TV & VIDEO - July 7, 1987

One would think that, despite generally declining American productivity, we’d still have a global stranglehold on the game show market. Not so, reports the current issue of TV Guide. The Japanese adore “Ultra Quiz”--where the penalty for losing can be anything from having bees thrown at you to being left atop a 600-foot butte in the Utah desert--while the French revel in “Sexy Folies,” a singularly Gallic variant on strip poker wherein a wrong answer results in one less piece of clothing to wear. Even the Soviets are getting in on the act with “A Nu-ka Devushki” (“Let’s Go, Girls”), but the emphasis for the attractive contestants is on ability, not just looks. The winner must be able to compete in vacuum-cleaning skills, milking contests and cook-offs.