Recently I attended a recording of the Weakest Link Game show as a contestant. Unfortunately I was voted off on the second round, not unfairly as I got the answers to both my questions wrong.

My early departure while not unfair could be construed as unlucky (if not somewhat unlikely!). When preparing for the weakest link I viewed several recent shows on the BBC iPlayer to estimate the number of questions I could typically answer on each round. This gave figures of between 90 and 95% for the first two rounds and something like 70 to 75% for subsequent rounds. This activity was conducted mainly to determine what my banking strategy should be, with these numbers I had decided that I should not bank the teams winnings before my question on the first two rounds, but always on subsequent rounds. It might be interesting to investigate optimal banking strategies but I did not have time for that so I settled for the above rule of thumb.

I had a total of four questions, two on each round, of which I got one right (no I can’t remember that question). The question that I got wrong on the first round was (something like): A trowel is most like what common item of cutlery? My first thought was that a trowel was not like any of the common items of cutlery (fork, knife, spoon) and as the trowel I had in mind was a builders trowel and I use mine like a large pallet knife I opted for knife. After some consultation with friends in the office we concluded that the question setters may have had a gardeners trowel in mind, which as it is dished makes some sense of the “correct” answer of a spoon. I suppose there is a possibility that the question read “garden trowel” but if so I did not hear the “garden”. On the second round my first question was the second name of the man involved in a celebrity wedding (her name and his first name given). After hearing the answer I am still no wiser as to who they were (and can’t google for them as I don’t recall their names). The last question was the name of the band responsible for a recent-ish album release (album name given), in this case at least I had heard of the band though am not knowingly familiar with their work. As I knew that the Eagles had released a new album fairly recently (Long Road Out of Eden) I offered them as my answer, the correct answer was “Guns N’ Roses”. There must have been something in the question to suggest that the band was a “classic” otherwise “Eagles” would not have suggested itself as an answer.

As questions like these should represent no more than 10% of all questions in these rounds, I suppose I was just unlucky (or was I? ).

In the first round we banked a total of £50, we had got up to £800 but then the guy who had the £1000 question received a question like my trowel question (one lacking sufficient reference to allow the victim to make the necessary connections. It was something like: What does the abbreviation CRES stand for on an addressed envelope? Seeing this written down makes this much easier but in the show with no other reference making the connection to crescent was tricky)

Anne Robinson (the host) grilled me as she does most contestants, She described by job as sexy, as I suppose it is, and asked what I actually do, to which I replied that I mostly sit around drinking coffee, scratching my head and looking puzzled. She also asked for a mathematical joke, but I offered a philosophical one, then fluffed it (it was supposed to be the Descartes joke). If I had survived longer I expect she would have grilled me about MHF.

It was a very enjoyable experience being on The Weakest Link, a real adrenalin rush. The other players are all friendly (even when planning on stabbing you in the back; I'm thinking of you Denis with one "n" ).

CB

Cool! Can we view the show somewhere?

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This show used to be programmed in France since August 2007 but was abandoned because of audience falling down.

It is a very difficult game since it goes very quickly and, as you said, you do not have so many questions to answer per round. Therefore if you are unlucky to give a bad answer, you can be easily and quickly voted off. And if you are too strong you can also be voted off by other contestants that are afraid of you. The strategy is not easy to find ...

I have attended the recording of a question game in France called "Questions pour in Champion" (do not ask me for date, it has already been programmed). There are 3 rounds and 4 contestants, one contestant being eliminated at each round. During the first round the contestants are asked questions on any subject and the fastest one who gives the right answer earns 1, 2 or 3 points depending on the question. The first one to reach 9 points is qualified for the second round. So are the second and the third ones to reach 9 points. During the second round the contestants are proposed 4 different themes. The first qualified chooses his theme and is asked questions on it during 40 seconds. The score he gains is the highest number of consecutive right answers with a limitation of 4. The second qualified can choose among the three remaining themes and so on. The 2 best contestants are qualified for the last round. During this round they are asked questions and they have alternatively the possibility to answer.

I finished first at the 1st round but although I could choose among the 4 themes, none of them ("noises and sounds in poetry", "Penal Code", "Alsace", I do not remember the last one) was interesting me and I finally got only 1 point and was eliminated at this round.

Anyway I found this experience very interesting (1st time for me on a TV set) and i do not regret anything.

Wow, thats great. I'm sure if you got Maths Questions, then you would have aced it. Do you know when it will be aired on TV? How did Anne Robinson know that you are a super moderator on MHF?

After it has been aired on TV, you should be able to watch it online on iPlayer for a week.

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It will probably be sceduled on the BBC in June (or later if pushed off the schedule for unexpected events like Wimbledon, ..) when it will be available online on BBC iplayer for a week.

CB

So I assume when you ban someone now it will be with the words "You are the weakest link. Goodbye".

(Hey, someone had to say it )

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The greater danger for most of us lies not in setting our aim too high and falling short; but in setting our aim too low and achieving our mark. (Michelangelo Buonarroti)

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Awesome story. If you had stayed on long enough to mention MHF that would have been like us paying a million dollars in advertising! I'll check out the video for sure when possible.

That's interesting !

I sometimes watch the show... and sometimes I'm speaking out loud in my living room "hey, **** is the answer ! **** is the answer !!! heeey give this answer !!!"
The magic of TV games
You need a good general culture for this one, maybe more advanced than "the weakest link".

And back when the weakest link was programmed on French TV (which I guess was before July '07, and not since o.O), it looks very easy to answer to some questions, but you're comfortably sitted in your sofa, you don't have the stress they have out there... That may explain the "unluck" ^^


@ running-gag and CB : I would really enjoy to see videos, if they exist/when they exist !

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1)I like Anne Robinson, if I had to marry someone (which I would never do, but if I was going) it will be Anne for obvious reasons.

2)I found "Weakest Link" to be stupid. The only reason why I used to watch it is because of Anne, but when they stopped showing Anne on TV I was not interested. The game itself is rather stupid. The smartest contestant never wins rather they get voted off because people are afraid of them. And the questions are pathetic. I hate celebrities with a love, and all questions about celebrities. They are just stupid, but of course they ask such questions since that is what the viewers really wants.

3)You should go on Jeopardy, I consider that to be the ultimate game show. To answer the questions on that show one needs to be really intelligent not some random person off the street. And even if you lose you still make money!

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"Democracy has proved only that the best way to gain power
over people is to assure the people that they are ruling
themselves. Once they believe that, they make wonderfully
submissive slaves." - Joseph Sobran

They are not voted off because people are afraid of them, it is a game and to maximise your chances of winning by the time of the last vote you must vote against the strongest remaining player (unless that is you when you will want the weakest player off so you can maximise your winnings).

What you do not see is the waiting around between rounds, when alliances can be formed. The game is not quite what it appears on screen.

CB

Thanks
I don't know if you need a more advanced culture. They are different games, The Weakest Link being more based on quickness and strategy.
And yes it was before July '07.
I am stopping here, it seems that I have unfortunately "flooded" CB's thread

No one owns threads, once the OP has posted its out of the bag, particularly in the chat Room and its ilk.

CB

Any news CB ?

I beleive it was broadcast on the 12th of May, not that I saw it though.

(so I still don't know what they used from the recorded interview)

CB

The Weakest Link used to be my favourite TV game show, until they cancelled it (in Australia).

Did you do anything funny going down the walk of shame? Or Spit the Dummy in your interview?

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