Weakest Link

Weakest Link is a television game show which first appeared in the UK on BBC 2 on 14 August 2000 and ended on 31 March 2012 when its host Anne Robinson ended her contract. The original British version of the show is still aired around the world on BBC Entertainment. Anne Robinson will reprise her Queen of Mean act when Weakest Link returns for a one off special in November 2017 in aid of BBC Children in Need. In 2018 the Weakest Link will return as a Saturday evening prime time quiz. The contestants will be celebrities, much like the Children in Need special. ^[1]

Format

A group of nine (or ranging from five to ten, varying among versions) contestants work as a team to try and win as much money as possible. If a person answers the question correctly, the next stage in the chain is reached. If a person answers the question wrong, the money is lost and the chain starts again. A player can "bank" before their question to save the money, but the chain must be started again. If there are nine correct answers in a row without anyone banking, the maximum money amount is added to the jackpot and the round stops. The time allowed for each round decreases as the game goes on. In some versions, if the contestant takes too long to think, the host may give the answer, and it will be considered incorrect. At the end of each round, the contestants must vote for who they thought was the "Weakest Link" in the round that just occurred, and the person with the most votes is eliminated. If the vote comes to a tie, the Strongest Link can decide which of the tied players should leave. The Strongest Link is the person who had the most correct answers or banked the most money. The host, Anne Robinson in the original UK version, says "(name), you are the Weakest Link, goodbye". The contestant then takes the walk of shame and is then interviewed outside the game. The person who was the strongest link in the last round goes first. If the strongest link got voted off, the second-strongest player starts. In the UK version, the final round has a 90-second triple stake round with no voting but money is still to be earned. After the final round, a head-to-head contest is played, with five questions asked to each player in turn. If there is a draw, the game continues to sudden death. The loser goes home with nothing.

Game rule variations

In the 2nd syndicated version of the American version, after the 2nd last round, the last 2 contestants do not face the clock and the money tree. Instead, the remaining 2 contestants go straight into the head-to-head round. Similarly, the French version (2014 to 2015) also does not use the clock and money tree for the final round, and in the penultimate round is the 3-player triple stake round for €15,000 and lasts 90 sec.

Strategy for banking money

In a New Scientist blog article, Erica Klarreich argues that there are only two sensible strategies in The Weakest Link (the U.S. edition) when it comes to banking money. Either players should choose to bank after every correct answer, or after six straight correct answers to maximize the pot. The correct strategy to take will depend upon the skill at answering questions of the members of the team. For all but the weakest teams, the optimal 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. The common practice of banking after just three questions would only outperform the strategy of banking after every question if a team maintained a success rate of over 67%.^[2]

International versions

Countries which have produced their own version

Legend: Currently airing No longer airing Unsold pilot Future version

Country	Name	Host	TV station	Top prize	First episode	Last episode
Arab World	الحلقة الأضعف Elhalka Eladaaf	Rita Khoury	Future Television	US$16,000	2001	2003
Australia	Weakest Link	Cornelia Frances	Seven Network	A$100,000	February 2001	April 2002
Azerbaijan	Zəif bənd	Kamila Babayeva	Lider TV	AZN9,000 (Formerly AZM 45,000,000)	2004	2006
Azerbaijan	Zəif bənd	Solmaz Süleymanlı	Lider TV	AZN9,000 (Formerly AZM 45,000,000)	2012	2014
Belgium (in Dutch)	De zwakste schakel	Goedele Liekens	VTM	2,000,000BEF	2001	2002
Brazil	Ponto Fraco	Fausto Silva	TV Globo	R$1,000,000	2001 (Pilots rejected by BBC)
Chile	El rival más débil	Catalina Pulido	Canal 13	CL$40,000,000	2004
Mainland China	汰弱留强·智者为王 Tài ruò liú qiáng·zhìzhě wéi wáng	Chen Luyu	Nanjing TV	CN¥200,000	2002	2004
	智者为王 Zhìzhě wéi wáng	Shen Bing
	智者为王 Zhìzhě wéi wáng	Xia Qing
Croatia	Najslabija karika	Nina Violić	HRT 1	kn 90,000	2004	2010
		Daniela Trbović
		Mirko Fodor^[3]
Cyprus	Ο Πιο Αδύναμος Κρίκος O Pio Adynamos Krikos	Tasos Tryfonos	RIK 1	€5,000	TBA
Czech Republic	Nejslabší! Máte padáka!	Zuzana Slaviková	TV Nova	Kč1,000,000	2002	2004
Denmark	Det svageste led	Trine Gregorius	DR1	KR200,000	2001	2002
Estonia	Nõrgim lüli	Tuuli Roosma	Kanal 2	500,000 kr	2004
Finland	Heikoin lenkki	Kirsi Salo	MTV3	16,000 € 18,000 € 20,000 €	September 6, 2002	February 18, 2005
Finland	Heikoin lenkki	Riku Nieminen	Nelonen	20,000 €	March 20, 2017	present
France	Le maillon faible	Laurence Boccolini	TF1	150,000F €20,000 €50,000	July 9, 2001	August 12, 2007
France	Le maillon faible	Julien Courbet	D8	€45,000	September 8, 2014	July 22, 2015
Georgia	სუსტი რგოლი Susti rgoli	Nino Burduli	Rustavi 2	ლ8,000	2005
Germany	Der Schwächste fliegt!	Sonja Zietlow	RTL Television	DM50,000	March 19, 2001	March 2002
Germany	Der Schwächste fliegt!	Sonja Zietlow	RTL Television	€50,000	March 19, 2001	March 2002
Greece	Ο Πιο Αδύναμος Κρίκος O Pio Adynamos Krikos	Elena Akrita	MEGA	₯5,000,000	2001	2003
Greece	Ο Πιο Αδύναμος Κρίκος O Pio Adynamos Krikos	Elena Akrita	MEGA	€15,000	2001	2003
Hong Kong	一筆OUT消 Jat1 bat1 OUT siu1	Carol Cheng	TVB Jade	HK$3,000,000	August 20, 2001	January 18, 2002
Hungary	A leggyengébb láncszem	Krisztina Máté	TV2	3,000,000 Ft	2001	2004
Hungary	Nincs kegyelem^[4]	Krisztina Máté	TV2	6,000,000 Ft	2001	2004
India	Kamzor Kadii Kaun	Neena Gupta	Star Plus	Rs.2,500,000	2002	2003
Ireland	Weakest Link	Eamon Dunphy	TV3	€10,000	2001	2002
Israel	החוליה החלשה HaChulia HaChalasha	Pnina Dvorin	Channel 10	₪100,000	2002	2004
Israel	החוליה החלשה HaChulia HaChalasha	Hana Laszlo	Channel 10	₪90,000	2002	2004
Italy	Anello debole	Enrico Papi	Italia 1	€15,000	October 29, 2001	November 17, 2001
Japan	Weakest Link ウィーケストリンク☆一人勝ちの法則 Uikesutorinku hitori-gachi no hosoku	Shiro Ito	Fuji Television	JP¥16,000,000	2002
Macedonia	Најслаба алка Najslaba alka	Živkica Gjurčinovska	Alfa TV	MKD ден 420,000	2010	2011
Malaysia	Weakest Link	Sekilara Kiramila	RTM	RM80,000	2003	2009
Mexico	El rival más debil	Montserrat Ontiveros	Azteca Trece	MX$200,000	2003	2008
		Lolita Cortés			July 27, 2013	September 7, 2013
		Lolita Cortés			May 26, 2014	2014
Moldova	Veriga slaba	Andrei Gheorghe	Kanal 1	1,000,000 MDL	2002	2009
Netherlands	De zwakste schakel	Chazia Mourali	RTL 4	€10,000	2001	2004
New Zealand	Weakest Link	Louise Wallace	TVNZ 1	NZ$20,000	July 2001	March 2002
Norway	Det svakeste ledd	Anne Grosvold	NRK	KR200,000	2004
Philippines	Weakest Link	Edu Manzano	IBC	PHP1,000,000	2001	2002
Philippines	Weakest Link	Allan K.	IBC	PHP1,000,000	2001	2002
Poland	Najsłabsze ogniwo	Kazimiera Szczuka	TVN	27,000 zł	March 1, 2004	January 26, 2006
Portugal	O elo mais fraco	Julia Pinheiro	RTP1	€10,000	2002	2003
		Luisa Castel-Branco			2002	2003
		Pedro Granger			2011	2012
Romania	Lanţul slăbiciunilor	Andrei Gheorghe	Pro TV	lei500.000.000	2001
Russia	Слабое звено Slaboe zveno	Mariya Kiselyova Leonid Yakubovich (December 25, 2002) ^[5]	ORT/Channel One Russia	₽300,000 (from September 25 until October 30, 2001) ₽400,000 (from November 1, 2001 until October 2004) ₽350,000 (from October 2004 until July 2, 2005) ₽1,000,000 (celebrity editions, 2001—2004)	September 25, 2001	July 2, 2005
Russia	Слабое звено Slaboe zveno	Nikolai Fomenko	Channel 5	₽350,000	December 2, 2007	December 28, 2008
Serbia	Najslabija karika	Sandra Lalatović	BKTV	RSD5,000,000	2002	2006
Singapore	智者生存 Zhizhe shengcun	Yvette Cui (Cui Lixin)	Mediacorp Channel 8	S$100,000	2002	2003
Singapore	Weakest Link	Asha Gill	Mediacorp Channel 5	S$1,000,000	2002	2003
Slovenia	Najšibkejši člen	Violeta Tomič	SLO 1	2,400,000 SIT (€10,000)	2003	2005
South Africa	Weakest Link	Fiona Coyne	SABC3	R50,000	2003	2008
South Africa	Weakest Link	Fiona Coyne	SABC3	R100,000	2003	2008
Spain	El rival más débil	Nuria González	TVE1	€7,200	2002	2004
Spain	El rival más débil	Karmele Aranburu	TVE2	€7,200	2002	2004
Sweden	Svagaste länken	Kajsa Ingemarsson	Sjuan	100,000 kr	2011	2013
Taiwan	Weakest Link 智者生存 Weakest Link zhizhe shengcun	Belle Yu	STAR Chinese Channel	NT$400,000	2001	2003
Taiwan	Weakest Link 智者生存 Weakest Link zhizhe shengcun	Tseng Yang Qing	STAR Chinese Channel	NT$400,000	2001	2003
Thailand	Weakest Link กำจัดจุดอ่อน Weakest Link Kamchat Chut On	Krittika Kongsompong	ThaiTV 3	฿1,000,000	2002	2003
Turkey	En zayıf halka	Hülya Uğur Tanrıöver	Show TV	TL100 billion	2001	2002
Turkey	En zayıf halka	Baybars Altuntaş	TV8^[6]	₺ 54,000	September 21, 2015	November 15, 2015
United Kingdom	The Weakest Link	Anne Robinson	BBC	£10,000 (Daytime) £20,000 (Primetime)^[7] £50,000 (Primetime)	August 14, 2000	March 31, 2012
United Kingdom	The Weakest Link	Anne Robinson	BBC	TBA	November, 2017 ^[8]
United States	Weakest Link	Anne Robinson	NBC	US$1,000,000	April 16, 2001	July 14, 2002
		George Gray	Syndicated	US$75,000	January 7, 2002	May 20, 2003
		George Gray	Syndicated	US$100,000	January 7, 2002	May 20, 2003

References

↑ "Anne Robinson and The Weakest Link to return to BBC One". The Telegraph. Retrieved 19 July 2017.
↑ Klarreich, Erica (16 January 2002). "Strongest strategy for The Weakest Link revealed". New Scientist. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
↑ Due to Daniela having a surgery at 2010, HRT asked Mirko to temporary host the show until Daniela recover.
↑ Nincs kegyelem was the alternative name of this show, but recently used original name (A leggyengébb láncszem).
↑ A special Christmas and New Year celebrity edition.
↑ Original production was Kanal D, but later they decide to reject and TV8 was takeover.
↑ From 2000-2001 8/7 Players Version
↑ http://metro.co.uk/2017/07/19/the-weakest-link-is-coming-back-to-tv-complete-with-anne-robinson-6789860/

External links

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.