The Weakest Link
The Weakest Link (often simply called Weakest Link) is a television game show which first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000. The original British version of the show airs around the world on BBC Entertainment and used to air on BBC America. The format has been licensed across the world, with many countries producing their own series of The Weakest Link. As with the original British version, all of the hosts wear black clothing (or sometimes dark colours with black). Most versions also have disciplinarian female hosts, again similar to the British original. Recordings of the show commenced from BBC's Elstree facility, but were switched in 2009 to Glasgow and the BBC Pacific Quay studio centre.
Not all the international versions share the title The Weakest Link. The format is distributed by BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC. Australia was the first country to adapt the BBC show, and versions have also been produced in Azerbaijan, Belgium, Chile, China, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Macedonia, Mexico, The Netherlands, Norway, Panama, The Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, and the United States.
The Link franchise is the second most popular international franchise, behind only the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? franchise, which also originated in the United Kingdom.[1]
Contents |
Format
The original format features a team of contestants who take turns answering general knowledge questions. The object of each round is to create a chain of consecutive correct answers to earn an increasing amount of money for a communal kitty, within a time limit. An incorrect answer deletes the accumulated money; however, a contestant can say "bank" prior to being asked a question, and the accumulated money is stored and a new accumulation is initiated from zero.
Unbanked money is lost at the end of a round. The round ends if the team successfully banks the maximum amount for the round before the allotted time expires. If a host is in the middle of asking a question when time runs out, the question is left uncompleted; however, if the host completes the question when time runs out, whether the contestant is able to answer correctly or not, the host gives the correct answer.
Strategy for banking money
In a New Scientist blog article, Erica Klarreich argues that there are only two sensible strategies in The Weakest Link when it comes to banking money. Either players should choose to bank after every correct answer, or after six straight correct answers maximize the pot. The correct strategy to take will depend upon the skill at answering questions of the members of the team. If a particular team gets more than two-thirds of its questions correct, the dominant strategy is to raise the pot six straight times without banking. But since this happens so seldom on the show, Klarreich argues, the dominant strategy will usually be instead to bank after every question.[2]
Voting and elimination
At the end of each round, contestants must vote one player out of the game. An announcer reveals to the television audience which player is statistically the strongest link and who statistically is the weakest link. The players themselves, however, are not given this information. The votes are revealed one at a time, after which the host customarily interrogates some or all of the contestants about their votes. The player who receives the most votes, regardless of statistical data, is declared the weakest link and is dismissed from the show. (In the event of a tie, the statistical strongest link gets to cast the deciding vote.) The dismissed player leaves the stage in what is called "The Walk of Shame", and a short interview with this contestant is shown before the next round begins.[3]
Strategy for voting and elimination
In Freakonomics, Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner observe that the strategy for eliminating players in the voting rounds is to eliminate weak players in the early round, but strong players in the final rounds: "The voting strategy changes as the game progresses. In the first several rounds, it makes sense to eliminate bad players since the jackpot grows only when correct answers are given. In later rounds, the strategic incentives are flipped. The value of building the jackpot is now outweighed by each contestant's desire to win the jackpot. It's easier to do that if you eliminate the other good players. So, roughly speaking, the typical contestant will vote to eliminate the worse players in the early rounds and the better players in the later rounds."[4] In the British version, the presenter, Anne Robinson, declares "You are the Weakest Link, goodbye!", to the player who has been voted out; this is also used on international versions in the country's native tongues. In Australia specifically, their host, Cornelia Frances, declares this is in a more significant way.
Final two rounds
When only two contestants remain, they work together in one final round, identical to previous rounds except that all money banked at the end of the round is doubled or tripled (depending on the country), and there is no elimination: the game moves to the head-to-head round instead.
For the head-to-head round the remaining two players must each answer five questions in a penalty shootout format, the strongest link from the previous round choosing who goes first. Whoever has the most correct answers at the end of this round wins the game unless there is a tie; otherwise the game goes to sudden death. Each player is asked a question in turn indefinitely, until one gets a question right and the other wrong (in some countries this round is edited down to only one question each for airtime reasons). The winner of the game takes home all the money accumulated in the prize pool; the loser, like all the other eliminated players, goes home with nothing.
The show ends with the host saying: "Join us again for The Weakest Link, Goodbye!" (this line is modified on some countries). The latter word is said in the same tone as the elimination process.
Versions
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom is the country where the show originated, and found a large audience. It was aired on BBC Two, but moved to BBC One on 11 February 2008 in the place of Australian soap opera Neighbours, which moved to Five. It was devised by Fintan Coyle and Cathy Dunning, and developed for television by the BBC Entertainment department. The UK version, hosted by Anne Robinson, voiced by Jon Briggs reached its 1,000th episode on 18 December 2006. With the huge success of the show in its early evening BBC Two slot, there was soon a version made for prime-time BBC One.
The highest amount won so far (as of February 2010) on the standard day time version of The Weakest Link is £5,420 and the least won is £750, which has occurred twice.[5]
Australia
In Australia, the game show aired on the Seven Network and was produced from February 2001 until its cancellation in April 2002. Presented by Cornelia Frances, it featured 9 contestants competing for the $100,000 grand prize. It aired twice weekly in a primetime slot.
Germany
Der Schwächste fliegt! is the German version of the game show. In German The Weakest Link translates as Das schwächste Glied, but this could also be read as The Weakest Penis, and the show was called Der Schwächste fliegt!, meaning literally the weakest one flies (out of the game). It was first broadcast on 19 March 2001, on RTL. The show premiered weekdays at 3pm and was hosted by Sonja Zietlow (known for her tough-talking styles on her self-titled talk show from previous years). Just like the British version, the show pitted nine contestants against each other for a pot of DM 50,000, and Sonja bullied the contestants with insults such as "Da wollen wir doch mal sehen, wer unsere kostbare Studioluft lang genug weggeatmet hat!" (Let's take a look, who breathed our valuable studio air too long!). By September the show's ratings were dropping fast so, in order to improve the rating, Sonja treated the contestants with more respect. However, the ratings did not improve as hoped with Sonja's change in behaviour, and the show was cancelled in December. In February 2002 the show was given another chance late on Saturday night, this time in a newly revamped studio before an audience, and a higher prize of € 50,000 (DM 100,000). There were rumours that, after the first few episodes, actors were paid to be contestants in order to attract more viewers. The show's ratings were not good enough, and it was finally cancelled in March.
Hong Kong
一筆OUT消 or "The Weakest Disappears" was the Hong Kong edition of The Weakest Link, presented by Hong Kong actress Carol Cheng in the Cantonese language. 一筆OUT消 was licensed and started quickly by TVB to air on TVB Jade, after rival ATV took the lion's share of ratings with the Cantonese language version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. The top prize was HK$3,000,000. It premiered in August 2001. As per the licensing agreement, hostess Carol Cheng initially had to act just like Anne Robinson, complete with the same "cold" style of voice and facial expressions. Chinese culture does not value this kind of attitude, and TVB received many complaints. The broadcaster changed the style of the show, softening Carol Cheng's "character," after five episodes of being "mean"; ratings increased and eventually beat Millionaire. TVB ordered only 108 daily weekday shows, and the series finished in January 2002.
Norway
The Norwegian version was aired in 2004 with the Norwegian journalist and TV host, Anne Grosvold, as the host of the program. The program aired for only one season. The host was later criticised for encouraging children to teasing and harassing, 'giving them ideas of how to do such.'[6]
Nigeria
BBC Worldwide has licensed local production rights of The Weakest Link to a Nigerian production company, Rapid Blue which will produce 26 episodes. No broadcaster has yet taken the series, but Rapid Blue's executive producer and CEO says he is confident.
United States
The American version of the game show was shown on NBC from 16 April 2001 to 14 July 2002, with several episodes not transmitted until some appeared on PAX in 2002, with the remainder eventually airing on GSN. The show was also syndicated from January 2002 through September 2003. Reruns of both versions were shown on PAX for a short time, and later on GSN. Like the British version, Anne Robinson was host for the NBC The Weakest Link. George Gray, whose most notable hosting experience had been on Extreme Gong, hosted the syndicated version as one of the rare male hosts of The Weakest Link. The format was essentially the same as the European format. In the NBC version the team had eight members and prize money of up to $1,000,000. In syndication there were six players, and the prize was initially up to $75,000, increased to $100,000 in the second season.
The second season of The Weakest Link was considered a failure, partly due to the clearance issues many stations had with the show. At the start of the 2002-2003 TV season a syndicated version of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire was shown on many of the same stations that had shown Weakest Link, in some cases in the time slot that Link had occupied. The ratings dropped enough for Link to be canceled; Millionaire continues to air in syndication as of 2010[update].
All versions
| Country | Name | Host | TV Station | Top Prize | Date premiered |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Arab World |
الحلقة الأضعف Elhalka Eladaaf |
Rita Khoury | Future Television | US$16,000 | 2002 |
 Australia |
Weakest Link | Cornelia Frances | Seven | AU$100,000 | February 2001 |
 Azerbaijan |
Zəif Bənd | Kamila Babayeva | Lider TV | AZM100,000,000 | |
.svg.png){kind=small} Belgium |
De Zwakste Schakel | Goedele Liekens | VTM | 2,000,000 BEF | September 2001 |
 Brazil |
Ponto Fraco | Fausto Silva | TV Globo | R$ 1,000,000 | pilot episodes - never aired |
 Chile |
El Rival Más Débil | Catalina Pulido | Canal 13 | CL$40,000,000 | |
 China |
汰弱留强·智者为王 | Chen Lu Yu | Nanjing TV | CN¥200,000 | |
| 智者为王 | Shen Bing | ||||
| Xia Qing | |||||
 Croatia |
Najslabija karika | Mirko Fodor | HRT1 | kn 90,000 | |
| Nina Violić | |||||
| Daniela Trbović | |||||
 Czech Republic |
Nejslabší! Máte Padáka! | Zuzana Slavíková | TV Nova | Kc.1,000,000 | |
 Denmark |
Det Svageste Led | Trine Gregorius | DR1 | KR200,000 | December 2001 |
 Estonia |
Nõrgim Lüli | Tuuli Roosma | Kanal 2 | KR500,000 | |
 Finland |
Heikoin Lenkki | Kirsi Salo | MTV3 | €15,000 | September 2002 |
| €18,000 | |||||
 France |
Le Maillon Faible | Laurence Boccolini | TF1 | 150,000F | July 2001 |
| €20,000 | |||||
| €50,000 | |||||
 Georgia |
სუსტი რგოლი Susti Rgoli |
Rustavi 2 | |||
 Germany |
Der Schwächste fliegt! | Sonja Zietlow | RTL Television | DM50,000 | March 2001 |
| €50,000 | |||||
 Greece |
Ο Πιο Αδύναμος Κρίκος | Elena Akrita | MEGA | ₯5,000,000 | |
| €15.000 | |||||
 Hong Kong |
一筆OUT消 | Carol Cheng | TVB Jade | HK$3,000,000 | |
 Hungary |
A Leggyengébb Láncszem | Krisztina Máté | TV2 | 3,000,000 ft | August 12, 2001 |
| Nincs Kegyelem | 6,000,000 ft | ||||
 India |
Kamzor Kadii Kaun | Neena Gupta | Star Plus | Rs.2,000,000 | |
 Ireland |
The Weakest Link | Eamon Dunphy | TV3 | €10,000 | 2001 |
 Israel |
החוליה החלשה Hahulia Hahalasha |
Pnina Dvorin | Channel 10 | ₪100,000 | |
| Hana Laszlo | ₪90,000 | ||||
 Italy |
Anello Debole | Enrico Papi | Italia 1 | €15,000 | 2001 |
 Japan |
ウィーケストリンク☆一人勝ちの法則 | Shiro Ito | Fuji Television | JP¥16,000,000 | March 4, 2002 |
 Macedonia |
Најслаба алка | Zhivkica Gjurchinovska | Alpha | 420.000 MKD | |
 Malaysia |
Weakest Link | Program scheduled to film in late 2003, but RTM decided not to air. | |||
 Mexico |
El Rival Más Debil | Montserrat Ontiveros | TV Azteca | MX$200,000 | |
 Netherlands |
De Zwakste Schakel | Chazia Mourali | RTL 4 | €10,000 | May 6, 2001 |
 New Zealand |
Weakest Link | Louise Wallace | TV ONE | NZ$20,000 | |
 Norway |
Det Svakeste Ledd | Anne Grosvold | NRK | KR200,000 | |
 Philippines |
Weakest Link | Edu Manzano | IBC | PHP1,000,000 | November 6, 2000 |
| Allan K. | |||||
 Poland |
Najsłabsze Ogniwo | Kazimiera Szczuka | TVN | 27,000 zł | March 2004 |
 Portugal |
O Elo Mais Fraco | Julia Pinheiro | RTP1 | €10,000 | |
| Luisa Castel-Branco | |||||
 Romania |
Lanţul Slăbiciunilor | Andrei Gheorghe | ProTV | lei50,000 | |
 Russia |
Слабое Звено Slaboye Zveno |
Maria Kiseleva | ORT | руб500,000 руб400,000 руб350,000 руб1,000,000 (celebrity editions) |
September 2001 |
| Nikolay Fomenko | Channel 5 | руб350,000 | December 2, 2007 | ||
 Serbia |
Najslabija karika | Sandra Lalatović | BKTV | RSD3,000,000 | |
 Singapore |
智者生存 | Cui Lixin | MediaCorp TV Channel 8 | S$100,000 | |
| Weakest Link | Asha Gill | MediaCorp TV Channel 5 | S$1,000,000 | ||
 Slovenia |
Najšibkejši Člen | Violeta Tomič | RTVSLO | ||
 South Africa |
Weakest Link | TBA | SABC3 | R50,000 | |
| R100,000 | |||||
 Spain |
El Rival Más Débil | Nuria González | TVE1 | €7,200 | |
| Karmele Aranburu | TVE2 | ||||
 Taiwan |
Weakest Link 智者生存 | Belle Yu | STAR Chinese Channel | NT$400,000 | |
| Tseng Yang Qing | |||||
 Thailand |
The Weakest Link กำจัดจุดอ่อน | Krittika Kongsompong | BEC TV 3 | ฿1,000,000 | |
 Turkey |
En Zayif Halka | Hülya Uğur Tanriöver | Show TV | TL100 billion | |
| YTL100,000 | |||||
 United Kingdom |
The Weakest Link | Anne Robinson | BBC One | £10,000 | August 14, 2000 |
| BBC Two | £50,000 | ||||
 United States |
Weakest Link | Anne Robinson | NBC | US$1,000,000 (Primetime Version) US$500,000 (NBA Halftime Edition) |
|
| George Gray | Syndicated | US$75,000 | |||
| US$100,000 | |||||
In popular culture
Anne Robinson's catch phrase "You are the weakest link. Goodbye!" has made several appearances in pop culture, including a reference from Family Guy. In the first season of the 2005 revival of Doctor Who, character Rose Tyler appears on a futuristic version of The Weakest Link, hosted by an android voiced by Anne Robinson.
References
- ↑ BBC NEWS | Entertainment | Millionaire dominates global TV
- ↑ http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn1800-strongest-strategy-for-ithe-weakest-linki-revealed.html
- ↑ BBC | The Weakest Link
- ↑ Levitt, Steven and Dubner, Stephen. 2005. In the earliest versions of the show, the eliminated contestants would be shot down under a trap-door like circle and exit underground. Freakonomics: A Rogue Economist Explains the Hidden Side of Everything. New York, NY, USA: William Morrow. Pages 77-78.
- ↑ http://www.ukgameshows.com/ukgs/The_Weakest_Link
- ↑ NRK.no | Author: Geir Evensen | Norwegian article about a net-meeting with Anne Grosvold about the program
External links
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