Before reality TV loomed over the landscape, game shows were the networks’ safe bet, a low-stakes investment that hooked audiences with suspense, adrenaline, prizes, schadenfreude, and challenges both intellectual and ... not. The 1980s and ’90s were the genre’s heyday: you could pit your wits against the contestants on Sale of the Century, scream your way through Supermarket Sweep and dream of finding your own Perfect Match. When the format staled – just add celebrities!
Let’s go shopping
Sale of the Century was a quiz show institution that gathered Australian families around the TV at 7 pm each weeknight to try their luck at the trivia questions and imagine themselves in BMWs and furs. The show, a straight copy of the US version, put down deep roots in Australia, staying on the air for 21 years.
Genial host Tony Barber was the anchor of Sale, doing a sports-themed run-out to take his place at the podium from 1980 until 1991, when he was succeeded by Glenn Ridge. Female hosts included Victoria Nicolls, Delvene Delaney and Alyce Platt.
In this clip from the first ever episode, the eventual winner, a student teacher named Grant, gets a chance to win 25 bonus points in the Famous Faces game. Nicolls is already developing the ‘zany’ presentation style that would shape her on-screen persona as she recites the names of Australian TV personalities and politicians. Grant chooses Gough Whitlam – but the points were behind John Farnham, and Grant makes no attempt to disguise his disappointment at winning a couple of beer steins.
The suspense of watching contestants go on a rollercoaster of skill and fortune was key to the show’s long-lived appeal.
Excerpt from Sale of the Century, Episode 001, 1980.
The weekly shop hits the speedway
In the chaotic game show Supermarket Sweep, wanton consumerism is gamified and played out at breakneck speed. The humdrum setting of the supermarket is transformed into a racetrack where contestants hurtle around the shelves, scooping up as many items as they can in a minute. The trolley with the highest price tag wins.
In this episode from 1992, we see the frenetic pace that was at the heart of the show’s appeal. Something about the spectacle of contestants tugging washing powder and spaghetti sauce and cereal into their trolleys is mesmerising: a cross between door-busting shoppers and looters one step ahead of the zombies. At the same time, you can sense the strategies at play as Mels and Peter systematically work the aisles.
The Australian version of this US show ran on the Nine Network from 1992 to 1994, and was hosted by Ian Turpie.
Excerpt from Supermarket Sweep, Episode 92/130, recorded on 13 August 1992. Courtesy: Fremantle.
Like peaches and cream
If you were short one Valentine in 1986, you might brave the bar stools of the dating game show Perfect Match, where bouffant bangs and electric-blue sequins went with skinny ties and spiral perms like … an oyster round a pearl.
In this excerpt, we meet Ron (‘a photography manager who wants to own a business’), Trevor (‘a sales manager who wants to become a Formula One driver’) and Glen (‘a fireman who wants to climb Mt Everest’). Later in the show, they'll try and match with Leslie, a Scottish journalist who ‘wants to write a best-selling novel’, and who demonstrates her folk-singing.
Vent-brushed hosts Greg Evans and Tiffany Lamb promise us a treat later in the episode: a visit from Rhonda and Jamie, previous contestants who are now engaged.
Perfect Match fluttered hearts from 1983 to 1989 on Network Ten.
Excerpt from Perfect Match, Episode 138/1, 1986. Courtesy: Fremantle.
Pub trivia reimagined
This laid-back quiz show, shot at Melbourne’s Esplanade Hotel with a live audience, pitted two teams against each other in a series of challenges that tested their musical knowledge. Host Julia Zemiro kept the quips coming with help from her sidekick Brian Nankervis, one of the show’s creators, and a slick house band, the RocKwiz Orkestra.
The teams featured regular ‘punters’ (pre-screened to establish the depth of their knowledge) and a celebrity guest. In this clip from a 2007 episode, those guests are Liam Finn (whose father is Neil Finn) and Eliza-Jane ‘EJ’ Barnes (whose father is Jimmy Barnes). The two were touring together at the time. When EJ aces a singing challenge, the audience join in, creating one of many warm and spontaneous moments in RocKwiz history.
RocKwiz ran on SBS from 2005 to 2016, and lives on as a national touring show.
Excerpt from RocKwiz, Series 5 Episode 10, 2007. Courtesy: Renegade Films (Australia) Pty Ltd.
Let the games begin
On Saturday nights during the mid-’90s, Australia would gather around the TV to watch everyday Aussies go head-to-head against a fearsome cast of athletes such as Hammer, Cougar and Vulcan, in a variety of games including the Gauntlet, Joust and Atlaspheres.
Gladiators was based on an American format while also borrowing heavily from the British edition. Filmed in the arena-like Brisbane Entertainment Centre, the show had an initial run of three seasons that screened almost back-to-back during 1995 and 1996. Since then, it’s proved its stamina with revivals in 2008 and 2024.
This clip is from the April 1995 series premiere, in which competitor Gina runs the gauntlet against Rebel (Barbara Kendell), Cheeta (Nicky Davico), Blade (Bev Carter), Fury (Julie Melksham) and Delta (Karyn Lenehan). It's cheesy, hyper-saturated fun with a set like an oversized children’s playground and the competitors decked out in armour that is more ‘80s sci-fi than Roman gladiator.
This is also an early-career, atypical hosting gig for Aaron Pedersen. He departed the show after one season and has gone on to be a highly successful film and television actor.
Excerpt from Gladiators, Episode 1, 1995. Courtesy: Kevin Jacobsen Productions.
That's the name of the game!
You thought they were just good at their jobs, but their versatility knows no bounds. Watch future Hollywood star and Oscar nominee Guy Pearce lead the red team in one of the many games made famous on It's a Knockout (1985–87), a hugely popular show on Australian television in the 1980s. The other guest stars in this episode included Kylie Minogue, cricketer David Hookes, Young Talent Time’s Joey Perrone and singer Tina Arena.
It’s a Knockout was hosted by Fiona MacDonald and Billy J Smith and followed an identical format to the 1970s show Almost Anything Goes. Teams from local sports clubs and community groups competed on the show for cash prizes – except on the annual Celebrity series, which was populated by Network Ten personalities, radio stars, sportspeople and other notables competing to win money for their chosen charities.
In this clip, we meet the teams and their captains and see the first challenge, ‘Bumbling Bees’, in which a team member in a bee costume must battle their way through an obstacle course and pop balloons with their stinger. It’s loud, colourful and chaotic; a perfect encapsulation of the show’s madcap style and popular appeal.
Excerpt from It's a Knockout Celebrity Special 4, 1987. Courtesy: Ten Network.
The game of the name
The long-running game show Wheel of Fortune (1981–2008) featured contestants who had to guess words, phrases and names after spinning a giant wheel to win money. It was hosted by, among others, John Burgess, who features in this clip alongside Adriana Xenides.
The show often had celebrity specials where well-known TV personalities played on behalf of a home viewer. Did you groan when actor Brian Wenzel (A Country Practice) selected a ‘C’ or entertainer Maria Venuti was forced to miss a turn? The show’s appeal lies in how difficult it is to resist trying to play along at home. The winners of this round are an unlikely team-up of two stars from opposite ends of the children’s TV spectrum: motor-mouth cartoon host Agro and the silent man-sized moggie, Fat Cat.
Excerpt from Celebrity Wheel of Fortune, Series 3 Episode 12, 1991. Courtesy: Fremantle.
Main image: Celebrity Wheel of Fortune hosts John Burgess and Adriana Xenides (left) look on as celebrity contestants Jan Adele and Tracey Wickham (with Graham 'Shirley' Strachan behind them) spin the iconic wheel, 1991. NFSA title: 625026
We're celebrating the 45th anniversary of Sale of the Century, the beloved quiz show that embodied the essence of the '80s – big hair, big cars, big money.
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The National Film and Sound Archive of Australia acknowledges Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we work and live and gives respect to their Elders both past and present.
