UK Game Show Updates; Lots of Renewals
We are finally back up after our upgrade, so thanks for the patience. We want to test our new video software and we have a fun way to do it.
I love posting clips of British shows here because it’s stuff you normally don’t get to see and maybe we’ll get to check it out before it comes to America. We saw it happen with The Cube. Lots of other British shows are coming back for a new season, though. The first one we’ll discuss is Pointless. This show is essentially a more trivia oriented reverse Family Feud. A question is asked and teams have to come up with an answer that no one in the 100 surveyed group says. Each person that said the answer you said is a point, and the highest point score at the end of each round is eliminated. The winning team gets three chances to find one more Pointless answer to take home a cash jackpot. It’s a fun little show on BBC which is begging for a run on something like GSN which, to be honest, could really use another hit original badly. It’s cheap enough, tons of play along, and well done. Take a look.
[stream flv=x:/www.flashgameshows.com/wordpress/videos/Pointless1.flv width=630 height=343 img=x:/buzzerblog.flashgameshows.com/wp-content/uploads/Pointless1.jpg bandwidth=med /]
Next is Divided from ITV. This show, very amusingly to me at least, divided our readers. The essential plot is a team of three answers questions to build a bank, and when the game is over the team has to unanimously decide how the pot is going to be divided or else no one gets anything. The show ranges from being incredibly great to unbelievably frustrating, which I enjoy at least. I mean it’s a game show that can make me cringe! That comes along once in a lifetime and I treasure it when I can. Here’s a preview of it.
[stream flv=x:/www.flashgameshows.com/wordpress/videos/dividedpt3.flv width=630 height=343 img=x:/flashgameshows.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/dividedpt3.jpg bandwidth=med /]
The third show coming back, also from ITV, is The Chase. A team of four competes against a trivia expert to answer the most questions. If The Chaser catches up the team leaves with nothing. It wasn’t that bad but it was severely missing something. They tried to go a bit too Deal or No Deal with strange money offers and an incredibly scripted Chaser who lightly sasses you.
[stream flv=x:/flashgameshows.com/wordpress/videos/thechasept1.flv width=630 height=343 img=x:/flashgameshows.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/thechasept1.jpg bandwidth=med /]
And finally our favorite, Only Connect, will indeed be coming back for a third season. Apparently the episode order has been increased to 15 instead of the previous nine so I suppose the ratings were good this time around. Victoria Coren returns as host. It’s become pretty popular here and is one of our most viewed videos of all time.
[stream flv=x:/flashgameshows.com/wordpress/videos/onlyconnects2e1pt1.flv width=630 height=343 img=x:/flashgameshows.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/onlyconnects2e1pt11.jpg bandwidth=med /]
Just a fun question. Of these UK shows which are apparently pretty popular, which would you like to see come to America?
I actually want to say Divided because it epitomizes the "television bickering" in the event the endgame heads in that direction. Pointless, as we all know, is too close to Family Feud. It works well, but I can imagine many people in the states making the comparison, no doubt. The Chase seems a bit too obscure to catch on and Only Connect, no matter how great it is, chances of a major network picking it up are fairly slim. We can all assume the reasonable answer is "It's too complicated for people to watch."
I would like the most to see "Divided" over here. It's a really great show, and I just absolutely love it (although not as much as The Cube ^_^). Then Pointless, although I don't know how "game show golf" would work in the US. Third I would like to see Only Connect, it's a good show, and a good conecpt, fun to watch. Last I would like to see The Chase; it just gets a little boring to me halfway through the show. So my vote would be for Divided.
Divided seems like a really good show and interesting concept
I think it work well as CBS' or ABC's answer to The Cube and (Not At All) Perfect 10
What? The Fuse didn't get renewed in the UK. I kinda liked that show.
I want Pointless or Only Connect, myself.
Only Connect for me is boring. The host is boring, the contestants are boring as well :(
It lost the rating contest with the chase (each got 2 weeks to impress and chase got the most)
ITV had already said they would only commision one of them
If only connect makes it to PBS then there is no way the audience can't make the connection which really should be it's name
Divided is perfect.
Pointless: make the jackpot start at 5 grand and add 25 hundred for every pointless answer but also give the contestant another 2500. Other than that leave it
I'm going to have to do these individually. The downfall of The Chase…..which is a pretty good concept…are the production values of the show. First, whoever is the contestant coordinator for this should be sent to the French Forign Legion. Finding everyday people is fine, but save for Lisa, this is a boring bunch. As the chaser, this couldbe a good way for Ken Jennings to extend his 15 minutes'o'fame, which is probably now up to 2 hrs 15 minutes. Destination: GSN/USA afternoon block.
it's like they are playing in a library..
I would like to see them all here in the US and here is how I would like to see them.
POINTLESS: Nix one team and start the Jackpot off at $2,500 and add that much to the bank upon each pointless answer. The winner wins the pot and plays the bonus round to try to double it.
DIVIDED: The only thing I would change is to make the amounts in the bonus round 20%,30% and 50% of the bank
THE CHASE: In the Chase make the showdown between the contestant and the Chaser an on the buzzer game and in the Final Chase again should be on the Buzzer but give the contestants two spaces plus one more space on the Chaser for every survivor.
ONLY CONNECT: Multiply points by 100 and turn it into cash with a $5,000 bonus for the top scorer.
Honestly, Pointless is the one I'd think would have the best chance of getting sold. But in my heart I'd really like to see Only Connect get a PBS debut.
I've often advocated a college version of Only Connect for PBS, History, Discovery, or TLC;
would like to see The Chase (or even The Fuse) get a second look in the States –
with The Chase, have some of the Grand Slam competitors take part as Chasers,
and maybe have Jeopardy-master-turned-potential-actor Brad Rutter as host……
i'm gonna go along with the majority and say Divided, I like Only cohnnect but they will have to dumb it down so much. same with Pointless. Divided just seems more "Adaptable" it could work on Fox with Mark Walberg hosting and Mark Thompson announcing. (cause we all know Fox will use Mark Thompson on everything)
None of them. "The British are better than us" is a very overrated statement.
We're hoping and praying for the Million Pound Cat Game.
The percentages do change from show to show, but I think the idea is that there needs to be more differentiation between 20% and 30% for it to work on all levels.
>ONLY CONNECT: Multiply points by 100 and turn it into cash with a $5,000 bonus for the top scorer.
That's the difference between the UK and US in a sentence, right there.
Only Connect could work as a show if they dumb it down a bit.
Divided looks like it has FOX written all over it.
the chaser seems like a good show maybe have more then one and do a team vs team format or maybe have a face the ace style 1 on one competition.