Play Your Cards Right, in February 1980 it didn't.

Like Johnny Cash The Man would be back, but it would take a while. Play Your Cards Right, then a re-boot of Generation Game, another re-boot of Play Your Cards Right, and then the show he was destined to host, Strictly Come Dancing.

Well, telly fans, give us YOUR verdict after you've seen Bruce's big show. Write to Telly Opinion, Daily Mirror, Holborn Circus, London EC1P 1DQ.

BRUCE FORSYTH'S BIG NIGHT

LWT

7th October 1978 - 31st December 1978, 4th April 1980