Jokers Wild (TV series)

Jokers Wild was a British comedy panel game show that originally aired on ITV as a pilot on 15 April 1969 and then as a full series from 9 July 1969 to 20 November 1974. It was hosted by Barry Cryer. The show was based on two American panel game shows: Stop Me If You've Heard This One and Can You Top This?.

This article is about the British game show. For the American game show, see The Joker's Wild.

Jokers Wild
Genre	Comedy panel game
Created by	Ray Cameron Mike King
Presented by	Barry Cryer
Starring	Ted Ray Arthur Askey Les Dawson Ray Martine
Country of origin	United Kingdom
Original language(s)	English
No. of series	9
No. of episodes	147 (inc. pilot & 2 specials)
Production
Running time	30 minutes (inc. adverts)
Production company(s)	Yorkshire Television
Distributor	ITV Studios
Release
Original network	ITV
Picture format	4:3
First shown in	15 April 1969 (1969-04-15)
Original release	9 July 1969 (1969-07-09) – 20 November 1974 (1974-11-20)

Format and performers

Each week two teams of three comedians each played for points by telling jokes on a certain subject chosen by the host, who would pull the selection from a box on his desk. Typical examples were politics or the mother-in-law. When a member of a team was telling a joke, a member of the other team could interrupt the joke by pressing the buzzer and finishing the joke to score bonus points for his/her team. The turn did not end, however, until the comedian whose proper turn it was finished a joke with a punchline.

Before the commercial break one of the comedians would be given one minute to get as many laughs as possible from the studio audience. The more laughs, the more points were scored. At the end of the show the team with the most points won a gag trophy of a jester carrying the Yorkshire Television chevron logo.

In each team of three, two of the comedians were regular contestants; the third was a guest comedian. Guest comedians regularly appeared for two shows in succession before new guests appeared. For much of the run of the series, Ted Ray and Arthur Askey served as team captains, usually regularly supported by Ray Martine and Les Dawson respectively. Some of the other comedians who appeared on the show, either as guests or as temporary team captains or regular contestants, were Jon Pertwee, John Cleese, Rolf Harris, Ted Rogers, Norman Collier, Chic Murray, Alfred Marks, Lance Percival, Charlie Chester, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Jack Douglas. Series co-creator, and father of comic Michael McIntyre, Ray Cameron, appeared as a panellist on several episodes in the first series.

In the first series, compère Barry Cryer was joined by an assistant, although her role in the show was very limited and the idea of an assistant was dropped after a handful of episodes. Points were awarded on an arbitrary basis by Cryer (sometimes with help from the studio audience). In early series, jokes scored either five or ten points each. In later series, any number of points up to ten could be awarded. The system of points scoring was, by and large, not a major factor in the show in any case, but simply a way to suggest competitiveness between the comedians.

DVD releases

The first two series of Jokers Wild have been released on DVD by Network.

Series	Year	Episodes	Discs	Release date
Complete Series 1	1969	19 (+ pilot)	3	31 January 2011
Complete Series 2	1970	14	2	14 November 2011

Transmissions

Series

Series	Start date	End date	Episodes
Pilot	15 April 1969		1
1	9 July 1969	12 November 1969	19
2	31 March 1970	8 July 1970	14
3	15 July 1970	9 September 1970	7
4	16 September 1970	11 November 1970	9
5	19 May 1971	11 August 1971	13
6	18 August 1971	10 November 1971	13
7	17 May 1972	26 July 1972	11
8	19 October 1972	16 April 1973	27
9	17 May 1973	20 November 1974	49

Specials

Date	Entitle
26 December 1972	Christmas Special
24 December 1973	Christmas Special

External links

• Jokers Wild on IMDb
• Jokers Wild at UKGameshows.com