should take over, with Bill Cotton having a brief discussion with his favoured choice Cilla Black, who would not consider the move; other names mentioned included Jimmy Tarbuck and Kenneth Williams. However, he felt he did not want the new programme to be comparable to Forsyth's Generation Game (he did not want the audience to be able to compare the two shows to think that Bruce was better or that the new host was better), so he cast Larry Grayson to take over. The show was given a new theme tune, which incorporated Grayson's "shut that door" catchphrase. There was also new scenery, and a new co-host, Isla St Clair. It worked, as The Big Night failed to beat The Generation Game and was off the air within three months. The show reached its peak under Grayson. It attracted an audience of 25 million on one occasion, when a strike blacked out the ITV network, meaning the two BBC channels were the only ones the public could watch. Grayson's apparent incompetence and inability to remember what was going on was carefully contrived. In 1980 a junior version was considered, to be titled The Younger Generation Game, with two young siblings of different ages in place of older contestants. It was not confirmed whether Grayson would have hosted this proposed spin-off version, and it ultimately was never commissioned. Cancellation By the early 1980s The Generation Game was being beaten by ITV's hugely successful Game for a Laugh, which had been commissioned by LWT's Head of Light Entertainment Alan Boyd, who had been Grayson's producer for his first three seasons, but had defected to ITV. The show continued through to the end of 1981, but shortly after a highlights episode from the last series aired on 3 January 1982, Grayson decided to quit whilst the show was still popular. The BBC approached Jimmy Tarbuck to present the show but he turned it down. The show was later cancelled. 1990–2002 revival: Second Bruce Forsyth era and Jim Davidson The Generation Game returned in 1990 with the original host, Bruce Forsyth, who after moving to ITV in 1995 was replaced by Jim Davidson. This incarnation was axed in 2002 after again being beaten by ITV, this time by Pop Idol. Davidson had announced in March that he was quitting the show. The series ended the following month. Later revivals 2003–2005: Paul O'Grady pilots and