Fun House was a British children's game show produced by Scottish Television and based on the American show, that aired on CITV from 24 February 1989 to 29 December 1999. It usually aired on Fridays (with the exception of Series 4, which aired on Wednesdays and Series 5 & 6, which aired on Thursdays).
It was hosted by Pat Sharp, who was also aided by twin cheerleaders, Melanie Grant supporting the red team and Martina Grant supporting the yellow team. The announcer was Gary King. The theme tune was composed by David Pringle and Bob Heatlie. In 2000, it was revealed by the BBC programme TV's Finest Failures that a spin-off of Fun House featuring adult contestants was also planned. A pilot was produced, which included Carol Smillie as a contestant, but it was ultimately never broadcast, and a full series was not commissioned.
The game goes like this:
First, there were three messy games. These games were, of course, filled with gunge, which was popular and VERY messy at that time.
After every messy game, two of the four kids were asked a question which was the same as the genre of that game, and if they got a question right (which they almost always did), they would win about 10 points.
Next up was the Fun Kart Grand Prix, which was a parody of Formula One. From 1989-1995, the racers would have to collect tokens which were worth 10 and 25 points. If they were dropped on the floor, they were null, void and worth nothing.
The tokens were replaced by plungers (or buttons) in 1996. They would be pushed to gain points.
1998 had the plungers change into wheels. Like the tokens, they were worth absolutely nothing if they were dropped on the floor.
In 1996, the flag and giant detonator (which was introduced in 1995) would be accompanied by lights. The crowd and Pat would count from five to one and then Pat would shout "GO!" to start the race.
In 1997, the lights would be reversed.
1996 replaced the token counter with lights, which has a maximum of four LEDs.
Whoever had the most points would go into the Fun House, while the team with the least points would get a consolation prize, which ranged from a camera to a boom blaster to Fun House apparel.
The grand finale of the show was the trip through the towering Fun House.
The winning team had two minutes to grab fourteenth prize tags which were put on fourteen obstacles.
The fifteenth and final tag was the power prize, which ranged from a holiday to a gaming console.
If the Power Prize sound was heard, the winning team would have to answer a "name three" question in ten seconds.
The Fun House went through many different incarnations in all of its eleven series.
1989 - The Fun House had a black and blue LED sign, but what was ABSOLUTELY different were the car wash rollers. They were thicker and fuzzy, unlike the other versions. Also, this Fun House would blow steam out of the engine room.
1990 - The Fun House stayed the same, but the rollers were now light blue and less fuzzy.
1991 - The Fun House's rollers became the ones we knew and loved. This time, when Pat Sharp introduced the Fun House, in a few moments, two spark machines would go off.
1993 - This time, the spark machine count was now four and floodlights were added at the bottom. There were new obstacles, such as the Skelter Belter.
1994 - For both versions of the 1994 series, this Fun House was bully themed. What's different about this version of the Fun House is that there was a giant inflatable bully near the Fun House, which was the same size. Now, the Fun House sign is white and less blue.
1995 - The bully element was completely removed from the house itself. Now this time, flashing lights were added to give it a "house feel".
1996 - The interior of the Fun House was now yellow (not talking about the Fun House, which stayed the same). The flashing lights were removed this time.
1997 - The flashing lights returned, and new obstacles were added, like the A Frame.
1998 - The rollers were removed. This time, there were two crimson bricks with the Fun House logo blocks on top of each other. When the run through the Fun House began, there were red and yellow boxes. The winning team would plough through the boxes to begin the run. The Big Leap was added, and more spark machines were added, also, there were smoke machines and floodlights.
1999 - The final incarnation of the Fun House replaced the yellow and red lights with wheels. And now, The Big Leap was replaced with a zip wire.
Fun House ended on 29 December 1999, three days before the 2000s began.