THE 2009 WRITTEN PAPER TELEVISION QUIZ SHOWS

Quiz shows on television are set in a studio. Set design often includes a podium
behind which the contestants stand (perhaps to help stop them shaking?).

Light is often an important element of the mise-en-scene with lights dimmed or

spotlights used to heighten dramatic tension.

The host is sometimes a key element of the show; an aging star of television,
someone whose ‘A list days’ are over, although it could perhaps be argued that
Anne Robinson has become an A list celebrity since she began ‘The Weakest
Link’. Quite often the host is a TV star from a different genre of television i.e.
comedy or even news. Comedians often make good hosts. The host must have
presence and a ready patter if and when the contestants dry up or do something
unexpected, this is where comedians have an advantage as they have a ready wit
and a sense of familiarity. The presenter or host often holds cards as an aide-
memoire but these are usually just for the opening of the show where the
contestants are introduced and these cards contain relevant information about
the contestant. Traditionally the host is male accompanied by a ‘glamorous
assistant’, although in some shows the ‘assistant’ is the brains – Channel 4’s
‘Countdown’ with Carol Vorderman as an example.

The contestants are chosen from the thousands who apply to join the show.
They are often required to send in a photograph of themselves because the
selection process begins straight away. They have to have a certain ‘something’
about them so they can communicate with the audience and help make the show
successful. They can vary in age and background. Contestants are sometimes
drawn from the studio audience as in ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire’. So these
contestants have to apply to be on the show, get selected to be in the initial
group who then have to go through an elimination round or two to select the
final contestants for the quiz.

The questions can vary depending on the target audience. They are usually set
independently. Contestants usually know whether they are going to be general
knowledge or specialist subjects and have time to prepare or swot up on the
subject, as in ‘Mastermind’. Questions often start easy, to put the contestants
at their ease and then get progressively harder. They can be multiple choice or
straight question and answer.

Technology has now made it possible for contestants to have computer screens
in front of them to key in their answers and for the viewing audience to see the
responses and if they are clever enough, to know in advance whether the
contestant has got it right. The prizes can be prestigious such as sponsored
cars/caravans and even boats. Sometimes it is a glass bowl, ( Mastermind), a pen
and pencil set (Crackerjack) or cash. Usually even the losers go away with
something even if, as in the case of ‘The Weakest Link’, it is only the experience
of being able to blow off steam about fellow contestants on camera.

Television Quiz Show gimmicks or catchphrases have become part of the

institution and part of the national consciousness. Catchphrases such as ‘You are
the weakest link, goodbye’, ‘Can I phone a friend?’ and ‘I’ve started so I’ll finish’
quickly pass into public vernacular. Other gimmicks include, the support of
school children, ‘Are you Smarter than a Ten Year Old?’ - ask the audience, or a
variety of clues. Music is often used first as a catchy theme tune and then as
mood music to increase tension or to signal different parts of the show.

Institution Quiz Shows are cheap television especially if they are sponsored or
if they are linked with telephone call lines. The latter have recently caused
great controversy. BBC: Prestige and children’s quizzes where the prizes are
not particularly glamorous. Shows like ‘Mastermind’ are all about prestige and
the glass bowl. In the past ‘Ask the Family’ was again prestige rather than
prizes and very middle class. BBC2 comprises of some more avant-garde shows
such as ‘QI’ and ‘Have I got News for You’ which now boasts a range of
celebrity hosts who suffer a barrage of witty abuse by team captains Paul
Merton and Ian Hislop. This has led to many imitations such as ‘ Mock the Week’,
and ‘They Think it’s All Over’. Sporting enthusiasts have been entertained with
famous sporting faces in ‘A Question of Sport’.

The BBC were quite innovative for a more ‘conservative’ channel BBC2 with the
more wacky and spontaneous wit in ‘Never Mind the Buzzcocks’.

ITV: encourages sponsorship of quizzes so the prizes are donated by the

sponsor in exchange for the covert and often overt publicity they get.
Telephone entries have helped finance prizes in the past where BT has donated
a percentage of the cost of the call to the production company in exchange for
all the extra business and this has financed the prizes. Recent controversy has
made some contestants wary of this though and ITV were actually fined:

It is useful to compare BBC and ITV approaches to quiz shows. For ITV this has
been a major popular and successful prime time format with ‘Who wants to be a
Millionaire’, ‘Family Fortunes’ and ‘Bullseye’ etc. Whereas the BBC often aimed
for the more middle class audience where more academic knowledge is valued –
‘Mastermind’, ‘University Challenge’ and ‘Call My Bluff’’. None of these were
prime time shows. Channel 4 was quick to recognise the value of daytime quiz
shows to an older demographic with shows like ‘Countdown’. Sometimes quiz
shows change channel and are re-launched which is what has happened to
‘University Challenge’ the long-running television quiz show, licensed and
produced by Granada Television was first shown on ITV from 21 stst September
1962 to 31st December 1987, then and on BBC2 from 21 September 1994 to the
present day. Recently ‘The Weakest Link’ has transferred from BBC2 to BBC1.
DVD’s and Games have extended the life of the Quiz Show with the play at
home versions although earlier boxed editions were often made available as spin
off from popular shows. Many quiz shows now regularly produce celebrity
versions either as one off ‘specials’ or for charity purposes. This of course helps
increase the popularity of the show. Quiz formats can be syndicated around
the world with variations on a theme appearing from Russia to the Caribbean as
exampled by the various versions of ‘Who wants to be a Millionaire’ and ‘The
Weakest Link’.

Audience There are several different audiences. There is the studio audience
who are encouraged to participate either by cheering, voting or merely
applauding. Audiences are usually invited to apply for tickets and there is always
a multitude who wants to experience the vicarious pleasure of appearing on TV.
When contestants are chosen from the audience television editing makes the
whole process appear seamless. There is the viewing audience at ‘home’ who are
rarely passive and just watch the programme almost everyone would be tempted
to pit their wits against the contestants on ‘University Challenge’ or those on
‘Mastermind’. And who can resist seeing if they are indeed ‘Smarter than a Ten
year Old’? Sometimes viewers are encouraged to participate in the quiz either
through interactive buttons on the television or via their computer. Technology
has come a long way from the suit and tie and evening dresses of the panel on
‘What’s My Line?’ It is interesting to look at the demographics of ITV and BBC
audiences where various issues might be raised.

Representation Whether you are sitting with the audience in the darkened
studio of ‘Mastermind’, laughing with the bitchy comments of Anne Robinson or
hoping for humiliation in ‘Beat the Teacher’ there is a lot being said about the
values and ideologies present.

The production values evident in the quality and the innovativeness of the studio
set, the kind of prizes offered, the degree of rigour in the questions asked and
the respect or lack of it offered to the contestants again says a lot about the
programme. It was a newsworthy item when a London Cabbie won the final of
‘Mastermind’ and the first £1 million winner of ‘Who Wants be a Millionaire’ was
accused of cheating. Candidates may want to investigate why they became
newsworthy. It isn’t always the cleverest who wins in a contest where strategy
plays a part. An attractive feature of quiz shows happens when everyone thinks
they too can be a winner and they get the chance to pit their wits against the
experts.

The controlled test paper is TELEVISION quiz shows. Television quiz shows are almost as old as
television broadcast with ‘What’s My Line?’ broadcast on 16 July 1951. By the end of the 1950’s
basic television quiz shows became big money winning game shows. The following is just a
selection of some of the television quiz shows broadcast on television in the past:
1951: What’s My Line? BBC
1952: Animal, Vegetable or Mineral? BBC
1955: Crackerjack (Quiz as part of show) BBC
1955: Take Your Pick ITV
1955: Double Your Money ITV
1957: Criss Cross Quiz ITV
1967: Ask the Family BBC
1970: A Question of Sport BBC
1975: Celebrity Squares ITV
1981: Bullseye ITV (combining darts skill with questions)
1996: Never Mind the Buzzcocks BBC2
2003: QI BBC2
2005: Eggheads BBC2
2008: Duel ITV