Brucie's top 10 catchphrases

Published: Wednesday, 20 February 2008, 3:02PM

No Brucie tribute would be complete without it...

1) “Nice to see you, to see you…”
“Nice ” we all (still) reply, shouting inanely at the box in the corner of the room, imagining – for one moment - that Brucie can hear us. A staple, spanning five decades and many shows.

2) “Nothing for a pair…”
“Not in this game,” we’d also dutifully suggest in another early example of interactive TV. And we were right; two cards of the same face value simply didn’t cut it in Brucie’s eyes.

3) “I’m the joker of the pack, which makes me such a lucky jack, and here they are, they’re so appealing, come on Dollies, do your dealing!”
Indeed you are the joker of the pack, Brucie. Thankfully, the ‘Dollies’ rarely failed to keep up their end of the bargain too.

4) “I’m in charge”
An early catchphrase dating back to Forsyth’s time as host of Saturday Night at the London Palladium. We have never doubted it.

5) “What a lovely audience, so much better than last week!”
Rumour has it that Play Your Cards Right was recorded back-to-back with the same audience… We didn’t care – we didn’t know.

6) “Brucie bonus”
Cropping up in practically every game show he presented, a Brucie bonus referred to an extra, unexpected prize.

7) “What do points make?”
“Prizes,” the audience would scream. And with four simple words, Brucie elevated simple game show mechanics into frenzied excitement for contestants, the studio audience and us at home.

8) “Higher! Lower!”
By directing this little ditty towards the audience and asking for their feedback in Play Your Cards right, Brucie implanted the idea that everybody was part of the fun. We were. We just couldn’t win the prizes.

9) "Oh, wasn't that a shame"
Not one of his major successes, but Brucie’s Price is Right Performance – in the days before Joe Pasquale took the reigns - still holds sway.

10) "Do you wanna bet on it?"
Simple and classic. When this was put to the audience by Brucie in You Bet! before Matthew Kelly took charge of the show. Unsurprisingly, the audience would reply “You Bet!”.