Weaver's Week 2001-12-17
17th December 2001
Iain Weaver reviews the latest happenings in UK Game Show Land.
This week:
- Two from 4
- Weak links and strong millionaires
Second round, match 4: [4] Christ Church Oxford -v- Imperial [2].
CCO beat Birmingham, defending champs Imperial removed de Montfort. Both racked up very high scores. High scoring early exchanges are almost equal, though Imperial tends to have the advantage.
Foxing Thumper: What unusual change in the ordering of the solar system...
Sumil Rao, Imperial: Pluto will move inside Neptune.
Thumper: Er, that's right!
Hidden Student Indicator Of The Week: Christ Church Oxford get a full set of themes to cop shows. This clearly says something about how they spend their time in Oxford, and it's not that obscure...
Imperial pulls away after the music round, taking a 100 point lead. CCO pulls back, thanks to knowing that the Kellogg brothers patented peanut butter. Two full sets of bonuses later, the lead is halved. But Imperial gets a lot of pure science questions, and the lead's up to 125. CCO pulls back slightly, but loses 285-170.
A very level performance by Imperial, splitting their points 77-75-72-61. Imperial got 28/45 bonuses, and only let one set of bonuses go completely. CCO made 14/32 bonuses, failing to score on four sets of three and one of two.
The top half of the draw:
Newcastle -v- Edinburgh
St Hugh's Oxford -v- Imperial London.
It looks like an easy route for Imperial, with perhaps Edinburgh providing opposition in the last four. Next: [#1] Somerville Oxford -v- Durham [12] Somerville looks a good bet.
THE DIAMOND WEAKEST LINK
Barely 16 months after its world premiere, The Weakest Link has been sold to 75 territories. The latest sale, to Nanjing TV, will see a version syndicated throughout China. In the Philipines, Viva TV has seen its audience share rise 30% after airing their version. And in Britain, Anne Robinson still beats Richard and Judy in the teatime battle.
MILLIONAIRE "LOSES ITS LUSTRE"
Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, the show that gave ITV some of its highest ratings of recent years, is "losing its lustre", according to the company behind the show.
Advertising revenue around the Millionaire internet game and sales of the show's merchandise have both been lower than expected, while the US version has retreated from four hours per week to two.
The downturn of interest in the show has adversely affected media company Avesco, which has a 49% stake in Complete Communications, in turn owner of production company Celador. Announcing its half-year results on Tuesday, Avesco said "Although Millionaire continues to enjoy great success, full-year profits from Complete may not be as high as our previous expectations."
On Wednesday, computer game manufacturer Eidos said that this year's versions of Millionaire failed to take off.
The question, I suppose, is what can Millionaire do to regain lost ground? The gimmicks of couples, families, and women only shows haven't done much, and while the number of celebrity episodes remains low, Millionaire isn't event television any more. The only way to make it event television is to ration its appearances, perhaps returning to the 1999-2000 schedule, when Millionaire aired on just 46 nights between early September and mid April.
It's worth noting that ITV seems to consider POP IDOL to be its flagship light entertainment show. The Popstars spin-off, aimed at finding a solo performer to flog to the public, began at the beginning of October, and has now been whittled down to ten. Week by week, they will become one winner by the final in early February. Viewers will vote for the person they least want to win, the person collecting the most votes leaves the show. No prizes for spotting the format being almost ripped off there.
YOU SAY, WE PAY (C4)
This is a brief interlude in C4's phenomenally average RICHARD AND JUDY teatime show. The phone-in contestant - and the viewing thousands - see things and people appear on a video screen between Finnegan and Madeley, though they can't see it. Contestant attempts to describe the thing on screen so that our hosts can name it, without using the word itself. £1000 for each item named within a minute. If anyone's played the party game WHO'S IN THE BAG, it's this with a slight twist. The whole thing is all over inside 100 seconds. Fun.
MAKE MY DAY (E4)
Picture a day when everything goes a bit strangely. Things happen that aren't usual, wouldn't normally happen, and/or bend the bounds of normality to breaking point. Now add hidden cameras into the mix, and the chance to win a star prize, and you have a winning game show format.
Or not. First, the whole thing is a set-up, like CANDID CAMERA. Someone who knows the victim has set them up for the whole thing, and it's this someone who will attempt to win the prize for the victim. During the day, the production crew forces five choices into the narrative. The friend or relative has to correctly predict what will happen in four cases to win the star prize. Even if they don't win it, the day itself is a decent prize.
There are hidden cameras around, filming everything, and giving the show something of a BIG BROTHER-style feel. But where BB had characters that we grew to know over many weeks, this show is done in half an hour, just when we start to like a contestant, they're done.
Worst of all, and this is purely a personal thing, is the voiceover artiste. While BB had the understated Marcus Berkmann, and The Race has the dull Keith Boyzone, Make My Day has Sara Cox. This woman has annoyed a whole load of listeners to BBC Radio 1, with her tedious ramblings and annoying voice. Someone with a voice that irritating is going to prejudice me against the show from the start.
Would it work with another commentator? Perhaps. The concept of setting up a friend is not new - BEADLE'S ABOUT scored huge viewing figures in the early 90s - but this is for a good day, not a nasty experience. Maybe the nice nature of the show works against it. Certainly it has promise, but it's not the finished article.
THIS WEEK
THE RACE repositions in Mexico City, and asks its contestants to go to a chihuahua. Sorry, to go to Chihuahua. We go via Vera Cruz or Tijuana, and appear on national television. This is the biggest viewing figure any of them will see from this programme... Also: make a piñata (life-sized balloon model of their fellow traveller), learn not to smoke at all, visit a magic mountain, and *finally* arrive. Again, only one team can make their connections and arrive on time. This would be a packed itinerary for anyone, never mind game show contestants travelling on a USD 100 budget.
It turns out that the "Not the first words but the second, initially" clue on THE MOLE related to the first letters of the second words. Not the second person shown in the initial run through of contestants who - coincidentally - turned out to be The Mole. Is there such a thing as coincidence on that show? We'll tell you in season 3.
NEXT WEEK
For the first time since September, BBC1 has the same Saturday night line-up two weeks running. There is, however, no MILLIONAIRE this Saturday, it makes way for POP IDOL and the National Comedy Awards. To make up, there's three hours of MILLIONAIRE COUPLES over the following nights. Sunday at 9, Monday at 8, and Tuesday at 8.
For those who weren't paying attention, THE MOLE has finished. Over. Done.
More special WEAKEST LINKS this week: Monday's has contestants from the same holiday company; Tuesday's is another US version; Friday's is a Millionaires special. There's also a WL PRIMETIME on Wednesday.
Friday sees the latest FIFTEEN TO ONE final. Will Daphne Fowler's trophy wing not receive anything new for a whole series?
This week's update is dedicated to the memory of Randy Amasia, who unexpectedly passed away last Wednesday. Randy was a regular contributor to the Usenet group alt.tv.game-shows, and was always a calming, sensible presence there. He will be missed.
