Weekdays 5pm,
ITV1
Real life couple Eamonn Holmes and Ruth Langsford challenge couples to win their wedding lists and a lovely holiday in a show that sounds part Who Dares Wins and part Mr and Mrs.
Can’t say it sounds too thrilling, but we shall try and keep an open mind. Let us know what you think in the comments.
Shocking cheapo prizes on here. Why does it need 2 presenters (and two exorbitant wages, no doubt) to front this. The money should have been spent on the contestants. Sad, sad, sad.
The synopsis in the press pack didn’t explain it too well, so here goes.
After a brief introduction to the couples, round one is to answer a board of nine questions. For instance, what’s the last word in the abbreviations “NATO”, “RSPCA”, “IMF”, etc. One wrong answer ends the round, and whichever pair has the best score gets to “unwrap” one of the five presents on their gift list.
Repeat this round with different categories. Scores are represented by coloured bars beneath the desk, in style.
All of this is rendered somewhat redundant by round three, filling in the one missing entry from a list. For instance, “stripes on the Hungarian flag”. There’s a gift from the gift list for each correct answer. Two couples will get to five correct answers, the third will leave with nothing.
Those two couples progress to the next round, multiple-choice questions with three possible answers. There may be more than one correct answer, and the team must give the exact combination of right answer(s) to get the point. Get it wrong, they’ll have another go next time round until they get it right. Similar mechanism to the endgame, but don’t think I’ve seen the precise detail before.
Losing couple leave with nothing. Winners get to play for their five gifts, and for a luxury holiday. This round is actually redux: one of the players has five seconds to name as many things in a category as possible, the other is to name the category from the answers. Each category correctly named wins the associated prize.
It’s a daytime show: no audience, no atmosphere, no set budget – the player in the final round leaves the studio, they don’t get an isolation booth. Dragged a bit when the opening round was repeated, and the description of the prizes went on a bit.
There is a certain charm about the show, and it’s a very novel spin on the list quiz. I think it would really benefit from an audience, the monastic silence doesn’t suit this show.
Crap
Dull as dishwater. Not sure how 21st Question rated but if ITV have any sense this will be replaced by Chase repeats before the end of it’s run.
I’m a bit annoyed at people who insist the Chase should be on 365 days a year. You’ve got to give new shows a run out so that you can find the next big hit. This probably isn’t it, but it’s a nice try that a lot of talented people have worked very hard on.
I think you’re going soft, I will STICK MY NECK OUT and suggest that this isn’t it. And if I saw a pilot first I’d have said exactly the same thing. It feels much more suited to an early afternoon slot opposite the BBC quiz offerings which are also a bit less rowdy, but saying that I had my finger poised over the fast forward button throughout which I never do with something like Perfection.
I don’t have any problems with the ideas behind the rounds, but I do have a problem with the fact there’s no oomph there.
I have been waiting a long time to hear you say something nice about Perfection. I’m putting this quote on my CV: “Regularly watched sans interruption by Brig Bother”
I have no real problem with Perfection, it’s just not a show I go out of my way for but I’ll happily watch it if I’m in and there’s no better alternative.
Updated quote: “I’ll happily watch it” -Brig Bother
I’m the first to agree shows benefit from being taken off air periodically rather than just airing all year round or being constantly repeated, so applaud ITV on this. Gift Wrapped though I guess justifies it being a two week pilot – not sure on ratings but I’d have thought The 21st Question should get a second run out of it, and that isn’t a bad return.
There’s nothing technically wrong with many of the ideas on show, but I was constantly in mind of the Pressure Pad pilot and its insistance on doing things far beyond their welcome. I can’t argue with 54 questions before the first break, but I didn’t need to see it go down the line twice.
It feels a bit lifeless. The graphics are quite nice though.
A bit ironic that 12 Yard, an ITV subsidiary of all things, cannot submit a stable format for their parents (bar Big Star, Little Star).
I like the head-to-head round, but this alone isn’t enough to save a makeshift game show.
Plus: the co-hosting was a bit off, I suspected Eamonn thought he was conducting a one-man show.
I liked this more than you. All the rounds had something different to offer, the graphics were nice and the hosting was as solid as you’d expect. The head to head was neat, even if the writing was a bit small.
Round 1/2 suffers from a lack of tension if one team does very well, and Round 3 is a bit of a Golden Snitch in comparison.
The prizes *are* a bit too low, or at least they could have a bit more fun with them. The show kind of sets out its stall as being a show where fabulous wedding gifts are won, but it fails in that regard. A Donut Maker?! They should have made it that you won every prize you unwrap and then the end game is only played for the holiday.
Interesting that each question in the end game was associated with a different prize. That effectively means you’re only interested in what happens on question 6. I thought the idea was going to be that you had to get all six right for the holiday.
The direction was a bit heavy, in that it required a lot of full screen shots of the graphics. With a bit of work; they could have got it slicker so that you only needed an OC-style strap while they were discussing the questions. It would have also allowed you more reaction shots.
Thought this was seriously dull.
The show felt like time had literally slowed down, it just lacked jeopardy, tension and energy.
Did they pilot this before the series?
Yes, it lacks jeopardy, but this is a far brainier show than it might have been. Your typical luvvy-duvvy couples quiz show in the 80s or 90s would have been acres of chat followed by 3 multiple choice questions – Mr and Mrs pace if you like – so let’s give them credit for a more inventive and question-packed show than it might have been.
Thought the idea of the show is good, however don’t feel as though the initial couple of rounds are fair. The first couple have a choice of all topics, 2nd couple have choice off all but one, which has been chosen by the first couple, 3rd couple have choice of all but 2 of the topics. This is fine, however in the second round, couple one have first choice again. This means that couple 3 have much less choice of topics. Couple 1 are always looking as though they have more options and choices and more chance of getting through to the final round.
Made an effort to watch this today. Mehh.
The show really comes alive for the final round though.
I do like the countdown timer shown on the floor of the set – but that’s recycled from Pressure Pad isn’t it?
The mechanic of the final round though, does feel like the abandoned result of brainstorming session in the development team office at 12 Yard with possible ways to improve Who Dares Wins.
You could add a bit of much needed jeopardy in the final round without hurting the gameplay too much, by re-allocating the prizes by the number of the answers given for each list catergory.
So high numbered responces go to win the lowest valued prize on the list – the 1 or 2 answers goes on the holiday.
And extra answer could be brought by the guesser by ‘selling back’ one of the lower valued prizes, that the one providing the list answers wanted during the main game, at the bottom of the gift list.
Or is that too harsh?
The gift ‘sell back’ for an extra answer would only be an option to win the holiday, I should have added.
On a second viewing, it’s a good show, not really what I’m expecting for 5 o’clock.
Maybe I’m seeing more potential in this format than the ITV commissioner. With a bit more glitz and glamour, a few tweaks (different prize structure, drop some of the first round for more chat), and an audience for Eamonn to bounce off, this could work in the 8pm Wednesday Heartwarming slot.
Agree there is potential – the game isn’t too bad (though the final round doesn’t work as well as it should, and round 2 is far too easy), but the production just lets it down. Makes it a rather dull watch.
A tweaked second series could be interesting, but on the whole I think this is one to be put in the reject bin.