User:Daniel Benfield/Catch Phrase Video Archive

Catch Phrase, the show that became an international success, started out as a pretty good show that...got canned at midseason.

LEGAL STUFF SO I DON'T GET SUED: I'm only linking to these videos, none of which were uploaded by me, for the purposes of research and as a public record. Footage ©1985-2003/2006/2013-15 Marty Pasetta Productions and associated entities.

Syndicated (1985-86)
Syndicated, Daily: September 16, 1985 - January 10, 1986 [possibly] (85 episodes, I think)

And honestly...it really didn't deserve that fate. It didn't help that the 1986 Perfect Match was used as an "insurance policy" for stations if Catch Phrase did poorly, although in fairness Art James' last game show led to Bob Goen's first sold one so...good tradeoff, I guess?

Winning five games originally awarded a car, which was changed on October 22 to $10,000 (although this seems to have changed back after a little bit). In either case, the champ was retired.

Five-time champs get a car
 * September 16, 1985 (Premiere: Michael vs. Ashley; taped from KSTP, with commercials {alternate copy... thing, same source but no commercials})
 * [Winning five games awards a Pontiac Fiero.]
 * September 17, 1985 (#2: Michael vs. Bri; taped from WCBS with commercials, including a brief Break the Bank promo!)
 * September 23, 1985 (#6: Bri vs. Chris, with Bri going for the car in an unbelievable game; average quality and tracking problems for first 9-10 minutes, but still very watchable)
 * [Winning five games awards a Pontiac Fiero.]


 * September 25-October 2, 1985 (Cindy {Day 2 - $2,350} vs. Chip, with Art telling a contestant they're wrong when they aren't!; taped from WTVX, with two commercials {alternate copy... thing, same source})
 * [Winning five games awards a Pontiac Sunbird station wagon.]


 * September 25-October 2, 1985 (Mary {Day 2 - $3,150} vs. Clayton; video cuts out shortly after bonus round {alternate copy... thing})
 * [Winning five games awards a Pontiac 6000 STE.]

Five-time champs get an extra $10,000
 * October 25, 1985 (Florence {Day 5 - $30,733!} vs. Gary, with Florence going for the $10,000 bonus)

"Five-time champ" bonus reverts to a car/boat
 * November 29?, 1985 (Charley {Day 2 - $2,300} vs. Susan; taped from WSB with commercials, including one for a car dealership offering a free chainsaw with every truck sold {alternate copy... thing, same source but no commercials})
 * [One commercial (not the one above) is for an "after-Thanksgiving" car sale this Friday through Sunday.]


 * January 1, 1986 (Pat {Day 2 - $8,100} vs. Todd; fee plugs missing)
 * [Winning five games awards a Regal Medallion 185 luxury speedboat.]
 * January 2, 1986 (Todd vs. Brian; fuzzy video, bottom half pixelated for most of show, fee plugs missing)
 * [Winning five games awards a Regal Medallion 185 luxury speedboat. Art: "Looking back over the last few weeks and a couple of months, I think our largest winner has been around $50,000."]


 * January 10, 1986 (Unannounced Finale: Scott {Day 3 - $6,175} vs. Glenna; has commercials, begins after Art walks out {alternate copy of close, better quality})
 * [Winning five games awards a Pontiac Trans-Am.]

British Versions (1986-2002/2013-)
I'm separating this by host, otherwise it's gonna get complicated.

Roy Walker (1986-1999)
TVS/Meridian for ITV, Weekly: January 12, 1986 - October 28, 1994 (166 episodes in 9 series + 4 specials)

Carlton for ITV, Weekly: November 4, 1994 - November 13, 1999 (68 episodes in 4 series)

Debuting two days after the American version was canned, the Walker era started out using the same graphics as the American version before going in its own direction as the years went on.

TVS and Meridian for ITV (1986-1992; 1993-1994)

Series 1 (January 12-May 18, 1986; 18 episodes, it was shown broadcast in 1986)

Series 2 (January 4-May 17, 1987; 19 episodes, taped in 1986)

Series 3 (January 9-May 14, 1988; 18 episodes, taped in 1987)

Series 4 (January 8-May 13, 1989; 19 episodes, taped in 1988)

Series 5 (September 2, 1989-February 10, 1990; 23 episodes, taped in 1989)

Series 6 (September 1, 1990-March 2, 1991; 24 episodes, taped in 1990)

Series 7 (October 19-December 14, 1991; 9 episodes, it was shown broadcast in 1991)

Series 8 (June 27-October 24, 1992; 17 episodes, taped in 1991)

Series 9 (October 30, 1993-October 28, 1994; 17 episodes, taped in 1992 and 1993)

Carlton for ITV (1994-2002)

Yes, you're reading the below right: there really was no 1997 series, thanks to ITV (for whatever reason) opting to air some shows way after they were taped.

Series 10 (November 4, 1994-February 3, 1995/March 2-23, 1996; 17 episodes, taped in 1994 and 1995)

Series 11 (March 30-April 27/September 27-December 27, 1996; 19 episodes, taped in 1995 and 1996)

Series 12 (January 3-May 9/November 1, 1998; 16 episodes, taped in 1997 and 1998)

Series 13 (November 21, 1998-November 13, 1999; 16 episodes, taped in 1998 and 1999)

Nick Weir (2000-2002)
Carlton for ITV, Weekly: January 7, 2000 - April 23, 2004 (63 episodes in 3 series)

While Series 14 (early 2000, it was shown broadcast in 2000) and 15 (early 2001, it was shown broadcast in 2001) aired in a regular slot, Series 16 (taped 2001 and 2002) was delayed until after most of Series 17 had aired.

As for the show itself at this point, with Walker's departure the powers that be decided Catchphrase needed to be overhauled: the format got a bit cheaper, the set was massively shrunk down, Mr. Chips was kicked out the door, and the bonus game changed to a "connect left to right" style. The main thing Weir's run is remembered for is him breaking his foot during the intro of his first taped show (11th aired), resulting in a stopdown.

While this and his subsequent explanation (with him having crutches and a plastered-up foot) aired on the same show, they weren't actually part of the same taping session. During the aforementioned stopdown, Nick downed some painkillers and recorded the episodes scheduled for that taping day anyway, even running around the set at times...and frankly, I gotta give him credit for doing all that despite being in massive pain. On Episode 11 (most likely the first show he did after getting medical attention), Nick noted what happened and added that despite this unfortunate incident, the show must go on.

"So welcome to CRUTCHPHRASE! I'm Nick Weir, and I'm PLASTERED!"

My respect for him willing to host the show with a broken foot stands. That said, with him trying too hard to be funny and giving way too many clues to the catchphrases both in the front game and bonus round, this isn't gonna be painful at all...

Series 14 (January 7-August 18, 2000; 26 episodes, it was shown broadcast in 2000)


 * April 7, 2000 (S14E11: Elleni vs. Dave, with the clip of Nick breaking his foot during the intro!; original broadcast {alternate copy from a Challenge repeat, better quality but some bits missing})

Series 15 (January 13-May 19, 2001; 16 episodes, it was shown broadcast in 2001)

Series 16 (November 24, 2002/May 5-September 7, 2003/April 5-23, 2004; 21 episodes, taped in 2001 and 2002)

Uncertain placement
 * 200? (Tracey vs. James; Challenge repeat with a partial commercial, "shaky-cam" upload, ends shortly after signoffs {no credits})

Mark Curry (2002)
Carlton for ITV, Daily: June 24 - August 30/December 17 - 19, 2002 (52 episodes in 1 series)

Series 17 saw a better host in Mark and the return of Mr. Chips, but the move to daytime cheapened the format badly, much as the same move did to All Clued Up and Wheel of Fortune. Like said shows, Catchphrase was canned within a year, although boy did ITV get mileage out of Series 16...

Family Catchphrase (1994)
Family Channel: 1994 (100 episodes)

Hosted by Andrew O'Connor.

Stephen Mulhern (2013-present)
STV for ITV, Weekly: April 7, 2013 - Present

Mostly a return to form, albeit with a pyramid-shaped bonus round. It seems the series numbering continues from the 1986-2002 run.

Series 18 (April 7-June 2, 2013; 8 episodes)

Series 19 (March 16-May 18, 2014; 9 episodes)

Series 20 (June 14-July 19, 2015; 6 episodes)

Series 21 (November 7-December 12, 2015; 6 episodes)

Australian Version (1997-2003)
Nine Network: 1997 - Late 2003

Burgo's Catch Phrase, the show John Burgess moved to after being unceremoniously kicked off Wheel of Fortune in July '97. The show originally had two players, but from 2002-03 used three.

Two contestants (1997-2001)
 * March 13, 2000 (Anne vs. Chris; intro and close)
 * Mid-2000 (Julie vs. Jessica; has commercials, begins during Julie's interview)
 * August 29, 2000 (Adam vs. Chris; has commercials)
 * August 30, 2000 (Chris {Day 2 - $1,185} vs. Rita; has commercials)
 * August 31, 2000 (Chris {Day 3 - $2,950} vs. Fiona; has commercials)
 * December? 2000 (Full final segment; next-to-last show of the season)
 * December? 2000 (Season Finale: Jo vs. Linda)


 * 2001 (Georgie vs. Rachael; clips of Phil Watson's animations, "shaky-cam" upload)

Three contestants (2002-2003)
 * September 16, 2002 (Murray/Sharon/Belinda; has commercials, begins at player intros)
 * October 25, 2002 (Dawn/Liz/Rita, with appearances by Adriana Xenides!)


 * 2002-03 (Denise {Champ}/Sagnik/Titania; highlights)
 * April 21, 2003 (Lorraine {Day 3 - $3,132}/Trish/Lauren; has commercials, including one for the documentary Who Wants To Steal A Million?)

The American Comeback (2006)
Taped February 5, 2006 (2 episodes); hosted by Todd Newton

An attempt to bring the show back to the States, only offering cash this time. The bonus round uses the traditional rules (rather than the "go from left to right" method used on the original British version post-Roy Walker), awarding $1,000 per solved Catchphrase with $10,000 for five-in-a-row and $20,000 for five-in-a-row with the M.

The sales reel below doesn't directly mention the original American version, but it's hinted at (plus the Pasetta Productions logo is at the end). The pitch basically puts forth that since this is sleek and all-new and updated for the 21st Century, plus all the success the format's had around the world, All-New Catch Phrase will do way better than the format originator's 17 weeks.

It got two episodes and didn't sell.


 * Taped 2/5/06 (Sales Reel with clips of the pilots: Kiana vs. Matt and Kate vs. Jay)