Boys and Girls (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Boys and Girls was a British television
gameshow broadcast in 2003 by Channel 4
.
The series was produced by Chris Evans
, but the format was created by a Young Woman from Hertfordshire who was not paid for her creation. The show was presented by Vernon Kay
. Evans only occasionally appeared on screen, usually as the driver of the golf buggy used to ferry the winning contestants off-set at the end of the show. Thus the show was one of the first Evans-produced shows not to feature Evans himself in a presenting role (Evans was never put forward as a presenter by the creator of the show!) (in fact, Evans did not regularly front any UMTV programmes until OFI Sunday
in late 2005). Kay's co-presenter was Irish presenter and model Orla O'Rourke.
The contestants would initially assemble in the afternoon for what was referred to on-air as the 'pre-show party' - this saw the contestants assemble in a large hall. Each member of the group was given a few seconds to perform a stunt, skill or talent with the aim of impressing the 100 members of the opposite sex. Following this, each group would vote on who their favourite performer was (for the main game selection), and also rate the attractiveness of each performer (for the Babe or Minger game).
In the studio, games included 'Babe or Minger', where Kay would randomly select members of the 200 and invite them to guess whether they were a 'babe' (included in the top 50 of the vote carried out by the opposite sex) or a 'minger' (in the bottom 50).
Other short games and features would then follow, such as a segment in which tickets for a future show were offered to home viewers living in a featured street who performed a task set out by the host (such as opening the front door in their pyjamas).( This part was changed from the actual format!)
(In the authentic format a place/city would have been chosen at random, and then a person on the street asked if they would like to participate.)
Then the 'quiz' would be played. Two celebrity guests - one for each team - would enter the audience to canvas the team's opinions in response to a series of questions posed by Kay. These questions would be on the subject of relationships and would take the form of an 'either/or' choice, i.e. "What's more important, a big heart or a big wallet?". The celeb would gather the audience's apparent majority opinion and present this as an answer to Kay. If this answer matched the answer on Kay's card (as gleaned from an earlier general poll) then the team scored a point. The team which scored the most points in the Quiz would be the team represented in the Main Game.
The Main Game would see three members of the winning team take part in a final challenge, game or stunt. The three contestants selected to play in the Main Game would be the contestant voted top performer at the pre-show party by the opposite sex, the contestant voted in first place in the Babe or Minger vote, and one other contestant selected randomly from a draw machine.
The winner of the final challenge would get to select one of the contenders of the opposite sex to join them for a week in the Boys and Girls apartment in London
, where they would be awarded the £100,000 prize
money
to spend on purchases meeting conditions laid down during the week (e.g. "Spend £30,000 on items that spell out V-E-R-N-O-N-K-A-Y"). This 'shopping
challenge' would be filmed through the week for broadcast on Boys and Girls Friday (see below). Any money not spent during the shopping challenge would be forfeited.
The main game would be followed by the final element of the show, the Endgame, for which the previous week's winning contestants would be brought back into the studio, along with their purchases from the shopping week. It would then be determined whether these contestants would get to keep their purchases: in the first week, this was determined by a public vote, but in all subsequent editions the outcome of a quiz
determined the result.
(The video diary and justification elements were taken out, and the random prize wheel.)
(A new and upcoming act or band was to be showcased every week. The reason for this was to give them more exposure and to make the show more entertaining!)
(This was however messed around with!)(The first name for the true format was "Luck or Buck")
(The show was meant to be a fun and expereimental youth format, and was only ever meant to last for 13 WEEKS!. :) (The show had a target audience of 16-35.)
and aired on E4.
Boys and Girls Do It With Dougie was a live magazine-format 30-minute show broadcast on E4 following the broadcast of the main Channel 4 programme. The show featured Anderson in conversation with contestants from the show and celebrity guests (sometimes, but not always, guests who had taken part in the main show). There would usually be footage from the 'pre-show party' and, where required, from the preceding day's Friday programme.
Boys and Girls Friday was broadcast in a Friday mid-evening 30-minute slot and was principally a 'fly on the wall' format (introduced and narrated by Anderson) in which cameras would follow each week's winners during their week in the apartment as they undertook their shopping challenges. Edited highlights from this programme would be shown when the contestants returned to the studio the following day for the endgame.
ahead of launch (with extensive advertising
) and initially occupied a prime Saturday night slot. However, the show's poor ratings
saw the show slip back in the schedule to a later slot. Though all planned editions of the first series went ahead, the programme was dropped after one series, making it one of Channel 4's most expensive and prominent flops. It was also the first in a string of flops for UMTV, with many of the firm's subsequent programmes (such as The Terry and Gaby Show
and OFI Sunday) failing to match the success of earlier Chris Evans projects such as Don't Forget Your Toothbrush
and TFI Friday
. Evans has since returned more successfully to broadcasting as a host of programmes for BC Radio 2], and Vernon Kay has also been able to bounce back with a successful TV and radio career including shows on BBC Radio 1
and ITV's All Star Family Fortunes
. Orla O'Rourke, however, has returned to obscurity.
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
gameshow broadcast in 2003 by Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
.
The series was produced by Chris Evans
Chris Evans
Christopher James "Chris" Evans is an English broadcaster, businessman and producer for radio & television.-Early life:Evans was born in 1966, in Warrington, Cheshire, England, the youngest child of bookmaker...
, but the format was created by a Young Woman from Hertfordshire who was not paid for her creation. The show was presented by Vernon Kay
Vernon Kay
Vernon Charles Kay is a British television presenter, radio DJ, american footballer and former model. He began television presenting on the BBC children's programme FBi, a spin-off of Fully Booked. Since he has presented various programmes, most notably T4, Beat the Star and All Star Family...
. Evans only occasionally appeared on screen, usually as the driver of the golf buggy used to ferry the winning contestants off-set at the end of the show. Thus the show was one of the first Evans-produced shows not to feature Evans himself in a presenting role (Evans was never put forward as a presenter by the creator of the show!) (in fact, Evans did not regularly front any UMTV programmes until OFI Sunday
OFI Sunday
OFI Sunday was an entertainment show hosted by Chris Evans. It aired Sunday's on ITV at 10:30pm. The title stood for "Oh Flip It's Sunday", but as with his previous show TFI Friday, whose title nominally stood for "Thank Four It's Friday", a less innocuous interpretation of the initials, "Oh Fuck...
in late 2005). Kay's co-presenter was Irish presenter and model Orla O'Rourke.
Format and gameplay
Boys and Girls took the form of a battle-of-the-sexes contest. The audience for each show would be made up of 200 potential contestants - 100 male and 100 female.The contestants would initially assemble in the afternoon for what was referred to on-air as the 'pre-show party' - this saw the contestants assemble in a large hall. Each member of the group was given a few seconds to perform a stunt, skill or talent with the aim of impressing the 100 members of the opposite sex. Following this, each group would vote on who their favourite performer was (for the main game selection), and also rate the attractiveness of each performer (for the Babe or Minger game).
In the studio, games included 'Babe or Minger', where Kay would randomly select members of the 200 and invite them to guess whether they were a 'babe' (included in the top 50 of the vote carried out by the opposite sex) or a 'minger' (in the bottom 50).
Other short games and features would then follow, such as a segment in which tickets for a future show were offered to home viewers living in a featured street who performed a task set out by the host (such as opening the front door in their pyjamas).( This part was changed from the actual format!)
(In the authentic format a place/city would have been chosen at random, and then a person on the street asked if they would like to participate.)
Then the 'quiz' would be played. Two celebrity guests - one for each team - would enter the audience to canvas the team's opinions in response to a series of questions posed by Kay. These questions would be on the subject of relationships and would take the form of an 'either/or' choice, i.e. "What's more important, a big heart or a big wallet?". The celeb would gather the audience's apparent majority opinion and present this as an answer to Kay. If this answer matched the answer on Kay's card (as gleaned from an earlier general poll) then the team scored a point. The team which scored the most points in the Quiz would be the team represented in the Main Game.
The Main Game would see three members of the winning team take part in a final challenge, game or stunt. The three contestants selected to play in the Main Game would be the contestant voted top performer at the pre-show party by the opposite sex, the contestant voted in first place in the Babe or Minger vote, and one other contestant selected randomly from a draw machine.
The winner of the final challenge would get to select one of the contenders of the opposite sex to join them for a week in the Boys and Girls apartment in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
, where they would be awarded the £100,000 prize
Prize
A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people to recognise and reward actions or achievements. Official prizes often involve monetary rewards as well as the fame that comes with them...
money
Money
Money is any object or record that is generally accepted as payment for goods and services and repayment of debts in a given country or socio-economic context. The main functions of money are distinguished as: a medium of exchange; a unit of account; a store of value; and, occasionally in the past,...
to spend on purchases meeting conditions laid down during the week (e.g. "Spend £30,000 on items that spell out V-E-R-N-O-N-K-A-Y"). This 'shopping
Shopping
Shopping is the examining of goods or services from retailers with the intent to purchase at that time. Shopping is an activity of selection and/or purchase. In some contexts it is considered a leisure activity as well as an economic one....
challenge' would be filmed through the week for broadcast on Boys and Girls Friday (see below). Any money not spent during the shopping challenge would be forfeited.
The main game would be followed by the final element of the show, the Endgame, for which the previous week's winning contestants would be brought back into the studio, along with their purchases from the shopping week. It would then be determined whether these contestants would get to keep their purchases: in the first week, this was determined by a public vote, but in all subsequent editions the outcome of a quiz
Quiz
A quiz is a form of game or mind sport in which the players attempt to answer questions correctly. In some countries, a quiz is also a brief assessment used in education and similar fields to measure growth in knowledge, abilities, and/or skills.Quizzes are usually scored in points and many...
determined the result.
(The video diary and justification elements were taken out, and the random prize wheel.)
(A new and upcoming act or band was to be showcased every week. The reason for this was to give them more exposure and to make the show more entertaining!)
(This was however messed around with!)(The first name for the true format was "Luck or Buck")
(The show was meant to be a fun and expereimental youth format, and was only ever meant to last for 13 WEEKS!. :) (The show had a target audience of 16-35.)
Spin-offs
The programme had two spin-offs. Both were presented by Dougie AndersonDougie Anderson
Dougie Anderson is a Scottish radio and television presenter and voice-over artist.In 2003 Scotland on Sunday ranked him Scotland's 26th "Most Eligible Man".-Radio:...
and aired on E4.
Boys and Girls Do It With Dougie was a live magazine-format 30-minute show broadcast on E4 following the broadcast of the main Channel 4 programme. The show featured Anderson in conversation with contestants from the show and celebrity guests (sometimes, but not always, guests who had taken part in the main show). There would usually be footage from the 'pre-show party' and, where required, from the preceding day's Friday programme.
Boys and Girls Friday was broadcast in a Friday mid-evening 30-minute slot and was principally a 'fly on the wall' format (introduced and narrated by Anderson) in which cameras would follow each week's winners during their week in the apartment as they undertook their shopping challenges. Edited highlights from this programme would be shown when the contestants returned to the studio the following day for the endgame.
Failure and cancellation
The show, reputed to have cost Channel 4 in the region of £500,000 per episode, was heavily promoted by Channel 4Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
ahead of launch (with extensive advertising
Advertising
Advertising is a form of communication used to persuade an audience to take some action with respect to products, ideas, or services. Most commonly, the desired result is to drive consumer behavior with respect to a commercial offering, although political and ideological advertising is also common...
) and initially occupied a prime Saturday night slot. However, the show's poor ratings
Audience measurement
Audience measurement measures how many people are in an audience, usually in relation to radio listenership and television viewership, but also in relation to newspaper and magazine readership and, increasingly, web traffic on websites...
saw the show slip back in the schedule to a later slot. Though all planned editions of the first series went ahead, the programme was dropped after one series, making it one of Channel 4's most expensive and prominent flops. It was also the first in a string of flops for UMTV, with many of the firm's subsequent programmes (such as The Terry and Gaby Show
The Terry and Gaby Show
The Terry and Gaby Show was a daytime television show broadcast on Five on weekday mornings between June 2003 and April 2004, produced by Chris Evans' company UMTV. It was hosted by Terry Wogan and Gaby Roslin....
and OFI Sunday) failing to match the success of earlier Chris Evans projects such as Don't Forget Your Toothbrush
Don't Forget Your Toothbrush
Don't Forget Your Toothbrush is a Saturday night light entertainment show originally broadcast in the United Kingdom in 1994, and has also been adapted in Australia, Belgium, Finland, France, Germany, Denmark, Italy, Norway, Sweden, the United States, the Netherlands and Portugal...
and TFI Friday
TFI Friday
TFI Friday is an entertainment show broadcast on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom from 1996 to 2000. The show produced by Ginger Productions, written by Danny Baker and hosted by Chris Evans, for the first 5 series. The final series was hosted by a number of Guest Presenters. It was broadcast on...
. Evans has since returned more successfully to broadcasting as a host of programmes for BC Radio 2], and Vernon Kay has also been able to bounce back with a successful TV and radio career including shows on BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1
BBC Radio 1 is a British national radio station operated by the British Broadcasting Corporation which also broadcasts internationally, specialising in current popular music and chart hits throughout the day. Radio 1 provides alternative genres after 7:00pm including electronic dance, hip hop, rock...
and ITV's All Star Family Fortunes
Family Fortunes
Family Fortunes is a British game show, based on the American game show Family Feud. The programme ran on ITV from 6 January 1980 to 6 December 2002 before being revived by the same channel in 2006 under the title of All Star Family Fortunes...
. Orla O'Rourke, however, has returned to obscurity.