In 1988, the greatest quiz show that has ever graced British television began (my opinion). It would run until 2003. Hosted by the brilliant William G Stewart, it was fast, brutal, always entertaining and full of questions. A winning format and a no-nonsense style that kept people watching for years. On Saturday 5th April 2014, it returned to our screens with a new look, a slightly altered format and a new presenter, the hugely talented Sandi Toksvig.
I was a huge fan of the original series, watching or recording it almost every day to get my fix of trivia. The end of the final series was a sad moment in my television-watching life. So, on Saturday, I watched the beginning of the new series, hopeful that the intensity of those episodes would return to the screen. Here are a few of my thoughts.
Firstly, as talented and witty as Sandi Toksvig is, she is out of place as the presenter of a serious quiz show. There was never any need for banter or jokes in the original incarnation. In fact, the minimalist approach to the presentation meant that any funny moments were heart-felt and genuine. The new approach feels scripted and awkward. I don't need to know personal history of these people, I want to see them answer some seriously hard trivia questions. Just get straight in to it.
Secondly, I can live without the little tit-bits of information that seemed to follow every question, slowing the game down and preventing any build up of tension or pace. The questions are so slowly delivered in the first place that everything feels pedestrian and laboured. Just bang out the questions.
'Everyone gets 3 chances on 15 to 1'. No they don't. If you get knocked out, you wait for the next series and try again. That is part of the brutality of the original format.
The £40,000 prize for the winner of the grand final is also a new feature. Winners used to get kudos and an antique vase and losers got nothing and no second chances. It is a sign of the times that kudos and antique vases are no longer enough.
When someone gets knocked out, I know they
have gone because their light goes out. I don't need a 'sadly for you, it is lights out, thank you and we hope to see you again' moment. We don't need a '15to1 catchphrase'. Just get down to the final 3.
An hour is just too long. Get rid of some of the advert breaks, speed up the delivery of the questions, remove the needless chatter and a half an hour show would have pulses racing.
However, my main problem with the new show was just how unexciting it has become. '15 to 1' should be fast, brutal, tactical and tense - not slow, plodding, full of awkward banter and dull. I know that it has all been filmed already for this series but, for me, the new '15 to 1' has lost all the things that kept me watching all those years ago.
Channel4 have managed to take something brilliant and take it backwards, not forward. I'm disappointed.
Very nicely put
ReplyDeleteWorst of all, the questions are awful. They jump from being ridiculously easy to ridiculously difficult.
ReplyDelete