Read on Twitter
That's the way things were going. Bullseye clung on as the working class quiz with caravans and speedboats on offer. But by 1987, I'm afraid to say that 3-2-1 was on its last legs
Lovely stuff in the audience. Surprised that lavender shell suit didn't go up like a Catherine wheel under those lights
In the 1980s we feared Spontaneous Human Combustion and you can see why. All that hairspray and polyester made for a veritable tinderbox in the Yorkshire TV studio
I digress.
The production values of 1987 are so different from what went before. The elaborate sets - an ENTIRE CRUISE SHIP - and beautiful dance routines - dancing on a croupier table last week - are gone. No themed costume for Dusty. He just turns up and wheels around a bit. Sad.
I can't help that 3-2-1 was being set up to fail. Last week I looked at a 1985 show where a magician did a huge Vegas trick which looked great on TV. This week, it's... Wayne Dobson doing close up magic
It's just two random twats from the audience looking at his hands for five minutes
Dobson, of course, has had a fairly difficult life. When he got his big ITV show it coincided with him being diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. But he's still making magic tricks.
Life hasn't always been easy for him in other ways
I digress.
Wayne's left our couples with an aerosol can, just to add to the Chlorofluorocarbon output for the show. These were the days before we even thought the ozone layer was our biggest problem. (it wasn't. We stopped using CFCs, it was fine.)
Now this clue can go one of two ways can't it? But WHICH WAY WILL IT GO THIS TIME?
Meanwhile, here's Richard Digance
Again, literally just a bloke with a guitar in the middle of an empty stage. 3-2-1 was on its last legs. And if you're thinking "Ah but they blew the budget on the prizes that WEEK" 9, you MAY BE DISAPPOINTED
Countdown regular, Digance. Surprised we haven't heard anything about him joining UKIP as far as I know. He looks the type. "my mates down the pub are going to give me stick!" he chuckles, planting down a fairy wand
Again, the clue seems blindingly obvious to me. OR IS IT. or is it. Or is it? Or is it.
Here's The Real Thing whizzing around the quantel graphics. Again, look at that barren stage. How bleak
He's brought a chopstick
So this week's quiz for YOU AT HOME is, which one is the bin? And what are the other prizes?
ACT. DOBSON. OBJECT. AEROSOL. CLUE. A week's hot sun, the air is high, Draws many with the urge to fly
ACT. DIGANCE. OBJECT. WAND. CLUE. Yes Cinders you shall go to the ball, for "Buttons" rid you of drudgery's call
ACT. REAL THING. OBJECT. CHOPSTICK. CLUE. A take away - is it sweet or sour? Inside they've wormed away each hour
GUESS NOW. Which is the bin? TIE BREAKER. What are the prizes?
WELL NOW.
Chopstick wins. But is it the bin? Let's find out
Let's start with Richard Digance's wand. Remember the rhyme?
Of course you might put CINDERS in a bin
But "Buttons" is in the plural here so it can't be the character. What buttons would help you do the housework?
Yes it's THREE KITCHEN APPLIANCES
I mean it's not even a big fridge
SO WHICH IS THE BIN? THE AEROSOL OR THE CHOPSTICK? Well, let's look at Wayne Dobson's aerosol. (please.)
In the gutter, you lot. The gutter.
A WEEK'S HOT SUN means a holiday doesn't it? Aerosol, aeroplane?
But what attracts flies if you leave it for a week? What do you need an aerosol to get rid of? And who on this show says hi every week? IT'S DUSTY
Which leaves us with the chopstick left by the Real Thing. What could it be?
So you'd TAKE AWAY a bin and inside would be WORMS. But we've just seen Dusty.
What are Eddie and Ruth going home with? The star prize? A CAR? A HOLIDAY?
Yeah. 
We'd be here all afternoon and you wouldn't get it
... Or something very tangentially connected to China
This is the EXACT moment they knew they weren't getting the car
It's... What?
John Benson (for it is he, having a career revival after having been hired by Jonathan Ross on The Last Resort) can tell us
Ah, right
SILK UNDERWEAR FOR EDDIE
The worms clue makes sense now I guess
They're devastated. It's rare that a TV gameshow can provide three possible finales - the star prize, the booby prize, or, er, meh
Ted knows. Eddie and Ruth know. Absolute bathos. A chest of drawers and some silky pants. Brilliant.
SEE YOU NEXT WEEK FOR MORE 3-2-1
