Play Your Cards Right

Infobox Television
show_name = Play Your Cards Right


caption = "Play Your Cards Right" Logo (1994–1999)
format = Game Show
picture_format = 4:3 (1980–1999) 16:9 (2002–2003)
runtime = 30mins (inc. comms)
creator =
starring = Bruce Forsyth
channel = ITV
first_aired = 1 February, 1980
last_aired = 20 June, 2003
num_series = 17
num_episodes =
country = UK
producer = LWT (1 February, 1980 - 4 June, 1999) Thames (7 September, 2002 - 20 June, 2003)
related = Card Sharks
imdb_id =

"Play Your Cards Right" (or "Bruce Forsyth's Play Your Cards Right") is a British television game show based on the American show known as "Card Sharks". The gameplay was basically the same as in the American version.

Broadcast History

"Play Your Cards Right" broadcast on ITV from 1980 to 1987, produced by London Weekend Television. The host was Bruce Forsyth. LWT produced a more modern version from 1994 to 1999, initially expected to be presented by Brian Conley who filmed a pilot show before Bruce Forsyth was lured back. In 2002 Bruce hosted another revival, with slightly modified rules. This version was produced by Thames Television. On 15 October 2005 it made a one-off return as part of "Ant & Dec's Gameshow Marathon", celebrating 50 years of ITV. It made another one-off return in 2007 again part of Gameshow Marathon. Forsyth also presented a parody of the format, "Play Your Iraqi Cards Right", when he was guest host on the satirical BBC TV series "Have I Got News For You".

Repeats of the 1996 to 1999 series can be seen on Challenge.

"Play Your Cards Right" has also been turned into a successful Interactive DVD which was released in 2007 with an updated sequel released this year (2008), produced by DVDPro.

Differences from "Card Sharks"

"Play Your Cards Right" had its share of similarities and differences to its American counterpart. Instead of two single players competing (which was the case in series 1 of the original version), two (usually married or engaged) couples would compete.

Main Game

The couples alternated who went first on each question. The questions were based on surveys of 100 people. The first couple would guess how many of the 100 gave a certain answer to the question, and the second would guess whether the actual number was higher or lower than the other couple's guess. (If the first couple guessed exactly the number of people, they would win a case of champagne.) If the second couple was correct then they gained control of the cards, otherwise the first team played.

Unlike the US version, the questions usually had some comedy valueFor example: The question is, "We asked 100 tattoo-artists - if somebody came in asking for a tattoo of Bruce Forsyth, would you try to talk them out of it?". The first couple would joke around with Brucie, and then decide on a sum of, say, 64. The second couple would say "higher" (and Brucie would pretend to be offended). If the answer was, say, 26, the second couple were wrong in guessing "higher," so the first couple started with the cards.

There were five cards for each team laid out, and they had to guess if the next card was higher or lower — ace being the highest card, and two being lowest. The first card could be changed if the couple wished. If the guess was correct, the couple would continue with the next card, and so on. Correctly guessing all cards to the end won the game, but if the couple guessed wrong at any time, they would retreat back to the card where they started and the other team would have a free attempt at their own cards. (In this case, the couple could not change their first card.)

After any correct guess, a couple could "freeze", which would protect their cards. A marker would be placed by a dealer beside the frozen card, which meant that on the next question, a wrong guess on their cards would put them back no further than where they froze. This was usually done when the card shown was of a middle rank, such as a seven, eight or nine. After a couple froze their cards, play would continue to the next question.

If the next card was the same rank as the card showing, it counted as a wrong guess; indeed, this is the only way to be wrong when an ace or deuce appeared. "You don't get anything for a pair, not in this game," was Forsyth's catch phrase on such occasions.

If no team had managed to predict the last card correctly within the first three questions sudden death was played. The couple who gained control of the cards (either though their own correct prediction or the other couples incorrect) had to make a decision, either to "Play" and correctly predict the remainder of their cards to win, or "Pass" force their opponents to achieve the feat. An incorrect prediction now caused their opposition to win the round.

Starting with the 90's version, the winner of each of the two games in the first half would get a "Brucie Bonus". The overall winner was the first couple to win two games. If a third game was required, three cards were played by each couple instead of five, with a tie break occurring on the third question instead of fourth.

The Prize/Cash Cards

The winning couple got 200 points to begin with. Brucie would then ask a question, if they got it right, they'd win an extra 50, if they got it wrong, they lost 50.There were two rows of three cards dealt out (going from left to right, and upward), and one final card at the top. At the start of each row (i.e. at the start, after 3 cards and before the final card), they could change their card. At the start of the second row, they got an extra 200 for nothing. The rules are the same as in the previous game, but they had to bet on their answer (minimum of 50). When they got to the final card, if they had 4,000 or more, they could play for the car. They were asked a simple question (usually to name 5 of something - no-one ever got this wrong), and then predicted higher or lower for the final card. If they were right, they would win the car. If not, they won a prize based on their score.

In the 90's version, points became pounds, and a pair did not lose them their stake, it was just returned. Also, on the final card, if they have £4,000 or more, and they were wrong, they would just have the money. What was emphasised was that their money was safe.

If the couple got to the final card with under £4,000, they could choose to take the money, or gamble all of it on the last card. The maximum amount of money that could be won was £17,600, which was never achieved.

The rules of the 2002 revival

The rules of the 2002 revival were partly based on the changes made in the 2001 revival of Card Sharks in the United States. All 13 cards from the suit of hearts from the 'Two' to the 'Ace' were put out face down. Four couples would then come on, and the two couples with the two highest cards would go through to the main game (the couple who picked the highest card was red team). This was just an opening game. After this, Brucie's gag was he would say "Well done you winners, and so sorry losers, we really are sorry to lose you so early in the show..tough."The rules of the main game were exactly the same as in the original version, except the "Brucie Bonus" was £1,000. If one couple won both the games, the losing couple would be sent home with a case of champagne before the break, otherwise the losing couple would get to keep the £1,000 for winning their one game (there was no money awarded for the tie-breaker).

In the Cash Cards, Bruce would first ask the winning couple a ridiculously hard, trivial or stupid question. They often pondered for a few seconds over this, then Bruce said "Aren't you glad you don't have to answer a question like that?", to which the audience would laugh.In the Cash Cards, this time, the couple were given £1,000 to start with and their minimum bet had to be £100, but they could bet the whole lot if they wanted to. If the couple turned the first three cards over correctly, another £500 would be added to the total. On the final card, there was a strict rule, where the couple had to bet at least half the amount they had at that point.If a couple bet on the whole lot the wrong way during the first three cards, that card would be put on the row above and the additional £500 would be added on. If there was a pair revealed in the Cash Cards, the couple didn't lose any money, they moved on to the next card. If the last two cards on a row were a pair, the second card would be used as the base card for the row above.The theoretical maximum in the Cash Cards is £136,000.

The Dolly Dealers

The so-named "Dolly Dealers" for this revival were Annalise Braakensiek and Vicki-Lee Walberg.

The host

Among Forsyth's other quips, he would, at the beginning of some shows, say, "What a lovely audience! You're so much better than last week." The joke was that the same audience was used for more than one show, therefore it was the same one.Bruce started each show with his trademark "It's nice to see you, to see you nice" (whereby the audience join in on the last "nice").When a pair was revealed, he'd say "You don't get anything for a pair, not in this game", and the audience would join in with the "not in this game" part.On the 2002 series in particular, he would often start the show with a made-up quote.

When "Card Sharks" was slated for a revival in 1986, Forsyth himself was considered as possible host by creator/producer Mark Goodson (Forsyth, at the time, was in the United States filming the short-lived Bruce Forsyth's Hot Streak). The job ultimately went to Bob Eubanks and Bill Rafferty.

Bruce, being a pro at comedy, seemed to get a laugh every 10 seconds, which slowed the show down.

Revival

No revival is planned of the show, but there's rumours that Brian Conley has been asked to present the programme but because of his "theatre commitments" he's unable to do it at the moment.

Catchphrases

*"Oh, You've have cheered me up." - Bruce Forsyth
*"What a lovely audience! You're so much better than last week's." (See "The host" section above for an explanation of the joke in this quote.) - Bruce Forsyth
*"It's nice to see you, to see you, nice!" - Bruce Forsyth/Audience
*"I'm the joker in the place, with 4 little aces who set the pace, and that is why I say with feeling, ok dollies do your dealing." - Bruce Forsyth
*"I'm the leader of the pack, which makes me such a lucky Jack, but oh Brucie, there's a pair of cuties, here's my darling dealing beauties." - Bruce Forsyth
*"I'm the leader of the pack, which makes me such a lucky Jack, but if you like things that come in pairs, here are my 2 little croupiers." - Bruce Forsyth
*"I'm the leader of the pack, which makes me such a lucky Jack, but here they are, they're so appealing, come on dollies, do your dealing." - Bruce Forsyth
*"We have our cards, all we need now are our players." - Bruce Forsyth
*"Higher/Lower" - Contestant
*"Freeze" - Contestant
*"Higher than a "value of card", you say" - Bruce Forsyth
*"Lower than a "value of card" you say" - Bruce Forsyth
*"Giving you a free go" - Bruce Forsyth
*"All of our questions are based on a poll of 100 people." - Bruce Forsyth
*"You can change the card, if you want to." - Bruce Forsyth
*"You get nothing for a pair - not in this game." - Bruce Forsyth/Audience
*"It could still be a good night if you play your cards right." - Bruce Forsyth
*"The best things in life all come in pairs - just look at my two croupiers!" - Bruce Forsyth
*"Wow!/Woweee!" - Bruce Forsyth/Audience
*"Did you see them cut the cards?" - Bruce Forsyth
*"It's a Brucie bonus!" - Bruce Forsyth
*"Don't touch the pack, we'll be right back!" - Bruce Forsyth
*"What do points make?, Prizes!" - Bruce Forsyth/Audience
*"What do pounds make?, Rich people!" - Bruce Forsyth/Audience
*"Hang loose - we'll be back in a deuce!" - Bruce Forsyth
*"Don't touch the Dec(k), back in a sec!" - Ant & Dec

Transmissions

External links

* [http://www.ukgameshows.com/index.php/Play_Your_Cards_Right "Play Your Cards Right"] at UKGameshows.com
* [http://www.gameshow-galaxy.net/britsharks.htm Game Show Galaxy (USA): "Play Your Cards Right"]
* [http://www.playtheshow.com/playyourcardsright Play Your Cards Right online game] - Online 'higher or lower' game