YEAR 11 – EXAMINATION QUIZ SHOWS

Weakest Link’, it is only the experience of being able to blow off steam
about fellow Generic conventions are: Quiz shows on television are set in
a studio. Set design often includes a podium behind which the contestants
stand (perhaps to help stop them shaking?).

Light is often an important element of the set with lights dimmed or

spotlights used to heighten dramatic tension.
The host is sometimes a key element of the show; an aging star of
television, someone whose ‘A list days’ are over, although it could
perhaps be argued that Anne Robinson has become an A list celebrity
since she began ‘The Weakest Link’. Quite often the host is a TV star from
a different genre of television i.e. comedy or even news. Comedians often
make good hosts. The host must have presence and a ready patter if and
when the contestants dry up or do something unexpected, this is where
comedians have an advantage as they have a ready wit and a sense of
familiarity.

The presenter or host often holds cards as a memory aid but these are
usually just for the opening of the show where the contestants are
introduced and these cards contain relevant information about the
contestant. Traditionally the host is male accompanied by a ‘glamorous
assistant’, although in some shows the ‘assistant’ is the brains – Channel
4’s ‘Countdown’ with Carol Vorderman as an example.

The contestants are chosen from the thousands who apply to join the
show. They are often required to send in a photograph of themselves
because the selection process begins straight away. They have to have a
certain ‘something’ about them so they can communicate with the
audience and help make the show successful. They can vary in age and
background. Contestants are sometimes drawn from the studio audience
as in ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire’. So these contestants have to apply
to be on the show, get selected to be in the initial group who then have to
go through an elimination round or two to select the final contestants for
the quiz.

The questions can vary depending on the target audience. They are
usually set independently. Contestants usually know whether they are
going to be general knowledge or specialist subjects and have time to
prepare or swot up on the subject, as in ‘Mastermind’. Questions often
start easy, to put the contestants at their ease and then get progressively
harder. They can be multiple choice or straight question and answer.

Technology has now made it possible for contestants to have computer

screens in front of them to key in their answers and for the viewing
audience to see the responses and if they are clever enough, to know in
advance whether the contestant has got it right. The prizes can be
prestigious such as sponsored cars/caravans and even boats. Sometimes
it is a glass bowl, (Mastermind), a pen and pencil set (Crackerjack) or
cash. Usually even the losers go away with something even if, as in the
case of ‘The contestants on camera.
Television Quiz Show gimmicks or catchphrases have become part of the
institution and part of the national consciousness. Catchphrases such as
‘You are the weakest link, goodbye’, ‘Can I phone a friend?’ and ‘I’ve
started so I’ll finish’ quickly pass into public vernacular. Other gimmicks
include, the support of school children, ‘Are you Smarter than a Ten Year
Old?’ - ask the audience, or a variety of clues.

Music is often used first as a catchy theme tune and then as mood music
to increase tension or to signal different parts of the show.

Institution Quiz Shows are cheap television especially if they are

sponsored or if they are linked with telephone call lines. The latter have
recently caused great controversy. BBC: Prestige and children’s quizzes
where the prizes are not particularly glamorous. Shows like ‘Mastermind’
are all about prestige and the glass bowl. In the past ‘Ask the Family’ was
again prestige rather than prizes and very middle class. BBC2 comprises
of some more avant-garde shows such as ‘QI’ and ‘Have I got News for
You’ which now boasts a range of celebrity hosts who suffer a barrage of
witty abuse by team captains Paul Merton and Ian Hislop. This has led to
many imitations such as ‘Mock the Week’, and ‘They Think it’s All Over’.
Sporting enthusiasts have been entertained with famous sporting faces in
‘A Question of Sport’. The BBC were quite innovative for a more
‘conservative’ channel BBC2 with the more wacky and spontaneous wit in
‘Never Mind the Buzzcocks’. ITV: encourages sponsorship of quizzes so
the prizes are donated by the sponsor in exchange for the covert and
often overt publicity they get. Telephone entries have helped finance
prizes in the past where BT has donated a percentage of the cost of the
call to the production company in exchange for all the extra business and
this has financed the prizes. Recent controversy has made some
contestants wary of this though and ITV were actually fined:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/09/26/ngmt
v22 6.xml

It is useful to compare BBC and ITV approaches to quiz shows. For ITV this
has been a major popular and successful prime time format with ‘Who
wants to be a Millionaire’, ‘Family Fortunes’ and ‘Bullseye’ etc. Whereas
the BBC often aimed for the more middle class audience where more
academic knowledge is valued – ‘Mastermind’, ‘University Challenge’ and
‘Call My Bluff’’. None of these were prime time shows. Channel 4 was
quick to recognise the value of daytime quiz shows to an older
demographic with shows like ‘Countdown’. Sometimes quiz shows change
channel and are re-launched which is what has happened to ‘University
Challenge’ the long-running television quiz show, licensed and produced
by Granada Television was first shown on ITV from 21stst September 1962
to 31st December 1987, then and on BBC2 from 21 September 1994 to
the present day. Recently ‘The Weakest Link’ has transferred from BBC2 to
BBC1. DVD’s and Games have extended the life of the Quiz Show with the
play at home versions although earlier boxed editions were often made
available as spin off from popular shows. Many quiz shows now regularly
produce celebrity versions either as one off ‘specials’ or for charity
purposes. This of course helps increase the popularity of the show. Quiz
formats can be syndicated around the world with variations on a theme
appearing from Russia to the Caribbean as exampled by the various
versions of ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire’ and ‘The Weakest Link’.

Audience There are several different audiences. There is the studio

audience who are encouraged to participate either by cheering, voting or
merely applauding. Audiences are usually invited to apply for tickets and
there is always a multitude who wants to experience the vicarious
pleasure of appearing on TV. When contestants are chosen from the
audience television editing makes the whole process appear seamless.
There is the viewing audience at ‘home’ who are rarely passive and just
watch the programme almost everyone would be tempted to pit their wits
against the contestants on ‘University Challenge’ or those on
‘Mastermind’. And who can resist seeing if they are indeed ‘Smarter than
a Ten year Old’? Sometimes viewers are encouraged to participate in the
quiz either through interactive buttons on the television or via their
computer. Technology has come a long way from the suit and tie and
evening dresses of the panel on ‘What’s My Line?’ It is interesting to look
at the demographics of ITV and BBC audiences where various issues might
be raised.

Representation Whether you are sitting with the audience in the

darkened studio of ‘Mastermind’, laughing with the bitchy comments of
Anne Robinson or hoping for humiliation in ‘Beat the Teacher’ there is a lot
being said about the values and ideologies present. The production values
evident in the quality and
The innovativeness of the studio set, the kind of prizes offered, the degree
of rigour in the questions asked and the respect or lack of it offered to the
contestants again says a lot about the programme. It was a newsworthy
item when a London Cabbie won the final of ‘Mastermind’ and the first £1
million winner of ‘Who Wants be a Millionaire’ was accused of cheating.
Candidates may want to investigate why they became newsworthy. It isn’t
always the cleverest who wins in a contest where strategy plays a part.
Uses and Gratification theory is evident when everyone thinks they too
can be a winner and they get the chance to pit their wits against the
experts.

The controlled test paper is TELEVISION quiz shows. Television quiz

shows are almost as old as television broadcast with ‘What’s My Line?’
broadcast on 16 July 1951. By the end of the 1950’s basic television quiz
shows became big money winning game shows. The following is just a
selection of some of the television quiz shows broadcast on television in
the past:
1951: What’s My Line? BBC
1952: Animal, Vegetable or Mineral? BBC
1955: Crackerjack (Quiz as part of show) BBC
1955: Take Your Pick ITV
1955: Double Your Money ITV
1957: Criss Cross Quiz ITV
1967: Ask the Family BBC
1970: A Question of Sport BBC
1975: Celebrity Squares ITV
1981: Bullseye ITV (combining darts skill with questions)
1996: Never Mind the Buzzcocks BBC2
2003: QI BBC2
2005: Eggheads BBC2
2008: Duel ITV