In my review of Monday's show I asked how it was that two such formidable teams came to be drawn against each other in the first round. I posted the same query on the IQAGB forum, and I am indebted to David Bodycombe for this reply -
"Teams are matched up on the basis of which dates they can do, and what make the most interesting match-ups (e.g. programme 1's Oxford vs Cambridge is a lot more interesting than, say, Vets vs Northerners).
I don't think previous form is particularly considered. What looks like a good team on paper may have a nightmare, there's not much legislating for that (for example, I think few people expected the Mathematicians to win on show 2)."
Thank you for explaining that David.
Personally I honestly don't mind where teams come from, or who they represent. I think its all about how they play the game, but then that's just my opinion. The point has been raised on the same forum that a good match up like show 3 is a lot more entertaining than watching one team crush another, and there's a lot of truth in that too.
Wednesday, 29 July 2009
Tuesday, 28 July 2009
TV Watch Supplementary - Knowitalls
I do apologise for including this in its own seperate review, but I've only discovered it since writing the UC and OC reviews. Knowitalls, on BBC Two, makes a great play of the fact that its a quiz show with a difference, since there aren't any questions. As such its not a quiz at all. However it is a test of knowledge under pressure, which puts it firmly within the remit of LAM. Last night's University Challenge revealed that Norman Mailer is credited with coining the word 'factoid'. Well, this show is actually the apotheosis of the humble factoid.
The show is presented by Gyles 'Marmite' Brandreth. Actually some of my friends think that Gyles is only half like Marmite because they would say that you either hate him or you hate him. I quite like the feller in small doses. The show is basically a knockout tournament. Two teams of three contestants play against each other for a place in the next round. For each show, there are three nominated subject areas. These tend to be huge, catch-all topics. Last night's were Entertainment, History and Science. In the first round , one by one each contestant comes up and is given a specific subject eg - The Carry On Films - and given a minute or two to talk about it. They face a panel of three experts - one for each subject area. The expert for each area will set three key words or phrases for each subject area, and the contestant has to mention these for five points. Then they are awarded additional points for each relevant fact they mention. The slight problem with this, and its a problem that runs throughout the show, is that it is merely one person's opinion about what the most important facts are. For example, would you really say that one of the three most important facts about Queen Elizabeth Ist was that she had red hair ? The expert did. In the world of Knowitalls all facts are equal, but some are more equal than others, so it seems. Carping aside, I thought that all of the contestants were impressive, particularly the ones who tackled the Norman Invasion, and Queen Elizabeth Ist - who did get the point for mentioning red hair, by the way.
In the second round the teams worked together, and were given a minute to think of the most interesting fact they could about a given topic - eg. Frank Sinatra. The first team revealed that Frank Sinatra was married to Ava Gardner. True, although hardly likely to make anyone drop their TV dinner from their laps in amazement. They might have said that of his other wives, Nancy Barbato was his first wife, and this is why before they were divorced he always ended his set by singing 'Nancy with the Laughing Face' , or that Mia Farrow was younger than his daughters when he married her, or even that his last wife, Barbara, was the widow of Harpo Marx. Sorry, showing off. The second team came up with a beautiful factoid - that members of the Mafia were divided between those who could shake Sinatra's hand, and those who couldn't. Cue Head of Compliance having a near coronary, I'm sure, and the expert explaining that this fact was non verifiable. Ava Gardner thus won the point.
There's a couple of things I'm not clear about. At the start of the show it says that the teams have been given the subjects and then just one hour to pool all they know about them before the show starts. Does this mean that they have been just told - today's categories are History - Entertainment - Science, for the sake of argument, or have they actually been told - today's subjects are Only Fools and Horses , Carry On Films, Queen Elizabeth Ist etc. etc. It makes a difference. Some of the performances were extremely impressive, and it becomes a little more understandable if they had an hour to prepare specific topics, rather than huge subject areas. Still impressive, though.
Still, onto the final round. This reminded me even more strongly of an old show called Password, and to an extent, the section of Richard and Judy's old show where the viewer at home had to use clues to get Richard to say a particular word or phrase. I think the pyramid game used something similar too, although I may be mistaken. In this round, in turns each member of the team would be given a topic, and have to get one of the key words as quickly as possible, or pass. An exciting and fast moving round, but again you might argue that some of the key word choices seemed a little arbitrary. The show was decided on a straightforward tally up of points totals, with the winners progressing to the next round.
A look on the IQAGB website reveals that opinion on this show is rather polarised. For what its worth I have to say I rather enjoyed it. The fact that its a half hour long is a huge bonus. Whatever else you might think about it, the show is fast - moving. I do think there's an issue with regard to the key points. There's a very large proportion of the potential amount of points which come just from identifying the key words and phrases, and this sits a little at odds with the idea of 'knowing it all' for me. Myself, I'm a straightforward question and answer man, but I found that there was quite a bit to enjoy in this. I shall continue to watch with interest.
The show is presented by Gyles 'Marmite' Brandreth. Actually some of my friends think that Gyles is only half like Marmite because they would say that you either hate him or you hate him. I quite like the feller in small doses. The show is basically a knockout tournament. Two teams of three contestants play against each other for a place in the next round. For each show, there are three nominated subject areas. These tend to be huge, catch-all topics. Last night's were Entertainment, History and Science. In the first round , one by one each contestant comes up and is given a specific subject eg - The Carry On Films - and given a minute or two to talk about it. They face a panel of three experts - one for each subject area. The expert for each area will set three key words or phrases for each subject area, and the contestant has to mention these for five points. Then they are awarded additional points for each relevant fact they mention. The slight problem with this, and its a problem that runs throughout the show, is that it is merely one person's opinion about what the most important facts are. For example, would you really say that one of the three most important facts about Queen Elizabeth Ist was that she had red hair ? The expert did. In the world of Knowitalls all facts are equal, but some are more equal than others, so it seems. Carping aside, I thought that all of the contestants were impressive, particularly the ones who tackled the Norman Invasion, and Queen Elizabeth Ist - who did get the point for mentioning red hair, by the way.
In the second round the teams worked together, and were given a minute to think of the most interesting fact they could about a given topic - eg. Frank Sinatra. The first team revealed that Frank Sinatra was married to Ava Gardner. True, although hardly likely to make anyone drop their TV dinner from their laps in amazement. They might have said that of his other wives, Nancy Barbato was his first wife, and this is why before they were divorced he always ended his set by singing 'Nancy with the Laughing Face' , or that Mia Farrow was younger than his daughters when he married her, or even that his last wife, Barbara, was the widow of Harpo Marx. Sorry, showing off. The second team came up with a beautiful factoid - that members of the Mafia were divided between those who could shake Sinatra's hand, and those who couldn't. Cue Head of Compliance having a near coronary, I'm sure, and the expert explaining that this fact was non verifiable. Ava Gardner thus won the point.
There's a couple of things I'm not clear about. At the start of the show it says that the teams have been given the subjects and then just one hour to pool all they know about them before the show starts. Does this mean that they have been just told - today's categories are History - Entertainment - Science, for the sake of argument, or have they actually been told - today's subjects are Only Fools and Horses , Carry On Films, Queen Elizabeth Ist etc. etc. It makes a difference. Some of the performances were extremely impressive, and it becomes a little more understandable if they had an hour to prepare specific topics, rather than huge subject areas. Still impressive, though.
Still, onto the final round. This reminded me even more strongly of an old show called Password, and to an extent, the section of Richard and Judy's old show where the viewer at home had to use clues to get Richard to say a particular word or phrase. I think the pyramid game used something similar too, although I may be mistaken. In this round, in turns each member of the team would be given a topic, and have to get one of the key words as quickly as possible, or pass. An exciting and fast moving round, but again you might argue that some of the key word choices seemed a little arbitrary. The show was decided on a straightforward tally up of points totals, with the winners progressing to the next round.
A look on the IQAGB website reveals that opinion on this show is rather polarised. For what its worth I have to say I rather enjoyed it. The fact that its a half hour long is a huge bonus. Whatever else you might think about it, the show is fast - moving. I do think there's an issue with regard to the key points. There's a very large proportion of the potential amount of points which come just from identifying the key words and phrases, and this sits a little at odds with the idea of 'knowing it all' for me. Myself, I'm a straightforward question and answer man, but I found that there was quite a bit to enjoy in this. I shall continue to watch with interest.
TV Watch - University Challenge Heat 4 - Only Connect Heat 3
University Challenge - First Round Heat 4 - Clare College Cambridge v. Jesus College Oxford
Tonight saw our first Cambridge v. Oxford showdown. Jeremy Paxman waxed lyrical, calling them two of the most beautiful educational establishments in the country. Well and good. Now normally I am able to remain completely impartial during an Oxbridge match. However sitting on the far right of the Clare team, Matt Cliffe announced that he is from Ealing, West London. Well, that makes two of us. Now bearing in mind that each of the colleges or Universities that I've burdened with my support so far in this series have all lost, I was tempted to support Jesus College to see if I could hex them as well. But I reasoned that to do such a thing would be an abuse of my powers.
I did check to see if there was a Jones within the Jesus team, but alas no, so we were spared the amusing possibility of Roger Tilling announcing " Jesus - Jones "
On with the show. Clare College snaffled up the first starter but failed to convert bonuses. For the next 6 or 7 minutes it was all Jesus College. It was interesting to see poker hands being used as a picture bonus. Thankfully the answers weren't any of the obscure terms which had been called for in last week's Only Connect. I was also very interested to hear that it was Norman Mailer who coined the term 'factoid'. There was me thinking it was Steve Wright.
Ten Minutes into the show and my boy Cliffe scored Clare's second starter. They had a couple of stinkers for their bonuses. I have never heard of the Tulip Revolution, yet apparently it only happened as recently as 2005. Cliffe scored the next starter as well, and Captain Hegarty was happy to pass the bonuses over to him . Clare now appeared to be making a fight of it, but there was a large gap to make up, even though the show wasn't yet half over. A Music starter saw Jeremy Paxman barely disguising his disdain that none of the players recognised the piece of music was by Mendelsson . "It is rather a famous piece of music by Mendelsson . . . still never mind " he sighed, more in sorrow than in anger. There was an interesting question about quotes from Marshall Macluhan. "There is no difference between Education and Entertainment. " All I can say is that Marshall Macluhan never saw me trying to teach French a few years ago.
Clare were never buzzed out of the last half of the show in the same way that they were outplayed in the first ten minutes, but it fair to say that Jesus continued to have slightly the better of the play right up until the gong. I was delighted to hear two late bonus questions about Robert Recorde of Tenby. Maybe not across the whole of the UK, but certainly in South Wales the question about him being the man who invented the equals sign has been doing the rounds for some time.
In the end Jesus ran out worthy winners with a score of 215, which impressed our Jeremy, and is certainly a good score when you think that Clare were no mugs. In particular Mr. Speller of Jesus College looks to be a bit of a star. I may well be wrong, but I think he was responsible for 8 starters, and that's very good going. As for Clare, Mr. Hegarty played a captain's innings with 5 starters, and their 165 puts them in second place on the repechage board, behind last week's runners - up University College London. So the teams that have received support from the Clark sofa maintain their 100% record of coming second. Any teams in next year's competition who wish to bribe me to support their opposition can contact me through email !
Only Connect - First Round Heat 3 - The History Boys v. The Rugby Boys
Last week we saw youth pitted against experience, with youth emerging victorious. Tonight, though, we had experience versus experience. All 6 of the players on show tonight were experienced and successful quizzers, and all of them have a TV track record. Up for the History Boys were Rob Hannah, Gareth Kingston and Craig Element. Rob was, by some distance, the youngest player in either team last night, but he's only young in terms of years, not quiz experience. Rob reached the last 16 of last year's Are You An Egghead, and along with Craig he was a member of the highest earning winning team on the second series of Battle of the Brains. Hardly a novice at all. Craig I have already mentioned, and as for Gareth, well you may well remember him as a Mastermind semi-finallist in the last series.
The Rugby boys have an equally impressive pedigree. I've played against them many times, in Newport, in the CIU and other places as well. Richard Parnell is quite simply one of the finest quizzers in South Wales, and I can vouch for the fact that he is a truly formidable opponent. I believe that he was a £125,000 winner on Millionaire. Gary Dermody captained The Ant Hill Mob in the first series of Battle of the Brains, a team containing both Richie and Mark. As for Mark himself, well he's probably the highest profile quizzer we've seen in this series so far, following his recent stint on The Chase. Other notable performances in Mark's action packed career include a big Millionaire win, and coming runner up to Chris Hughes in Brain of Britain.
All of which begs the question. What is the show doing pitting two such formidable teams against each other in the first round ? Well, maybe that's a little unfair. For all I know all of the other teams we haven't seen yet are equally strong. I'd be surprised if they were all as strong as this, though. Oh well, on with the show. The History Boys started well and confidently, but the Rugby Boys started like an express train, picking off the answers after only needing one or two clues. This first round was a stunning performance, which put me in mind of the Crossworders in last year's final. At the end of round 1 Rugby led History by 7 points to 2.
In round two at least the Rugby Boys showed that they are not totally infallible by confusing Welland - as in the canal, with Yelland - as in the former editor of the Sun. The express train had slowed appreciably, as the History Boys had the better of the round, scoring 6 points to the Rugby Boys' 4, taking the score to 11 - 8.
The Connections Wall saw the Rugby Boys go first. Characters from ER - types of heel - young of creatures and occupational surnames were all unravelled to see the team take maximum points. I'll be honest, I would have struggled, because of the ER connection. I'm not entirely sure I would have got all of the heels either. The History Boys' wall was tricky too. They quickly saw that four of the names were Hungarian, and another four were types of moustache. However types of skirt , and words linked with -pig prove too much. I can't say anything, I couldn't see either connection myself until they were pointed out at the end. So the Rugby Boys' lead increased, as the score went to 21 - 13.
To be fair, the History Boys had a real bash at the missing vowels round, but so did the Rugby Boys, as most were taken between them, although neither team was too sure on the ice-skating terms. At the end the score was 28 - 17. 17 as a losing score is really good, which bears out my point that I do think that the show may have dropped a small clanger by matching up two such good teams in the first round, although I am willing to be proven wrong in this. Congratulations to the Rugby Boys - this was a formidable performance, and it will take something special to beat them, I fancy.
Tonight saw our first Cambridge v. Oxford showdown. Jeremy Paxman waxed lyrical, calling them two of the most beautiful educational establishments in the country. Well and good. Now normally I am able to remain completely impartial during an Oxbridge match. However sitting on the far right of the Clare team, Matt Cliffe announced that he is from Ealing, West London. Well, that makes two of us. Now bearing in mind that each of the colleges or Universities that I've burdened with my support so far in this series have all lost, I was tempted to support Jesus College to see if I could hex them as well. But I reasoned that to do such a thing would be an abuse of my powers.
I did check to see if there was a Jones within the Jesus team, but alas no, so we were spared the amusing possibility of Roger Tilling announcing " Jesus - Jones "
On with the show. Clare College snaffled up the first starter but failed to convert bonuses. For the next 6 or 7 minutes it was all Jesus College. It was interesting to see poker hands being used as a picture bonus. Thankfully the answers weren't any of the obscure terms which had been called for in last week's Only Connect. I was also very interested to hear that it was Norman Mailer who coined the term 'factoid'. There was me thinking it was Steve Wright.
Ten Minutes into the show and my boy Cliffe scored Clare's second starter. They had a couple of stinkers for their bonuses. I have never heard of the Tulip Revolution, yet apparently it only happened as recently as 2005. Cliffe scored the next starter as well, and Captain Hegarty was happy to pass the bonuses over to him . Clare now appeared to be making a fight of it, but there was a large gap to make up, even though the show wasn't yet half over. A Music starter saw Jeremy Paxman barely disguising his disdain that none of the players recognised the piece of music was by Mendelsson . "It is rather a famous piece of music by Mendelsson . . . still never mind " he sighed, more in sorrow than in anger. There was an interesting question about quotes from Marshall Macluhan. "There is no difference between Education and Entertainment. " All I can say is that Marshall Macluhan never saw me trying to teach French a few years ago.
Clare were never buzzed out of the last half of the show in the same way that they were outplayed in the first ten minutes, but it fair to say that Jesus continued to have slightly the better of the play right up until the gong. I was delighted to hear two late bonus questions about Robert Recorde of Tenby. Maybe not across the whole of the UK, but certainly in South Wales the question about him being the man who invented the equals sign has been doing the rounds for some time.
In the end Jesus ran out worthy winners with a score of 215, which impressed our Jeremy, and is certainly a good score when you think that Clare were no mugs. In particular Mr. Speller of Jesus College looks to be a bit of a star. I may well be wrong, but I think he was responsible for 8 starters, and that's very good going. As for Clare, Mr. Hegarty played a captain's innings with 5 starters, and their 165 puts them in second place on the repechage board, behind last week's runners - up University College London. So the teams that have received support from the Clark sofa maintain their 100% record of coming second. Any teams in next year's competition who wish to bribe me to support their opposition can contact me through email !
Only Connect - First Round Heat 3 - The History Boys v. The Rugby Boys
Last week we saw youth pitted against experience, with youth emerging victorious. Tonight, though, we had experience versus experience. All 6 of the players on show tonight were experienced and successful quizzers, and all of them have a TV track record. Up for the History Boys were Rob Hannah, Gareth Kingston and Craig Element. Rob was, by some distance, the youngest player in either team last night, but he's only young in terms of years, not quiz experience. Rob reached the last 16 of last year's Are You An Egghead, and along with Craig he was a member of the highest earning winning team on the second series of Battle of the Brains. Hardly a novice at all. Craig I have already mentioned, and as for Gareth, well you may well remember him as a Mastermind semi-finallist in the last series.
The Rugby boys have an equally impressive pedigree. I've played against them many times, in Newport, in the CIU and other places as well. Richard Parnell is quite simply one of the finest quizzers in South Wales, and I can vouch for the fact that he is a truly formidable opponent. I believe that he was a £125,000 winner on Millionaire. Gary Dermody captained The Ant Hill Mob in the first series of Battle of the Brains, a team containing both Richie and Mark. As for Mark himself, well he's probably the highest profile quizzer we've seen in this series so far, following his recent stint on The Chase. Other notable performances in Mark's action packed career include a big Millionaire win, and coming runner up to Chris Hughes in Brain of Britain.
All of which begs the question. What is the show doing pitting two such formidable teams against each other in the first round ? Well, maybe that's a little unfair. For all I know all of the other teams we haven't seen yet are equally strong. I'd be surprised if they were all as strong as this, though. Oh well, on with the show. The History Boys started well and confidently, but the Rugby Boys started like an express train, picking off the answers after only needing one or two clues. This first round was a stunning performance, which put me in mind of the Crossworders in last year's final. At the end of round 1 Rugby led History by 7 points to 2.
In round two at least the Rugby Boys showed that they are not totally infallible by confusing Welland - as in the canal, with Yelland - as in the former editor of the Sun. The express train had slowed appreciably, as the History Boys had the better of the round, scoring 6 points to the Rugby Boys' 4, taking the score to 11 - 8.
The Connections Wall saw the Rugby Boys go first. Characters from ER - types of heel - young of creatures and occupational surnames were all unravelled to see the team take maximum points. I'll be honest, I would have struggled, because of the ER connection. I'm not entirely sure I would have got all of the heels either. The History Boys' wall was tricky too. They quickly saw that four of the names were Hungarian, and another four were types of moustache. However types of skirt , and words linked with -pig prove too much. I can't say anything, I couldn't see either connection myself until they were pointed out at the end. So the Rugby Boys' lead increased, as the score went to 21 - 13.
To be fair, the History Boys had a real bash at the missing vowels round, but so did the Rugby Boys, as most were taken between them, although neither team was too sure on the ice-skating terms. At the end the score was 28 - 17. 17 as a losing score is really good, which bears out my point that I do think that the show may have dropped a small clanger by matching up two such good teams in the first round, although I am willing to be proven wrong in this. Congratulations to the Rugby Boys - this was a formidable performance, and it will take something special to beat them, I fancy.
Monday, 27 July 2009
Quiz Appeal - Please Give Generously
I'm going away for a little while - to Spain as it happens. So don't get too worried if I go for more than a few days without posting anything new. Tonight is probably the last quiz I'm going to participate in before we're actually going. Don't worry - I'll still be reviewing tonight's Only Connect and University Challenge tomorrow, through the magic of the iplayer. What I wanted to ask - and this is a hell of a long shot, I know, is whether by any chance there's any of you out there who know the Alicante area, and know of any quizzes going on ?!!
First time we went I found a great little quiz in a very english area. The quiz itself was in a pub in either Catral or Crevillente - sorry, I can't remember which. However when I went back last year that seemed to have gone the way of all flesh. So if you know anything, or have any recommendations, please have mercy on me, and drop me a line. You're a lifesaver.
First time we went I found a great little quiz in a very english area. The quiz itself was in a pub in either Catral or Crevillente - sorry, I can't remember which. However when I went back last year that seemed to have gone the way of all flesh. So if you know anything, or have any recommendations, please have mercy on me, and drop me a line. You're a lifesaver.
TV Watch - Guesstimation BBC1 Saturday Night
Haven't I seen You Somewhere Before ?
I've always thought that it makes sense for the BBC to build a quiz/game show around the National Lottery slot on a Saturday evening. After all, the possibility of winning cash you've never earned just by playing a game is surely the appeal of both. In their time the BBC have tried out a wide range of different formats in this particular slot. Some of them have been successful and relatively enjoyable. This is all subjective, but I liked The People Versus and Winning Lines. I know that In It To Win It and 1 versus 100 have their admirers too. My first TV appearence was actually in a Saturday night big money quiz - Come and Have A Go If You Think You're Smart Enough, with Nicky Campbell. Fact is that we weren't . However, I say this to prove a point, that I have no particular axe to grind against BBC Saturday evening offerings, and that I always try to judge each different show on its own merits.
Which brings me to Guesstimation. As a quiz this is very much towards the Game Show end of the quiz show spectrum. Basically the show involves two family teams competing against each other by making the most accurate predictions of the answers to a series of questions set by Nick Knowles. More about him later. The winners earn themselves a 'dream holiday to a mystery location'. Actually the location wasn't that much of a mystery. They did a little teaser to give a clue, and short of festooning the screen with kiwis and All-Blacks they couldn't have done a great deal more to give away the fact that New Zealand was the destination . Certainly it didn't require a huge amount of guesswork.
Actually to be fair some of the questions were quite interesting. Apparently there are 72 ( I think ) bathrooms in Buckingham Palace, and over 1200 steps in the Eiffel Tower. I found myself playing along, and seriously trying to work out an estimate of how much the victorious New Zealand Rugby League team might have weighed in kilograms. So far so good, then. There is actually the germ of a nice little quiz in there, albeit a quiz about things you are highly unlikely to know the absolutely correct answer to. Although having said that one of the questions was how fast in mph the world's fastest recorded serve in tennis was - and that's gettable. As it was one of the teams had 150mph, which is only 5 mph out.
However, the bugbear is that this is still a game show. Actually its at least two different game shows, that you've probably seen before. Now I don't mean to imply that formats have been plagiarised , or copyrights infringed. As Churchill once said - "Oh no no no no. " ( That's the insurance dog, not Sir Winston ). But if you're like me you do get a feeling that you're watching something familiar, rather similar to things you've seen before. This is a quiz show, meets Family Fortunes, meets You Bet. I know that there's a sizeable number of people out there who do enjoy the All Star version of Family Fortunes, and who enjoyed the original, but I'm afraid I'm not one of them. This probably has to do with the fact that a certain type of question master seems to delight in using Family Fortunes questions as a randomizing factor in his or her quizzes. They'll ask -
"In a recent survey . . . "
and the quiz maniac within me, never that far from the surface, longs to shout out - Oh yes ? Carried out by whom ? Under what conditions ? When ? Where ? etc. etc. However, I digress.
As for the You Bet element, since its a Game show, and a Saturday night, we have to have Big Star Mystery Guests. And to be fair, the two guests were very big boys indeed. Ex Wigan and Great Britain Rugby League star Martin Offiah, and Britain's Strongest Man Glen Ross to be precise. With apologies to the two gentlemen involved, I have to say that I found the "How Many full milk bottles are enough to balance Martin Offiah on a seesaw ? " and "How many times in 45 seconds can Glen Ross dead lift a family hatchback car ? " to be the least interesting questions of the evening.
Yes, its a game show, and so its obligatory that We Have To Get To Know The Families. Now, don't get me wrong, the two families involved seemed very nice and pleasant people. But that's not what I tuned in for. Actually what I tuned in for was to see if it was any good. So if you push me for an opinion, I'd say that it was alright. Nick Knowles, who made a decent enough fist of Who Dares Wins last year does a competent and inoffensive job with his trademark breezy and blokey style. To be honest, though, and this is no reflection on Mr. Knowles, I think he needs something a little more quizzy than this. Something as fun-and-gamey as this really cries out for an old fashioned comedian/presenter in the great tradition of the 60's, 70's and 80's. Bruce Forsythe may not be everybody's cup of tea - actually he may not be anybody's cup of tea nowadays - but I invite you to think back to his Generation Game heyday. Think what he might have done with the 'lets humiliate the person with the most ridiculous answer ' bit which followed each question. Nick Knowles is really a bit too nice on this bit. I know that this is Saturday evening family entertainment, but you can still be rude, or at least cheeky, with a smile on your face. Or put it another way, if you're not going to do it with conviction, then don't do it at all.
I'm carping. Its only the fact that a few questions are asked within the show that brings it within our remit at all in the first place. Its an undemanding, inoffensive if a little derivative, Saturday evening Game Show. Its not really my cup of tea, but then the whole family game show genre isn't really either, so who am I to judge ? I did like the fact that all the questions and answers came up on the screen, because it meant that I could watch most of the show on fast forward. For me it worked a lot better that way.
I've always thought that it makes sense for the BBC to build a quiz/game show around the National Lottery slot on a Saturday evening. After all, the possibility of winning cash you've never earned just by playing a game is surely the appeal of both. In their time the BBC have tried out a wide range of different formats in this particular slot. Some of them have been successful and relatively enjoyable. This is all subjective, but I liked The People Versus and Winning Lines. I know that In It To Win It and 1 versus 100 have their admirers too. My first TV appearence was actually in a Saturday night big money quiz - Come and Have A Go If You Think You're Smart Enough, with Nicky Campbell. Fact is that we weren't . However, I say this to prove a point, that I have no particular axe to grind against BBC Saturday evening offerings, and that I always try to judge each different show on its own merits.
Which brings me to Guesstimation. As a quiz this is very much towards the Game Show end of the quiz show spectrum. Basically the show involves two family teams competing against each other by making the most accurate predictions of the answers to a series of questions set by Nick Knowles. More about him later. The winners earn themselves a 'dream holiday to a mystery location'. Actually the location wasn't that much of a mystery. They did a little teaser to give a clue, and short of festooning the screen with kiwis and All-Blacks they couldn't have done a great deal more to give away the fact that New Zealand was the destination . Certainly it didn't require a huge amount of guesswork.
Actually to be fair some of the questions were quite interesting. Apparently there are 72 ( I think ) bathrooms in Buckingham Palace, and over 1200 steps in the Eiffel Tower. I found myself playing along, and seriously trying to work out an estimate of how much the victorious New Zealand Rugby League team might have weighed in kilograms. So far so good, then. There is actually the germ of a nice little quiz in there, albeit a quiz about things you are highly unlikely to know the absolutely correct answer to. Although having said that one of the questions was how fast in mph the world's fastest recorded serve in tennis was - and that's gettable. As it was one of the teams had 150mph, which is only 5 mph out.
However, the bugbear is that this is still a game show. Actually its at least two different game shows, that you've probably seen before. Now I don't mean to imply that formats have been plagiarised , or copyrights infringed. As Churchill once said - "Oh no no no no. " ( That's the insurance dog, not Sir Winston ). But if you're like me you do get a feeling that you're watching something familiar, rather similar to things you've seen before. This is a quiz show, meets Family Fortunes, meets You Bet. I know that there's a sizeable number of people out there who do enjoy the All Star version of Family Fortunes, and who enjoyed the original, but I'm afraid I'm not one of them. This probably has to do with the fact that a certain type of question master seems to delight in using Family Fortunes questions as a randomizing factor in his or her quizzes. They'll ask -
"In a recent survey . . . "
and the quiz maniac within me, never that far from the surface, longs to shout out - Oh yes ? Carried out by whom ? Under what conditions ? When ? Where ? etc. etc. However, I digress.
As for the You Bet element, since its a Game show, and a Saturday night, we have to have Big Star Mystery Guests. And to be fair, the two guests were very big boys indeed. Ex Wigan and Great Britain Rugby League star Martin Offiah, and Britain's Strongest Man Glen Ross to be precise. With apologies to the two gentlemen involved, I have to say that I found the "How Many full milk bottles are enough to balance Martin Offiah on a seesaw ? " and "How many times in 45 seconds can Glen Ross dead lift a family hatchback car ? " to be the least interesting questions of the evening.
Yes, its a game show, and so its obligatory that We Have To Get To Know The Families. Now, don't get me wrong, the two families involved seemed very nice and pleasant people. But that's not what I tuned in for. Actually what I tuned in for was to see if it was any good. So if you push me for an opinion, I'd say that it was alright. Nick Knowles, who made a decent enough fist of Who Dares Wins last year does a competent and inoffensive job with his trademark breezy and blokey style. To be honest, though, and this is no reflection on Mr. Knowles, I think he needs something a little more quizzy than this. Something as fun-and-gamey as this really cries out for an old fashioned comedian/presenter in the great tradition of the 60's, 70's and 80's. Bruce Forsythe may not be everybody's cup of tea - actually he may not be anybody's cup of tea nowadays - but I invite you to think back to his Generation Game heyday. Think what he might have done with the 'lets humiliate the person with the most ridiculous answer ' bit which followed each question. Nick Knowles is really a bit too nice on this bit. I know that this is Saturday evening family entertainment, but you can still be rude, or at least cheeky, with a smile on your face. Or put it another way, if you're not going to do it with conviction, then don't do it at all.
I'm carping. Its only the fact that a few questions are asked within the show that brings it within our remit at all in the first place. Its an undemanding, inoffensive if a little derivative, Saturday evening Game Show. Its not really my cup of tea, but then the whole family game show genre isn't really either, so who am I to judge ? I did like the fact that all the questions and answers came up on the screen, because it meant that I could watch most of the show on fast forward. For me it worked a lot better that way.
Sunday, 26 July 2009
Thanks for your support
Its almost a year to the day since I started this blog. Checking back I see that the very first entry is dated for Sunday 27th July 2008. Now, here we are 364 days and 182 posts later, this being the 183rd. So I thought it would be nice to post to mark LAM's first anniversary.
I do look back over the past year with a huge amount of surprise, and there's more than one reason which makes me say this. Firstly, I have never in my whole life ever managed to keep anything even remotely resembling a diary going for more than about 2 months. Secondly, and far more importantly, I always hoped that some people would find the blog and read it, but I can't say that I ever really expected anyone to do so. The fact that people have done so, and that have taken time and trouble to contact me through it, or to leave comments has surprised and, yes, I'm honest enough to admit it, delighted me. So thank you very much all of you, regulars and casual readers alike. Here's to the next 12 months.
I do look back over the past year with a huge amount of surprise, and there's more than one reason which makes me say this. Firstly, I have never in my whole life ever managed to keep anything even remotely resembling a diary going for more than about 2 months. Secondly, and far more importantly, I always hoped that some people would find the blog and read it, but I can't say that I ever really expected anyone to do so. The fact that people have done so, and that have taken time and trouble to contact me through it, or to leave comments has surprised and, yes, I'm honest enough to admit it, delighted me. So thank you very much all of you, regulars and casual readers alike. Here's to the next 12 months.
Answers to July Quiz
Answers
1) Two weeks ago who became the first woman since 1997 to win the Grand Final of Mastermind - and for a bonus point she also became the first champion from which country ?
Nancy Dickmann - USA
2) Which silent film actress was the original It girl ?
Clara BOW
3) On July 10th which famous traditional race was conducted on the River Thames in London ?
Doggett's COAT and Badge
4) Which substance has the chemical formula H2SO4 ?
Sulphuric ACID
5) What is the connection between your last three answers ?
All can be either preceded or followed by RAIN
6) The Letters DOC might be found on bottles of wine from which country?
Italy
7) Song lyrics - which famous song contains the lyric
You've really made the grade
And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear.
Space Oddity
8) Which word is used for an elephant driver ?
A Mahout
9) True or false - the Battles of Agincourt and Bosworth were both in the same century
True - 1415 Agincourt and 1485 Bosworth
10) Which line of latitude forms most of the boundary between the USA and Canada ?
49th Parallel
11) Farah Fawcett died in June. She had married her long term partner, Ryan O'Neill. Who was her previous husband ?
Lee Majors
12) Who was the first ever South African to win the British Open ?
BOBBY Locke
13) The Norman Mailer book "The Executioners Song" is about the execution of which notorious American killer ?
GARY Gilmore
14) Former opera singer Norman Lumsden achieved success playing which character in a long running series of adverts ?
J.R. Hartley
15) What is the connection between your last 3 answers ?
EWING BROTHERS in DALLAS
16) Which people were defeated by the Greeks of Athens in the Battle of Marathon ?
Persians
17) Oxford has been described as the city of dreaming what ?
Spires
18) What type of creature is a pipistrelle ?
Bat
19) Who was the founder of antiseptic surgery ?
Joseph Lister
20) Which dye or pigment was originally obtained from crushed beetles ?
Cochineal
21) Name the player whom Andy Murray defeated in Wimbledon's latest ever finish in the 3rd round of the 2009 championships
Stanislaus Wawrinka
22) Which dance is often believed to be Polish, even though its name actually comes from a 5 letter Czech word meaning little half ?
POLKA
23) The word ferret , meaning a domesticated polecat, can also be used to mean a type of which thread ?
COTTON
24) What was the name of the British tool company taken to court in the 90s over supplying arms and expertise to Iraq ?
MATRIX Churchill
25) Karl Malden, who died last week, was nominated for Best Supporting actor in 1954 for a role in which Elia Kazan film ?
ON THE Waterfront
26) What is the connection between your last 4 answers ?
DOT
27) Which old cartoon character was always foiled by Vince and Musky ?
Deputy Dawg
28) The Tour de France started last weekend. Who won the race in 2008 ?
Carlos Sastre
29) Which element of the periodic table is represented by the letter K ?
Potassium
30) What is the capital city of Mozambique ?
Maputo
41) Which date last week saw the 40th Anniversary of Swansea being made a city ?
3rd July
42) Which two time Oscar winning actress was born Shirley Schrift ? Her final Oscar nomination was for The Poseidon Adventure .
Shelley WINTERS
43) In or on which building would you find the Bell Harry Tower ?
CANTERBURY Cathedral
44) Which aircraft company built the RAF Swordfish torpedo bombers which helped to sink the Bismarck in World war 2 ?
FAIREY
45) What is the connection between your last three answers ?
TALES
46) The Danish word for King is Kong. So when King Kong was released in Denmark was it called
a) King Kong - b) Kong Kong or c) Kong King ?
King Kong
47) Who was the dictator of Portugal, who died in 1970 ?
Salazar
48) Which work of Literature begins with a collection of travellers gathering at the Tabard Inn in Southwark ?
The Canterbury Tales
49) Which term is usually applied to the marine mammals the manatees and dugongs ?
Sea Cows
50) Who was the last person to win the Wimbledon ladies singles other than the Williams sisters ?
Amelie Mauresmo
1) Two weeks ago who became the first woman since 1997 to win the Grand Final of Mastermind - and for a bonus point she also became the first champion from which country ?
Nancy Dickmann - USA
2) Which silent film actress was the original It girl ?
Clara BOW
3) On July 10th which famous traditional race was conducted on the River Thames in London ?
Doggett's COAT and Badge
4) Which substance has the chemical formula H2SO4 ?
Sulphuric ACID
5) What is the connection between your last three answers ?
All can be either preceded or followed by RAIN
6) The Letters DOC might be found on bottles of wine from which country?
Italy
7) Song lyrics - which famous song contains the lyric
You've really made the grade
And the papers want to know whose shirts you wear.
Space Oddity
8) Which word is used for an elephant driver ?
A Mahout
9) True or false - the Battles of Agincourt and Bosworth were both in the same century
True - 1415 Agincourt and 1485 Bosworth
10) Which line of latitude forms most of the boundary between the USA and Canada ?
49th Parallel
11) Farah Fawcett died in June. She had married her long term partner, Ryan O'Neill. Who was her previous husband ?
Lee Majors
12) Who was the first ever South African to win the British Open ?
BOBBY Locke
13) The Norman Mailer book "The Executioners Song" is about the execution of which notorious American killer ?
GARY Gilmore
14) Former opera singer Norman Lumsden achieved success playing which character in a long running series of adverts ?
J.R. Hartley
15) What is the connection between your last 3 answers ?
EWING BROTHERS in DALLAS
16) Which people were defeated by the Greeks of Athens in the Battle of Marathon ?
Persians
17) Oxford has been described as the city of dreaming what ?
Spires
18) What type of creature is a pipistrelle ?
Bat
19) Who was the founder of antiseptic surgery ?
Joseph Lister
20) Which dye or pigment was originally obtained from crushed beetles ?
Cochineal
21) Name the player whom Andy Murray defeated in Wimbledon's latest ever finish in the 3rd round of the 2009 championships
Stanislaus Wawrinka
22) Which dance is often believed to be Polish, even though its name actually comes from a 5 letter Czech word meaning little half ?
POLKA
23) The word ferret , meaning a domesticated polecat, can also be used to mean a type of which thread ?
COTTON
24) What was the name of the British tool company taken to court in the 90s over supplying arms and expertise to Iraq ?
MATRIX Churchill
25) Karl Malden, who died last week, was nominated for Best Supporting actor in 1954 for a role in which Elia Kazan film ?
ON THE Waterfront
26) What is the connection between your last 4 answers ?
DOT
27) Which old cartoon character was always foiled by Vince and Musky ?
Deputy Dawg
28) The Tour de France started last weekend. Who won the race in 2008 ?
Carlos Sastre
29) Which element of the periodic table is represented by the letter K ?
Potassium
30) What is the capital city of Mozambique ?
Maputo
41) Which date last week saw the 40th Anniversary of Swansea being made a city ?
3rd July
42) Which two time Oscar winning actress was born Shirley Schrift ? Her final Oscar nomination was for The Poseidon Adventure .
Shelley WINTERS
43) In or on which building would you find the Bell Harry Tower ?
CANTERBURY Cathedral
44) Which aircraft company built the RAF Swordfish torpedo bombers which helped to sink the Bismarck in World war 2 ?
FAIREY
45) What is the connection between your last three answers ?
TALES
46) The Danish word for King is Kong. So when King Kong was released in Denmark was it called
a) King Kong - b) Kong Kong or c) Kong King ?
King Kong
47) Who was the dictator of Portugal, who died in 1970 ?
Salazar
48) Which work of Literature begins with a collection of travellers gathering at the Tabard Inn in Southwark ?
The Canterbury Tales
49) Which term is usually applied to the marine mammals the manatees and dugongs ?
Sea Cows
50) Who was the last person to win the Wimbledon ladies singles other than the Williams sisters ?
Amelie Mauresmo
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