The British are Better Than Us: “Countdown”
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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I just found out that there was an unsuccessful U.S. pilot in 1990. I’m a huge fan of the show, but after looking at the pilot details, this is why the show didn’t make it across the pond.
1. There were teams of two, not one-on-one as usual.
2. Cash prizes were involved. (Obviously.)
3. No numbers round and no conundrum. Yep, you read that right. The first round was a regular numbers round of nine letters. Another round was the same, but with eight letters and a “wild.” Any team that could make a nine-letter word here won a $25,000 bonus.
4. Bonus round was unscrambling words of increasing difficulty.
It’s sad how they can’t take a classic, bring it over here and leave it alone!
Source:
http://www.usgameshows.net/x.php?show=Countdown1990&sort=0