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Channel 4 Celebrates 30 Years with a Special “Million Pound Drop” and “Countdown”

Alex Davis — Fri, 18 Nov 2011 15:03:43 +0000

British broadcaster Channel 4 has been around for thirty years. �They’ve given us some great game shows like Countdown, Deal or No Deal, and The Million Pound Drop. �They’ve got special episodes of popular shows like Countdown�and The Million Pound Drop�that you may want to check out. �You’ve often seen host Davina McCall preside over the show, stressing contestants to the point of tears in a tense game. �How do you think she’ll do? �You’re going to get the chance to see.

A week ago we noticed a strange afternoon taping of The Million Pound Drop, which was labeled as a special one, coming soon. �This will apparently be when Davina will play the game for charity. �Media personality Phil Spencer will host the episode. �It’s going to be interesting to see how she does. �Check this out in January 2012.

While that’s exciting, you may want to watch Countdown. �Jeff Stelling, the soon-to-be-departing host will be stepping aside for one taping. �Instead, fellow game show host and comedian Jimmy Carr will be sitting in the host’s chair presiding over the letters and numbers game. �His panel show (8 Out of 10 Cats) partners�Sean Lock and Jon Richardson will be helping out with the math games and Dictionary Corner. �This will be one for the DVR.

We’ll let you know when a specific date is announced.

“The Apprentice” Star Nick Hewer Named New Host of “Countdown”

Alex Davis — Wed, 16 Nov 2011 13:29:40 +0000

Ever since Richard Whiteley, the long running host of Channel 4′s Countdown,�died, there has been a revolving door of hosts. �Des Lynam hosted it for a few years, as did Des O’Connor, as did current host Jeff Stelling. �Channel 4 has named BBC’s The Apprentice�board member Nick Hewer the new host of the long running letters-and-numbers game. �Nick will begin taping his run starting next month and it will begin airing January 9, 2012. �Co-host Rachel Riley will return.

In a statement to BBC, Nick Hewer said, “It’s particularly fitting that I should be doing this now as my spelling has started to slip quite badly. I used to be able spell chrysanthemum.” Jay Hunt, the Channel 4 chief creative officer, stated, “Nick will be a fantastically charismatic host for Countdown. He is sharp and funny and has a real twinkle in his eye.”

Here’s a clip of Nick on the comedy panel show Would I Lie To You?. �What do you think of the new upcoming host?

Weekend Replay: Channel 4′s “Countdown”

Alex Davis — Sun, 10 Jul 2011 14:46:11 +0000

There are few shows anywhere in the world that give you the level of pure and simple play-along as Channel 4′s Countdown. �It can’t be any easier. �You get a group of letters and you make the longest word you can. �You get a group of numbers and a target, and you need to find a way to get there. �It’s a British institution, beginning in 1982, and it’s something any American can play along with. �Try not to as you watch the clip. �It’s impossible. �Our friend, television personality Greg Scott, was recently a contestant on the show. �The prize is nothing more than glory, but he’s got to beat his opponent. �Can he do it? �He did way better than I would have. �We had another friend Ryan Vickers, on the show, too. �It’s strange how many people we know that have been on. Anyway, check out the video below. It’s a lot of fun. �And Greg is awesome, of course. �Check out his website here.

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Video courtesy Channel 4 and ITV Studios

Morning Buzz for May 25, 2011

Alex Davis — Wed, 25 May 2011 14:57:46 +0000

Here are a few quick morning updates for your Wednesday. �And congratulations to the Canucks on their great double overtime win last night.

*Syndicated ratings for the week ending May 15th. �The horse race between Family Feud and Who Wants to be a Millionaire continues. �The most recent winner is Family Feud. �The Steve Harvey hosted show, soon moving to Atlanta for its 13th season, improved 9% to a 2.4 rating. �Millionaire stayed flat at 2.3. �Next season is going to be interesting. �The rest, for the most part, did fine. �Wheel of Fortune picked up 5% to a 6.6 and Jeopardy! up 8% to 5.6.

*Jeff Stelling, the short-term host of the long-running Channel 4 game show Countdown has announced he will be leaving the show after three years. �Stelling has been with the show for three years. �He will leave by the end of December. �Countdown was hosted by Richard Whiteley for 23 years before his death in 2005. �Since then there has been a rotating set of hosts including Des Lynam and Des O’Connor. �Take a look at the show below. �Video courtesy Channel 4.

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*A new global game show has been announced where countries from all around the world take part, competing against each other. �The show, The Biggest Game Show in the World, sees teams of 15 contestants from eight different countries compete. �A contestant is knocked out each show in the 13 episode series until only eight remain. �The show begins production and goes on for the next two weeks. �Teams from countries like the United Kingdom, China, and France will compete.

*Congratulations to Steelers wide receiver Hines Ward for winning the most recent season of Dancing With the Stars last night.

*Here’s today’s schedule:
CW: America’s Next Top Model at 8:00PM ET and 9:00PM ET (repeat)
Fox: American Idol at 8:00PM ET (season finale)
NBC: Minute to Win It at 8:00PM ET and 9:00PM ET (repeat)
GSN: Catch 21 at 5:00PM ET; The Newlywed Game at 6:30PM ET;�Love Triangle at 7:30PM ET

UK Christmas Game Shows Preview

Travis Penery — Mon, 06 Dec 2010 21:28:52 +0000

As Christmas draws near, the UK networks go mad with their game shows, with many shows having celebrity�specials. Here is a guide to what is happening on the major networks through Christmas and New Year.

BBC One

As a yearly Christmas tradition, Celebrity Mastermind will be shown from Monday 27th December through to Friday�7th January with ten celebrity specials.�Some of the celebrities sitting in the famous black chair�include Red Dwarf’s Hattie Hayridge (Holly) and Robert Llewellyn�(Kryten) who will be appearing on separate shows. Comedians Rhys Thomas, Kirsten O’Brien and Richard Herring. Decathlete Dean Macey, food critic and brother of Only Connect’s Victoria Coren, Giles Coren and the inventor of�Reggae Reggae Sauce (as shown on Dragons’ Den), Levi Roots.

The Weakest Link will also be airing six civillian specials over Christmas. It has been rare for daytime specials to be produced these days but with the specials airing in the summer for the tenth anniversary and proving popular, Anne Robinson will be roasting people such as tribute bands, those who are loud for a living and people who have unpopular jobs. The specials airing on 20th, 21st and 22nd December will be shown on BBC One, while the specials airing on 28th, 29th and 30th December will see the show returning to their former home on�BBC Two.

Strictly Come Dancing (Dancing With the Stars) will be airing their traditional Christmas special on Christmas Day. Unlike previous years,�the 2010 special will feature five all new celebrities.�Broadcaster Fern Britton, actress and comedienne Ronni Ancona, business secretary Vince Cable, EastEnders legend June Brown and star of stage and screen John Barrowman will try to impress the judges to become Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Champion.

Also airing; Have I Got Christmas News For You (24th Dec), QI (24th Dec).

BBC Two

Pointless will be airing a one-off celebrity on Wednesday 22nd December with four celebrity pairs trying to win for their chosen charity.

As with Mastermind, Eggheads continues their yearly tradition with celebrity specials. Ten specials have been produced and will be airing weekdaily from Monday 13th December. Teams of five celebrities attempt to beat the Eggheads to win �1,000 for their chosen charity. If the Eggheads win then �1,000 will be donated to Children in Need. The teams taking part includes the cast from 1980s comedy Hi-De-Hi, newreaders, weather presenters and�voiceover men�(including Weakest Link’s Jon Briggs).

Also airing; Shooting Stars (30th Dec), Mock the Week (30th Dec).

ITV

The Cube will be airing their second celebrity special on Saturday 18th December. The celebrities taking part will be TV personality Joe Swash and Kelly Osbourne. Will any of them manage to beat the cube for �250,000 or will they collapse like Olympian Kelly Holmes on the first special? The third special will be shown on Sunday 2nd January, The celebrities will feature boxer Ricky “The Hitman” Hatton and Coronation Street actress, Jennie McAlpine. This celebrity special was recorded in early July. Some time before Ricky Hatton was admitted to drug rehab.

As mentioned on this site last week, Who Wants to be a Millionaire? will be airing a celebrity special on Wednesday 23rd December. Unlike previous celebrity specials in the past, this special will be shown live.�It has been confirmed there will be two celebrity pairs taking part. The first pair will feature TV chef James Martin and Radio 2 DJ Chris Evans. This will be Chris Evans’s second attempt on the show after winning only �1,000 on the 2009 Christmas special with Sir Terry Wogan. The second pair will feature Channel 4 fashion�stylist Gok Wan and former Countdown co-host Carol Vorderman. This will also be Carol’s second appearance on the show. She was the first ever celebrity to play for �1 million back in May 2000. The show has also confirmed both pairs will play the new format and face the Big Bad Clock but as a special treat to viewers this year, a phone caller can win half the money the celebrities win (the other half goes to the celebrities chosen charities). By calling a premium rate number, a lucky caller will be speaking to Chris Tarrant live in the studio and will face�one question, if answered correctly they will win half the celebrity winnings. As the show will be airing for 75 minutes, this will allow two full�games to be played with two chances for viewers to enter and win.

Also airing; All Star Family Fortunes (25th December).

Channel 4

Deal or No Deal continues their traditional festive episodes with twelve consecutive days of Christmas specials. Namely called “Scrooge or Santa”, the contestants could win a�holiday or have The Banker�to look inside their box and giving him an advantage while trying to win a potential �250,000.�With the theme being likely to be based on The Twelve Days of Christmas, the Scrooge or Santa specials will be airing from Monday 20th through to Friday 31st December. One hour specials are planned for Christmas Eve, Christmas Day, Boxing Day�(26th Dec)�and New Years Eve. From 2nd January the popular daytime game show will be extending their shows to one hour.

Million Pound Drop will be airing four Christmas specials from Wednesday 15th December to Saturday 18th December. The shows to be aired on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday will be airing at 8pm and could be on a tape delay due to potential swearing on the show. The earlier timeslot will also face stiff competition from the popular soap operas and the yearly Royal Variety Performance.

Also airing; Chris Moyles Christmas Quiz Night (22nd Dec), The Big Fat Quiz of the Year (3rd Jan)

Weekend Replay: Countdown: Octochamp Kirk Bevins

Nick Todor — Mon, 23 Mar 2009 00:00:04 +0000

I don’t think it’s that much of a surprise to anyone who watched the episode of Countdown posted here this weekend that the champion of that episode, Kirk Bevins, becomes an octochamp (8-time undefeated champion, pretty much like what a 5-time Jeopardy champion used to be). Here’s the ending of Kirk’s 8th episode.

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Weekend Replay: Countdown: March 5, 2009 (Part 3)

Nick Todor — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 19:00:46 +0000

Last part of the episode. I’ll be posting one more clip for you later tonight, featuring the champion of this episode.

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Weekend Replay: Countdown: March 5, 2009 (Part 2)

Nick Todor — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 13:00:34 +0000

Here’s part two of Countdown. The champion is definitely showing his skill the game, isn’t he?

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Weekend Replay: Countdown: March 5, 2009 (Part 1)

Nick Todor — Sun, 22 Mar 2009 01:53:37 +0000

A while back, Alex posted up the beginning of Jeff Stelling’s first episode of Countdown. It was great and all, but it didn’t have much gameplay (and I think Jeff Stelling’s the best host of the four). So, I’m feeling generous this weekend, and I’m giving you an entire episode. Mostly because this episode features a really smart champion (You’ll agree by Monday morning). Here’s part one of the episode that aired on March 5, 2009.

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The British are Better Than Us: “Countdown”

Alex Davis — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 22:14:30 +0000

Next up on our regular series The British are Better Than Us is my personal favorite British game show, Countdown. �Countdown is a long running game facing two contestants against each other in a game of spelling and math. �If you’ve played Text Twist, you basically know the spelling portion. �In the math game, contestants are given six sets of numbers (either small numbers 1-10 or big numbers 25, 50, 75, or 100) and have to only add, subtract, multiply, or divide them to reach the randomly assigned target number, using each of the sets of numbers only once. �I know we’ve talked about Only Connect being probably the smartest show on television, anywhere, but Countdown beats any other show for the sheer play-along factor. �It’s impossible not to play along when watching. �But it definitely gives a vibe of playability for anyone. �Again, this is one of those formats I have no idea why someone hasn’t tried it in America in some shape or form. �The only thing I can think of, as usual, is that some producers believe Americans aren’t smart enough for something like this. �How do we feel about the format? �Enjoy it?

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Hosts of UK Game Show “Countdown” Leave

Alex Davis — Fri, 25 Jul 2008 18:41:33 +0000

Probably my favorite British game show is�the exceptionally brainy Countdown. �I hate�to say it, but if any show could be deemed�too smart for America’s Deal or No Deal�level audience at�this point, it’s Countdown. �It’s split into�two�types of play. �In�the word rounds, you’re given nine letters and have�to make�the longest word possible. �In�the numbers game, you’re given six different numbers and have�to add, subtract, multiply, or divide in order�to reach a�target. �All of�this is under�the scrutiny of�the infamous Countdown�clock, which is 30 seconds.

Real news for�this show comes�today as host Des O’Connor announced he is leaving. �He’s�the 3rd host in�the past few years, after original longtime host Richard Whiteley passed away, and another host, Des Lynam, quit after a short amount of�time. �However,�the bigger news comes from co host Carol Vorderman announcing she will be leaving as well.

It’s honestly like imagining Vanna White is leaving. �Carol is�the�thinking person’s Vanna White. �She’s been with�the show since 1982 and has been more�than a pretty face. �She was integral for�the show’s number round, as she often computed complicated math problems. �Representatives�have said�they will be hunting down replacements for both,�though, as a long�time fan of�the show, it’s going�to be hard�to replace Carol; she was absolutely incredible. �Here’s an episode of what is probably�the smartest show on�television for�those who haven’t seen it. �Part one is here and�the others are under�the page break. You can also read more about Countdown at the UKGameShows, which is probably the best game show website in the world, by clicking this link.

“Crosswords” Gets Home Game

Alex Davis — Wed, 21 Nov 2007 17:56:01 +0000

The ratings for Crosswords aren’t that great, but it’s getting some support from a major game company.� Hasbro has received the license to develop board and DVD games to the fledgling new syndicated game show.� Both of which are expected to be out this coming Fall, hopefully when a second season will come out.� Hasbro is getting into the game show business even more as they, as previously stated, are partnering with Denbar-Mercury (Family Feud) for the syndicated Trivial Pursuit game show currently being planned.

There should be some form of online game for Crosswords out by now, but it’s been in development longer than I think the rules for the actual show were developed.� You can make your own Temptation home game by watching E! and when you can guess what is being talked about currently, reach into your pocket and give yourself $5.� You probably have a larger budget than the actual show does already.

“Countdown” To Get Cell Phone Treatment

Nick Todor — Wed, 10 Jan 2007 14:42:54 +0000

Dynamo Games has reached an agreement with Granada Ventures, the licensor of Countdown, to distribute a Countdown game for cell phones in the UK and Ireland only. Brian McNicoll, the managing director of Dynamo: �Countdown is … an institution, which is loved by millions of people of all ages
and from all walks of life. The show’s combination of word and maths
puzzles allows everyone, of every ability to to take part and makes it
the perfect programme to bring to mobile phones.� You can get it starting near the end of this month, from here.

Des O’Connor Named New Host of UK’s “Countdown”

Alex Davis — Sat, 21 Oct 2006 15:45:03 +0000

Digital Spy is reporting that 74 year old Des O’Connor will be replacing the vacating Des Lynam as the new host of the popular Channel4 game show “Countdown”.� The Sun is also reporting that he will screentest next week, having beaten very popular UK personalities, such as (in roles most known in the US) “UK Whose Line is it Anyway?” performer Stephen Fry and FOX’s “The Rich Li$t” host Eamonn Holmes.� Lynam will finish taping in December, as he says the travel from his home to the studio is too much.