I honestly have to confess that before I recently checked out Ant and Dec/Vernon Kay's Gameshow Marathon, I was initially under the impression that Alan Carr was the first to develop this rare and rather interesting idea of reviving all of these classic gameshows of yesteryear (e.g. Bullseye, The Price is Right, Pick Your Cards Right, Family Fortunes, Blockbusters, The Golden Shot, etc.) and sort of reinventing them for the enjoyment of a modern audience with his Epic Gameshow series. However, it wasn't until when I started watching this series that I came to the surprise realisation that ITV first came up with this concept 15 years prior to celebrate the 50th anniversary of their network and my freaking goodness did it pay off.
Now, clearly coming from someone who was born in the '90s and thus wouldn't have been as familiar at the time with some of these gameshows when they first aired as I am now, it really personally intrigued me how each format worked, plus the celebrities they got to play throughout the shows (e.g. Bill Roache (aka Ken Barlow himself from Coronation Street), Eamonn Holmes, Ruby Wax and Carol Vorderman (of Countdown fame at the time)) and the hosts (particularly the modern-day Morecambe & Wise themselves, Ant & Dec) added so much of their natural fun, charisma, humour, friendly banter, showmanship and light-hearted entertainment chops to the proceedings.
In conclusion, Ant and Dec/Vernon Kay's Gameshow Marathon could not have been a more fun and enjoyable series to celebrate 50 years of ITV being on the air and I would most definitely recommend it to those who either are not very familiar with some of these classic gameshows and/or are curious about how each format works.
My overall rating for Ant & Dec/Vernon Kay's Gameshow Marathon: 8.5/10.
Now, clearly coming from someone who was born in the '90s and thus wouldn't have been as familiar at the time with some of these gameshows when they first aired as I am now, it really personally intrigued me how each format worked, plus the celebrities they got to play throughout the shows (e.g. Bill Roache (aka Ken Barlow himself from Coronation Street), Eamonn Holmes, Ruby Wax and Carol Vorderman (of Countdown fame at the time)) and the hosts (particularly the modern-day Morecambe & Wise themselves, Ant & Dec) added so much of their natural fun, charisma, humour, friendly banter, showmanship and light-hearted entertainment chops to the proceedings.
In conclusion, Ant and Dec/Vernon Kay's Gameshow Marathon could not have been a more fun and enjoyable series to celebrate 50 years of ITV being on the air and I would most definitely recommend it to those who either are not very familiar with some of these classic gameshows and/or are curious about how each format works.
My overall rating for Ant & Dec/Vernon Kay's Gameshow Marathon: 8.5/10.