It’s Schlag den Star on Saturday!

By | December 9, 2019

I hope you will be able to join us for the final Schlag den Star commentary of the year this coming Saturday from 7:15pm, actor Wotan Wilke Möhring takes on World Cup hero Jens Lehmann for €100,000 in a contest being advertised with “high testosterone” and “real men!”

In other news, Vanna White takes over hosting duties this week on Wheel of Fortune in the US (with apparently Minnie Mouse taking over letter revealer duties, as it’s an on location week) as Pat Sajak was taken in for emergency surgery on an intestine during filming. It’s actually not without precedent:

Have there been any other unusual role reversals in Gameshowland?

15 thoughts on “It’s Schlag den Star on Saturday!

    1. David

      There was an episode of Talkin’ ‘Bout Your Generation where the host and the three regular team captains rotated positions as well.

      Reply
  1. Matt Clemson

    I assume we’d count the Beat The Star where Vernon was the star?

    There’s also the Treasure Hunt Christmas Special with Anneka and Kenneth as the players and a number of celebrity skyrunners in a relay format.

    And there’s the *seminal* episode 30 of Technical Difficulties, where Matt takes over hosting duties

    All those are only “host playing”, though, I’m struggling to think of an instance where two cohosts swapped roles. It feels like something that might have turned up on a Big Break at some point!

    …And of *course* there’s a TVTropes page on the subject. Looks like 2013 April Fools day Price Is Right had Drew and George Gray swapping roles with the models, so the two of them were showcasing the prizes; on April Fool’s Day 1997 apparently Pat Sajak hosted Jeopardy while Alex Trebek hosted Wheel.

    Reply
    1. Steve Williams

      It’s another example of “host playing” but there was that Christmas QI very early on when Alan brought out his own questions for Stephen, which he obviously got all correct.

      It’s not quite the same but there was Jim Davidson standing in for Brucie at the last minute. I remember that series also included a compilation that was apparently a last-minute substitution for a proper episode and I remember reading in the papers at the time that everyone was concerned Brucie was getting so old and ill. Just the twenty years or so too early.

      Those April Fool things on Wikipedia always sound absolutely deathly, endless lists of “On WHTS the weatherman did the sport and the sports guy did the weather and they said goodbye at the start and hello at the end!!!!!!!!!”

      Reply
  2. David B

    For completeness, there was the 1997 Christmas special of Countdown presented by William G., with Richard and Carol being the contestants. Can’t remember WGS being a contestant on anything, however.

    And of course, there was the various Channel 4 Mash Ups, most notably Phil Spencer hosting The Million Pound Drop while Davina McCall and her dad competed.

    The 1981 Christmas Special of Sale of the Century was presented by Steve Jones, and had Tom O’Connor, Nicholas Parsons and Derek Batey as contestants. That must have been a watch.

    A 1977 edition of Just a Minute featured Parsons playing the game, to stand in for Clement Freud who was running late, with Ian Messiter being the chairman. And in the first series of I’m Sorry I Haven’t a Clue, Barry Cryer and Humph alternated seats as chairman.

    Reply
    1. Thomas Sales

      William G. Stewart did Celebrity Mastermind in 2007, taking as his specialist subject Lord Elgin and his marbles. That episode was noteworthy for the eventual winner Peter Serafinowicz returning to the black chair and falling off to sleep unarousably after having his trophy presented to him.

      Reply
    1. Chris M. Dickson

      Rather like the logo and the version of the theme tune used in the trailer, for what it’s worth, though I would be surprised if they used more than 15 seconds of it for an opening sequence. Still, not long until we find out for real!

      Reply
    2. Chris M. Dickson

      This is a poll with a fairly obvious hidden agenda, but – without thinking about it too hard – please say “The Crystal Maze” out loud to yourself.

      . SPOILER
      . SPACE
      .
      .
      .
      .
      .
      .
      .
      .
      .
      .
      .
      .
      .
      .
      .

      Which syllable did you tend to emphasise?

      Reply
    1. Matt Clemson

      There was also one episode in the series where Merton was away for much of the series (with various guests captaining his team) where for one episode Merton was on Hislop’s team.

      Reply

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