The Weakest Link
Host: Anne Robinson
Announcer: John Cramer, Network; Lisa Friedman, Syndicated
Music Package: Paul Farrer
Lifespan: NBC- April 16, 2001-2002, Syndicated 2002-July 2003
Premise: A group of players try to answer consecutive questions correctly, and thusly pile up a cash jackpot. All the while, players hope to not be voted "The Weakest Link" and kicked off the show with nothing.
Play:
The first round consists of 2:30 of questions. Questions answered consecutively add to the bank, 1000-2500-5000-10000-25000-50,000-75,000-$125,000. Any wrong answer resets the chain at zero. Any time before a question is asked, that player in control can bank the money, and reset the chain. When time is up, the question in play becomes a deadball, and whatever was in the chain is dropped. If the team can collect $125,000 in one chain or several smaller ones, that round ends. At that point, each player votes on the player that is the "weakest link" of the group. The contestant with the most votes is eliminated, chastised by the host, and made to silently take the Walk of Shame. After that, the ejectee gets their final minute in front of the camera: "Personally, I think so-and-so was much worse, and I think thus-and-so will be out next round." That sort of thing.
Each new round has 10 fewer seconds than the last, and vote-outs continue until two are left. Those two play one 90 second round for $250,000, and then the final. The two finalists answer five questions each, and the one with more right wins all the money, the other seven win nothing. If there is a tie, they answer questions back and forth, until the tie is broken.
Once during the network run was the full $125,000 chain banked, on the Tournament of Losers episode (players who made it to the end, but lost). They also won the top bank, $189,000. The top celebrity total was won by LeVar Burton, and totaled $167,500. The all-time low bank was $22,000, achieved on an episode with winners from "Fear Factor".
Syndicated Version
The new version lasts a half-hour, has six contestants, and is capably hosted by George Gray. The first round lasts 90 seconds, and shrinks 10 seconds per round. The new chain goes 250-500-1000-2500-5000-12,500, and the last round is doubled as well, for a total of $75,000.
Season Two: The game still has six players, but there are two major changes. First, the target value is $25,000. The second is that the final "double" round is eliminated, making the top prize worth $100,000. The elimination of the double round means that players vote to choose who they want to play against in the Head to Head round, and we get to see more of host George Gray's antics, a definate plus.
For season one, the top win was $34,750 (which would equate to nearly $500,000 on the primetime version), and the lowest total was $3,000.
The second season extremes so far are $37,750 and $1,000. ("You people made me put my suit on today for *NOTHING*!" -George)
TRAVIS' REVIEW
NETWORK VERSION
I first read about the idea on the UK Game Shows Page, and thought it was an interesting idea. Props due to NBC's advertising department for creating such an enormous media blitz that the show or the omnipresent host, Anne Robinson were always in the public eye.
The music is standard prime-time game show stuff, but the sudden death music is really nice, and overall, it's a good package. The set is all blues and blacks, switching to red for the vote-outs.
Less praise can be said for the actual game though. While NBC touted a million dollar jackpot payout for the show, it is highly unlikely that anyone could have done that well. Many shows had an average win of $55,000 or so, thanks to lots of people banking at $1,000 or $2,500. The questions weren't that hard, so big money rounds were certainly possible.
Then comes the actual removal procedure. While voting out the worst player is a new tactic, it doesn't work that way. All too often players vote out smart people, making their chances better, but the pot lower. And with no immunity for the best player each round, there's nothing to protect himself. That's another reason you get low payouts; dumb contestants.
Then, after the voting, we get to see contestants banter with Anne for a bit, and it all gets old after a while. I get the feeling this could have been a 45 minute show if they cut most of this stuff out.
SYNDICATED VERSION
Well, George's version of the program didn't get nearly as much press coverage, but enough so I knew where to find the show (check your local listings).
The music and set are the same, but there are only six players on stage. Plus, the final post-mortem comments roll during the split-screen credit roll; a nice touch.
With the jackpot reduced to $75,000 and $100,000; you would expect champions leaving with only a few thousand dollars, and that's happened a few times. More often, the winner can expect to leave with anywhere from $5,000 to $15,000, which is a nice amount of money for a half-hour show. Plus, there are some times where the winner gets $20,000 or more, so the statistics run both ways. The lower payouts also have to do with people being BANKers, calling "Bank" when there's only $250 or $500 in the chain. What's the point?
Voting procedure is nearly the same, but George plays his role differently. While Anne is a statue at the podium, George plays comedian, pulling no punches, and taking no prisoners. It's his banter with the players that caused the show to drop the double round in season two, so that they could show more of the interplay between everyone. And it was a good decision.
WHERE TO WATCH
The network episodes can be found on Game Show Network, running daily. The syndication episodes from Season One are shown nightly on the PAX network (which may be gone soon) at 6:30 pm PST.
HOME PLAY
There are several different ways to play at home if you so desire. A box game from the network version was released, and should be about $5 if you can find it. The timer from Scattergories is used, along with 2500 questions, voting dials and all the other peripherals you'll need.
For those who want to play on the small screen, there are two options; the computer version and PlayStation version. Both take music from the show, allegedly 100,000 questions, and several different voice tracks from the Queen of Mean herself.
Several home-made computer programs are out there, but none is exactly like the TV show.