So David B wrote this in a comment recently and I said I’d give it more prominence after Schlag den Raab:
Apropos of nothing, I’ve been asked to put together a list of the top 10 most important game show moments in UK TV history. So may I canvas opinions here as to some suggestions? As well as the usual notable firsts or big wins, it would be good if the choices reflected important moments in TV watching habits, the TV market, or society itself.
If you haven’t got a full top 10, partial list are also very welcome.
Off you go then.
Judith Keppel wins Millionaire
I think the premiere of Millionaire is a prime candidate. Virtually every game show before it would pit multiple contestants against each other for small to moderate stakes. Millionaire basically launched an entire sub-genre of single-player games played “against the house” (for lack of a better metaphor) for massive prizes.
A couple other (somewhat weaker) ideas:
+ The first time a contestant was offered a negative amount on The Chase. The general response around the ‘net appeared to be “you’d have to be a complete coward to take that”, but then some people took another look. Upon deeper inspection, it may not be the worst idea, even for the team as a whole. The key here is that if the team loses the Final Chase, the size of the pot is rendered moot anyway. Thus that additional team member and the extra step head start could prove much more valuable than the pot reduction and dilution of each player’s share, depending on the situation. For example, would you rather have a smaller chance to win 16 grand and split it 2 ways, or a bigger chance to win 15 grand and split it 3 ways? There’s a case to be made for each, especially depending on what you think the chances are in each case, so it never fails to generate some buzz and debate online when someone actually plays for a negative amount. Even Paul Sinha’s chimed in on it (http://sinhaha.wordpress.com/2014/02/12/the-lower-offer/), although that was more in response to some of the crazier people on the “what a coward” side.
+ This may be just my imagination, but I could swear there’s been a resurgence in physical stunt game shows since The Cube premiered. But alas, none of the others have been particularly brilliant, at least not enough for me to remember them. Millionaire at least had some great shows which followed in its footsteps, The Cube included.
+ Possibly Red or Black and The Bank Job for being massively overhyped letdowns. Again, I may just be imagining things, but it seems to me that people have gotten a bit more cautious about shows promising way more than they can deliver.
Would Scavengers be the ur-example for massively hyped (or at least, massively overbudgeted) letdowns? Trying to think of another massive-profile flop.
Overhyped and couldn’t possibly live up to their billing? The People Versus 1.0. Boys and Girls. Red or Black?. Shafted.
For my money, the failure of The People Versus, and its reincarnation as a daytime winner, is worth considering as an important game show moment.
When the million pounds on PokerFace was won by the girl who refused to fold despite being under massive pressure to do so from a guy who scored less than her.
The lifting of the £2,000 prize limit?
It’s a bit of an obvious choice (and having things from a show thrice in a top 10 is a bit much, surely), but Charles Ingram.
I think this is an important moment as it even changed the way Millionaire is produced in Germany (and probably in every othe country as well)!
Going off topic but it’s a shame the negative amounts is now a daily thing on The Chase – would be much more effective if only used occassionally.
I agree with Silent Hunter about the lifting of the £20,000 prize limit, and also Deal or No Deal arriving on daytime TV with a £250,000 jackpot. Before that most daytime shows were capped at around £3000 (or £10k in the Weakest Link’s case).
Ratings for SdR last night – overall was 3.19m (12.7% share), and in the 14-49 demo was 2.00m (20.8% share). Again, good ratings, it managed to beat DSDS (German Idol) in share in 14-49. I know many think share isn’t important, but to German broadcasters it is. Interestingly, this is the first time 3 shows in a row have reached over 3m viewers since Steven Gatjen took over as host.
Not a gameshow moment, but just to point out a few things about last night’s SdR. (BTW, brilliant commentary as per);
– Steven mentioned at the start of the show that they were going to go into the games much quicker than before. There were no shots at all of Steven walking down the stairs, he was simply stood at the main position and introduced Raab. They did have a mega 9-mins long break after game two though (bit much!).
– Brainpool (the people who make SdR, among many other things on Prosieben), have been using ‘timed voting windows’ for a while now. Most recently, they used it on their flop of a show Millionaerswahl. They gave viewers 90 secs to vote.
– There was an article online (I can’t remember where) that showed, the longer SdR goes on, the higher the ratings are. It is amazingly stable between midnight and whenever it ends (at least for last Christmas’ episode).
The changes at the start were ok. Credit that they tried to speed it up, but I prefer when the host walks down the stairs with the money, it makes the money cases look pointless otherwise. The speedy result of the vote was a bit stupid. I know that too much tension can grate, but it wasn’t that much. The games were good, the music ok, but still something is missing.
We were discussing this last night, it was a bit unsettling not being privy to the changes but I thought the faster start was basically a good idea. We noted the longer shows usually did alright too, it was a bit surprising they didn’t put a few longer games in just to ensure it finished a bit later really.
Once Stefan is winning 5, 6, 7 games in a row, the oxygen is going to go out of the room no matter how good the games are. There has to be a fight.
I’m getting a bit fed up of BoK popping up as the matchball game, as it kills off 80-90% of matches. Though in this case, maybe it was fair he was put out of his misery.
BoK is also an almost ‘stuck-on’ win for Raab. I thought the games were around the right length, although if they’d had a third music act (as well as Stromberg), then they would’ve finished after 1.00am German time. Next one is on 29th March.
Interesting, I think we all remember the ones that go on really late because there’s usually something exciting about it, but Wiki suggests it goes past 1am CET only about one in three: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schlag_den_Raab
I’ll try to think of more when I have more free time, but two that immediately come to mind are:
– Take Your Pick being the first UK Game Show to offer cash prizes;
– Strike action at the BBC(?) which resulted in everyone tuning into ITV. This led to the claim that Sale of The Century became the highest-rated game show in UK TV history, although lately this has fallen into dispute.
Millionaire and DoND raising the prize money bar in primetime and daytime, without question.
Slated as it rightly was, The National Lottery Big Ticket needs a mention for the first £100k win on British television.
As far as symbolic moments society-wise go, The Price Is Right going to Sky (and adding product placement) waaay back in the early days of Sky around 1990? Althoughthat turned out to be almost a false dawn in one way.
Beyond the above, three specific events:
1) Jeff Salmon on Four Rooms, rolling his dice. I think it was Jeff who wasn’t able to buy a Banksy for over £200,000.
2) Big Brother: the Vote Nikki Back In event in late 2005 showed how the producers treated viewers, fleece ’em on the way out and fleece ’em on the way in as well.
3) The Jade-and-Shilpa mess in early 2007 raised OFCOM’s profile as a regulator and showed there was public demand for an interventionist regulator. Had OFCOM remained a low-profile organisation, it might well have been abolished or lost many of its competences by now.
Three more general events:
A) Treasure Hunt literally broke down the studio walls and made it possible for players to have a representative somewhere else. Technology eventually allowed for the live pictures on Wanted, though not yet a massively multi-player online game show. Was Jailbreak as close as we’ll ever get?
B) Eggheads never quite lived up to its public-versus-quiz-gods billing, picking teams for television presence slanted the table too much. It paved the way for the much straighter The Chase.
C) Bob Says Opportunity Knocks proved that an 0898 vote could work: it wouldn’t crash the phone network, it wouldn’t give a ludicrous result.
Was Millionaire the first game show as Event Television, paving the way for the modern finals of various talent shows?
I think you’d have to say the advent of Big Brother for when the lines got blurred between gameshows and reality, and the impact that the changing perceptions of what a contestant ‘is’ and what is expected of a contestant. The Nasty Nick moment is a huge moment in gameshow history.
Mo Farah beating The Cube, definitely.
Depending on whether you count Big Brother as a reality show, there are PLENTY of Big Moments there to choose from. Nasty Nick. Fight Night. Nadia winning. Aisleyne literally being psychologically traumatised by the House Next Door twist and the show papering over it. Nikki being voted back in. Shilpa and Jade. And so on.
Interesting exercise
I’ve chosen some moments and/or shows that represent what I see as identifiers of various paradigms of game shows that almost transcend their own show and shape others and other formats:
– Fight Night on Big Brother – the peak of the genuine water cooler moment if reality TV.
– Will Young beating Gareth Gates in Pop Idol and/or The Live chart show reveal at the end of Pop Stars the Rivals
– Paul Merton taking off his jumper during Angus Deyton’s infamous HIGNFY
– I’d definitely choose something for DoND as it launched the start of the luck-based game era with, eg In the Grid. Potentially Jennifer’s first big win or Morris gambling for the big prize
– Something from blankety blank (withy Lily Savage) or I’m sorry I haven’t a clue to represent resentment at the more structured formats
– A 5-point moment from Only Connect to represent the genuine love of knowledge some game shows have – probably the plane manoeuvres one that represent deep found individual respect by Victoria and the gents team members
– One of Anne’s scathing put downs from early Weakest Libnk to represent the move away from nicey-nicey
– Revealing of the a Statics from the first The National Quiz to represent greater interactivity with audiences (could also use something from the Golden Shot or Subzero here but I know those shows less well)
– Wwtbam for the start of big money shows – or maybe Chris Evans spoof as a parody of it
– May be cheating but I’ll plop for Numberwang as my last one – as it represents the genre as a whole and outside appearances of it, and what needs to be parodied (eg arcane rules)
Hmmm.. Strokes chin and sucks on a pen top for a moment.
A few shreds of brain matter on this one (and I’ll quantify why it should at least be considered)
1) Anne Robinsons put downs on The Weakest Link.
It was the first time that the host, which is normally the go-between for the (at times baffling) world of telly making and the contestants, sided with the telly makers.
No hint of warmth or compasion towards the players, or indeed to the audience at home (bar the tradmark wink at the end) made this show watchable for the undercurrent of verbal slapstick menace on what would otherwise have been a rather bog standard darkly lit studio based quizzer.
The Mole UK
Brillant programme but trapped on the wrong channel.
For the first time a show where those watching at home were equally in the dark as the contestants playing it.
Plenty of clues in the edit leant to taping the show and rewatching looking for anything obvious, heaps of false trips and mis-direction and just when you thought you knew bang on 100% who it was – they were eliminated at the end of that particular episode.
But, in a masterstroke, the final show of the series showed you all the clues to the mole, and showing how hard the production team were frantically working during the recording. Made you appreciate the show even more.
The first show on the BBC to give away prize money as the main and only prize in the show (sorry no name – but someone will be able to know)
No more would the BBC look silly compared to commercial television giving away money by the trouserfull, by asking the hosts to sound really excited about winning prizes from John Lewis, Argos and Thomas Cook holidays.
Finally – Don’t Scare The Hare. (don’t giggle)
The perfect example of a show that on paper and in the pitch appeared alright, plus trying too hard find the same bolt of TV lightning that hit and energised Total Wipeout.
A Physical gameshow played by adults with a comicbook look and feel about it for the kids. Then, it goes into the studio and edit, and watch it fast unravel and BBC One audience nosedive for that slot. At no point did anyone from BBC One say “Sorry, this isn’t good enough” before it was transmitted?
It was too childish for children, let alone adults and thus found itself wandering around the early afternoon schedules all embarrased and trying to keep out of everyones way (and off the production teams cv’s to boot)
There’s four to think about.
Thanks everyone for their contributions, which were very useful. When I can talk about what this is for, I will let you know.