Play Your Cards Right (Game Tin PYCR)

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The first team to reach the end of the board won the game and (starting in the 1990s) a "Brucie Bonus." The first couple to win two out of three games wins the match and went on to play the bonus game for big prizes (later cash). We asked 100 men: 'If you attended a miss nude beauty pegeant, would you bring binoculars with you?' How many said yes? We asked 100 married men: 'If your wife wanted you to wear a homing device so she always knew where you were, would you wear it?' How many said yes?

We asked 100 millionaires: 'Are you satisfied with the amount of money you've got?' How many said yes? We asked 100 policemen: 'Have you ever arrested someone who was such an incompetent criminal, you actually felt sorry for them? How many said yes? 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. 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. We asked 100 policemen: 'Have you ever wished for a crime to occur, just to relieve the boredom? How many said yes?

The fourth question in each round was a "sudden death" question in which someone would win the game on the next turn of the cards. Whoever won control of the board had the opportunity to play the cards (and could change the base card if desired) or pass them to theirs opponents (who could not change the base card and had to successfully clear the remainder of the row). If either team guessed incorrectly, their opponents automatically won the game. Why not use this little app to do the work for you, theres no need to shuffle cards, and drag a board around Unlike the US version, the questions usually had some comedy value (for example: The question would be, "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 Bruce, and then decide on a sum of, say, 64. The second couple would say "higher" (and Bruce 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. We asked 100 advertising executives: 'Do you think you could sell ice cream to the eskimos?' How many said yes?

If the match was tied after two games, a tiebreaker game was played to determine the winner. Contestants played rows of three cards instead of five, and three questions were asked instead of four, with the third being sudden death. In 2020, as part of a series of one-episode revivals of former gameshows made by ITV franchises, comedian Alan Carr hosted two episodes of a revived version of Play Your Cards Right. We asked 100 single woman: 'When having a medical examination, would you feel more comfortable if the doctor undressed as well?' How many said yes? The winning couple got 200 points to begin with. Bruce 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, they could change their card. At the start of the second row, they got an extra 200 points. 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 (which was a separate game on the US version). 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. Play Your Cards Right (or Bruce Forsyth's Play Your Cards Right) is a British television game show based on, and played similarly to, the American show Card Sharks.Contestants could also choose to "freeze", thus making the last revealed card the new base card and preventing the opponent from receiving a free chance. We asked 100 married women: 'When is your husband more likely to notice your new dress - when you wear it or when he sees the bill?' How many said the bill? The game relied upon market research which discovered the answer to such vital questions as “How many people out of one hundred think Bo Derek is flat-chested?” Forsyth also presented a parody of the format, Play Your Iraqi Cards Right (working title: Play Your Kurds Right), when he was guest host on the satirical BBC TV series Have I Got News for You in June 2003. 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. A revival of the show was planned for 2011, however it never made it to air, with only the pilot ever filmed. A revival, this time on Channel 4 rather than ITV, was filmed with Alan Carr as host, however this did not air either.

We asked 100 married couples: 'Do you think it should be easier for people to obtain a divorce?' How many said yes?

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The winning couple got 200 points to begin with. Bruce would then ask a question, if they got it right, they'd win an extra 50 points, if they got it wrong, they lost 50 points. 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, they could change their card. At the start of the second row, they got an extra 200 points. The rules are the same as in the previous game, but they had to bet on each turn of the card with a minimum bet of 50 points, or up to the number of points they have at that time. When they got to the final card, the couple's score determined the prize they played for. If they had 4,000 or more, they could play for the car (which was a separate game on the US version). 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. A score of less than 4,000 points after finishing the second row required a bet of at least half of the points. 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 through their own correct prediction or the other couple's incorrect prediction) had to make a decision, either to "Play" and correctly predict the remainder of their cards to win, or "Pass" and force their opponents to achieve the feat. An incorrect prediction now caused their opposition to win the round. We asked 100 barmaids: 'Have you ever deliberately spilt a drink on a customer's lap?' How many said yes?

We asked 100 policewomen: 'Has a man ever tried to chat you up after you'd arrested him?' How many said yes? Based on the American game show Card Sharks, the British LWT version Play Your Cards Right turned up trumps for Bruce Forsyth in 1980. Bruce was assisted by his ‘Dolly Dealers’, including Jan Michelle, Denny Kemp, Zena Clifton, Natalie Shaw, Sheryl Deane, Sharon Amos, Maxine Restall and Charlie Maloney.

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We asked 100 children aged 11-14: 'Do you think school children should be allowed to go on strike?' How many said yes? There was no shortage of contestants happy to behave on television as they might on the last night of a club 18-30 holiday, and apparently there were 13 million viewers who could stand the “higher” and “lower” shouting from Rent-a-Mob audiences as contestants had to say if a card was greater or smaller than a previous one. 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. We asked 100 bus drivers: 'Have you ever deliberately driven through a puddle to soak a pedestrian?' How many said yes? We asked 100 butchers: 'Which would worry you more, a visit from the Income Tax or a visit from Public Health?' How many said Public Health?