c4countdown

Once upon a time 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire?' was awesome TV and literally millions tuned in. It then went a bit shit and needed a facelift so they made it just 12 questions. The infrequent shows they produced though were crap and had few questions in padded out my idle chatter from Chris and contestant. Their "new look" this time is a timer which speeds along the game alittle (up to the £50,000 mark - and then they earn an extra lifeline).

So far I'm liking it, the first contestant has just dropped back to £1000 due to being rushed ino a decision whereas before she could have sat there for another 5 minutes talking about shit, giggling and then eventually walking. So in that respect it is good. I would like to see the timer involved at the later stages though which would cause some serious gambles and impulsive decisions (as is the case on the pub quiz machine version which is timed throughout).

Thoughts?

Edit: Contains spoilers

Oh god this is looking horrible regards the Firenze question. The audience vote for the correct answer was the lowest. Credit to the contestant for pulling through this one.

And again £19,000 just lost because of the timer. If given time the contestant would have reasoned through his thoughts and come up with the right answer I think. Love it.

Yeah, it definitely works better. Would like to know why the fuck Mal didn't have a picture haha.

Matt Morrison wrote:Yeah, it definitely works better. Would like to know why the fuck Mal didn't have a picture haha.

Convicted sex offender.

I thought it was generally an improvement. Much more pacy and exciting. I'd just be worried about forgetting that I had lifelines due to the clock pressure.

Only criticism is that they seemed to be picking people with a 'story' but that's possibly true of many quiz shows these days.

But definitely better. Just need to work out how to get on it!!!

Matt Morrison wrote:Yeah, it definitely works better. Would like to know why the fuck Mal didn't have a picture haha.

I thought he looked a bit like Innis.

You have 15 seconds for questions 1-5, 30 seconds for questions 6-10 and 45 seconds for questions 11-15. The remaining time in questions 1-14 is banked for the final question. The time temporarily stops when using the lifeline, then restarted

Ryan Taylor wrote:So far I'm liking it, the first contestant has just dropped back to £1000 due to being rushed ino a decision whereas before she could have sat there for another 5 minutes talking about shit, giggling and then eventually walking.

I dunno if she would have walked - if your phone a friend says "it's not x" and then you do 50/50 and x is left, I'd've thought most people would risk it. (Obviously I am just making wild presumptions, though.)

It seems ok so far, although Chris Tarrant having to read out the options super-fast at the start of the timer is kinda funny/sloppy. Would it be so bad to give them an extra five seconds thinking time and only start the clock once Chris has finished reading the answers?

Edit: Also Tarrant's tie/shirt combo is awesomely 70s.

Michael Wallace wrote:

Ryan Taylor wrote:So far I'm liking it, the first contestant has just dropped back to £1000 due to being rushed ino a decision whereas before she could have sat there for another 5 minutes talking about shit, giggling and then eventually walking.

I dunno if she would have walked - if your phone a friend says "it's not x" and then you do 50/50 and x is left, I'd've thought most people would risk it. (Obviously I am just making wild presumptions, though.)

That is true and she was at a relatively low amount by WWTBAM standards. Although if it was me and this happened I would still be super cautious even if they had eliminated the option.

Michael Wallace wrote:It seems ok so far, although Chris Tarrant having to read out the options super-fast at the start of the timer is kinda funny/sloppy. Would it be so bad to give them an extra five seconds thinking time and only start the clock once Chris has finished reading the answers?

And yes this bit was quite funny reading all 4 answers in under a second! Looking forward towhen each answer is quite lengthy.

Bit disappointed that they have done away witth FFF though.

I enjoyed it. A good pace to keep up with, rather than having to wait for the show to catch up with everyone else. My plus points for attention to detail are the new screen in the background that shows the clock / phone-a-friends' faces / prize total, the music during the clock, and the new purple background for the question & answer grids (né black).

Dmitry Goretsky wrote:You have 15 seconds for questions 1-5, 30 seconds for questions 6-10 and 45 seconds for questions 11-15. The remaining time in questions 1-14 is banked for the final question. The time temporarily stops when using the lifeline, then restarted

P.S. The timer temporarily stops when using a lifeline, then restarted

I liked it so far, although I'll reserve total judgment for a few weeks. When a show makes such drastic changes they aren't usually as interesting as this.

Not watched it for years, precisely because it was too fucking slow, so maybe the next time I'm flicking through channels I'll give it a whirl.

IMO it's as slow as ever, if not more so. The time given to answer questions is speeded up, but dithering could have been edited out anyway and what time they do save with the gimmicky timer, is taken away with yet more idle chat, messages of support, photos, the obligatory phone-in comp, and the three commercial breaks.

Watched it for the first time tonight and saw Caroline Ambrose get up to £75k before guessing back down to £50k. I don't know if they've changed it since it first went out but it seemed fairly pacy and there weren't any messages of support.

When CT announced her name I suddenly found myself thinking "I've heard of her..!" and indeed she is the lady who had a dabble at CoBris 2006.

Great game, played in the best spirit and very entertaining! Well done!

For me, it's always only been Tarrant who drags, reiterating the current situation at every conceivable juncture and playing silly buggers with cheques. Somebody ought to tell the producers of quiz shows how stupid and tedious it is. Why can't they assume the viewers understand what is going on, assume the candidate understands what is going on and just let them play the fucking game!

Rosemary Roberts wrote:For me, it's always only been Tarrant who drags, reiterating the current situation at every conceivable juncture and playing silly buggers with cheques. Somebody ought to tell the producers of quiz shows how stupid and tedious it is. Why can't they assume the viewers understand what is going on, assume the candidate understands what is going on and just let them play the fucking game!

They'd end up giving out twice as much money.

On this note I was pretty fucking annoyed watching "Are You Smarter Than a Ten Year Old" earlier as a) they showed the contestants before the actual show, some questions and their reaction so I knew the woman would get "where is Uluru" and knew she didn't know it and b) during the show they ask the question then it disappears from the screen for ages and so, on the maths one where you needed it to be on screen as you were counting things, you had no idea what the answer was. Why they don't leave it on like WWTBAM I don't know.

Hugh Binnie wrote:They'd end up giving out twice as much money.

Good point!

Kirk Bevins wrote:On this note I was pretty fucking annoyed watching "Are You Smarter Than a Ten Year Old" earlier as a) they showed the contestants before the actual show, some questions and their reaction so I knew the woman would get "where is Uluru" and knew she didn't know it and b) during the show they ask the question then it disappears from the screen for ages and so, on the maths one where you needed it to be on screen as you were counting things, you had no idea what the answer was. Why they don't leave it on like WWTBAM I don't know.

Ha yeah I had this on yesterday after not watching it since it first came out. It reminded me how poor a show it is. If you switch onto it just after a question has been asked, like you say, you have no idea what the question is and then they usually don't repeat the question before the answer is revealed. My other gripe with this is that I can not seriously believe that these kids know all this shit at their age and I'm prety sure they are fed the answers. One that I saw yesterday was in the Age 6 category and the question was basically "where would you find a walrus?" (a) Arctic, (b) Antarctic or (c) both. I'm pretty sure at the age of 6 I didn't know what a fucking walrus was let alone where the shitting thing lived.

Ryan Taylor wrote:My other gripe with this is that I can not seriously believe that these kids know all this shit at their age and I'm prety sure they are fed the answers. One that I saw yesterday was in the Age 6 category and the question was basically "where would you find a walrus?" (a) Arctic, (b) Antarctic or (c) both. I'm pretty sure at the age of 6 I didn't know what a fucking walrus was let alone where the shitting thing lived.

Really? I've only watched this show once or twice, but my impression was that they specifically ask things a kid is much more likely to know or be good at (so like, kids like dinosaurs, but grown ups have usually forgotten about them by the time they have a mortgage). Plus don't they supposedly choose 'smart' kids anyway?

(Also, can you really not make an educated guess about where you'd find walruses? )

Michael Wallace wrote:

Ryan Taylor wrote:My other gripe with this is that I can not seriously believe that these kids know all this shit at their age and I'm prety sure they are fed the answers. One that I saw yesterday was in the Age 6 category and the question was basically "where would you find a walrus?" (a) Arctic, (b) Antarctic or (c) both. I'm pretty sure at the age of 6 I didn't know what a fucking walrus was let alone where the shitting thing lived.

Really? I've only watched this show once or twice, but my impression was that they specifically ask things a kid is much more likely to know or be good at (so like, kids like dinosaurs, but grown ups have usually forgotten about them by the time they have a mortgage). Plus don't they supposedly choose 'smart' kids anyway?

(Also, can you really not make an educated guess about where you'd find walruses? )

There have been dinosaur qustions before but it was ridiculous. Something like "Is a triceratops a herbivore, carnivore or omnivore?" Seriously would you have known that shit as a kid? Again adults would struggle knowing what either of them 3 words mean.

They do have 'smart' kids yes but I'm almost sure that their is some kind of skullduggery involved with the questions and answers.

I did make a guess* but I switched off because they did that annoying thing "we'll find out after the break". I fucking hate the show.

*I guessed both and after googling I found out I was badly wrong.

Ryan Taylor wrote: They do have 'smart' kids yes but I'm almost sure that their is some kind of skullduggery involved with the questions and answers.

I did make a guess* but I switched off because they did that annoying thing "we'll find out after the break". I fucking hate the show.

*I guessed both and after googling I found out I was badly wrong.

He also said "both" and had to rely on the kid's answer who put "Artic" (sic) and it won him the money - although I can't remember the last time I saw a walrus on a lorry.

Oh yeah and Dick and Dom are at Asylum (Hull Uni's night club) on the first night of freshers week. So I may go up to them and tell them precisely how shit I find their show.

Ryan Taylor wrote:Oh yeah and Dick and Dom are at Asylum (Hull Uni's night club) on the first night of freshers week. So I may go up to them and tell them precisely how shit I find their show.

Do it. I emailed the TV company that made it last night complaining how shit the camerawork was...wonder if I sent it to the right people or if I get a reply.

Ryan Taylor wrote:There have been dinosaur qustions before but it was ridiculous. Something like "Is a triceratops a herbivore, carnivore or omnivore?" Seriously would you have known that shit as a kid?

I wouldn't, but I spent my entire childhood doing maths or playing the double bass. CF says he would have, and reckons that's a super-easy question to ask a kid who likes dinosaurs (which I'm led to believe is pretty much all of them). For what it's worth I would have known what the words meant (I can remember being a show-offy dick in primary school and that was just the sort of thing I'd show off about), and I would have known what a triceratops looked like at least, so again I could have made an educated guess without being a dinosaur lover (woof).

Ryan Taylor wrote:they did that annoying thing "we'll find out after the break"

That's the main reason why I never watch anything live. I've got very skilled at fast-forwarding exactly 4 minutes 22 seconds.

Michael Wallace wrote:

Ryan Taylor wrote:There have been dinosaur qustions before but it was ridiculous. Something like "Is a triceratops a herbivore, carnivore or omnivore?" Seriously would you have known that shit as a kid?

I wouldn't, but I spent my entire childhood doing maths or playing the double bass. CF says he would have, and reckons that's a super-easy question to ask a kid who likes dinosaurs (which I'm led to believe is pretty much all of them). For what it's worth I would have known what the words meant (I can remember being a show-offy dick in primary school and that was just the sort of thing I'd show off about), and I would have known what a triceratops looked like at least, so again I could have made an educated guess without being a dinosaur lover (woof).

You're not normal.

(That wasn't a homophobic jibe)

Ryan Taylor wrote:You're not normal.

(That wasn't a homophobic jibe)

You are so unb& from Co:Lon.

Srsly though, isn't the point that the kids on the show aren't normal?

(I don't know why I end up getting so involved in game show conspiracy theory discussions.)

Michael Wallace wrote:

Ryan Taylor wrote:You're not normal.

(That wasn't a homophobic jibe)

You are so unb& from Co:Lon.

Srsly though, isn't the point that the kids on the show aren't normal?

(I don't know why I end up getting so involved in game show conspiracy theory discussions.)

They always seem to have a ginger kid on the show, so maybe they aren't normal.

But on a serious note...yes they are like private school pupils all very intelligent, knowledgeable etc. and they will know lots more than people of their age but I still think that sometimes they are fed answers or at least given a list of questions that may be asked so they learn them. They seem to spell some things laughably wrong too, even when it is quite easy making me believe that they are told the answer and they just write what it sounded like. I can't think of an example from the show, but often when you read, digest and learn a new fact or whatnot then you often remember how to spell things.

Perhaps I'm just jealous that these little bratty 10 year olds know a heck of a lot more than me. Nobs.

Michael Wallace wrote:

Ryan Taylor wrote:There have been dinosaur qustions before but it was ridiculous. Something like "Is a triceratops a herbivore, carnivore or omnivore?" Seriously would you have known that shit as a kid?

I wouldn't, but I spent my entire childhood doing maths or playing the double bass. CF says he would have, and reckons that's a super-easy question to ask a kid who likes dinosaurs (which I'm led to believe is pretty much all of them). For what it's worth I would have known what the words meant (I can remember being a show-offy dick in primary school and that was just the sort of thing I'd show off about), and I would have known what a triceratops looked like at least, so again I could have made an educated guess without being a dinosaur lover (woof).

This.

The one occasion on which I watched the show, the adult taking part was either terminally thick or just letting the kids win in a patronising dad sort of way. Either way, he came across as being a knob.

Ian Volante wrote:The one occasion on which I watched the show, the adult taking part was either terminally thick or just letting the kids win in a patronising dad sort of way. Either way, he came across as being a knob.

I don't think I've ever seen any adults on the show who weren't terminally thick. Are they selected for it?

Rosemary Roberts wrote: I don't think I've ever seen any adults on the show who weren't terminally thick. Are they selected for it?

Maybe you are overestimating the intelligence of the general populating... Or maybe I'm just an elitist snob.

Oliver Garner wrote:

Rosemary Roberts wrote: I don't think I've ever seen any adults on the show who weren't terminally thick. Are they selected for it?

Maybe you are overestimating the intelligence of the general populating... Or maybe I'm just an elitist snob.

Alternatively one could consider precisely what sort of person would want to go on a game show the primary aim of which is to make you look dumber than a 10 year old.

I'd much rather watch Are You Worse At Sport Than A Fat Kid?.

Charlie Reams wrote:I'd much rather watch Are You Worse At Sport Than A Fat Kid?.

But wouldn't they just make you play darts?

Oliver Garner wrote:

Rosemary Roberts wrote: I don't think I've ever seen any adults on the show who weren't terminally thick. Are they selected for it?

Maybe you are overestimating the intelligence of the general populating...

Maybe I am, and I do really know better:

The other day I listened to an ancient recording of Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh from some time in the early 50s. I remember Kenneth Horne flannelling through a cod explanation of a chemical process and the audience laughing a great deal, patently because they knew better. On those old radio shows, audiences would laugh at a misused French or Latin tag for the same reason. These days, a similar sketch would garner only blank faces.

Rosemary Roberts wrote:

Oliver Garner wrote:

Rosemary Roberts wrote: I don't think I've ever seen any adults on the show who weren't terminally thick. Are they selected for it?

Maybe you are overestimating the intelligence of the general populating...

Maybe I am, and I do really know better:

The other day I listened to an ancient recording of Much-Binding-in-the-Marsh from some time in the early 50s. I remember Kenneth Horne flannelling through a cod explanation of a chemical process and the audience laughing a great deal, patently because they knew better. On those old radio shows, audiences would laugh at a misused French or Latin tag for the same reason. These days, a similar sketch would garner only blank faces.

That could easily to be more to do with the kind of people you get in a studio audience.

Rosemary Roberts wrote:a similar sketch would garner only blank faces.

Ahh...I see what you did there...

Michael Wallace wrote:

Charlie Reams wrote:I'd much rather watch Are You Worse At Sport Than A Fat Kid?.

But wouldn't they just make you play darts?

I think this is one of those posts where you would be expecting a like but somehow haven't got one. So to keep you happy I liked it.

Ryan Taylor wrote:So to keep you happy I liked it.

There are easier ways of keeping him happy than that...

Ryan Taylor wrote:

Michael Wallace wrote:

Charlie Reams wrote:I'd much rather watch Are You Worse At Sport Than A Fat Kid?.

But wouldn't they just make you play darts?

I think this is one of those posts where you would be expecting a like but somehow haven't got one. So to keep you happy I liked it.

There should be a forum meta-game where you can gamble Likes. So if you think you've done a post that will get a Like you can check a box somewhere that will get you points if you get Likes, but lose you a point if you don't get one (in like, 7 days or something).

Michael Wallace wrote:There should be a forum meta-game where you can gamble Likes. So if you think you've done a post that will get a Like you can check a box somewhere that will get you points if you get Likes, but lose you a point if you don't get one (in like, 7 days or something).

Nice idea in theory, but MWM could just check all his posts and win by a country mile.

Hugh Binnie wrote:

Michael Wallace wrote:There should be a forum meta-game where you can gamble Likes. So if you think you've done a post that will get a Like you can check a box somewhere that will get you points if you get Likes, but lose you a point if you don't get one (in like, 7 days or something).

Nice idea in theory, but MWM could just check all his posts and win by a country mile.

Or you could just add an MWM-based compliment into each post and know you're getting a like

I love Matt Morrison, he is the greatest. Satellites are a myth. Then I realised I was reading the wrong recap! Good luck James!

Charlie Reams wrote:-old

Doesn't count if I've seen it before, you loser.

Michael Wallace wrote:

Charlie Reams wrote:-old

Doesn't count if I've seen it before, you loser.

Ha ha

Lesley Hines wrote:

Michael Wallace wrote:

Charlie Reams wrote:-old

Doesn't count if I've seen it before, you loser.

Ha ha

Aw man, the bastards have moved it. It was ace, too

My mate Declan went to an AYSTATYO audition (as one of the children) and got told that the children got told which answers they had to give and that they chose the children for their screen presence and charisma , not intelligence.

I remember watching the US version of WWTBAM with the timer before they brought in the new shuffle format. With their timer, running out of time forces the player to walk away rather than it being classed as a wrong answer. My other change would be to get rid of the Switch Lifeline (soft in my eyes), remove 50:50 and replace it with DOuble Dip.

Official Rule for Double Dip Lifeline
____________________________________________________________________
Once a Contestant elects to use the Double Dip lifeline the Contestant must give a Final Answer to the question. When the Contestant states he/she wants to use Double Dip the game clock stops and the Contestant must immediately state his/her first answer. The Host calls for the computer to confirm if the first selected answer is correct. If the first answer is correct the Contestant is awarded the dollar value associated with the question and any unused time on the game clock is Banked. If the first answer is incorrect, the Host states how much time remains on the game clock and the game clock resumes. The Contestant must select another answer. If a Contestant's second answer is incorrect or if he/she fails to select a second answer before time expires on the game clock, the Contestant is eliminated from the Game and loses a portion of the winnings earned in accordance with the prize table set forth in Rule 6, below. If the second answer is correct the Contestant is awarded the dollar value associated with the question and any unused time is Banked.

How fucking shit was WWTBAM tonight? At first I was kind of pleasantly surprised that when I strolled downstairs after my nap that this was literally just starting on the TV. Then I regret watching it. Slower than ever it would seem and I thought this was a general knowledge quiz show. It has turned into current affairs. Olly Murs (a singer who lost out to Joe McElderry (Joe who now?) on X-Factor for those of you who avoid current music) and his mother were asked five questions in total I think. And four of them (can't remember the order) were: "Who took over from Larry King to present a talk show on CNN?", "Who today (Saturday 2nd April) announced his retirement from sport?", "What will the new price of a first class stamp be from Monday?" and "Which space shuttle was decommissioned in March of this year after doing the most flights (or something)?". It was as if someone had literally picked up a couple of newspapers to make these questions. Fucking awful. Also Olly Murs (despite working in music and despite having a Twitter page) failed to instantly know that a Tweeter is the name of a speaker and someone who posts on a social networking site. Jaw-droppingly awful. It got worse. We then got to watch some shitty clips of 3 random people talking about their mothers and then coming on the set and presenting them with flowers. What the fuck? Seriously. WHAT THE FUCK? I used to love this show, I still enjoy watching the Challenge repeats and repeats of repeats and repeats of repeats of repeats but this was horrible. The whole thing just sucks now. It either needs to be fully revamped (which could still be done) or just binned. I also like how someone summed up Chris Tarrant as "He's like Noel Edmonds but worse".

Yeah, apart from doing a Mother's Day Special of something like WWTBAM being generally a naff idea, it suffered badly from being live. I felt sorry for Patsy Palmer and her son, who were still in play at the end of the game but were forced to take the money because they were out of time - after which we were subjected to about five minutes of viewers' messages to their mums, during which Patsy and Charlie could have answered at least a couple more questions.

However, appearances of the show being on its last desperate legs notwithstanding, I'm assuming that they've been given the green light for at least a couple more series, as I noticed that after years of cosmetic tweaking and tarting they've finally got a brand new set.

Hopefully we never go to the format the US have right now. SHuffle Millionaire.. *Shudder*