Benny Hill did a wonderful take-off of this show, called 'Sale Of The Half-Century', with himself as smarmy host 'Nicholas Parcels'. It was unusually unkind for a Hill sketch, especially seeing how Nick had been his 'feed' for years in the Fred Scuttle sketches.
But what of the original? It was made by Anglia Television, one of I.T.V.'s smallest stations, and along with 'Roald Dahl's 'Tales Of The Unexpected', remains its best remembered achievement. Each episode opened with the booming voice of John Benson: "And now from Norwich..." as though we should all be impressed by where it was coming from. Benson went on: "Its the Quiz of the Week!". I used to wonder who had bestowed that grand sounding title upon it. Was there an 'Its A Knockout' type programme somewhere in which quiz shows would compete for the right to be called 'Quiz Of The Week'? If so, why had I not seen it?
Pretty girls and luxury items such as spin-dryers and colour televisions would then float about to the accompaniment of an instantly hummable theme tune. Back came the voice of terror: "And here's your host...Nicholas Parsons!". And the great man would duly appear. Parsons took a lot of stick over his so-called 'patronising' manner, in truth he was no different from other hosts of similar shows of that period. In those days, game show presenters were required to put contestants at ease, not insult them if they got an answer wrong as Anne Robinson does now on 'The Weakest Link'. There were no searchlights on view, and no dramatic music. Peter Fen's organ ( of the musical variety ) provided the 'stings' ( obviously the producers could not have seen the 'Monty Python' sketch 'Blackmail' ).
Three contestants ( mostly elderly ) had to answer general knowledge questions, amassing amounts of money and the one with the highest total at the end got to take home a nice prize. That was all there was to it. The questions were tougher to answer than those to be found on modern shows, which confuse soap opera mythology with general knowledge. And contestants could not excuse their ignorance by stating that they had never seen the film/T.V. show they were being questioned on.
I used to love the hostesses. The poor girls looked as though they had stepped off the set of 'The Stepford Wives' and had the unenviable task of looking sexy against a backdrop of fridges and dishwashers.
Parsons' amiability made him a target for various comedians, such as The Goodies, Mike Yarwood and the aforementioned Benny Hill, but he took it all in his stride. The show ran for the best part of fifteen years. The alternative comedy brigade had Parsons send up his oh-so nice image in 'The Comic Strip Presents' episode 'Mr.Jolly Lives Next Door'.
'S.O.T.C.' was briefly revived in the late '80's as part of Sky One's original line-up, only without Parsons. Then Challenge T.V. gave it a new lease of life ( if you can call it that ) with that roving Swap Man Keith Chegwin. But these revivals did not have the staying power of the original. 'Sale Of The Century' without Nick Parsons was like 'Bullseye' without Jim Bowen. Utterly pointless.
But what of the original? It was made by Anglia Television, one of I.T.V.'s smallest stations, and along with 'Roald Dahl's 'Tales Of The Unexpected', remains its best remembered achievement. Each episode opened with the booming voice of John Benson: "And now from Norwich..." as though we should all be impressed by where it was coming from. Benson went on: "Its the Quiz of the Week!". I used to wonder who had bestowed that grand sounding title upon it. Was there an 'Its A Knockout' type programme somewhere in which quiz shows would compete for the right to be called 'Quiz Of The Week'? If so, why had I not seen it?
Pretty girls and luxury items such as spin-dryers and colour televisions would then float about to the accompaniment of an instantly hummable theme tune. Back came the voice of terror: "And here's your host...Nicholas Parsons!". And the great man would duly appear. Parsons took a lot of stick over his so-called 'patronising' manner, in truth he was no different from other hosts of similar shows of that period. In those days, game show presenters were required to put contestants at ease, not insult them if they got an answer wrong as Anne Robinson does now on 'The Weakest Link'. There were no searchlights on view, and no dramatic music. Peter Fen's organ ( of the musical variety ) provided the 'stings' ( obviously the producers could not have seen the 'Monty Python' sketch 'Blackmail' ).
Three contestants ( mostly elderly ) had to answer general knowledge questions, amassing amounts of money and the one with the highest total at the end got to take home a nice prize. That was all there was to it. The questions were tougher to answer than those to be found on modern shows, which confuse soap opera mythology with general knowledge. And contestants could not excuse their ignorance by stating that they had never seen the film/T.V. show they were being questioned on.
I used to love the hostesses. The poor girls looked as though they had stepped off the set of 'The Stepford Wives' and had the unenviable task of looking sexy against a backdrop of fridges and dishwashers.
Parsons' amiability made him a target for various comedians, such as The Goodies, Mike Yarwood and the aforementioned Benny Hill, but he took it all in his stride. The show ran for the best part of fifteen years. The alternative comedy brigade had Parsons send up his oh-so nice image in 'The Comic Strip Presents' episode 'Mr.Jolly Lives Next Door'.
'S.O.T.C.' was briefly revived in the late '80's as part of Sky One's original line-up, only without Parsons. Then Challenge T.V. gave it a new lease of life ( if you can call it that ) with that roving Swap Man Keith Chegwin. But these revivals did not have the staying power of the original. 'Sale Of The Century' without Nick Parsons was like 'Bullseye' without Jim Bowen. Utterly pointless.
