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NBC in the USA is debuting its version of a BBC quiz show, "Weakest Link," tonight. Apparently the host is the big draw: one Anne Robinson, who has won fans in her native UK with her no-nonsense approach.
Can any of y'all cross-Ponders give us a review? Is it worth watching?
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She is someone who will tell participants "You really are more stupid than you look", and other such jewels... If she is half as stern and harsh in the US as she is here, it is definitely worth watching at least once...
"You ARE the weakest link. Bye bye!"
Marianna
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old hand
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Anna
Marianna says it about right. If you find the public humiliation of others somehow horrifyingly fascinating, and can imagine it coupled with the opportunity for you to go: "Idiot! You should have banked!" every few minutes, then you'll probably enjoy the show.
Prior to her incarnation as the Quiz-show hostess with the (metaphorical) whip, Anne Robinson hosted 'Watchdog', a consumer rights programme that 'went undercover' from time to time and tried to bring recalcitrant manufacturers and retailers to book. You can see that the righteousness and sternness haven't worn off!
cheer
the sunshine warrior
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Watched the first episode and found it quite interesting. The contestants were far more scathing when talking about fellow contestants than host Robinson, tho!
The "computations" as to who is weak and strong in each round are a bit confusing but that'll become clearer as the show goes on. It was a fun evening. The biggest qualification seems to be FAST RECALL of general facts.
I will watch again ... then... well, we shall see!
wow
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journeyman
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I can't say I thought much of this new attempt at entertainment on our TVs. The moderator was rather "gentle", but I would not have liked her really reducing contestants to tears. I suppose she is the "star" and they are her "puppets". I bet she gets rougher as time goes by. Something is lacking, not sure what and I doubt if it becomes a big winner. I will be disappointed in humanity if it does. But I have been disappointed before...sooooooo, what do I know!
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There was an article about the Aussie version of this programme in the Sydney Morning Herald a couple of weeks back, interviewing contestants. It looks a bit different when you have read their comments that
'some people are just eliminated because no-one likes them, it's nothing to do with how they score'
'it took ages to film because there were really long breaks between rounds while they wrote [whatever-her-name]'s lines'
'they made me do the walk of shame again because I didn't look upset enough at being voted off'
I only watched it once and I'm in no hurry to do so again.
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Carpal Tunnel
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BBC news report
NBC, the network broadcasting the show, say she is the "Cruella de Vil" of gameshows, whose cutting comments make contestants "quake before her".
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cutting comments make contestants "quake before her".
Watched it for the first time last night and, although her remarks were cutting, they hardly reached "quake-producing" intensity. Wonder if any other USn's ever caught a cable program called The Inquisition? Very similar in attitude to the Weakest Link. The persona of the Inquisitor (host) was very like that of What's-her-name on TWL, only he was the one to banish (often with sarcasm) the participants on the basis of their scores. And the monetary prizes were very minimal. The details of the two programs differ, but the "hook" was the same.
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We have this game in New Zealand. Only here it's called "Government" and the quizmistress is Helen Clark. The problem with the game is that she doesn't ask any questions, she just bombards you with the answers. If you can't work out the question or you don't like the answer, there are several international airports you can leave by. And regardless of how well or badly you do, you pay her. Alla time. 
The idiot also known as Capfka ...
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In US this is Jepardy-- it been on for years, It has a matrix-- top row is topics, columns increase in difficulty as you go down. The pace is fast-- but the host is amiable.. currently its Alex Trevek-- a canadian transplant- who is alwasy slightly disparaging of Cananda-- recently, a canadian airline has been a paid sponser-- and it advertizes it flies to 11 major canadian cities.. Alex mused outloud-- "are there 11 cities in canada, let alone 11 major cities?" (that should not have quotes--- since it is not exactly what he said-- but just close)
As for Weakest link-- the host almost never is directly rude-- She asks "who was lousy then, and is lousy now? Who is holding you back?" She did ask an accountant-- who got a financial question wrong--"Remind me-- what is it you do?" And the Movie studio tour guide got called to task for not knowing who won 1999 best picture emmy-- but nothing was said about the tour guides guess of 20% of $180 dollars being $60! She doesn't expect a tour guide to be good at fast math-- but does expect an accountant to have general knowledge about finances..and a movie industry employee to know about movies. fair enough.
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