The original 'Take Your Pick' ran from the mid 1950's into the 1960's.
Its presenter was the extremely affable Micheal Miles. Together with his gong-beater, they put contestants through a funny and slightly harrowing preliminary of a 60-second quiz during which they must never say 'no' or 'yes'. If they succeeded, he gave them a 'fiver', I think. That was real money back in the 1950's. They were not eliminated by this phase, they simply won the extra money or didn't, and provided viewers with some great entertainment. After that they must reappear and answer some fairly routine general knowledge questions. They weren't supposed to fail this phase either, so Mikey ad-libbed them a great deal of help with the answers.
After that, they must pick a key to one of eleven boxes. They were numbered 1 to 10, but there was also a thirteenth. Some of the boxes contained 'booby' prizes that were both quite valueless and sometimes embarrassing. Others contained something more worthwhile. But one box contained a 'STAR' prize, which was introduced at the beginning of the show. It might be a car, or a speed-boat, or a caravan, or something. Mikey knew what was in every box numbered 1 through 10. He had no knowledge of what was in box 13.
Having answered the questions and picked the key, he would begin to barter for it. Sometimes, he would beat up to a hundred pounds or more. Other times he'd hardly go beyond £5. Contestants would get carried away with the excitement, turning down a whole bunch of money for something that was utterly worthless.
Sometimes they won the 'STAR' prize, and there would be tears and laughter in about equal measure. Occasionally they chose the key to Box 13. You could never be sure what they might get then, though as well as being slightly cryptic, it usually meant something good in disguise - like a foreign holiday.
The format was a serious ratings-raiser, and Micheal Miles was a genuinely likable fellow who made the program swing. It indirectly got into competition with a program on another channel called 'Double Your Money.' This was presented by Hughie Greene. Not so pleasant and personable, he nevertheless went on to better things, whereas Micheal Miles seemed to just fade away.
There was nothing fancy about their presentation. No flashing lights or smoke or other silly nonsense. A small dais, a wall of boxes, a bloke who asked questions. Apart from that there was the gong-man and an organ-player. how basic can you get?
'This is you quiz inquisitor, Micheal Miles, saying goodnight, good luck and cheerio to you all'.
Its presenter was the extremely affable Micheal Miles. Together with his gong-beater, they put contestants through a funny and slightly harrowing preliminary of a 60-second quiz during which they must never say 'no' or 'yes'. If they succeeded, he gave them a 'fiver', I think. That was real money back in the 1950's. They were not eliminated by this phase, they simply won the extra money or didn't, and provided viewers with some great entertainment. After that they must reappear and answer some fairly routine general knowledge questions. They weren't supposed to fail this phase either, so Mikey ad-libbed them a great deal of help with the answers.
After that, they must pick a key to one of eleven boxes. They were numbered 1 to 10, but there was also a thirteenth. Some of the boxes contained 'booby' prizes that were both quite valueless and sometimes embarrassing. Others contained something more worthwhile. But one box contained a 'STAR' prize, which was introduced at the beginning of the show. It might be a car, or a speed-boat, or a caravan, or something. Mikey knew what was in every box numbered 1 through 10. He had no knowledge of what was in box 13.
Having answered the questions and picked the key, he would begin to barter for it. Sometimes, he would beat up to a hundred pounds or more. Other times he'd hardly go beyond £5. Contestants would get carried away with the excitement, turning down a whole bunch of money for something that was utterly worthless.
Sometimes they won the 'STAR' prize, and there would be tears and laughter in about equal measure. Occasionally they chose the key to Box 13. You could never be sure what they might get then, though as well as being slightly cryptic, it usually meant something good in disguise - like a foreign holiday.
The format was a serious ratings-raiser, and Micheal Miles was a genuinely likable fellow who made the program swing. It indirectly got into competition with a program on another channel called 'Double Your Money.' This was presented by Hughie Greene. Not so pleasant and personable, he nevertheless went on to better things, whereas Micheal Miles seemed to just fade away.
There was nothing fancy about their presentation. No flashing lights or smoke or other silly nonsense. A small dais, a wall of boxes, a bloke who asked questions. Apart from that there was the gong-man and an organ-player. how basic can you get?
'This is you quiz inquisitor, Micheal Miles, saying goodnight, good luck and cheerio to you all'.
