What is "strike it lucky"

vb. To have unexpected good fortune.

Strike It Lucky'' (Michael Barrymore's Strike It Rich!'' from 1996-99) was a popular British television game show from 29 October 1986 to 23 August 1999, originally produced by Thames Television for ITV, and presented by the British comedian Michael Barrymore. It was based on the American show of the same name that aired in 1986.

In its formative years, it became well known for the outlandish and often highly eccentric contestants it featured - Barrymore would often spend over 5 minutes talking to them. The introductory footage of the prizes on offer were also noteworthy, often filmed in black-and-white with a slapstick style. In 1987, it was the fifth most watched programme on UK television. The Thames Television version of the show was recorded at Teddington Studios, and later Pinewood Studios.

From 1996, the new version aired under the title Strike it Rich!; this being the title of the short-lived American game show Strike it Rich! on which it was based, and it moved (with a re-designed set) to The London Studios. The reason for the name change was that the show was now being co-produced by LWT (historically, Thames' bitter rival in the London area) with Fremantle (UK) (later Grundy), so despite now being owned by the same company as Fremantle (at the time, Pearson - the ultimate copyright holders), Thames were unwilling to allow LWT use of the original title. There is also the factor that when the show was first exported to the UK, the Independent Broadcasting Authority's prize limits were still in place, and "Rich" was probably dropped from the title because of the relatively low value of prizes on offer; by the time it returned as Strike it Rich! the limits had been lifted and it was giving away a substantially higher value of prizes.

The show is one of very few ITV programmes to have been produced by both Thames and LWT (weekday and weekend ITV franchise holders in London, respectively).

Strike It Lucky was Based on a British format which in term was based on a short-lived American format called Strike It Rich. Hosted by Ronnie Burns along with Jane Blatchford as co-host and Greg Huggings as announcer for the Nine Network in 1994. It didn't last very long