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Bob Holness dies

He was aged 83. (January 2012)

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RD
rdobbie
lobster posted:
I think Blockbusters, like Bullseye is one those shows which will only ever really work with the original host, both those shows are actually not that interesting, but the quirkiness and charm of those presenters made that show somehow watchable


Agreed. Holness and Bowen share a certain quality of making a show somehow comforting to watch. Never any witty put-downs or sarcastic backchat, just a gentlemanly and almost fatherly manner. I'd also add Johnny Ball and the late Tony Hart to the "they don't make 'em like that any more" list.
RM
Roger Mellie
The thing I liked about Bob Holness was, that he had the air of a headmaster on Blockbuster towards the student contestants-- but he was always warm and jovial.

As much as I liked Blockbusters, I loved his stint on CMB, with Sandi Toksvig and Alan Coren (another departed great). This from 1997...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JabsAVfaYc
JO
Jon
Roger Mellie posted:

As much as I liked Blockbusters, I loved his stint on CMB, with Sandi Toksvig and Alan Coren (another departed great). This from 1997...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JabsAVfaYc

Weird to think half of the people featured in that episode are now dead.
MI
Michael
Jon Wells posted:
Roger Mellie posted:

As much as I liked Blockbusters, I loved his stint on CMB, with Sandi Toksvig and Alan Coren (another departed great). This from 1997...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JabsAVfaYc

Weird to think half of the people featured in that episode are now dead.


I just made that very point on the vid.
MI
Michael
Seeing as I didn't contribute to the Xmas Presents thread, and as it is a special occasion:

Highway/Blockbusters - LSO

Quiz Wizard - Ed Welch (full length single version)

Blockbusters - Closing Theme (clean)

Blockbusters - Opening Theme (clean)
SD
sda|
That LSO variation is superb - sounds like it's from anything but a gameshow!
NJ
Neil Jones Founding member
623058 posted:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2083153/Bob-Holness-dead-Blockbusters-host-dies-sleep-age-83.html?ITO=google_news_rss_feed

I think the DM has just being stupid with this Quote
Quote:
He was ‘flabbergasted’ when Carlton TV decided to drop the show and failed to find anything to match it in popularity or the following it created.


Especial since Carlton NEVER took full control of Central until 1994, and BB was axed in 1992, look at the end cap date of the last ITV episodes, ITV axed it because there was such a bad back log thanks to no proper slots for the series, thanks Home and away!


Depends where you were in the country as to when Blockbusters disappeared from the ITV network. According to UKGameshows.com, Granada were still showing (the original run) as late as January 1994 and Sky's 1994 series was aired in the Central, Anglia, Tyne Tees and Yorkshire regions as well, the latter two as late as December 1995.

Quote:
Saying that half the paper are even thick for not releasing that he did 11 years of blockbusters 83 - 94.,


Yes but the bulk of Blockbusters went out on ITV. Sky TV in 1994 probably didn't have 10% of the viewership/membership it has now. Therefore a lot of people probably weren't aware that Sky picked it up.
RO
rob Founding member
For anyone interested, a whole episode of Raise the Roof has been uploaded at Buzzerblog: http://buzzerblog.flashgameshows.com/bob-holness-1928-2012/
:-(
A former member
Neil Jones posted:
623058 posted:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2083153/Bob-Holness-dead-Blockbusters-host-dies-sleep-age-83.html?ITO=google_news_rss_feed

I think the DM has just being stupid with this Quote
Quote:
He was ‘flabbergasted’ when Carlton TV decided to drop the show and failed to find anything to match it in popularity or the following it created.


Especial since Carlton NEVER took full control of Central until 1994, and BB was axed in 1992, look at the end cap date of the last ITV episodes, ITV axed it because there was such a bad back log thanks to no proper slots for the series, thanks Home and away!


Depends where you were in the country as to when Blockbusters disappeared from the ITV network. According to UKGameshows.com, Granada were still showing (the original run) as late as January 1994 and Sky's 1994 series was aired in the Central, Anglia, Tyne Tees and Yorkshire regions as well, the latter two as late as December 1995.


I Know that, where do you think UKgame and wiki got most of the details from Wink Laughing
IS
Isonstine Founding member
rob posted:
For anyone interested, a whole episode of Raise the Roof has been uploaded at Buzzerblog: http://buzzerblog.flashgameshows.com/bob-holness-1928-2012/


How brilliant it is to see that! I absolutely loved the show and thought it was a real shame that it never made it any further - I think it was another one of those shows that Bob carried as the format was a bit ropey. With a bit of tweaking it could well have been a hit. I think I was amazed as it was the first big giveaway game show on TV with an impressively big set.

But watching it only makes you realise what a legend Bob was and how sad it is that he has died. As some of you have already said, he had such a varied career and was truly multi-talented. And who'd thought that he would invent the iPad on Raise the Roof years before Steve Jobs did. Laughing

But in all seriousness, although the show was a bit of a turkey it certainly gave ITV the idea of a big win game show with a little bit of tension... so no coincidence that Raise the Roof was directed by Jonathan Bullen who later would direct a certain millionaire making show.
Last edited by Isonstine on 7 January 2012 12:50pm
JW
JamesWorldNews
Wow. Five pages here about the great Bob Holness, just within 24 hours of the announcement of his death.

The "TVForumBarometerSwingometer" is a great measure of just how respected certain TV folk are in popular culture.

Bob is trending well. Bet he's looking down, chuffed!
DV
dvboy
623058 posted:
All tapes are still around and are in central vaults , maybe there could not be arsed or never had enough time?


Central News had better quality video, presumably from the archive. Their clip of Call My Bluff was clearly YouTube though.

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