One time

British game show host and all-round TV celebrity Bruce Forsyth has died at age 89.

Usually, this blog deals only with U.S. game shows, because I have enough trouble keeping track of one country in our little genre. But Bruce Forsyth actually was part of U.S. game shows once upon a time. A very short time, unfortunately. Thirteen weeks, in fact, which is all that ABC granted to Bruce Forsyth's Hot Streak in 1986.

Brutal competition and Mr. Forsyth's inability to appeal to American audiences doomed the show. But as we've discussed, old game shows never die. There's a surprising amount of Hot Streak available on YouTube. The show was a battle-of-the-sexes word game, which was sort of okay but nothing special.

Mr. Forsyth was a legend on the other side of the pond, of course, with a career that spanned almost the entire history of commercial television. Best known in his later years for Strictly Come Dancing, he hosted so many shows that it takes forever for IMDb to list them. R.I.P. 

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