What was this game show?

[tommycharles]

I can't figure this out: on what game show did you have to answer questions 1 question after it was asked?

Example:

HOST: "What is your name?"
CONTESTANT: silence
HOST: "What is the capital of Spain?"
CONTESTANT: Thomas Bullock
HOST: "The tragic space shuttle Columbia was enroute to Earth from where when it blew apart?"
CONTESTANT: Madrid

and it would continue like that. Any clue? It might have been a kids show.

Thanks
T

[Jimmy Owen]

That could have been "The Spanish Inquisition."

[inturnaround]

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' date=\'Jan 12 2004, 11:48 PM\'] That could have been "The Spanish Inquisition." [/quote]
 I never expected that for an answer.

[bricon]

HOST: "What is your name?"
CONTESTANT: silence
HOST: "What is the capital of Spain?"
CONTESTANT: Thomas Bullock
HOST: "The tragic space shuttle Columbia was enroute to Earth from where when it blew apart?"
CONTESTANT: Madrid

It sounds like "Lose A Million", a show that aired in the UK and was also piloted several years ago for FX here in the US.

[GS Warehouse]

[quote name=\'inturnaround\' date=\'Jan 13 2004, 12:30 AM\'] [quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' date=\'Jan 12 2004, 11:48 PM\'] That could have been "The Spanish Inquisition." [/quote]
I never expected that for an answer. [/quote]
 Nobody expects The Spanish Inquisition!

[Mark McNeil]

Could it be "It Pays To Be Ignorant"?

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'Mark McNeil\' date=\'Jan 13 2004, 07:21 PM\'] Could it be "It Pays To Be Ignorant"? [/quote]
 No.  That was a scripted comedy program that didn't have contestants answering questions at all.  

I've never heard of an American game show that exclusively used that one-off questioning system, but I've seen it used as one element of an old B&W game.  I want to say the original Dollar A Second that's floating around used that system in one round.  Some old show like that, anyway.

[Jay Temple]

I only remember it as the basis of a sketch on The Benny Hill Show.  It was a fictitious light news show, along the lines of Entertainment Tonight, and they were having trouble with the transmission.

"Do you still watch our show, Lady Elvira?"  (I don't remember the actual character name.)
Silence.
"How is marriage to Lord Smythe?"
"I don't get it as often as I used to."

[Strikerz04]

I thought The spanish inquisition was a Monty Python skit.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'Strikerz04\' date=\'Jan 13 2004, 09:59 PM\'] I thought The spanish inquisition was a Monty Python skit. [/quote]
 Wow.

[Jimmy Owen]

Benny Hill also had a spoof of "Mastermind" called "Masterbrain" which had questioning similar to the above.

[uncamark]

Another British show where silence was a virtue was Michael Miles' "Take Your Pick," which ran in the 50s and 60s on ITV (and allowed producer Rediffusion to fill the later hours with serious documentaries and Harold Pinter plays).  The show opened with "The Yes-No Interlude," where each contestant came out--if they could make it through Miles' interview without saying "yes" or "no" once, they'd get to play the game.  Of course, his questions were designed to elicit those words without thinking--and if they did say "yes" or "no," announcer Bob Danvers-Walker, who was standing behind them, would raise his miniature gong to their ear and bang on it, eliminating them from the game.

If you recall the Python sketch where John Cleese plays the oily emcee being patronizing to the "Pepperpot" playing for "tonight's star prize, the bump on the head," the sketch was inspired by "Take Your Pick."  (To fill in the details, on the real show the contestant who went to win the quiz would them get to pick from 14 boxes, hoping to find the star prize instead of the booby prize.)

The show was revived briefly in the early 90s on ITV, hosted by the veteran entertainer and current Regis to Melanie Sykes' Kathie Lee/Kelly on ITV daytime Des O'Connor.

[DrBear]

It seems the bit could have been done for I've Got A Secret at some point...

You mean there was a Spanish Inquisition BEFORE Monty Python?

[tomobrien]

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Jan 13 2004, 10:52 PM\'][quote name=\'Mark McNeil\' date=\'Jan 13 2004, 07:21 PM\'] Could it be "It Pays To Be Ignorant"? [/quote]
No.  That was a scripted comedy program that didn't have contestants answering questions at all.  

I've never heard of an American game show that exclusively used that one-off questioning system, but I've seen it used as one element of an old B&W game.  I want to say the original Dollar A Second that's floating around used that system in one round.  Some old show like that, anyway.[/quote]
Matt's right. On the Jan Murray-hosted "Dollar A Second" (brought to you by that fine, refreshing Mogen David Wine), that "delayed question" shtick was used as one of the lead-in games to the stunt portion of the show.

[tommycharles]

I'm pretty sure I was thinking of "Lose a Million." Thanks for the help.