TV Quiz Shows

Over the last nine or so years, the TV Quiz show world has exploded into a supernova of new and original formats as well as old but tweaked formats.

One of the first major quiz shows to hit British Television was ITV’s ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’ back in 1998. This type of programme, basing itself on the art of suspense rather than a time frame, was a particularly new concept which took off phenomenally well- it has now broadcast in over 100 countries and even featured in the recent film ‘Slumdog Millionaire’.

On the 14th of August 2000, The Weakest Link first appeared on British Television, another concept to sell worldwide. This format of TV Quiz show was an instant hit as it pitted both time and pressure on its contestants as well as the fear that if they got a question wrong, they faced a vote-off from each other, not to mention Ann Robinsons inquisitive wrath. The Weakest Link is iconic because it is a quiz show in which one must have some form of intelligence to take part and it is not a show in which the contestants win a great deal of money. This insures, unlike Millionaire, that the contestants are serious about playing the game, and although the money may help, it isn’t the only incentive to win.

However, jumping a few years forward to today’s programming and in particular contemporary TV Quiz shows, one could argue the formats have begun to become slightly less catchy, slightly lazy and often rely more on the wit of the presenters or guests rather than the format or questions to push the show along. An example of this, yet controversial, is ‘Deal or No Deal’. Now, this programme has done remarkably well and has brought in huge revenue for its broadcaster and essentially re-launched Noel Edmunds back into the spotlight (good or bad as that may be) however, when one analyses the format of the show, it is simply a case of luck, fate and the presenter talking to himself down a fake telephone. The reason the audience is hooked on such a quiz is not because of its great and original concept; it is merely based on human nature and our natural curiosity to see what happens.

Dave, a Freeview channel essentially run by BBC Worldwide, makes up a lot of its broadcasting schedule from the Quiz show genre. These shows are Mock the Week, 8 out of 10 Cats, Q.I, Never Mind The Buzzcocks, and most recently, in 2008 their own quiz called Argumental, and in case you haven’t seen this, it is a quiz show/comedy panel argument show that uses all the same panellists one can find on the other above mentioned quizzes – personally, not that original.

One often finds that the same panalists do the rounds of the TV Quiz shows as it is themselves that often make the show interesting rather than the content. For example, you may be watching Never Mind The Buzzcocks on BB2 and Phil Jupitus is a panel guest, you then switch over to BBC One once its finished to catch a bit of Q.I and, low and behold, Phil Jupitus is a panel guest on that too.

A debate that came up recently in a University lecture of mine was whether Never Mind The Buzzcocks has moved from being a quiz show with some chat to a chat show with some quiz? You can decide on that one.

I would put a pretty safe bet on that over the next 2 years there will be a huge rise in TV Quiz Shows and the panel guest formats. Why? Because with the recession in progress and producers and broadcasters cutting jobs and funding each and every day, have a guess at what the cheapest format/genre of programming is to make – yes that’s right, TV Quiz Shows.