The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: Stackertosh on July 07, 2020, 03:00:25 PM
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Weakest link is making a come back. It's unknown what network the show is airing on or whos hosting. A lot of the newer versions the hosts are much nicer i wonder if they will follow.
http://buzzerblog.com/2020/07/07/weakest-link-revival-now-casting/?fbclid=IwAR1wiUFPoXXvkXL_I2M46tAzRrvOBTxOPP7xZApfIl5GEb6kwZxsl9WXjzY (http://buzzerblog.com/2020/07/07/weakest-link-revival-now-casting/?fbclid=IwAR1wiUFPoXXvkXL_I2M46tAzRrvOBTxOPP7xZApfIl5GEb6kwZxsl9WXjzY)
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A lot of the newer versions the hosts are much nicer
Making the reason for the show's existence what, then?
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A lot of the newer versions the hosts are much nicer
Making the reason for the show's existence what, then?
"This is a format that allows us to keep everyone six feet apart"
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A lot of the newer versions the hosts are much nicer
Making the reason for the show's existence what, then?
"This is a format that allows us to keep everyone six feet apart"
"You ARE the Weakest Link, goodbye! No...please leave THAT way...."
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For ideal social distancing, I'd rather they get ejected by a giant arcade crane. The Walk of Shame music kicks in, and a big metal claw awkwardly enters the set while all the other contestants stare at the eliminated player.
-Jason
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Per an email conversation with them, they are preferring casting from the L.A. area for now. (4-5 hour drive at max)
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This is one show that would actually do well without an audience. It added to the drama here.
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More info- 13 eps ordered, it’s for NBC, and Jane Lynch is hosting...
https://t.co/BNmK0sh7ii
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More info- 13 eps ordered, it’s for NBC, and Jane Lynch is hosting...
https://t.co/BNmK0sh7ii
Jane Lynch is the perfect choice to host, IMO, if not Anne Robinson! ;)
The above article asks: "But how good is her British accent." Personally, she doesn't really need to use one, but I'm sure it's about the same as George Grey's! ;D
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I like the choice as well, and considering travel to and from the US is on hold right now, perhaps we get a prerecorded message from Anne? Jane has a dry, sarcastic style that fits perfectly here. Assuming Hollywood Game Night is not canceled, is Jane the first host(ess) to have two network games simultaneously?
This caught my eye too...
The U.S. version arrived in April 2001 and was an instant hit, debuting with NBC’s best time slot numbers in five years and averaging roughly 13 million viewers during its first season (which, back then, was only good enough to rank in the top 35 shows of the season). It returned for a second season but its ratings quickly faded, in part because of game show fatigue among American audiences.
I don't think it was game show fatigue as much as it was too many celebrity episodes. Millionaire had the same issue.
/13 million viewers gets you what, the Top 5 or 10 now?
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13.1 million viewers would make you #3 after Sunday night and Thursday Night Football.
The top non football series was NCIS with 11.7 million viewers.
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13.1 million viewers would make you #3 after Sunday night and Thursday Night Football.
The top non football series was NCIS with 11.7 million viewers.
Actually, that will place you at #4 ahead of FBI. NCIS drew 15 million plus this year and was #2 overall sandwiched between the prime time football tilts according to USA Today figures.
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Agreed, Jane's perfect!
I like the choice as well, and considering travel to and from the US is on hold right now, perhaps we get a prerecorded message from Anne? Jane has a dry, sarcastic style that fits perfectly here. Assuming Hollywood Game Night is not canceled, is Jane the first host(ess) to have two network games simultaneously?
I think Alex hosted TTTT and Classic Concentration concurrently, no?
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I think Alex hosted TTTT and Classic Concentration concurrently, no?
I always forget about this...pretty sure you're right!
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I think Alex hosted TTTT and Classic Concentration concurrently, no?
Correct, he took over TTTT in February 1991 and stayed until its end in May 1991, while doing CC the whole time.
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Give me a glass of wine and all the minutiae floods back into my mind.
John Daly did It's News to Me and WML at the same time in '51. And I'm sure Bud did something similar with TTTT and Number Please. Ok I'm done. Carry on ;D
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And, at least in my TV market at the time, CC and TTTT were aired back-to-back for at least a while.
Jane Lynch is a good choice for Link. Bringing back Anne after almost 20 years (already!?!?) For the sake of nostalgia is overkill. George Gray would still be a good pick, but he's gone on to bigger and better things.
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George Gray would still be a good pick, but he's gone on to bigger and better things.
And is recovering from a heart attack.
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Give me a glass of wine and all the minutiae floods back into my mind.
John Daly did It's News to Me and WML at the same time in '51. And I'm sure Bud did something similar with TTTT and Number Please. Ok I'm done. Carry on ;D
Prior to "Number Please", Bud certainly did it with TTTT & "Beat the Clock".
- Kevin
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Maybe this time around, when Jane says "You are the Weakest Link, goodbye," the floor can open up and the player drops out of sight. It worked for "Russian Roulette."
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Maybe this time around, when Jane says "You are the Weakest Link, goodbye," the floor can open up and the player drops out of sight. It worked for "Russian Roulette."
With "who's still standing?" and Ellen's "Know or Go" pretty much overdone already.
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New promo is out... looks like Jane nailed it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XVmVrbSZnks
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Maybe this time around, when Jane says "You are the Weakest Link, goodbye," the floor can open up and the player drops out of sight. It worked for "Russian Roulette."
Let's just bring back Russian Roulette then...
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Another Promo a bit longer.
Jane has always been my pick to host Weakest Link. The Set is interesting. I am not really a fan of the podiums.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RNOi47j0LFI&list=LLSXf3Wp006cQAhwZxgiv-hQ&index=1
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New promo is out... looks like Jane nailed it.
Knocked it out of the park, she did. I was never a huge fan of the original, but I'll watch this a couple times just to see her at work.
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New promo is out... looks like Jane nailed it.
Knocked it out of the park, she did. I was never a huge fan of the original, but I'll watch this a couple times just to see her at work.
Seconded. I am so looking forward to seeing this.
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George Gray would still be a good pick, but he's gone on to bigger and better things.
And is recovering from a heart attack.
And his persona has become unnaturally smiley and the complete opposite of a Weakest Link host.
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Interview with Jane she explains her hosting style
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7YdfGSKFai0
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So they've done 13 episodes. Other than Jane, the one other lady who I could see pull this off with her snarkiness is Ellen DeGeneres. But she has a full plate and her own issues to deal with at the moment.
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Weakest Link Round
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYMcYhhB3mU
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Considering I didn't expect any of the format's flaws to be fixed, this was about as decent a revival as anyone could hope for. One change I liked is that Jane now provides her post-round analysis/insults before the votes are revealed--it makes the flow of the game much better.
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Saw some criticism pre-premiere that the middle part of the one chain we saw in previews wasn't steep enough - there were two consecutive questions which increased the bank by the same amount - and I have to say that it didn't feel like anyone was even trying to push past them.
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It's a frustrating game that's essentially "Survivor: Trivia Edition" tooled to keep prize winnings low originally for BBC daytime television. NBC could've jacked up the lower tiers to improve the final jackpot, but then the temptation to not bank is diminished. As it is, it still takes two 7-of-8 chains to equal one perfect chain, which is fine for the outcomes the show wants.
I thought Jane was as good as Anne Robinson. Her character seemed more passive aggressive and less scripted than Anne's presentation. The refreshed theme music and cues are well done. The updated graphics are retro but upgraded with smoother animation and effects.
Pressing a button to bank while also shouting "bank" seemed like an unnecessary addition. The clock disappearing mid-round and then reappearing in the final 30 seconds or so indicates tons of overly dramatic post-editing. And I didn't care for the jittery Matrix-like camera effect when panning between the contestant podiums.
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If the contestants want big money then they should hold out for longer than a chain of two answers. Less forgivable were some of what i perceived to be brutal stopper questions.
In the main I liked it, but was not impressed by the final prize.
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I've been saying this since the new money chains came out: Do not make a million dollar game show if you have no intention of ever giving away anything close to a million dollars. These chains - probably worse than the original network version and the first season of the syndie version - combined with the elimination of the two-player banking round, likely mean we won't see a million dollars total awarded across the 13 episodes.
Oh, and you can't have your host mock the players' banked money in each and every round, then give it the fullscreen gold and sparkly treatment at game's end.
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The show is probably fine, but there's are two things I have disdain for.
First, If the conflict between a) voting off a weaker player so the bank can build up, and b) voting off a stronger player to improve an individual's chance of winning is one of the major sources of tension for your show, why do you choose to eliminate that conflict when it would be at its highest point? Not having another bank building round after the last round of voting implies a lack of understanding of how the game works.
Second, if you cannot be bothered to show the clock for the entire round, then you really need to stop with all the bleeping post-production,
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The clock disappearing mid-round and then reappearing in the final 30 seconds or so indicates tons of overly dramatic post-editing.
Especially when near the beginning of one of the rounds (I want to say the third?), they took a shot from the back of the set and you could see part of the in-studio timer near the top of the screen... and it already didn't match the onscreen timer.
And I didn't care for the jittery Matrix-like camera effect when panning between the contestant podiums.
The camera was moving too slowly (was it preprogrammed to stop at a specific point for each player so the booth didn't have to worry about getting perfect framing on the fly?), so they tried to speed things up in post. Not everything can be made perfect in post.
All in all, I appreciate that they were faithful to what the show was in the '00s (although I hate that there's no incentive not to vote out the strongest link during the final vote). The Weakest Link has never been my cup of tea, but this show did a good job of making sure that viewers who liked it before should like it again.
(Now, when will people learn that custom-shaped LED strips don't look good in reasonably tight shots because they get all pixelly? It happened on Nickelodeon's Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader? and it happened again here.)
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When preview clips of the premiere were posted last week, BuzzerBlog mentioned that post-production editing was "still ongoing." It showed in the end result -- felt like watching the first or second draft of a show than the actual final product.
Having the clock vanish for much of a round is baffling, especially when it's common for TV sporting events to show the time clock at all times during play.
Contestants were right out of Central Casting, but that's expected given this show and what they are looking for in contestants (personality over brains).
Lynch was an upgrade over Robinson -- seemed more comfortable with ad-libbing and interacting with the contestants, but she did sound robotic at times.
The "Matrix" camera was also off-putting, but I'll presume it has to do with running robotic cameras and trying to have as few people on stage as possible in our COVID world. The fake applause and laugh tracks were a bit silly, particularly when it was quite obvious the show did not have an in-studio audience. With so many technical glitches, you can tell the show was rushed to broadcast.
The off-screen announcer was good -- went more into detail about player performance than in previous incarnations of the show -- but I didn't catch the person's name in the credits. Any clue who that was.
Speaking of player performance, I would have liked to have seen the show present graphics going more into detail of a player's performance, similar to the sports world's focus on "metrics." How fast or slow are players answering their questions, how much they are banking, etc. Would have been a unique touch to at least experiment with.
JD
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Personally, I would have cut the game to six players and had an extensive deliberation before each voting round to let people make their case to the team. But that’s just me.
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Saw some criticism pre-premiere that the middle part of the one chain we saw in previews wasn't steep enough - there were two consecutive questions which increased the bank by the same amount - and I have to say that it didn't feel like anyone was even trying to push past them.
The first *five* links in the first round are $1,000 bumps. No reason at all to not bank after every single question, since nobody's going to paint a giant target on themselves by going for, and potentially blowing, a jackpot that is only 2.5% of the final total.
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Now that the episode is on NBC's website for me to rewatch, I see that the the onscreen timer and the in-studio timer in round three were only out of sync by a fraction of a second.
However, going by the times on NBC.com's media player, it looks like they did trim about two seconds out of round one and about one second out of round four.
The off-screen announcer was good -- went more into detail about player performance than in previous incarnations of the show -- but I didn't catch the person's name in the credits. Any clue who that was.
To my ear, it sounded like Jane Lynch on a different microphone.
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Do not make a million dollar game show if you have no intention of ever giving away anything close to a million dollars.
Try telling that to the producers of the syndicated version of WWTBAM.
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they could have cut back on some of the set to splurge on the prize budget- boy are those chains cheap (and IIRC, in the original US primetime version they got 8 in a row once?)
Here's some of the music in the clear, from composer Paul Farrer's YT:
https://youtu.be/pJtu4nBhkHo
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Do not make a million dollar game show if you have no intention of ever giving away anything close to a million dollars.
Try telling that to the producers of the syndicated version of WWTBAM.
That was an extremely fair criticism of the syndie version for nearly its entire duration, but at least it occasionally awarded a quarter-million or half-million. This will take some fantastic in-game runs to achieve an eighth of a million.
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The fake applause and laugh tracks were a bit silly, particularly when it was quite obvious the show did not have an in-studio audience...
Speaking of player performance, I would have liked to have seen the show present graphics going more into detail of a player's performance, similar to the sports world's focus on "metrics." How fast or slow are players answering their questions, how much they are banking, etc. Would have been a unique touch to at least experiment with.
lt's not that obvious, though. Wheel, Jeopardy and Strahan's Pyramid are staged with an audience there but out of view.
The metrics idea is cool. It'd explain things. I've always wondered how they draw conclusions when players answer only two or three questions apiece. "Banking the most money" depends on the players ahead of you and doesn't take into account whether or not you should have banked.
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I believe the order of operations for the original WL went: most right answers, fewest wrong answers, most money banked, highest cumulative dollar amount of correct answers. There were probably a few more layers to the tiebreaker there, but they get so granular at that point that you might as well flip a coin.
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After that, it was opponent's non-divisional strength of schedule.
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The show was pretty good. Jane did a good job hosting the show. She did came off a bit robotic sometimes. The question reading was slow but that's common with a new Weakest Link host. The New music is wonderful i thought Weakest Link needed fresh music for years.
I am not really a fan of the set. The set has way too many led screens all over the place. The set is way too large. I miss the lights going all over the place when the walk of shame happen.
I wasn't too keen on the contestants i felt like they came from GSN casting.
The canned audience was awkward.
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I believe the order of operations for the original WL went: most right answers, fewest wrong answers, most money banked, highest cumulative dollar amount of correct answers. There were probably a few more layers to the tiebreaker there, but they get so granular at that point that you might as well flip a coin.
1. Most right answers
2. Least number of wrong answers
3. Amount of money banked by the player
4. Amount of money "earned" by answering questions
5. Least amount of money lost by failing to bank
6. Full game performance using the previous 5 steps
7. RANDOM selection by the producers
In the disastrous second round, both Angel and Reanna were 2-0, both banked nothing, both earned $2,000 and both lost no money. They had to go to full game results where Angel was 4-0 after two rounds whereas Reanna was 3-1.
P.S. I did TWL stats 19 years ago...Wow.
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1. Most right answers
2. Least number of wrong answers
3. Amount of money banked by the player
4. Amount of money "earned" by answering questions
5. Least amount of money lost by failing to bank
6. Full game performance using the previous 5 steps
7. RANDOM selection by the producers
So the one time that a team had a perfect first round, Player 1 would have been the strongest link because he's the one who banked, making player 2 the weakest link by answering the lowest-value question among non-bankers. Did I get that right?
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1. Most right answers
2. Least number of wrong answers
3. Amount of money banked by the player
4. Amount of money "earned" by answering questions
5. Least amount of money lost by failing to bank
6. Full game performance using the previous 5 steps
7. RANDOM selection by the producers
So the one time that a team had a perfect first round, Player 1 would have been the strongest link because he's the one who banked, making player 2 the weakest link by answering the lowest-value question among non-bankers. Did I get that right?
Yep. In the first round of 8 players on the original show (2001), all players would be 1-0, Player 1 banked the money and Player 2 earned the least out of the rest.
With the current (2020) first round, since the first couple of questions are an extra $1,000 over the previous one, Players 2 through 5 would all be tied for Weakest Link because they are all 1-0 and earned $1,000 each. This would go to a random drawing because all the other criteria to break the tie is the same.
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I remember once on the George Gray version. Right off the bat everyone was right and the had the maximum amount. The first person did not bank. Fortunately she got her second question right. The next person banked the money. Even though she made a potentially horrible mistake she was called the strongest link because she had two questions right.
Of course everyone else voted her the weakest link.
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I might be remembering wrong, but I thought time was another Strongest Link factor. One time on the '00s version I thought the announcer said someone was the strongest link because he answered his all of his questions correctly in the least amount of time.
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The off-screen announcer was good -- went more into detail about player performance than in previous incarnations of the show -- but I didn't catch the person's name in the credits. Any clue who that was.
Seems to be Debra Wilson from MadTV fame. I had no idea, but my fiancée kept saying it sounded like her. I looked it up, and she was right.