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Weekend Replay: Part Three of “Only Connect”

Posted by Alex Davis On January - 11 - 2009

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Here it is. It’s the final part of the one of my favorite British game shows, Only Connect. Here comes a few new ways of playing, including the connecting wall and a speed round on buzzers to determine the winner.

I agree with a lot of you commenters: I think some form of college tournament on PBS or Discovery could be a ton of fun. Maybe someone will take note? And hopefully we’ll have a second season of this show in England, so we can show you more. We’ll try to get another episode to show you, since it seems so many of you enjoy the show.

Popularity: 5% [?]

Better Than Us, BuzzerVision, UK

3213Comments2009-01-12+03%3A01%3A59Alex+Davis

Kniwt Said,
First thought when the beta wall came up: That’s Numberwang!

Seriously, I’m hooked on this series. Found episodes 1 and 2, but all the others seem to be unavailable. More!

Posted on January 12th, 2009 at 2:42 am
David B Said,
The walls in this epsiode are very unrepresentative of the rest of the series, as they were an end of series “joke”.

Usually, the wall contains 16 words of which some clues have an ambiguity betwee two possible connected groups. And there may even be possible connections that don’t actually turnout in the final solution at all.

Here’s one we used in a pilot show as an example (apologies if this formats badly):

Pelican Victoria Nike Ganymede
Eros Puffin Skunk M
Magpie Pan Corgi Zebra
Elizabeth I Oystercatcher Mrs Henderson Iris

Posted on January 12th, 2009 at 3:57 am
lobster Said,
Wow. Not only is the game play exciting to watch, but the graphics are awesome. I love how during the wall they subtly change animations so you don’t get tired of the same shot, sometimes you see their faces in-set and sometimes you only see the puzzle board only. The transitions are very classy, and the airy classical music cues compliment the show perfectly in an unpretentious way. The set is clean, not a lot of crap going on, which is perfect.

The only thing left to be desired, and this could be my American game-show brain speaking, but I think if the score was tallied in dollar amounts (say the timer counted down in dollar amounts) it would be more exciting to watch. Screw that trophy :D

Otherwise, man, I think a LOT of the game show prod. crews in the states can take a page from their playbook. Money prizes aside, I bet they save a TON of money on the simple yet elegant production..

I LOVE THIS FREAKING SHOW

Posted on January 12th, 2009 at 12:22 pm
lobster Said,
one more thing —

I think crossworders will always kill at this vs. any other grouping of professionals.

You don’t have a chance vs. good self-proclaimed crossworders. :D

Posted on January 12th, 2009 at 12:25 pm
Chris Said,
The crossworders weren’t just simply a crosswording team, to be quite fair. I know that Mark just missed out on winning his semi-final on Brain of Britain this year, and Ian is in the Mastermind semifinals (and should have faired much better on Are You an Egghead?). Ian was also 8th at the World Quiz Championships this past year, and I believe that Mark was 16th. It’s much fairer to call them the professional quiz team, heh.

With that being said, I think David was actually the strongest of the three throughout the tournament – the other two are obvious quiz players, but David could make the lateral connections better than possibly any other person in the entire tournament.

Posted on January 12th, 2009 at 6:41 pm
captparis1 Said,
This show would make a really good, but cheap geek game on either the G4 or Sci-Fi networks. Even if they keep the points format, they could get away with a 5 or 10,000 grand prize.

Posted on January 12th, 2009 at 9:51 pm
captparis1 Said,
This show would make a really good, but cheap geek game on either the G4 or Sci-Fi networks. Even if they keep the points format, they could get away with a $5K or $10,000 grand prize.

Posted on January 12th, 2009 at 9:55 pm
BT14 Said,
the last game show that tried a new format and presented itself as a smart show IMO was Smush, which died way before its time. I could see the same kind of set design and atmosphere lend its credence to this show to “Americanize” it. On an extremely obscure reference note, alot of people have mentioned that this would be good for PBS. I vaguely remember seeing a one off game show during a major anniversary for the program NOVA and it was called “The NOVA Quiz” and was hosted by Marc Summers. The only thing that show could have done without were the goofy lab outfits they made the contestants wear during a round which featured lab experiments.

I tried searching for the torrents and no luck. I’ll keep trying though.

Posted on January 13th, 2009 at 3:30 am
David B Said,
@lobster: We made the entire 15-show series for around the same price as 30 minutes of your primetime Deal or No Deal. And I agree the director did a great job on the wall – it’s all very clever Digital Video processing.

@BT14: Try UKNova or TheBox.bz

Posted on January 13th, 2009 at 3:43 am
MikeSant318 Said,
Okay, David, here we go…

Pelican, Puffin, Magpie, Oystercathcer = Birds
Skunk, Zebra, M, Iris = Things that are black and white
Eros, Pan, Nike, Ganymede = Greek Deities
Elizabeth I, Victoria, Corgi, Mrs Henderson – Things found at Buckingham Palace

Am I even remotely close? (this only after three minutes of study, and no websearching)

Posted on January 13th, 2009 at 8:48 pm
Kniwt Said,
As I watch more episodes (thanks, thebox!), I like the show even more — especially when the connections require two levels of thinking.

We’re all talking about U.S. versions and such, but there seems to be a more obvious solution: Air these 15 shows on BBC America, and then air the cycle again after the buzz develops. You can picture the headlines from the six remaining newspaper TV critics in the country:

“Quirky BBC quiz demands deep thinking”
“From Britain: Are You Smarter Than a Ph.D.?”
“If you think ‘Jeopardy!’ is too easy, try this BBC show”

I couldn’t take five days a week of this, but as weekly diversion, it’s highly entertaining.

Posted on January 13th, 2009 at 11:28 pm
David B Said,
@MikeSant: A good stab, but the 1st and 4th connections are wrong and all your groups contain at least one wrong element.

Mild hints: as well as being animals, what else are Puffin and Corgi? There should be an element of group 2 that seems obviously wrong – apart from a letter, what else might it be? It’s a Brit culture reference but one well known to the US. Also, as far as I know, an Iris isn’t black and white.

Posted on January 14th, 2009 at 1:41 am
DeVares Said,
The endgame is cool. It like the WC on Pyramid, only you’re giving the clues and you have to know what they have in common.

Posted on January 14th, 2009 at 3:40 am
BT14 Said,
Lightbulb! I just remembered there is a game available to play for free that mimics the idea of this game and has been out for some time. It’s called Strike a Match and can be played at http://www.boxerjam.com. It stuck me when I realized the connection wall was all too familiar. Strike a match has the almost exact same round, though I think it’s 3×3 and not 4×4. Enjoy!

Posted on January 14th, 2009 at 5:53 am
MikeSant318 Said,
David, I just realized walking to the bus this morning:

Eliz. I, M, Mrs. Henderson, Victoria = Roles played by Dame Judi Densch

will try to work on the other 3…

Posted on January 14th, 2009 at 1:51 pm
David B Said,
Correct. Birds is not right but the others are, they’ve just not quite got the right contents.

Further clue that might make it a bit fairer for US audiences: as well as Puffin and Pelican, the first group could have also contained Penguin (and it’s not bird related, or that they’re of the form P—N).

Posted on January 14th, 2009 at 2:05 pm
Vince Said,
I really enjoy this game, but agree that it would take a few tweaks to become an “American” game show. Having some sort of prize aside from a trophy would be one thing. The host, while decent, wouldn’t cut it with American audiences. Finally, if they offer a prize to the winning team there should be some sort of singular team endgame for a “grand” prize.

The format is great and I’ll be looking forward to hearing more from this series.

@DaveB: If you click my name it’ll send you to my site, I’ve got a write-up on what I believe makes a good game show. Since you work in the industry, let me know what you think.

Posted on January 14th, 2009 at 5:41 pm
Anton Spivack Said,
It’s the puffin that’s black and white. And I think groups with a common connection were given on The Joker’s Wild 1990, such as:

WATERFORD AND BACCARAT
GREGG AND PITMAN
CHICAGO, GENEVA, AND MONACO (Aside from the stops on a “direct” flight from New York to D.C.)
DIEDRE DOWNS, JENNIFER BERRY, LAUREN NELSON, KIRSTEN HAGLUND
KRISTY THOMAS, CLAUDIA KISHI, MARY ANNE SPIER, STACEY MCGILL

Can you work these out?

Posted on January 15th, 2009 at 12:51 am
MikeSant318 Said,
Anton:
Waterford & Baccarat = Crystal
Gregg & Pitman = Shorthand

No clue on the others…

Posted on January 16th, 2009 at 1:49 pm
MikeSant318 Said,
David, I think I have it…
Previously:
Elizabeth I, M, Victoria, Mrs Henderson = Judi Dench roles
Now:
Pelican, Puffin, Pan, Corgi = British Publishers
Skunk, Zebra, Magpie, Oystercatcher = Black and White animals
Eros, Iris, Nike, Ganymede = Greek Deities

I caution anyone wanting to take part in this quiz if it ever comes to the States: This is neither for the faint of heart, nor the faint of mind…

Posted on January 16th, 2009 at 9:57 pm
David B Said,
Correct!

Posted on January 18th, 2009 at 11:06 pm
Anton Spivack Said,
Correct on the first two, but I’ll leave the other three open. Here’s another to puzzle out:

JULIUS, ADOLPH, LEONARD, HERBERT, AND MILTON

Posted on January 19th, 2009 at 4:18 pm
David B Said,
I think that last one is the real names of the Marx Brothers.

I may have got this thanks to research I did on one of the questions for Only Connect, which was:
Harpo Marx, Giacomo Casanova, Graham Greene, Mata Hari

Posted on January 19th, 2009 at 6:11 pm
Anton Spivack Said,
That is correct, although Adolph “Harpo” Marx later changed his name to Arthur.

I think the last list pertains to people who have had more than one spouse at the same time.

Posted on January 19th, 2009 at 9:30 pm
David B Said,
Nope, Harpo Marx only married once. I could have added Ian Fleming to the list.

Posted on January 20th, 2009 at 7:27 pm
Anton Spivack Said,
Are they all involved with WWI? That’s just a guess.

Posted on January 20th, 2009 at 10:49 pm
David B Said,
Ooooo… well your dates are a bit out of whack there (Casanova? WWI?), but yeah, you’ve virtually got it. They’ve all worked for the government, specifically: involved in espionage.

Greene: Worked for MI6 during WWII. Casanova: spy for the Venetian Inquisitors of State (from 1774 to 1782). Marx: Smuggled papers for the US during his 1933 trip to Russia. Mata Hari: acted as a double agent during World War One.

Posted on January 20th, 2009 at 11:56 pm
Anton Spivack Said,
Interesting…I didn’t know Harpo Marx was a government spy. But I think he was effective at keeping quiet. And what about Ian Fleming? I know he wrote spy fiction, but I’m not sure about actual spy work.

Posted on January 21st, 2009 at 11:35 am
David B Said,
Fleming worked in Naval Intelligence – details here: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ian_Fleming

Posted on January 21st, 2009 at 8:07 pm
AEI Said,
Chicago, Geneva, and Monaco are all names of font typefaces. (They’re all associated with the Mac–at least before OS X.)

Posted on January 25th, 2009 at 4:13 am
Anton Spivack Said,
You got the one about fonts, but what about the two groups of women?

Posted on January 26th, 2009 at 11:44 pm
AEI Said,
The fonts I knew without having to look them up; I had to “cheat” to find out the others were Miss Americas and the Baby-Sitters Club. . . .

Posted on January 30th, 2009 at 8:25 pm
Anton Spivack Said,
OK…you looked them up. That wasn’t how I wanted it to go.

Here’s another one:

ZACH, TRINI, BILLY, KIMBERLY, AND JASON
BALTHAZAR, CASPAR, AND MELCHIOR

And more from the game of definitions:

LOCAL 12-VILLAINS, THIEVES, AND SCOUNDRELS UNION
SIMON MORGENSTERN
THE DWARF CAVENDISH
STU SUTCLIFFE
THE RELIGIOUS SOCIETY OF FRIENDS
RIFFRAFF, MAGENTA, AND COLUMBIA
THE ISLETS OF LANGERHANS
WE’RE ONLY IN IT FOR THE MONEY
LYRA SILVERTONGUE

Posted on January 30th, 2009 at 11:45 pm

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