Given that he’s a bestselling author and seasoned game show host, Richard Osman definitely has his fingers in a lot of pies – or shall we say, a lot of TV shows.
You probably know him best from Pointless, Thursday Murder Club, or Richard Osman’s House of Games — but he’s had a hand in some of your other favourite TV shows for longer than you realised.
As he fronts a Boxing Day edition of House of Games, we’ve compiled a list of all the shows you might not know he is involved in…
Boyz Unlimited
Before Little Britain, Matt Lucas and David Walliams created Boyz Unlimited, a sitcom satirising the music industry. Richard Osman was a co-creator. Ultimately, the show was unpopular with both viewers and critics.
Total Wipeout
On Total Wipeout, Richard worked as a programme associate and script writer.
While he hasn’t spoken much about his involvement, he did share on his podcast The Rest is Entertainment how, one time, camera equipment was stolen from the team before being returned later that day.
“One day we turned up and every single bit of camera equipment had been stolen,” Osman said. “We turned up at about 8am and the fixer – who was our sort of middle man – had told us that everything had been stolen.
“We go: ‘Oh, okay. We probably need to hire some more stuff as we’re insured.’ And he goes: ‘I’m not sure we are insured.'”
The star asked the fixer for some more equipment and said when it arrived, it was strangely the same that was stolen the day before!
Big Brother
Before he came into the spotlight, Richard was a “key creative” in the early days of Endemol, when it had only 40 employees. By the time he left the company, it had more than 45,000 staff.
As part of this team, he helped develop Big Brother for a UK audience. We don’t know how much control he had over bringing the show to Brits, but we hope it was the Diary Room. There has been many iconic moments on camera in there!
Deal or No Deal
Richard Osman has been pretty open about his time as executive producer of Deal or No Deal.
However, he made a pretty big error in 2015 as he let slip one of the show’s biggest secrets. While promoting a different quiz show, he confessed that the Banker was ex-Corrie star Glenn Hugill.
And his antics with the Banker don’t stop there — they also buried a badger together once after hitting it with their car while on holiday.
Over 15 years producing ‘8 Out Of 10 Cats’ Sean Lock made me laugh so much and so often. A unique and brilliant comic voice. Love to his family and his many friends #RIPSean
— Richard Osman (@richardosman) August 18, 2021
8 Out of 10 Cats
Before he appeared on the show as a guest, Richard was an executive producer of the comic panel show 8 Out of 10 Cats, helping to shape it into the legend it is today.
The panel show ran between 2012 and 2021, with a very popular spin-off 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown as well.
In an X post paying tribute to the late Sean Lock, Richard shared that he had been producing 8 Out of 10 Cats for more than 15 years.
Bromwell High
Richard had another go at sitcoms with the animated series Bromwell High, which satirises life in British high schools. It ran for one series.
Set in South London, the series centred around three schoolgirls and their inept teachers as they dealt with the struggles of being underpaid for the work that they do. Some of the cast were Nina Conti, Simon Greenall and Stephen Mangan (Green Wing). But they still didn’t manage to get it recommissioned!
The Million Pound Drop
Richard Osman was one of the producers who helped to develop The Million Pound Drop. In a Virgin Radio interview, he describes it as one of his most successful projects.
He explained: “The one [show] that got bigger than all of them was Million Pound Drop, which we did over here with Davina. And that went everywhere in the world almost immediately. And everyone just got it straight away.”
10 O’Clock Live
Because it was an Endemol show, Richard was also an executive producer of 10 O’Clock Live.
While game shows and comedy are usually his forte, 10 O’Clock Live stands out because of its political nature.
It was actually commissioned following the success of Channel 4’s 2010 Alternative Election Live, which featured Charlie Brooker, Jimmy Carr, Lauren Laverne, and David Mitchell.
Prize Island
Richard Osman created Prize Island in 2013. However, unlike some of his other projects, this ITV game show was a huge failure.
It was reported that ITV was considering axing the show before it even aired. In the end, it survived for six episodes.
Richard Osman’s House of Games will air on BBC Two at December 26, 7:30pm. It will also be available on iPlayer.
Read More: Richard Osman reveals why he would never do Strictly as he addresses infamous ‘curse’
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