Jokers Wild (TV series)

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)

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.

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, and Jack Douglas. Series co-creator Ray Cameron appeared as a panellist on several episodes in the first series.

In the first series, compere 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 DVD.

Transmissions

Series

Specials

External links

• Jokers Wild at the Internet Movie Database
• Jokers Wild at UKGameshows.com