I think a format this “smart” could work if it was more like either “Stump the” whatever his name is on ESPN, or in a “Kenny vs. Spenny” format where two teams/people do this for honor/bragging rights, maybe have a pool of 10 or so “smarties” who do this.

What’s great about Only Connect is the lateral thinking, because if you stick with trivia at some point you just have to go into obscure minutae. With puzzles like this it’s more like YDKJ or the old 1v100 questions where you have to know at least 2 things to get the answer (like the picture round where you had to not only name the items, but then figure out they were on the Paris Metro, from round one).

To Lex: I’m aware of PBS’ Digital channels, it could work there too.

To David B.: Now that you listen to us (or, in this case, read what we wrote), please tell us that you’re pitching this to the networks in the U.S.

“pace is killing me.” This is a *fast* format. There’s precious little chit chat, it’s almost all game time. You need to give the guys at least half a chance of working it out. Lateral thinking in milliseconds is not possible.

“a clock that we never see.” Yes, you do see the clock. When it’s a quarter left, there’s 10 seconds to go. The host also indicates the time, as does the music’s crescendo. I can’t see how “3, 2, 1, 0″ would add to it.

“a seated host annoys me to no end” The desk is important so that the graphic in the bottom half of the screen doesn’t cut her in two. A standing host and seated contestants sounds very odd to me, and besides isn’t it just more civilised to sit down to think about stuff?

“Even having both teams have a chance at all the questions (clues revealed in X second increments) would add to it.” – Why? That way, you’d not be able to hear the team’s discussions, which is half the fun of the show. It would be OK as a round 4 idea but not for round 1 or 2.

Glad most of you like it, though! :)

David
OC question writer/editor

Thinking outside the box, would pitching a U.S. version to ESPNU be worth a shot? ESPNU specializes in college sports, but I’m not sure if the channel would stride away from its NCAA sports-heavy base to air a show that focuses on academic “student athletes”.

(Note: back when I was business manager for a popular culture-based college quiz bowl format, a few players proposed an idea of pitching said format to ESPNU. It never happened due to a series of life changes (both work and social).)

@Dan Y. The seated host is quite common in british panel shows, which is almost more of what this show feels like than a “game show.” Like Qi or Nevermind the Buzzcocks, it’s got a massive 3-part desk with players to the left, players to the right, host in the middle, all seated.

What makes J! entertaining is the quick pace, rapid fire format. As this is now, it makes nice background noise, but I couldn’t see myself putting 30 minutes into it. Even having both teams have a chance at all the questions (clues revealed in X second increments) would add to it.

Something that I found interesting was the host and contestants referencing a clock that we never see. We get that bar above the clues, but without seeing the actual time, it takes away a bit of the drama.

Finally, a seated host annoys me to no end. Unless the format presents itself as a single contestant vs. host format (i.e. millionaire, mastermind) where the two are directly facing each other, have the host stand. She looks lost behind that massive desk.

To Lex: PBS should expand to cable (I know they colaborated with Nickelodeon a few years ago with Noggin, of course now, it’s completely owned by Viacom), they’ll get more funding that way.

For me I think there’d have to be a new cable channel (they’re cheap to make, even more now) where it’d be PBS-genre programming, but being for-profit could have much higher revenue if it could convince advertisers that they have a valuable demo.

I think that some of the upper-class level brands could advertise(cruises, watches), as well as some education brands (brittanica, national geographic) and even some “older” brands (AARP, ensure) could give it a shot.

However, now that I’ve mention “NatGeo” (as they like to refer to themselves now) I’ve realized they have a channel. They should buy this :D

This is a wonderful show and a great mental exercise. I’ve enjoyed doing these kinds of puzzles in the past, but you don’t see them much, just an overabundance of crosswords and word searches *which, don’t get me wrong, are fun also*.

I’d love to see a version states-side, but, much like Countdown and other certain Brit shows, there are… how should I say this… certain TV practices, ideas, and mentalities that would need to change first before this even remotely becomes a possibility…