What? Where? When?

What? Where? When?

Game show logo (1990s)
Genre Game show
Starring Vladimir Voroshilov, Boris Kryuk
Opening theme Owl with Crown
No. of seasons 39
No. of episodes 409
Production
Running time up to 90 min. (live)
Broadcast
Original channel Channel One
Audio format Mono, Stereo
Original run 1975 – present

What? Where? When? (Russian: Что? Где? Когда?, translit. Chto? Gdye? Kogda?) is an intellectual game show well known in Russian-language media and other CIS states since the mid-1970s. Today it is produced for television by TV Igra on the Russian Channel One and also exists as a competitive game played in clubs organized by the World Association of Clubs. Over 21,000 teams worldwide play the sport version of the game, based on the TV show.[1]

Format

Throughout the game, a team of 6 experts attempts to answer questions sent in by viewers. For each question, the time limit is 1 minute. The questions require a combination of skills such as logical thinking, intuition, insight, etc. to find the correct answer. The person who sent in the question earns a prize if the experts cannot get the correct answer, while the team of experts earns points if they manage to get the correct answer.[2]

The basic rules of the game are:[3]

Special sectors

Sample questions

Ordinary sector

Question: What, according to Christopher Morley, was invented by a woman who had been kissed on the forehead?
Answer: High heels.
Question: Continue the sequence: love, breath, Rome, estate, column, sense, heaven...
Answer: Wonder. (The question is based upon popular set expressions: the first love, the second breath, the third Rome, the fourth estate, the fifth column, the sixth sense, the seventh heaven, and the eighth wonder.)
Question: The ancient Scandinavians used so called kennings, a kind of literary trope. For example, “the land of the spirit” meant the breast and “the land of the whale” meant the sea. What did “the land of the falcon” mean?
Answer: The hand.

Black box questions

Any question ends: is "What is in the Black box"? In some questions it was another black box and even Flight data recorder (in Russian the words are the same). There are three black boxes, but the large black box is the ordinary, the smaller (smallest) used only if there are two or three boxes in the question (or in blitz rounds) or the item must (not would) be little.

Question: No modern book has aroused so much talk as the one in the black box. What book is it?
Answer: A telephone book.

In big black box was even

Musical questions

Question: (Two different pieces of music from J. S. Bach’s exercises are played to the experts.) The black box contains a thing which can be placed between these two pieces. What is it?
Answer: A mirror. (Either piece is the reverse version of the other.)

Video questions

Question: (Three video clips are demonstrated to the experts: a tractor in a field, a flying aircraft and a submarine in the sea.) A Chinese proverb says he can do everything but three things. What is his profession?
Answer: A chef. (The proverb says he can cook of everything on the earth except for a tractor, everything in the sky except for an aircraft and everything in the sea except for a submarine.[4])

Picture-based questions

Question: (An old map of England is given to the experts.) Using a map like this, Edmond Halley became the first to measure the area of each county in England. What simple method did he use to do so if he only knew the area of the county of Kent?
Answer: He cut out and weighed separately each of the counties. Then he could easily evaluate the area of each county based on the area/weight relationship calculated from the weight and area of Kent known to him.

Item-based questions

The experts are presented an item and usually asked how it is used.

Question: (The experts are given an inflated toy balloon.) Explain how this item used at the space station.
Answer: To search for lost things.

Blitz questions

Question: Seneca once said to Nero, "Anyway, you can never kill…" whom?
Answer: The one who will replace you.

Superblitz questions

Question: What is the word for "lightning" in German?
Answer: Blitz.
Question: What place, according to Mark Twain, has the highest rate of mortality?
Answer: A bed.

13th sector

Question: What do you get twice for free and have to pay for if you want more?
Answer: Teeth. (Baby teeth, permanent teeth, and false teeth.)

History

The game was developed between 1975 and 1977 by artist, television host and director Vladimir Voroshilov. The very first version of the game (aired September 4, 1975) emphasized knowledge rather than logic; two families competed from their homes. In the next two years only two games were aired, the second of which, on 24 December 1977, already was close to the today's format: a top spinning on the table selects a viewer's question which is discussed for one minute by a team of 6 persons; the host is "invisible" and present only as a voice. (At the time, Voroshilov was banned from appearing on the screen, even his name was not indicated in the show credits.) Since 1978, the game is aired regularly. The final major change in rules, in 1982, established that the game continues until 6 points are scored by either side. Since 1986, the games are broadcast live.

The game quickly became popular, and a dozen or so of the best players from the TV version have become household names of the same magnitude as pop-music stars: Viktor Sidnev, Nurali Latypov, Alexander Drouz, Alexei Blinov, Fyodor Dvinyatin, Boris Burda, Anatoly Wasserman, Maxim Potashev and so on.

International versions

Licensed versions of the game are currently being aired throughout countries of the former USSR (like Azerbaijan and Georgia). Notably, whilst the original show is aired live, licensed shows are usually recorded.

In December 2009, it was announced that the U.S. production company Merv Griffin Entertainment would produce a pilot for ABC of an American version of the show tentatively titled The Six. (Its predecessor, Merv Griffin Enterprises, produced Wheel of Fortune, a game show successfully imported into Russia under the title Pole Chudes in 1990) The new show aimed to preserve the essence of the Russian original, although producers had stated that there would be "tweaks" to the format and feature an on-camera host.[2] In April 2010 it was reported that the show would be hosted by Vernon Kay. Production of the show took place in the summer of 2010.[5][6] The game title was changed first to Six Minds and finally to Million Dollar Mind Game.

The game premiered on Sunday October 23, 2011 at 4 pm ET on ABC.[7] In the U.S. version, a team of six friends competed together, answering questions to climb a ladder of money amounts, but losing the game and all accumulated money upon giving four incorrect answers. The originally produced episodes were burned off by ABC over a period of six weeks on Sunday afternoons as counterprogramming for NFL games on CBS and Fox (depending on market and television restrictions, the show often went up against meaningless games in some markets where a poorly performing team may be mandated to be covered in that market) after the October 2011 Las Vegas tragedy, and there's no indication that any new episodes will be produced in the future, despite critical acclaim by critics and game show fans alike.

In May 2012, a network spokesperson confirmed that "Million Dollar Mind Game" was canceled.[8]

Legend:      Currently airing        No longer airing        Future version  

Country Title Host Channel Date premiered Language
 Armenia Что? Где? Когда? Karen Kocharyan Armenia TV February 2002 Russian
 Azerbaijan Nə? Harada? Nə zaman? Balash Kasumov Space (2006–2010), AzTV (2010-...) 2006 Russian, Azerbaijani
 Belarus Что? Где? Когда? Ales' Mukhin ONT March 2009 Russian
 Bulgaria Какво? Къде? Кога? Vladimir Voroshilov Intervision, Channel One (Central Television of USSR) November 13–15, 1987 Russian, Bulgarian (simultaneous translation)
 Georgia რა? სად? როდის? George Mosidze Rustavi 2 January, 2008 Georgian
 Estonia Mis? Kus? Millal? TBA Kanal 2[9] March 17, 2013 Estonian
 Italy Million Dollar Mind Game Teo Mammucari Canale5 2012 Italian
 Kazakhstan Что? Где? Когда? Balash Kasumov Channel 7 (Sed'moy Kanal) September 30, 2011 Russian
 Kyrgyzstan Билерман ордо Talantbek Kanatbek uulu (Талантбек Канатбек уулу) ElTR (ЭлТР) 2007 Russian & Kyrgyzstan
 Lithuania Kas? Kur? Kada? Robertas Petrauskas TV3 April 15, 2012 Lithuanian
 Russia Что? Где? Когда? Vladimir Voroshilov, Boris Kryuk Channel One, NTV (1999–2000) September 4, 1975 Russian
 Turkey Aklın Yolu Bir Oktay Kaynarca TNT April 2011[10] Turkish
 USA Million Dollar Mind Game Vernon Kay ABC October 23, 2011 English
 Ukraine Що? Де? Коли? Alexander Androsov Pershyi Natsionalnyi (2008), K1(2009-...), Inter (2011), 1+1 (now) February 2008 Russian, Ukrainian
 Uzbekistan Zakovat Abdurasul Abdullayev Yoshlar 2001 Uzbek

Competitive game

What? Where? When? tournament

In addition to the original TV version, which to this date is one of the most popular TV programs in Russia, a competitive variant exists that is played by over 21,000 teams in all countries of the former USSR and in Russian-speaking diasporas around the world, most notably in Israel, Germany, Finland, United Kingdom, United States and Canada. Although Russian is the official language of most national and all international tournaments, there are some countries like Bulgaria, Moldova, Uzbekistan and Georgia where non-Russian-language teams are more numerous. Face-to-face World Championships have been held every year since 2002 with corporate sponsorship and under the aegis of TV Igra and the governments and National Olympic committees of Russia and Azerbaijan. The 2010 championship took place in Israel with sponsorship of Euro-Asian Jewish Congress.

These competitions rely on logic rather than knowledge too, but usually require more erudition than the TV versions due to high educational level of gamers.

See also

References

  1. http://ratingnew.chgk.info/teams.php
  2. 2.0 2.1 Andreeva, Nellie (December 9, 2009). "ABC eyeing Russian game show". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved 10 December 2009.
  3. http://chgk.tvigra.ru/library/?30years
  4. This is actually similar to a quote made by Prince Philip - there is no such saying in the Chinese language (see Cantonese cuisine). But indeed, another saying “天上飞的,地上跑的,水里游的” ([all the animals] flying in the sky, running on the earth, swimming in the waters) is often a reference to the wide variety of animal ingredients used in Chinese cuisine, especially in Cantonese cuisine.
  5. The Hollywood Reporter: ABC greenlights game show 'The Six'
  6. Vernon's $1million US deal
  7. "New Casting Call: ABC's Six Minds". about.com.
  8. The Futon Critic, 05/15/12
  9. http://www.tnttv.com.tr/aklinyolubir.php

External links