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That game show was in turn based on a French show (Des Chiffres et des Lettres), and both are still running to this day, as is the Australian version, called Le

• tialaramex 4y ago
  Also, in Britain you have a choice, there is Countdown, which is this game, played by well, mostly nerds, the sort of people who are good at this type of game. If you're an American who loves "Jeopardy" then it might appeal. But there's also "Cats does Countdown" (full title: "8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown") which is comedians playing the exact same game, with the same two women looking after the mechanics of the game, but a comedian as host and the entire tone of the game changes. Cats does Countdown's existence is a crazy story. "8 Out Of 10 Cats" is a comedy panel show, a mix of comedians and celebrities play a game, in this case based around advertising (hence the reference to dubious "8 out of 10 ..." type claims in adverts) and mostly the game is just an excuse for comedy, if you know the correct answer but that isn't funny, saying something funny is better. This show, like Countdown, was a fairly popular show on Channel 4, a public service broadcaster which is publicly owned (like the BBC) but funded by advertising (like commercial broadcasters), and to celebrate their 30th anniversary, Channel 4 mashed together some of its most famous shows for one-offs. One of the most popular mash-ups was mashing "8 Out Of 10 Cats" with "Countdown" to produce "8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown". So, Channel 4 did it again for another one-shot later that year, which was also very popular, and as a result they commissioned entire series of the show. That has gone on for years since.