Playing for the Title

            Daytime British television, specifically game shows, is subtly different to what is shown in the United States. We Americans are obsessed with the competitive nature of each game. No matter what the game is, it has to be fast-paced so that the audience does not lose focus. This thought never deeply occurred to me until watching a few episodes of various English game shows. One show, “University Challenge,” is ALL about intellect. The questions that Jeremy Paxman poses are so difficult that I could not even answer quickly enough to get two questions right until after viewing my third episode. It did not help that my introduction to this show was with my boyfriend’s older brother. This man is an intelligent Oxford University student who was actually on the show…as team captain! I was more entertained watching how rapidly Tom’s brother could answer each question. Very often it was before either team of four adults could respond. Tom made fun of me because when I did get answers correct I would proceed to jump up and down, sometimes even performing a victory dance. Jeremy Paxman seems bored to me with his job as host. He will literally roll his eyes at some contestants and not hesitate to laugh/make fun of people who answer incorrectly. Also, while most U.S. shows are played for a juicy cash prize, these teams play merely for scholarly honor.  

            Another show that has no actual entertainment value in the visual production is “Countdown.” Much like “University Challenge,” the players are all very nerdy and book smart. But Rachel Riley is pretty to watch as she puts the letters and numbers up on the board. The single reason for watching this show is to play it at home. The contestants take turns picking ten letters (vowels and consonants) and need to form the longest word they can in 30 seconds. In the number segment, contestants can pick large and small numbers, and they have to mathematically reach a specific number presented by the computer. Also in 30 seconds. I honestly don’t even try with the math. Usually I cannot reach the lengthy words either.The plus side is learning new vocabulary.

            The show “Pointless” has a lighter vibe than the previous two. The hosts seem to be truly rooting for the contestants here. There is often nice chemistry between the hosts and contestants. And unlike the prior shows, my heart rate does not soar through the roof. It is a very lofty, cheesy joke telling, slow-paced game. The aim of this game is to pick the most pointless answers to each question/category. For example, one category was Jack Nicholson movies. There are four pairs that compete against one another. The winners guess the movies that the least amount of audience members listed. Thus, the pair that guessed The Shining gained a lot of points, and was in last place. Oddly enough, some movies Nicholson won awards for were little known among the audience. One example is About Schmidt. I would love to see these game shows be adapted for U.S. television. Hey, I thought “The Weakest Link” worked out swimmingly!