After Carol

[David Williams]

One thing that we tend to take for granted here is that Carol's on her own, but Dictionary Corner get help. I imagine most regular viewers would suspect that celebrities get given words. I'd guess, however, that lots would assume no help at all is given to Carol and Susie, but equally lots would think both have solutions fed to them. I'd be surprised if one in a hundred worked out the actual set-up.

Why is it the way it is? I can see that support for DC would have been helpful in the days when there was a different lexicographer every week, but these days Susie gets as much airtime as Carol. And if Carol is replaced by an unknown, Susie surely gets second billing. Why does she get her reputation enhanced by the back-room boys, while the newbie stands alone?

Frankly, even the current situation irritates me. There's an underlying implication that two ordinary Joes, whose life's pinnacle is being reached by showing their skills on Countdown, can be effortlessly beaten by any celebrity. Susie gives them a word and calls them "Brilliant!" even when they can't read aloud properly.

Here's a plea for a bit more honesty, or at least a bit more consistency, in the new era.

David

[Martin Gardner]

Occaisonally celebrities go for their own words without checking with Susie and it can go wrong. I can remember Ken Bruce offering CUBED in one of my games when there was no C.

Martin

[Paul F]

Both of them have my respect for their abilities, during the time I was there in the studio I saw no sign of either Carol or Susie getting any outside assistance. All the games are filmed virtually real time and the only re-shots are for fluffed lines or contestant mentioning things that give away the filming date.
In this weeks programs I have seen Susie calling replies "brilliant" when it's clear she has just passed them to the guest, but surely part of her role is to support the guest and certainly not to expose any short-comings in their knowledge. The guest is there to add variety and interesting stories (admittedly of varying quaility) and not to compete with the contestants.

paul

[Gavin Chipper]

I tend to agree with your thoughts David. Susie certainly seems to get help, like when she suddenly gets a word quite late on when she isn't even looking.

[Martin Gardner]

I tend to agree with your thoughts David. Susie certainly seems to get help, like when she suddenly gets a word quite late on when she isn't even looking.

This happened in one of my games when I went for CORTINA and my opponent went for RATIONAL Dictionary Corner said "we have another seven with CLARION" and after some waffling saif "but we think there's a nine with CANTORIAL". They decided not to re-shoot it and while it might not be clear from my description on tape it's quite clear that they got the nine about 30 seconds after the time. I have it somewhere on tape, God knows if I can find it.

Martin

[Ben Wilson]

Occaisonally celebrities go for their own words without checking with Susie and it can go wrong. I can remember Ken Bruce offering CUBED in one of my games when there was no C.

Martin

Then there's the issue of Jo Brand every time she appears in DC.

[Damian E]

Oh look, its David, Gevin and Martin.

Of all the negative posts ever written about Countdown, i'd take a bet that collectively you are responsible for 95% of them.

The answer is clear, move to France


Edit to add............. i take your points on board. But not right now eh?

[David Williams]

I've apparently made 15 posts to this forum of which the last two could be said to be critical. You think they are negative, I'd like to think they were at least a little constructive. In the eight years I've been watching the show's audience has fallen by three quarters, which is doubtless reflected in Carol's salary offer. I'd like to see things get better.

David

PS I see you've edited your reply since I read it. There's an obvious opportunity coming up for some behind the scenes tinkering. I can't see the harm in people who care about Countdown discussing it here. And if, by some remote chance, a good idea comes up you can take the credit for it!

[Gavin Chipper]

Edit to add............. i take your points on board. But not right now eh?

What about now?

[Damian E]

I've apparently made 15 posts to this forum of which the last two could be said to be critical. You think they are negative, I'd like to think they were at least a little constructive. In the eight years I've been watching the show's audience has fallen by three quarters, which is doubtless reflected in Carol's salary offer. I'd like to see things get better.

David

PS I see you've edited your reply since I read it. There's an obvious opportunity coming up for some behind the scenes tinkering. I can't see the harm in people who care about Countdown discussing it here. And if, by some remote chance, a good idea comes up you can take the credit for it!

haha - David, i've never taken credit for anyone elses good ideas before, so won't do it now. In the 8 years since you've appeared, the audience may have fallen off, but that is reflected across the whole of television. People are turning their backs on TV as a form of entertainment. 8 years ago, the internet was dial-up and about £3 an hour to run, there were 4 channels and Sky was a luxury.

Now you can get broadband for £11 a month, a freeview box is £25 from Tesco, you can watch online and basically please yourself. 20 years ago, newsagents sold out of daily papers, today they can't give them away. The internet is king and lifestyles have altered so much.

If you ask me is Countdown made / run any different than in 1999, the answer is no. The show has been kicked around like a football in the media of late and its not really reflective of what we still have to offer.

TV now revolves around 4 big shows a year. Strictly Come Dancing, X Factor, Get Me Outta Here and Big Brother. Is it any wonder that people no longer really turn the damned thing on any more?

[Wil Ransome]

I liked it when Ernie Wise was the celebrity. He wasn't going to be bothered with all this dishonest feeding of words, and offered his own, which were often fairly short, but you knew they were his own work. The only other person whose work is probably their own seems to be Jo Brand, whose made-up words can only have been produced by her.

[David Williams]

Damian, I'm sure I'd be a lot less restrained than you are if no-hoper bystanders were sitting over my shoulder criticising my work.

If you really think that current blockbuster programmes have any relevance to Countdown, a big factor is the humiliation of celebrities. Feed them duff words and ridicule them. Don't laugh if their stories aren't funny. I guarantee your viewing figures will soon rival that programme where someone with a poor grasp of the laws of probability opens boxes in the presence of Noel Edmonds.

David

[Damian E]

David, i didnt mean to suggest that blockbuster shows were directly affecting Countdown, i meant that the overall standard of shows on TV these days is so poor that people no longer see TV as the first form of entertainment.

Programme ratings are in rapid decline across the board. Personally, i blame it all on Christopher Biggins.

[Jason Larsen]

Countdown's official website reports that Carol's replacement will be named on September 17, 2008.

Frankly, I hope it's a woman.

[Damian E]

No it doesn't, Jason.

The closing date for applicants is Sept 19th, then we expect to start seeing people shortly after that.

[Julie T]

. The only other person whose work is probably their own seems to be Jo Brand, whose made-up words can only have been produced by her.

I love Jo Brand's jokey made-up words. She's definitely my favourite DC guest.
Her anecdotes are often ones I've already heard in her stand-up shows, but still hysterical and cleverly observed.

[Ross Allatt]

I got the impression last week that Arthur Smith was coming up with his own words - if he wasn't he was doing a good impression of someone who had come up with their own words

[Julie T]

I got the impression last week that Arthur Smith was coming up with his own words - if he wasn't he was doing a good impression of someone who had come up with their own words

In the show they said that (although I don't remember that far back) he was only narrowly defeated by Jo Brand in the Celebrity Countdown a few years back. So quite possible he found the words himself. Very entertaining DC guest, in any case.

[Gavin Chipper]

I love Jo Brand's jokey made-up words.

But they're no better than anything that you could come up with at home.

[Damian E]

They definitely won't be as good as yours Gavin. Even if they were, they wouldn't.

[David Williams]

If Arthur Smith found all his own words, then he also found time to write them down for Susie, because whenever he came up with something unusual she had the dictionary open at the right page. Maybe it's a coincidence, maybe they did a re-shoot to make the programme flow better. The problem is that once you've seen a couple of rounds like this, you (well, I, actually) assume the worst. I really don't see why it can't be played straight. The only problem is if a celebrity really is excellent, when they need to be a little bit self-deprecating.

I used to really enjoy Jo Brand. She was funny, you could tell she was good, and she did self-deprecating by throwing in the occasional made-up word. Then one series she did nothing else, almost as if she couldn't be bothered, and has continued the same way. Even more annoying, I find myself trying to guess what she'll come up with instead of playing the game. But she's obviously very popular, so I'll have to concede on that one.

David

[Gavin Chipper]

They definitely won't be as good as yours Gavin. Even if they were, they wouldn't.

And even if they would, they weren't.