Headed out after the second cartoon to run errands. I was hoping CVS would have the Listerine Gum Therapy mouthwash I use in the smaller size. They did...but I didn't see a tag and didn't realize how expensive it was until I bought it. And all the pharmacies wonder why people won't shop there anymore? They're really too expensive. Got a Propel water and brushes for my Oral B electric toothbrush. I really can't find the brush heads anywhere else, but I won't get the mouthwash there again.
I mostly went for a walk to enjoy a gorgeous, sunny day. It was even nicer than yesterday, breezy and much warmer, into the mid-50's. I was hot in the snowflake-print cardigan and heavy coat I wore. No wonder I saw several people chatting on their cell phones or with neighbors on their porches. There's a few houses that still have Valentine's or even Christmas decorations out, but most are fine with a winter vine wreath and their empty gardens.
Took out the recycling and brought the laundry downstairs when I got home, then went upstairs to have lunch, make the bed, and rearrange the book shelves in the front and back rooms. Watched more Roots while I worked. Kunta's daughter Kizzy (Leslie Uggams) grows up alongside John Reynolds' daughter Missy Anne (Sandy Duncan). They think they're best friends, but despite teaching Kizzy to read and write, Missy doesn't see her as anything but a slave. Kizzy falls for another slave, Noah (Lawrence Hilton-Jacobs), who is determined to escape, and helps him forge a traveling pass.
Noah is caught, and Kizzy is sold to the brutal Tom Moore (Chuck Connors). Moore forces her into bed the moment she gets there. She has a son by him, George (Ben Vereen). George grows up to train roosters to fight one another. He thinks he's friends with Moore, but Moore turns out to be no more trustworthy than Missy Anne when first his wife, and then him turn up frothing at the mouth and threatening their slaves over a slave uprising that had nothing to do with them. He loses George to British trainer Sir Eric Russell (Ian McShane) and sells his family when he needs money.
Worked on updating the inventories after I brought the laundry upstairs, adding the records I've bought over the past few days. Watched The Price Is Right, then Match Game Syndicated during dinner. Comedian Alfie Wise has a great time during the first week. Jack Jones, Patty Duke, Joe Santos, and Donna Pescow are around next week. Patty convinces a physical therapist contestant to help fix her knee...and then Jack suddenly decides that he needs physical therapy, too.
Finished the night on YouTube with game shows featuring British host and entertainer Bruce Forsyth, whose birthday would have been Saturday. Forsyth began his game show career hosting a brief British version of Beat the Clock on the show Sunday Night at the London Palladium. Other than the stunts were a bit messy and one involved math rather than muck, this was pretty similar to the US format at the time.
Forsyth returned to the stage for the rest of the 60's. His next big hit was The Generation Game in 1973. Two pairs, usually a mother/son and father/daughter (although we have a mother/grandfather here), do stunts that involve guessing what something is - in this case, breed of dogs - and who can make crafts better. The remaining two couples join Bruce at the end to appear in a skit. Whomever is judged better are the winners. The winners get whatever prizes they can remember passing on a conveyor belt.
No wonder this was a long-running hit twice. It would be successfully revived in 1990, with Forsyth hosting the first four years of that as well. I believe it's still considered to be one of his signature shows in England. Even when the opening stunts are moving at a glacier pace, Forsyth is still having a grand time, making jokes and darting around.
Forsyth's next hit was Play Your Cards Right, the British version of Card Sharks. When it began in 1980, it had two contestants answering high-low questions that allowed them to play cards on a board, like the US version. Where this differs is the goofier high-low questions that are played for comedy and in the bonus round. Forsyth asks a question. If they won, they'd get an extra 50 points to bet with. If they lost, they'd lose 50 points. After that, the Money Cards run the same until the end. If the player makes over 4,000 pounds, they could answer a simple question to win a car.
This is just as much fun (if a bit sillier) than the American version, and just as enjoyable to watch. Forsyth had such a grand time hosting, he did the entire 1980-1987 run, including when they switched to couples playing.
Forsyth didn't have as much luck on this side of the pond. His only crack at a game show in the US was Bruce Forsyth's Hot Streak. Two teams, one of men, one of women, each have to describe a word to their teammate without using words the previous teammate used. If it sounds fun, but really hard...it was. It could be hilarious, but it was also difficult for teams to get more than two or three words without repeating them. That and heavy competition from The Price Is Right and Wheel of Fortune made it a flop here that barely lasted 13 weeks (though it did give announcer Marc Summers some of his first game show exposure).
Forsyth did better back in England with You Bet. This is another variation on Beat the Clock, only with the a panel of celebrities sponsoring and betting on the outcome of the stunts. All money went to charity. Forsyth only hosted the first two years of this long-running favorite, but he has just as much fun here watching people run around and make a mess as he did at the London Palladium.
One of Forsyth's last major assignments was ITV's third attempt at The Price Is Right. While not as huge of a hit as the daytime version was here, Bruce's Price Is Right did manage a decent six-year-run. It's played more-or-less the same as the 90's half-hour Price Is Right, with the addition of a (rather cheap-looking) wheel and two people doing the Showcases. Forsyth was as beloved over in England as Bob Barker had been here by this point (and unlike Barker, doesn't seem to have had problems with his models), and he has a grand time cracking jokes about people coming on down.
Celebrate the life and work of one of England's most beloved hosts with these hilarious episodes!
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