Barry Lee (centre) on ‘Ford SuperQuiz’, sitting between co-hosts Patti Newton (left) and Bert Newton (right).

Hello! I hope March has been treating you well so far. Today I’m really happy to introduce you to a brand new guest contributor to the blog.

A few weeks ago, I received a lovely email from a gentleman by the name of Barry Lee. It was a friendly, chatty email, full of quiz show-related links and tidbits, and mentions of Barry’s own quiz show appearances. Barry appeared to be a lifelong quiz aficionado – and participant – so I asked him if he’d be interested in sharing his experiences with HTWGS visitors… and he said yes! So, starting today, I’m running a seven-part guest post series from two-time Quiz Show Champ (Ford SuperQuiz, 1981/1982 and Sale of the Century, 1986) Barry Lee, sharing his own adventures in this arena we all love so much. Take it away, Barry!

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= Getting Started =

My forays into the world of TV quiz shows grew out of an upbringing in which books and music and discovering interesting things were valued.

Family outings to the Sydney Botanic Gardens – a favourite – were not just about admiring the botanical wonders, they were also about learning the botanical names and how to pronounce them and, even better, the origins of those names. A trip on the Manly ferry would include picking out the sights of Sydney Harbour and knowing a fact or two about each of them. The thrill of a trip to the top of the recently opened AMP Building would be heightened by a discussion of the terminal velocity of a penny dropped from up there (not recommended) and its impact on the footpath below. The Argonauts were on the wireless and Peter Scriven’s charming Tintookies were opening young minds to things beyond the everyday.

Best of all, though, was the Mitchell Library – the glorious location, the majestic sandstone edifice, and the exhilarating experience of being admitted to the home of more books than I could ever imagine existed. This, and the wonderful old bookshops of Sydney, was my magic casement into a world of unending curiosity and learning.

Not long after I learned to read, birthday and Christmas gifts would regularly include at least one children’s reference book (more on this later), followed by grown-up books like the excellent Pears Cyclopedia and the equally excellent Oxford Illustrated Dictionary. A Shorter Oxford and a set of Britannica followed a few years later, and eventually a set of World Book, when I worked out that it was probably the best all-rounder for quiz show swotting.

My parents relented and acquired a TV in the mid-60s. Pick a Box on Monday nights with Bob and Dolly, and the Coles £3,000 / $6,000 Question on Wednesday nights, by then with Roland Strong, quickly became favourites, and a few years later It’s Academic – a quiz show for teams of high school students, which made that exciting world seem more within reach.

Before too long, I had the pleasure of knowing the occasional answer, but the real fun was seeing the amazing memory feats of the champs of that era – particularly, of course, Barry Jones and George Black and other stars in the Pick a Box firmament including Evelyn Lynch, Mervyn Vinson, Leah Andrews and John and Julie Morris. Barry’s unforgettable disquisition on the early viceregal rule of British India was beyond my intellectual pay grade at the time, but still dazzling stuff in its own way.

When Pick a Box came to an end in 1971, it really was the end of an era – the game show equivalent, in a sense, of the retirement of Menzies.

Happily, there was a lively successor waiting to take over the hallowed 7.00PM Monday night time slot, and its counterpart on Wednesday nights when the Coles show ended around the same time…

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Tune in next week to find out what that successor was! I’d like to thank Barry for beckoning us down Memory Lane. And for any of you a little too young to remember some of the shows and personalities mentioned above, if you click on the underlined titles and names, you’ll be able to learn a bit more about them, if you’re curious…

And OF COURSE you’re curious. I mean, you are a game show enthusiast, aren’t you? Chronic, incurable lifelong curiosity is a given!

We’ll be back next Tuesday with the second instalment of Barry’s quiz show reminiscences… and just a reminder, if you’d like to follow in his footsteps and write a guest post – or a series of guest posts – my (virtual) door is always open! Just drop me a line at Stephen@HowToWinGameShows.com, and let’s get a conversation going!

In the meantime, I’ll see you back here next Tuesday for the second instalment of Barry’s game show adventures. Until then, then!