24 April 1972: First Spanish game show to be exported hits the screens

Un, dos, tres... responda otra vez was the most famous game show in Spanish TV history and versions were made in the UK, Portugal, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands

Daryl Finch

Friday, 24 April 2020, 17:08

What went on to become the most famous game shows in the history of Spanish television aired for the first time on this day in 1972.

Un, dos, tres... responda otra vez, created by Narciso Ibáñez Serrador, was broadcast on La 1 of Televisión Española (TVE) for ten seasons until 2004. However, few could have predicted the success it would endure.

It became the first television show format exported outside the country. Versions were aired in Belgium, the Netherlands, Germany and Portugal, but had greatest success in the UK where it aired for 10 consecutive years from 1978 to 1988.

Called 3-2-1 and hosted by comedian Ted Rogers, the show entertained Saturday prime time audiences and broadly maintained the original Spanish format.

Ibáñez's format proved to be popular as it combined a mixture of different traditional game show formats. The show comprised three rounds (hence the name): a quiz in the first round (called the question round), a physical competition in the second round (called the elimination round), and a psychological game in the third round (called the auction).

Three couples made up the contestants and each episode had a different theme, varying from the Wild West to the French Revolution. Tasks would be adapted to match the theme, as would the attire worn by the cast of actors, divided into two groups: the host's attractive assistants, called secretaries, who would cheer on the contestants, and the puritanical inhabitants of 'Tacañón del Todo' ('tacaño' meaning scrooge or miser), who didn't want the contestants to win any money and who despised the often sexy outfits worn by the secretaries.

Cash prizes, holidays or cars were up for grabs, but also a booby prize, embodied by the show's mascot. In the Spanish version, this was a pumpkin; in the UK version, it was Dusty Bin.

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