[HPFGU-OTChatter] The Weakest Link and other game/reality shows...

[Neil Ward]

Scott wrote:

<<Has anyone seen the new show The Weakest Link on NBC? I understand that
it's yet another British Import right? >>

Jen said:

> I watched it on Monday (nothing else on, after all), and I really liked
> it -- they had to answer questions *fast*.  My biggest problem with
> "Millionaire" is how incredibly slow it is; I can't watch it because the
> pace is so boring.   And I really liked the host -- attractive (in that
> Judi Dench sort of way), with a British accent (all the Brits on the
> list can go ahead and laugh at Americans now *g*), and bitingly
> sarcastic.  Instant crush, on my part.

The host - Anne Robinson - is the same host as we have in the UK.
Apparently, the producers of the programme were unable to find an American
host who could be quite so cutting as Anne (scoff: that's what the UK
tabloids said), but I guess it had more to do with the British accent and
floor-length leather outfits than her hosting talents.  She was paid
something ridiculous to do one series of shows.  They also spent a bundle on
a completely new wardrobe of all-black clothing for her.  Prior to this show
Ms Robinson had hosted a viewer's comments show and then a consumer watchdog
programme, and she's always had a reputation for being cool and sarcastic,
with that little twisty smirk she has.

The show was quite lame when it first started up - it was shown in the
afternoons, which says it all.  After a while it started to get some press
because Anne Robinson was so rude to the contestants (she was asked to do
that, of course), so they tried it out in the evenings.  That's when things
started to hot up.  At first the contestants had been quite pleasant, and
when they got voted off ("The Walk of Shame" - when they talk to camera),
they would say things like, "I'm disappointed I didn't get further".  As
time went on, the worm turned, and increasingly the contestants were saying
things like, "I think George should be the next to go, because he's old and
stupid" or "I hope Janice doesn't win, because she's a bitch and she voted
me off").  They're also more rude during the game itself, and Anne Robinson
has also got more withering (no doubt, all of this at the request of the
show's producers).

In the US, they *only* picked people who could be ruthless and nasty, and
they increased the prize money from about 10,000 to $1,000,000.

The show's catchphrase - "You are the weakest link, goodbye" - has captured
the nation's imagination.  It's even been used in the Houses of Parliament
(I think by William Hague, leader of the Opposition).  Anne Robinson is a
megastar now, but probably needs an armed guard to walk to the shops.

Anyway, that's too much information, as usual.

Neil

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