UK Weekend Replay: “Take It or Leave It”

The word of NBC’s newest pilot Who’s Bluffing Who had me remembering a slightly popular UK game show Take It or Leave It.  I say slightly because it was on Challenge which is the UK equivalent of GSN so imagine popularity in those terms.  Actually GSN was developing this but it didn’t get too far, but more on that later.  The part of Who’s Bluffing Who that had me remembering Take It the most is the entire money box situation.  In this NBC show the money boxes, or safes, have absolutely no bearing on the show whatsoever.  They are just there to give people extra money and do not have a hint of influence on the income or a win-or-lose situation which seems a bit strange to me.  Take It or Leave It had some faults, but it used the entire safe idea to come up with a pretty fun and entertaining hybrid of a Millionaire style quiz and Deal or No Deal.  Thanks to UKGameShows for the pictures.

Image courtesy of UKGameShows.com

One team of two starts the game.  They see another couple on the video screen and hear about them.  They can choose to play against that team or play against another team that they don’t know about.  That’s the general theme of the show.  When the actual game starts, the team in control begins on spot one of ten.  A question and one answer is posed.  They can take that answer or leave it for another they don’t know about.  If they are wrong they switch places with the other team and they move forward a step.  If they are right, they get a chance to add money to the game.

A game board of 20 safes is shown.  Values range from 1p and £15,000, plus two Booby Traps, are shuffled and placed.  The team selects two and are shown the first one.  They can take that value and add it to the bank or leave it for the other.  If the team draws the Booby Trap, though, they lose control.  It’s OK so far up until the end.  Whoever has control of the game after question 10 wins.  So you can be leading the entire game and miss that final question and lose.  Yeah, it sucks, but it’s a dramatic device that does the trick

Image courtesy of UKGameShows.com

and fits the entire theme of the game.  The winning team plays for whatever is in the bank which can be up to £50,000.  A clip of the end game can be watched here.

In the end game the team answers five questions the same way.  Six safes are raised from the ground.  One of the safes contains their prize fund and the other five contain nothing.  The questions are then randomly mixed up, but the right answers will always come before the wrong ones.  The team can decide to take their answer or leave it if they are afraid.  If they take a right answer one of the bad safes goes away.  If they are afraid they missed they can leave it and select one of the safes, hoping they choose the money safe.  If they take a wrong answer, though, they lose and the game is over.  So that means if they can get all five right and take them all, they win the money.  The only clip we can find that can be embedded is this.

It’s got a few issues but it works for what it sets out to be.  It’s a fun game to play along with the ends up being exciting in a few places.  I particularly like the end game.  But this is a good example of how to use a safe or money box idea and get some good from it.  Who’s Bluffing Who is missing a lot.  Again, GSN was developing this and looking at ways to fix some elements of it.  One idea shared to me was splitting the game into two different paths the teams go on individually and the first to reach the end wins.  But it never made it out of the gate.  It should have, though.  Given this was in development around the time Deal or No Deal was popular this could have been good for them.