There are shows we like and there are shows that are popular. Hopefully these things coincide. Sometimes they do not, but I like to think I understand why they are what they are. It’s really not all down to the formats, you can change something a bit dull on paper to something that comes alive on the the screen.
This week we’re going to celebrate new shows with apparently simple formats which may or may not have some spark to them (usually not), beginning with TV3’s Crossfire, currently going out on Monday and Friday nights, and which was ungeoblocked on Friday but now apparently you will need to use the dark arts to watch. In it, popular TV and radio personality Sean Moncrieff (Don’t Feed the Gondolas) hosts a quiz with lots of easy questions which looks like there might be some strategy but actually the correct strategy is laughably simple – pick on whoever is doing the worst. There’s not much banter (although Moncrieff tries to keep it light), it has a dark set with with neat lights on the podiums.
Round one – you’re asked a multiple choice question. If you get it right you can attack another player or go for a second question. If you get this second question right you’re forced to attack someone for two points. Everybody has 10 lives, whoever runs out of lives first is eliminated (for some reason they count up from zero and not down from ten but there we are). If you’re attacked you can’t attack the same person back immediately so basically three people continue to attack each other until someone gets unlucky, because once you start attacking someone there’s no point splitting your venom.
Round two – lives are reset and now everybody answers very easy questions on the buzzer. Getting a question right knocks a life off of someone, so when someone starts going the other two pick on them. And that’s it.
Round three – Lives are reset and you can continue taking questions until you decide to push your luck no further and attack with the built pot or you get it wrong, in which case your opponent can opt to steal the pot if they think they know the answer, or opt to reset but take control if they don’t. The winner gets €200 for every life left and gets to come back next time.
It’s basically quite boring and has really easy questions. But if you like boring shows with easy questions, it gets through 50-60 in the time which isn’t awful.
Watching The Lie which started on STV this evening, but in Irish:
http://www.tv3.ie/player/show/570/77757/1/
It’s not awful actually, expect a write-up midweek.
Oh, there’s carryover champions? OK, that explains a lot. Although due to the nature of the game it means that all that will really happen is you’ll be targeted and therefore in the loop in Round 1, which you have a 75% chance of being in anyway. Hmm.
Your Monday ratings round-up:
Pointless 3.22m (24%)
University Challenge 3.17m (14%)
The Chase 3.04m (24%)
Tipping Point 1.98m (22%)
Perfection 1.01m (17%)
Revenge of the Egghead 0.84m (5%)
Come Dine With Me 0. 83m (7%)
Four in a Bed 0.62m (6%)
Deal or No Deal 0.54m (7%)
The Voice: Louder on Two 0.48m (3%)
Countdown 0.32m (5%)
Thanks Paul.
Deal or No Deal down to half a million. Gosh.
Nice to see The Chase high again, though I gather it’s off soon for Paul O’Grady.
Well, Box 23 is clearly working wonders. Have we heard anything in the way of DOND being recommissioned post-2014?
Poor Countdown. Nick is becoming quite watchable for me now, at last – sad to see it so low, I think it deserves better.
What I liked about The Lie was it was a simple format and got the job done and dusted within 25 minutes (minus advert break).
I disliked the weird yellow lights on the set that made it look as if my laptop had graphics card driver corruption!
I’m going to watch the STV one tonight hopefully, I hope they’ve kept the Daft Punk-esque soundtrack.
Some of the music was very similar to Millionaire:Hotseat.
In fact The Lie 16 years on from Millionaire, The Lie still has so much Millionaire in it. The lifeline, the music, the podiums, the set layout. It makes me a little sad the Millionaire itself is not currently on air.
As for DOND, worth trying in the 5pm slot when POG replaces The Chase for a few weeks?