Earlier this year, I.T.V. revived that old chestnut 'Mr & Mrs'. As it went out directly opposite 'Dr.Who' on B.B.C.-1, I did not get to see it, but I doubt if it was as saccharin as the original.
It was a quiz show for married couples. A husband and wife, let's call them Christine and Bill, would be led into the studio by a dolly bird hostess. Christine would be put in a soundproof booth while Bill would be bombarded with daft questions by the host, such as 'If you bought your wife a grand piano for her birthday, would she a) sell it b) learn to play it or c ) hit you over the head with it?
Bill then had to guess his other half's response. Christine would come back and the question was put to her. If she gave the same answer as her spouse, they won fifty pounds ( a lot in those days ). And the losers got a smashing candelabra!
'Mr & Mrs' began here in Wales, as a Welsh language show called 'Sion y Sian' but the English language version was hosted by one of my country's unsung heroes of broadcasting - the late Alan Taylor. He was the antithesis of a modern-day game show host, being balding, plump, and myopic ( he wore a monocle when reading questions ). Taylor got around; he also did a Saturday morning children's show called 'Tinker & Taylor' ( in which he played second fiddle to a glove puppet ) and later, 'Orbit', which purported to be set aboard a space station ( his co-host was a squawking alien called 'Chester' ). Every episode ended with him crying a la Stan Laurel. He also appeared on 'Paint Along With Nancy', a daytime show in which American artist Nancy Kaminsky painted fruit every week.
It is a common myth that the 'Mr & Mrs' contestants were mostly elderly. Some were, but there were newly-weds too. The elderly ones were the more fun though. One night, a man was asked 'if you told your wife that you had booked a fortnight's holiday's in a nudist camp, would she say a ) no b ) maybe or c ) throw off all her clothes and say when do we go?'. He gave 'a' as his answer. But when she came back from the soundproof booth, she said: "When do we go?" which brought the house down. Who says old people have no sense of adventure?
This lightweight, gossipy show proved so popular it reached the I.T.V. network in 1972, and inspired Border Television to make its own, equally maudlin version, hosted by Derek Batey. I did not like that one as much, mainly due to its horrible Tony Hatch & Jackie Trent theme, which made your teeth rot as you listened to it. Our 'Mr & Mrs' had as a theme what sounded like a Welsh male voice chair warbling 'Getting To Know You' from 'The King & I'.
The L.W.T. sketch show 'End Of Part One' did a blinding take-off called 'Mr & Mr & Mrs', and Stanley Baxter put the boot in too.
Taylor's version vanished from the airwaves sometime in the early '80's ( he retired to run an antiques shop in Bath, then went to live in Spain where he stayed until his death ), but Batey's lasted until 1986.
Julian Clary's smut-fest under the same name was so bad I.T.V. took it off after only two weeks, and the 'reimagined' version earlier this year does not seem to have set the world alight.
If Alan Taylor was still alive, I would happily go on his 'Mr & Mrs', just for the sheer thrill of being manhandled by hostess Lynda Thomas ( what a lady! ) and taking home a useless piece of junk ( the candelabra I mean, not my wife ).
It was a quiz show for married couples. A husband and wife, let's call them Christine and Bill, would be led into the studio by a dolly bird hostess. Christine would be put in a soundproof booth while Bill would be bombarded with daft questions by the host, such as 'If you bought your wife a grand piano for her birthday, would she a) sell it b) learn to play it or c ) hit you over the head with it?
Bill then had to guess his other half's response. Christine would come back and the question was put to her. If she gave the same answer as her spouse, they won fifty pounds ( a lot in those days ). And the losers got a smashing candelabra!
'Mr & Mrs' began here in Wales, as a Welsh language show called 'Sion y Sian' but the English language version was hosted by one of my country's unsung heroes of broadcasting - the late Alan Taylor. He was the antithesis of a modern-day game show host, being balding, plump, and myopic ( he wore a monocle when reading questions ). Taylor got around; he also did a Saturday morning children's show called 'Tinker & Taylor' ( in which he played second fiddle to a glove puppet ) and later, 'Orbit', which purported to be set aboard a space station ( his co-host was a squawking alien called 'Chester' ). Every episode ended with him crying a la Stan Laurel. He also appeared on 'Paint Along With Nancy', a daytime show in which American artist Nancy Kaminsky painted fruit every week.
It is a common myth that the 'Mr & Mrs' contestants were mostly elderly. Some were, but there were newly-weds too. The elderly ones were the more fun though. One night, a man was asked 'if you told your wife that you had booked a fortnight's holiday's in a nudist camp, would she say a ) no b ) maybe or c ) throw off all her clothes and say when do we go?'. He gave 'a' as his answer. But when she came back from the soundproof booth, she said: "When do we go?" which brought the house down. Who says old people have no sense of adventure?
This lightweight, gossipy show proved so popular it reached the I.T.V. network in 1972, and inspired Border Television to make its own, equally maudlin version, hosted by Derek Batey. I did not like that one as much, mainly due to its horrible Tony Hatch & Jackie Trent theme, which made your teeth rot as you listened to it. Our 'Mr & Mrs' had as a theme what sounded like a Welsh male voice chair warbling 'Getting To Know You' from 'The King & I'.
The L.W.T. sketch show 'End Of Part One' did a blinding take-off called 'Mr & Mr & Mrs', and Stanley Baxter put the boot in too.
Taylor's version vanished from the airwaves sometime in the early '80's ( he retired to run an antiques shop in Bath, then went to live in Spain where he stayed until his death ), but Batey's lasted until 1986.
Julian Clary's smut-fest under the same name was so bad I.T.V. took it off after only two weeks, and the 'reimagined' version earlier this year does not seem to have set the world alight.
If Alan Taylor was still alive, I would happily go on his 'Mr & Mrs', just for the sheer thrill of being manhandled by hostess Lynda Thomas ( what a lady! ) and taking home a useless piece of junk ( the candelabra I mean, not my wife ).
