First watched : 1975
This was Bob Monkhouse's valedictory show ; hosting the British version of the US game show Hollywood Squares was part of the pound of flesh he extracted for his return to The Golden Shot.
It was a quiz show where the contestants didn't have to answer the questions which were instead thrown at one of the nine celebrities seated in a noughts and crosses grid. The contestant had merely to say whether the celebrity's answer was correct or not to get their cross or nought. A nominated "secret square" gave the contestants an opportunity to win extra prizes. At the end of the show a man in shadow brought in a briefcase with £1,000 in cash, to win which the wining contestant had to give nine correct answers to a question in 30 seconds. At the time it seemed an enormous sum.
Inevitably I didn't recognise some of the celebrities , some of whom were on nearly every week. I can't recall seeing the silly-voiced Patty Coombs in anything else and it's still hard to believe that bumptious cricket bore William Rushton , who seemed permanently ensconced in the middle square, was once regarded as a cutting-edge satirist.
The show was rested in 1979 while Bob did Family Fortunes , then he went to the Beeb and didn't return to Celebrity Squares until 1993 when he did another four year stint now with a car as the star prize.
It returned to ITV last year with Warwick Davis as host.
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