Family Fortunes - Opening Titles (1980)

[iluvthecompanioncube]

This is about a million times better than the second theme. Truly one of the top tunes in TV history.

[pufferfishish]

I know it was from the Max Bygraves era, but all I have to say is:

''TURKEY?''

LOL :)

[GBscottieUK]

I love how the display screen controller is so primitive has trouble with scrolling. Clearly in this early episode they have not yet managed to make the big letters scroll.

[vania1013]

two of the parker family were sent down for doing armed robbery according to the harlow times

[cableguy786]

good ol Bob

[PanAmPatrick]

Does anyone happen to have an epsoide of Monkhouse's era on Family Fortunes. If you do the I beg you to please upload it. Series 1 and 2 in specific. Thank You

[PanAmPatrick]

A full episode

[k984552]

@PanAmPatrick Watched the only surviving Series 1 episode .However an episode of Series 2 or Series 3 (circa 1981) exists in Bob Monkhouse's private archive. Having watched the surviving copy it was quite entertaining and enjoyable. Jackpot was only £1000 with no hidden prizes. I'm almost certain it was the first

ever episode because it was recorded in 1979 and the first episode was transmitted in early January 1980. 

[PanAmPatrick]

@k984552 Did the family win? Do you have the episode?

[k984552]

@PanAmPatrick Yes, the family did win the prize by 201 points. Do not have the episode because I watched

it @ National Media Museum, Bradford .Unfortunately all (or rest of) the ATV produced episodes have been wiped ('at the time of practice') except this one and Monkhouse's own private one. All of the Central's ones (from March/April 1982 circa) exist in Monkhouse era, until he was replaced by Max Bygraves in 1983. ATV continued to wipe programmes throughout the 1980's.

[MrLogoman007]

@TheIdentCritic Why they didn't just use the original theme I'll never know.

[AidanLunn]

@MrLogoman007 Because they didn't want to?

[WheelWatcher12345]

This looks very different from the US version.

[Feisty1967]

Don't click on any of matipionkis vids, he blocked me cos I don't speak Polish. Just a warning.

[djhejfdngszldlvvn]

Y does the voice-over pronounce "...Fortunes" in such a strange manner? It makes me laugh. I think this guy used 2 announce the prizes on Blockbusters (- also made by what was later known as Central TV).

I've always admired Bob Monkhouse, but his jokes on this production were exceptionally tacky. Max Bygraves was much worse - he didn't seem 2 know what he was doing, most of the time......

[simpson30]

Bob was the master, followed by Max.

[Maundervision]

@westcountrytelevisio You try hosting anything up to 5 of those buggers a day, and I'm sure it'd take its toll on you, too!

[DANWOODHOUSE]

What is Monkhouse going on about when the first thing he says is "how do you like your sofa?"

[mistofoles]

@DANWOODHOUSE Are you sure he didn't say "How do you like it so far?" ?

[thesilvermachine]

Cracking theme tune and arrangement. Liked the theme music as a kid; still like the theme now. 7-segment displays were futuristic in 1980!

[WhiskasIII]

7 segment indicators looks geeky

[cjnnba]

sorry i meant to say the parkers

[mrskipling]

With the Parker family from Harlow - Tony, Sue, John, Ann and Greg. I make that five family members.

[Backintime90stv]

Great clip of Family Fortunes from 1980 mrskipling

is this from a full episode?

[cjnnba]

in the beginning for the steer family the announcer only called 4 names when there were 5 people in the family

[Markjuk]

Bring back ATV, the maker of fine TV programmes!

[russ7510]

I like the way everyone used to wear ties in those days

[UKSazzy67]

Did he say "How do you like yer sofa?"

[623058]

he Said "How do you like it SO far:"

This was the very first episode

[WhiskasIII]

TURKEY!!!

[WilliamMorris]

Do you have the full episode?

[k984552]

@WilliamMorris

Having contacted ITV Central most of the original series was wiped 'at the time of practice' . Therefore series 1-2 (1980/81) and half of series 3 (1981/82) by ATV probably been wiped. I don't think Challenge TV have repeated the ATV ones, only the ones produced by Central: hosted by Bob at its peak from 1982/83 circa. However Max Bygreaves final series in 1985 is missing.

Regards

the man with no name!!!

[smashwhammy]

Or as it's known in America, The Family Feud!

[Markjuk]

That late 70's/early 80's gameshow glam present here with the late king of Gamshows Bob Monkhouse. Love the way the text slowly plods along the scoreboard, the computer behind it clearly struggling =) Ahh the days of 2 megahertz computers!

[foreskin44]

i love the theme

[Hoddersrevenge]

Seems to me like us Brits fully used the dot-matrix board ebfore the US

[smashwhammy]

That depends on when the US version had its only road trip to Opryland.

[m230690]

i hate the way he screams "our survey said" every time just annoying

[PimlicoSteve]

Where can I find a clip of the 'Fillet of Fish' episode. Must have been from the mid to late 1990s.

Q: Name a kind of ache

A: Fillet of fish

Bizarre!

[TigerWalrus26980]

Apparently, the bloke heard 'hake' and not 'ache'!

[Goochy129]

I have looked EVERYWHERE for that clip. I laughed non stop for 10 minutes!!

[smailsnail]

I remember Bob Monkhouse! It was a great shame when he passed away, though *sigh*

[imcadam121]

That ATV ident used to scare me as a kid.

It's conspicuous by it's absence now,though!.

[morgansifer82]

Also this was very much ahead of it's time in terms of theme tune and visual presentation, especialy if you look at ATV's other famous gameshow, The Golden Shot, which was only produced a few years before this and was terribly crude in terms of cheap set and naff theme tune etc. Family Fortunes must have been a breath of fresh air in 1980 and in many ways launched the explosion of many of our most popular gameshows in the eighties.

[AidanLunn]

That was because at this time, FF was made at ATV's Elstree studios. Golden Shot was made at Birmingham a few years before. Birmingham always lagged behind Elstree in terms of technology. Just look at how primitive the first series of Spitting Image (1984) looks compared to the subsequent series.

[morgansifer82]

Bob Monkhouse was such a professional and completely irreplacable but I think its unfair to criticise Vernon Kay on the present Family Fortunes - he is very good. It can't be easy to present a gameshow and be so enthusiastic all the time but he pulls it off very well.

[bhvictory]

One thing I don't get since Vernon took over is the decision to call the first 2 rounds 'Single Money' - Double Money is fair enough, but Single Money sounds silly. It's like we don't have the intelligence to figure out what answers are worth before they are doubled up.

[paulboy76]

Please, bring back ATV. All is forgiven!

[wotsinyourbag1974]

Max was the best,he did'nt give a shit.

[strange6]

I'd forgotten how catchy the original theme tune was! Almost like Country and Western in style

[allenjeremy]

I have a edition of Family Fortunes from 1983 which was the 100th edition.

[wakkydude]

In color? :O

[olires]

No -- in colour!

[MrLogoman007]

@olires That's right. You have to add the u before the r in OR words.

[supersaver87]

Great open to a great show! I like this color scheme a lot more than the tan one they used a few years later.

[mrguest5]

Ah! My friend as Venon kaye would say at least it's for charity, then there's his wait a minuite WAIT A MINUTE as he also says. But yes even not for charity it's all good but what about the nice people who,are starving too death for eg.Also Bob,Les,any others and Vernon Kaye all good and Bliming brilliant as Vernon says.Cheers 4 Bob Monkhouse on Family Fortunes.I was born in 1984 so I missed it except recent ones.

[stuttsy83]

But the Two biggest problem i have with Vernon Kays is bleeding not playing five rounds of the main game in the ATV/Central FF (Three Single Money games and Two Double Money games)and Two no real familes play on Vernons Version its bloody Celebities instead and it should be half hour as well instead of an hour.

[stuttsy83]

and also in Mr Kays version of Family Fortunes it takes an hour to play 2 x single money rounds and 2 x double money rounds plus big money when in Bob Max and Les's versions including xmas editions all made by ATV,later Central, they played five rounds of the main game (3 x single money and 2 x double money plus big money) all in half an hour how do explain that?

[bhvictory]

Actually in the first series (1980) there were only 2 single money rounds. I saw an episode some time ago at the TV museum in Bradford. Bob also referred to the end game as FAST MONEY in series 1.

The US have recently introduced a spin-off series Celebrity Family Feud too, so it's not just in the UK. Still real families though who do day jobs - just because your daughter's in Emmerdale, etc. doesn't mean there is millions of pounds distributed throughout the whole family.

[harshsmit]

just listened to this theme tune with proper speakers, it sounds so ace, why don't they make it like this any more?

[bhvictory]

I think it would be rather confusing if all gameshows had similar sounding theme tunes. They're supposed to be different.

[harshsmit]

That isn't what I meant at all!

[bhvictory]

I think all tunes sound different through proper speakers as opposed to headphones, why would it be a different case for theme tunes nowadays as opposed to the 70s, 80s, 90s or whatever?

[harshsmit]

simple, they made better theme tunes back in those days!

[bhvictory]

There are still plenty of theme tunes in use now which have stood the test of time: Coronation Street, Emmerdale, EastEnders, Countdown, Match of the Day. I think all theme tunes have to be unique otherwise it would be impossible to tell them apart. I like old theme tunes, but it doesn't mean there aren't some good new ones aswell. Deal or No Deal, Millionaire? - these themes are already classics.

[bhvictory]

I see what you mean now. It does sound great. As does the theme from the Les Dennis era from 1987. And each gameshow theme sounded different from each other in those days too. A lot of the newer gameshow themes sound the same these days, Cash Cab, which went out on ITV daytimes a couple of years ago has an almost identical theme to Deal Or No Deal. Anyone else noticed this?

[bhvictory]

In fairness this intro and tune did look good for it's time and it still looks good in the retro sense. But technology changes all the time so this intro would look out of place if it was made in 2008 - the same goes for other fads of the 70s and 80s like magnetic weather maps or still-card TV station idents. I quite like the new Family Fortunes theme - it's upbeat and very in keeping with the modern times, but that's not to say I don't like the retro stuff too.

[cwilliams1976]

Talking about headphones, I wonder what music the contestants had to listen to during the final round where one of the contestants had to give five answers in 15 seconds to stop the duplicate answers being given in the second round.

[jeffrey44]

I think it was a recording of Bob Monkhouse randomly screaming and using profanity. This was to scare and/or shock the contestant and put them in a state of mind where they would be more likely to give a stupid answer (and therefore make better television).

[jeffrey44]

They used the same recording of Bob Monkhouse right up to the Les Dennis episodes. For a while they used a recording of Max Bygraves saying the word 'turkey' over and over again (getting louder and louder) but this practice was abandoned when it caused one contestant to get in such a mess that he had a mental breakdown and gave 'turkey' as the answer to 3 of the questions in Big Money.

[MrLogoman007]

@jeffrey44 On the Dawson version they play music.

[jeffrey44]

@MrLogoman007

Yeah, I think they probably did on the UK version if they even used headphones at all that is. They could just take the contestant out of the studio instead.

All that stuff I wrote a year ago were just simple lies.

[burdlow]

Bob Monkhouse was the best - so much better than Vernon bloody Kay!

[bhvictory]

But unlike Bob, Vernon didn't have over 20 years of gameshow experience behind him, so I wouldn't say it's fair to compare the two of them and Bob, who always admired the younger generation of TV hosts a great deal, wouldn't either.

[Backintimetv]

Yep Bob Monkhouse was 100% better than Vernon Kay and Max Bygraves burdlow Family Fortunes was tailor made for him & later on Les Dennis.

[rajaboy]

Long live Bob Monkhouse

[bhvictory]

Aren't gameshow hosts supposed to be unique in themselves? They each have their own style and do a show their own way. They're not supposed to be carbon copies of each other. I think Max Bygraves did quite a good job, even though he didn't have the gameshow experience of Bob, but everybody has to 'start' somewhere, Bob must have at one point and built a very long and successful career.

[stuttsy83]

This is the kind of family fortunes i liked when hte likes of bob monkhouse and les dennis did it dont like the new version with vernon kay

[segasonic623]

notice how the color sequence of the podiums was different in the monkhouse era than in the bygraves era.

[rajaboy]

I actually like that setting fron what I remember that was used for the first 2 then it became that brown/yellow after and Bob was hosting it at the time until series 4 which was then taken over by Max Bygraves which IMO was amajor mistake as he kept fucking things up and he also adnitted he hated hosting it so why did he do it?

[bhvictory]

In fairness, Max did a good job on Family Fortunes considering it was his first attempt at a gameshow - he had a very laid back approach. Bob had been doing gameshows since the mid-60s so he was ready for it when he took the job. Max admitted he never even watched a full episode of a gameshow before, so bearing that in mind he took to it pretty well.

[Hondo20132]

Especially with real 'turkeys'.

[1tardisingreturns]

Hi there!

Does anyone have a Family Fortunes episodes featuring Bob Monkhouse from the early 1980's that they could upload on youtube?

[1tardising]

When Family Fortunes started back in 1980 what day did it used to be on?

[bhvictory]

Friday nights at 7pm!

[1tardising]

Cheers bhvictory for the answer well done!

[allenjeremy]

It did move to 7.15 on a Sunday evening midway through the first series as a while back on an old website I saw a Southern Television junction from April 1980 which showed a Sunday evening line up and Family Fortunes was part of the line up.

[TumbleTower]

Well I saw the very first ever episode of Family Fortunes (Steer Family v Parker Family) in 1980, and it was a SUNDAY evening. For your info, The Steer Family made it to the Big Money Game, but only made it to 196 points, i.e. 4 points short of the then then jackpot of £1,000. A massive fortune then, but peanuts compared to today's Family Fortunes jackpot.

[bhvictory]

I was only 2 at the time! LOL

Bob Monkhouse did at least one series on Friday nights though, Max Bygraves did too.  Les Dennis' first series in 1987 was shown on Monday nights IIRC, and later moved to it's now familiar Saturday night slot.

[Hondo20132]

Good memory.

[cwilliams1976]

I know that the IBA always had issues concerning how much prize money the television companies can give to contestants; I'm not sure what Ofcom's current rules are concerning this.

[Hoddersrevenge]

No idea Chris, all I know is that before 1994ish [correct me if Im wrong] the limit was £6k.

[1tardising]

Has anyone got a clip of the documentary about the former ATV/Central Elstree studios?

[waciehawks]

Wow I didnt know it was this old!

[1tardising]

Yep, it sure is waciehawks as it's 27 years since this episode of Family Fortunes was first seen on people's televisions

[1tardising]

Is this the first ever series of Family Fortunes?

[bhvictory]

This clip is from the very first episode of Family Fortunes. It was featured on an in-house documentary made by Central when they closed down the Elstree studios in 1983.

[Busterchin]

Loved the show , Bob was at his best here , l think he did most of his best work for ATV. l would love to see an old ATV edition of Celebrity Squares , it was fantastic , the big prize was £500 pounds , l remember a chap in a dark suit used to bring it inside

a brief case at the end of each show. Great memories

Television is just not the same these days

[crazyclive]

People use this lazy refrain a lot, but you know, it's just not true. There is no such thing as a golden age of TV: remember, there was as much junk on then as there is now; we only ever retrieve the best bits of each era. Talking only of game shows we have Strictly Come Dancing on BBC1; University Challenge, The Weakest Link and Eggheads on BBC2; Millionaire on ITV1; Deal Or No Deal and Countdown on C4. Only two of these were around in 1980. Please, perspective! :)

[bhvictory]

I agree with what you say about Golden Era being based on people's age and what they've been watching. But back in the 80s we had less channels which meant more quality and we certainly didn't have 900 cooking programmes and Big F***ing Brother.

[crazyclive]

I'll agree with you there. And thanks for the Lindup correction! :)

[leepenfold]

This Family Fortunes Episode of 1980 was this filmed From Atv Studios Birmingham what year did it move to its Lenton Lane Studios Nottingham

[1tardising]

Yes Family Fortunes was filmed at the ATV studios in Broad Street Birmingham between the series one & two (1980-1981). in 1982 the show moved to Elstree for series 3 & 4. Half of Max Bygraves' first series was filmed at ATV elstree before moving to Nottingham.

In answer to your question about what year did the show move to its Lenton Lane Studios in Nottingham leepenfold the answer is November 1983!

[cwilliams1976]

The Nottingham studios only came about because of complaints from Birmingham City Council that ATV were not concentratinge nough on their franchise region and so that was when the IBA asked ATV to change their name to Central and have a dual split region in the midlands which had been reflected here.

[623058]

sorry you are wrong, it was the other way around!!

Nottingham area were the ones unhappy with ATV. and IBA agreed, ATV main studies was outside ATV area in elstree in London. atv had to sell them and then move them to nottingham.

[JimmySand9]

The set looks way ahead of it's time.

[GameShowFanMan]

Even though I'm an American, I have a few episodes of Family Fortunes and this show is FANASTIC! The theme song, the set and the gameplay is GRAND! Bob Monkhouse was a GREAT host and is like the British Bob Barker. Max Bygraves was tolerable but it seemed that it wasn't Family Fortunes...it was the Max Bygraves Comedy Hour. He was good but he was more focused on comedy than the actual game. Les Dennis was wonderful on the show, with his unique personality.

[segasonic623]

will you eventually post those episodes?

[crazyclive]

That's good to know, except nobody knows who the feck Bob Barker is. Nor cares. Still, you're half right about Bygraves (a crashing bore who has never been nearly as 'entertaining' as he thinks he is) and absolutely right about Dennis ("If it's up there, I'll give you the money myself...").

[antster1983]

@crazyclive How very dare you sir! Bob Barker is to America what Bob Monkhouse was to Britain - a legendary game show host and raconteur.

Bob Barker's main one was The Price Is Right, which is now hosted by Drew "the points don't matter" Carey.

[crazyclive]

@antster1983 Ah yes, Drew "the points don't matter" Carey, who, of course, needs no introduction... :)

[nidge76]

I used to love 80's game shows, the prizes were so shit they were good - a twin tub washer, power tools etc. Not like today, who wants to be a millionaire - boring!!

[realwales]

The episode probably DOES still exist. The ATV archive is mostly now at the YTV studios in Leeds. Sadly when Carlton bought Central in the mid 90s, certain stuff got wiped including a large chunk of Crossroads and Tiswas episodes.

I know for a fact may Bob Monkhouse episodes still exist because Challenge repeated them about 5 years ago.

[krazykat1977]

The wiping of certain ATV shows had nothing to do with Carlton taking over Central. It was largely due to its previous owners ITC and Polygram that many of the ATV shows were missing or wiped. Fortunately, since Carlton/Granada/ITV took over ownership of the library, a large number of missing ATV shows were recovered.

I'm pretty certain that the vast majority (if not all) of the ATV Family Fortunes still exists. I certainly would like to see more of them, Bob Monkhouse was the best presenter.

[sslaxx]

Ironic that Carlton was better at looking after the old archive than ITC had been...

[1Tardis]

I would like to see this episode uploaded in full.

[harshsmit]

absolutely superb clip, many thanks for this!

Its a shame Bob Monkhouse is no longer with us:(

[stig114]

Doesn't Bob Monkhouse look REALY happy to be there? The look on his face says "Oh crap. Not ANOTHER gameshow!"

[1Tardis]

Max Bygraves was totally shit at presenting Family Fortunes he should never been selected to replace dear old Bob Monkhouse anyone agree?

[1Tardis]

Hi Mr skipling

This is an amazing video of Family Fortunes from the early years when Bob Monkhouse was the host of the show.

I wish that the clip was longer so we could see how the families got on and also see the closing titles to this edition of the show from 1980 do you have an longer version of this clip Mr Skipling?

[rajaboy]

This brings back happy memories it reminds me of every Friday at 7 o'clock when I was 3 years old I would sit with my nan and watch it. It has also brought tears to my eyes as it reminds me of the great times

[Matthew23Hadley]

is there any end titles for the episodes

[mercuryvapoury]

I doubt the whole episode exists anymore, this clip came from a documentary on Elstree studios recorded in 1983, though the clip itself is from 1980.

Totally agree on the theme music, it's fantastic. Composed by Jack Parnell and Dave Lindup.

I think they used a longer version on later series, as they used to announce the "amazing" prizes that could be won.

[crazyclive]

You're fucking joking me? Dave 'Level 42' Lindup? Now that's something I had no idea about...who took credit for the fiddly violin break?

[bhvictory]

The Level 42 member was Mike Lindup - David Lindup who co-composed the original FF theme is his father.

[MrLogoman007]

@bhvictory You mean Level 42 as in the "Something About You" Level 42, right? Wow. I did not know that.

[bhvictory]

@MrLogoman007 That's right, seems father and son have the gift of good music in the blood. :)

[KevCityboy]

I love that ATV ident! It's one of my favourite idents of all time although I wasn't born when it had the franchise. That announcer on the show talks a bit too fast though. I can't get any of the contestants names and where they come from because he is too fast

[bobby1988]

Could you post the whole episode? Or perhaps a Max Bygraves episode?

[AntarcticaTelevision]

A very late 70s / early 80s theme tune there. This is a terrific video. And great to see the ATV ident at the beginning. This was the ATV show that lasted the longest following its relaunched as Central in 1982. (This is before my time, though - I only ever remember Les Dennis presenting FF!)

[AidanLunn]

in colour. . . IT'S AAAATTTTVVVV

"DAA-DAA-DAAAH BONG-BONG-BONG DING-DING-DING DAAA-DA-DAAAAAH"

[TumbleTower]

Well my written representation of the ATV In Colour ident jingle is "Pee wah wah bong-bong-bung tong ting tung sha-she-ahh". When I heard that jingle time and time again as a kid, it occurred to me it could be represented in writing, and stuck in my mind, that way. However it wasn't till early 2007 that I first wrote it down like that.

[ericcollins81]

i love this theme and that's coming from an american who has heard a lot of great themes