Syndi Weakest Link
Bob
I do. I can't stand the NBC version, but find George Gray (I think I have
his name right) to be a very good host. His demeanor seems so much less
robotic than Anne Robinson's, and he does a good job of interviewing the
players and finding any nugget of their lives to make fun of. The money on
the show is, admittedly, not great, but should it really be all that easy to
make big money? I have a few suggestions for the game. Some of these might
be re-hashes of what people have said before, but so be it.
1. Now that the show has been on for a bit, do we really need to have the
same script for giving the rules on every show? I think people understand
how the game works now. If not, they will pick it up quickly enough. One
of my pet peeves is this line: "there are 6 of you, so the fastest way to
reach your target is to create a chain on 6 correct answers." Am I the only
who sees the lack of logic in that line? Maybe it's the math geek in me.
2. I'd like them to keep statistics on players throught the show and
display them on screen. For example, let me know that Joe is 8 of 10 on his
questions, and what he has banked. I recall once before someone suggesting
that, when the team is down to three, the overall strongest link should be
immune from being voted out. I like that idea.
3. Since the rounds are so short in the syndicated game, why can't the
players be allowed to answer before the question is finsihed being read? It
almost seems like the questions are written to take 15 seconds to read.
4. How about a celebrity edition, starring people who all lost on Judge
Judy? I'd love to see that......KIDDING!!!
Robert Hutchinson
> I was wondering if anyone else enjoys the syndicated weakest link as much as
> I do. I can't stand the NBC version, but find George Gray (I think I have
> his name right) to be a very good host. His demeanor seems so much less
> robotic than Anne Robinson's, and he does a good job of interviewing the
> players and finding any nugget of their lives to make fun of. The money on
> the show is, admittedly, not great, but should it really be all that easy to
> make big money? I have a few suggestions for the game. Some of these might
> be re-hashes of what people have said before, but so be it.
I agree with all your reasons. WL takes precedence for me over any other
game show on from 7-8 pm.
> 1. Now that the show has been on for a bit, do we really need to have the
> same script for giving the rules on every show? I think people understand
> how the game works now. If not, they will pick it up quickly enough. One
> of my pet peeves is this line: "there are 6 of you, so the fastest way to
> reach your target is to create a chain on 6 correct answers." Am I the only
> who sees the lack of logic in that line? Maybe it's the math geek in me.
More like the logic geek, since the former has absolutely no bearing on
the latter, yes.
> 2. I'd like them to keep statistics on players throught the show and
> display them on screen. For example, let me know that Joe is 8 of 10 on his
> questions, and what he has banked. I recall once before someone suggesting
> that, when the team is down to three, the overall strongest link should be
> immune from being voted out. I like that idea.
I wouldn't mind statistics, but I think they'd probably just be confusing
to most viewers. Your latter suggestion would amount to the strongest
link casting the deciding vote, not that that's necessarily a bad thing.
I wouldn't mind the strongest link getting immunity *every* round, as a
matter of fact.
> 3. Since the rounds are so short in the syndicated game, why can't the
> players be allowed to answer before the question is finsihed being read? It
> almost seems like the questions are written to take 15 seconds to read.
The players might be discouraged from doing so, but they are allowed to
answer as soon as they like. However, I've only seen it happen once so
far on the syndicated show (and it confused George).
--
Robert Hutchinson | "It is now the age of now."
| -- Anonymous NYU student
Card Shark
> I was wondering if anyone else enjoys the syndicated weakest link as much as
> I do. I can't stand the NBC version, but find George Gray (I think I have
> his name right) to be a very good host.
As much as I couldn't stand him on Extreme Gong, I must say he does a
damn fine job on Weakest Link. Amazing! Give a guy a real show to host
and look at the results!
Adam "Card Shark" Strom
(remove the x's from my e-mail address to respond via e-mail)
Spammers Be Damned!
Michael Walker
immune from being voted off. If you were on there, you'd probably want to
get rid of the strongest link sometimes.
As far as the rules go, yeah they should definately change the words often
to keep the show fresh. It gets boring hearing the same exact lines over and
over again. For example, when there is a tie, it's something like "When the
votes are tied, the strongest link has to cast the vote" every single time.
Instead they could just say "We have a tie, so the strongest link has a
decision to make."
Tim Connolly
> 1. Now that the show has been on for a bit, do we really need to have the
> same script for giving the rules on every show? I think people understand
> how the game works now. If not, they will pick it up quickly enough. One
> of my pet peeves is this line: "there are 6 of you, so the fastest way to
> reach your target is to create a chain on 6 correct answers." Am I the only
> who sees the lack of logic in that line? Maybe it's the math geek in me.
part.
> 2. I'd like them to keep statistics on players throught the show and
> display them on screen. For example, let me know that Joe is 8 of 10 on his
> questions, and what he has banked. I recall once before someone suggesting
> that, when the team is down to three, the overall strongest link should be
> immune from being voted out. I like that idea.
Then s/he'd just get voted out with four people left.
If they really wanted to get complicated, I'd do it this way: Every wrong
answer you get, you pick up a Strike. Strikes accumluate from round to round. At
the end of each round, players vote on which player they want to give a Strike
to. The one with the most Strikes gets sent off. This way, if someone is indeed
a noticeably stronger player than the others, it would take a lot more work by
the others to get rid of him/her.
> 3. Since the rounds are so short in the syndicated game, why can't the
> players be allowed to answer before the question is finsihed being read? It
> almost seems like the questions are written to take 15 seconds to read.
I think one of the show's objectives is to tie the players' hands as much as
possible. Don't let them know how much time is left, lest they bank before it
runs out; don't show them how much they've banked, lest they realize they're
getting shut out; don't let them interrupt you, lest they get it right and save
that much time for the next player. Besides, it detracts from the whole "the
host is the center of the universe" message of the show. I doubt Anne would
stand for such a thing.
> 4. How about a celebrity edition, starring people who all lost on Judge
> Judy? I'd love to see that......KIDDING!!!
"Today, on a special Weakest Link, these six players have all been dumped on
Jerry Springer..."
--
-Tim Connolly
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Robert Hutchinson
> I like it the way it is that not even the strongest link for a round is
> immune from being voted off. If you were on there, you'd probably want to
> get rid of the strongest link sometimes.
If I were on there, I'd be trying to *be* the strongest link as often as
possible. =P
Robert Hutchinson
> Bob wrote:
> > 3. Since the rounds are so short in the syndicated game, why can't the
> > players be allowed to answer before the question is finsihed being read? It
> > almost seems like the questions are written to take 15 seconds to read.
>
> I think one of the show's objectives is to tie the players' hands as much as
> possible. Don't let them know how much time is left, lest they bank before it
> runs out; don't show them how much they've banked, lest they realize they're
> getting shut out; don't let them interrupt you, lest they get it right and save
> that much time for the next player. Besides, it detracts from the whole "the
> host is the center of the universe" message of the show. I doubt Anne would
> stand for such a thing.
Again, it is perfectly legal to interrupt Anne (or George). And I was
under the impression that the contestants *can* see the clock, although
I'm not sure why.
Nick G
> under the impression that the contestants *can* see the clock, although
> I'm not sure why.
Brit show:
You can interrupt Anne, although they advise you don't in case there's
a twist to the question.
You can see the money tree and amount banked.
You can see the clock, although in the prime time episodes the clock
disappears at thirty seconds. You can hear the music though, unless
they need to retake in which case you can't.
Bye!
Nick
Michael Brandenburg
a.t.g.s. on 2-2-2002
«««As much as I couldn't stand him [George Gray] on Extreme Gong, I must say he
does a damn fine job on Weakest Link. Amazing! Give a guy a real show to host
and look at the results!
»»»
Another a.t.g.ser who seems to have overlooked George Gray's stint as host
of Junkyard Wars for eight episodes of that series that aired last year on the
TLC cable channel!
I have tapes of seven of them (I'm missing the regular season finale from
that year) and I got a big kick out of the humor he expressed on them. Perhaps
I'll post a few of those gems in response to those who are passing on his lines
from Weakest Link (such as "Who won't be right back after this message?") since
the syndie WL doesn't air in my area.
BTW, after the current season of Junkyard Wars ends on February 20th on TLC,
the show will go into _daily_ reruns on that channel for a while (8 PM and 11
PM Eastern time starting Monday, February 25th), so keep your eyes peeled for
"George of the Junkyard!"
Michael Brandenburg
(and his first appearance in this special rerun series will be at 9 PM
Eastern time on Wednesday, February 27th, as the second half of a special
Junkyard Wars double-run for that evening.)
Proud Uncle of Carole Ann Since 1/16/02, 10:31 AM (EST)
"Card Shark" <ads...@xhomex.com> wrote in message
news:3C5C751F...@xhomex.com...
> As much as I couldn't stand him on Extreme Gong, I must say he does a
> damn fine job on Weakest Link. Amazing! Give a guy a real show to host
> and look at the results!
Hear hear...as I said before, I think he's doing for WL what Ray Combs did
for FF...both have similar hosting styles to their predecessors, but w/their
own unique charm that really sets them apart.
Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")
Robert Hutchinson
> Card Shark wrote ...
> > As much as I couldn't stand him on Extreme Gong, I must say he does a
> > damn fine job on Weakest Link. Amazing! Give a guy a real show to host
> > and look at the results!
>
> Hear hear...as I said before, I think he's doing for WL what Ray Combs did
> for FF...both have similar hosting styles to their predecessors, but w/their
> own unique charm that really sets them apart.
Absolutely ... plus, George can do a lot of things that wouldn't really
fit Anne's persona.
"Just so I can hear it once this round: BAAAAAAAAAAANK!!!!" :)
Tim Connolly
> You can interrupt Anne, although they advise you don't in case there's
> a twist to the question.
>
> You can see the money tree and amount banked.
>
> You can see the clock, although in the prime time episodes the clock
> disappears at thirty seconds. You can hear the music though, unless
> they need to retake in which case you can't.
purpose was to be antithetic to most other game shows, which make things as easy
for the players as possible. Whoops.
Mark Jeffries
> to keep the show fresh. It gets boring hearing the same exact lines over and
> over again. For example, when there is a tie, it's something like "When the
> votes are tied, the strongest link has to cast the vote" every single time.
> Instead they could just say "We have a tie, so the strongest link has a
> decision to make."
They're taking the hosts' words on the rules right from the show's
bible. With Anne they'll probably leave them as is, but I assume that
George's lines will get shortened next season (if not for the double
runs, they'd do it sooner, but the shows probably air out of taping
sequence and people would wonder George said something some way on the
first run and another way on the second run).
baronworm
> Bob wrote:
> > 3. Since the rounds are so short in the syndicated game, why can't the
> > players be allowed to answer before the question is finsihed being read? It
> > almost seems like the questions are written to take 15 seconds to read.
> >
> I think one of the show's objectives is to tie the players' hands as much as
> possible. Don't let them know how much time is left, lest they bank before it
> runs out; don't show them how much they've banked, lest they realize they're
> getting shut out; don't let them interrupt you, lest they get it right and save
> that much time for the next player. Besides, it detracts from the whole "the
> host is the center of the universe" message of the show. I doubt Anne would
> stand for such a thing.
(having been through the process for the syndicated show...)
The studio includes large and prominent displays of the "money tree"
and the clock off camera on stage right and stage left. So it's
really NOT hard to keep track of time remaining and amount banked.
In preparation for taping, contestants are given a few "rules of
thumb" wrt timing.
(1) George takes ~10 seconds to read a question, so if you see the
clock is at 10 seconds or less and your turn it approaching, you might
want to think "bank" thoughts...
(2) While interrupting George is indeed allowed, there is typically no
advantage in doing so. Even if he's interrupted, the host will finish
the question before acknowledging the answer given. The exception to
this rule being if the question is in the midst of being RE-read. In
such a scenario, the interrupting answer is immediately acknowledged.
Robert Hutchinson
> (2) While interrupting George is indeed allowed, there is typically no
> advantage in doing so. Even if he's interrupted, the host will finish
> the question before acknowledging the answer given. The exception to
> this rule being if the question is in the midst of being RE-read. In
> such a scenario, the interrupting answer is immediately acknowledged.
Hmmm ... Anne didn't bother to finish the questions when she was cut off
in the Star Trek actors show. Still, rules can change.
--
Robert Hutchinson |
| "Butterflies are real asses."
| -- Conan O'Brien
|
Proud Uncle of Carole Ann Since 1/16/02, 10:31 AM (EST)
"Robert Hutchinson" <ser...@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:MPG.16d8d721f...@news.vol.com...
> Hmmm ... Anne didn't bother to finish the questions when she was cut off
> in the Star Trek actors show. Still, rules can change.
I think their unusually stellar (for a WL celeb show) performance might have
had something to do w/that.