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Some very low scores so far. 93 and 81 only? Ouch. I wonder what the lowest qualifying score will be?

What's happened? Have they brought it back?

GuyBarry wrote:What's happened? Have they brought it back?

Yep. Weekdays at 4:30pm on Channel 4. Presented by Sandi Toksvig.

I watched a few minutes yesterday and I wasn't too impressed. What I liked about the original version was that there was no messing about - the contestants were introduced, William G. Stewart came on and said a few words and then it was straight on with the quiz. No chatting to the contestants in between questions, he just got on with it. The new version is too slow for my liking. After the first fifteen questions they went straight to a commercial break! (I gave up after that.)

Also, what's this business with contestants coming back the next day? I didn't understand that. The only contestants allowed to return in the original version were winners from the previous series.

Yes, quiz shows these days are all about trying to make us engage with the contestants, who we don't really give a shit about (well, I don't anyway). I also notice that the questions appear to be much easier than they were in WGS's day, as with all modern quiz shows. And yes, I did used to watch the show regularly back in the day.

tubeguru wrote:Yes, quiz shows these days are all about trying to make us engage with the contestants, who we don't really give a shit about (well, I don't anyway). I also notice that the questions appear to be much easier than they were in WGS's day, as with all modern quiz shows. And yes, I did used to watch the show regularly back in the day.

Even though I was very young, I also used to watch it back in the day. To be honest, I really can't see where the extra half hour comes from - there doesn't seem to be unnecessary filler. If you take the William G Stewart version at one end of the spectrum and the disastrous celebrity backdoor pilot last year at the other, this is somewhere in the middle.

I think that Channel 4 have become more strict on the length of each part - changing the format of Countdown as an example so the parts would be 9 mins, 13 mins, and 14 mins off the top of my head. Hence they've forced the ad breaks in specific places so there's no variation as there was in the Stewart era - round two could sometimes be three questions long or it could take forever.

Overall, I quite like it - although this new version does seem to remind me of the Weakest Link somewhat - but it's better than nothing.

hopeful traveller wrote: Hence they've forced the ad breaks in specific places so there's no variation as there was in the Stewart era - round two could sometimes be three questions long or it could take forever.

How does it work in the new version then? The original version was:

Round 1: 30 questions (two questions to each of the 15 contestants)
Round 2: variable (it carried on until there were only three contestants left)
Commercial break
Round 3: 40 questions maximum (it carried on until all three contestants had lost their three lives, or until all the questions had run out)

GuyBarry wrote:

hopeful traveller wrote: Hence they've forced the ad breaks in specific places so there's no variation as there was in the Stewart era - round two could sometimes be three questions long or it could take forever.

How does it work in the new version then? The original version was:

Round 1: 30 questions (two questions to each of the 15 contestants)
Round 2: variable (it carried on until there were only three contestants left)
Commercial break
Round 3: 40 questions maximum (it carried on until all three contestants had lost their three lives, or until all the questions had run out)

The same, but with an extra break between rounds one and two (I think). Plus, the questions are asked much more slowly. There was more urgency about the whole thing back in WGS's day.

Update - they have the first ad break half-way through the first round.

That's my point, so Channel 4 can guarantee that the first part of the programme will be a certain number of questions - 15 - and therefore a certain number of minutes. Part three - round two - is the only 'variable' bit. I suppose by fleshing it out to an hour they can ensure that Sandi pads where necessary to hit the timing targets.

It lasts an *hour* now? Bloody hell. I haven't watched an entire programme yet but if they've doubled the length of the programme while keeping the same format there must be an awful lot of waffle. Not sure if I'm too keen on the idea.

I downloaded the application form when I first heard about the remake, and threw it straight in the bin when I saw that the first question/instruction was to 'attach a photo of yourself which illustrates your personality'.

When I were t'lad, quiz shows were about knowing things, not being 'quirky'...

They're certainly not selecting contestants on the basis of their general knowledge. The first question of the small section I did watch began something like "Which author who died in 1616...?" The answer offered was "Wordsworth".

I had a friend who appeared on a lot of 12 Yard shows and they were more obsessed with your ability to squeal excitedly etc. than they were with your quizzing ability.

GuyBarry wrote:They're certainly not selecting contestants on the basis of their general knowledge. The first question of the small section I did watch began something like "Which author who died in 1616...?" The answer offered was "Wordsworth".

I'd hardly call that general knowledge, I wouldn't have said Wordsworth and I'd guess Shakespeare, but I don't know.