Great Temptation
Australian game show inspired by Sale of the Century.
Great Temptation was an Australian game show from Reg Grundy Productions that ran on the Seven Network between 1970 and 1974, with Tony Barber as host and Barbara Rogers as co-host. A prime-time version, $25,000 Great Temptation, started on 5 July 1971, airing once weekly, then twice weekly in 1972, and five nights a week in 1973 and 1974. The format was inspired by the 1969 US show Sale of the Century, though Grundy didn't secure rights for his own Australian version until 1980. Three contestants earned a dollar amount for each correct answer, and the leader could buy a prize for a small fee deducted from their score, keeping it regardless of outcome. The daily winner could return or take a major prize, but accumulated prizes were lost if defeated. Most episodes were filmed at Channel 7's Mobbs Lane studios in Sydney. Question writer George Black, a former Pick A Box contestant, wrote for the show, which replaced Pick A Box in the Monday evening slot when that series ended in 1971.
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Game Show
- Presenter
- Tony Barber (Host), Barbara Rogers (co-host)
- Announcer
- Max Rowley
- Country
- Australia
- Language
- English
- Location
- Adelaide, South Australia; Melbourne, Victoria
- Runtime
- 30 minutes
- Company
- Grundy Productions
Facts from the source article.
Background
The show's question writer, George Black, had been a very successful contestant and later a question writer for Bob Dyer's Pick A Box, which Great Temptation replaced in the Monday evening timeslot when Dyer's long-running show ended in 1971. Contestants who won all the prizes included Rona Collings, a doyenne of Australian quiz shows since radio days, and Fran Powell, who later served as a question writer and adjudicator for Sale of The Century; both had earlier appeared on the daytime Temptation show. According to Barber, a contestant died onstage during the taping of a 1970s episode. Barber congratulated her on winning the game; she then slumped over, and the production staff cleared the studio and called paramedics. That episode was not broadcast. Barber recalled: 'I said: "Congratulations Valerie, you've won!" and she slopped. There was a bit of confusion; we cleared the studio and the doctors were called. I said "how is she? She seems passed out," and he said: "Tony, she's passed on." It was awful and very upsetting for everyone there.' The first jackpot-winning show was photographed by Ron Wormwell, a semi-professional photographer and then-husband of Channel 7 Adelaide Publicist Judy, often called upon at short notice to capture publicity stills.
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