What makes a good daytime game show?
| By Finlo Rohrer BBC News Magazine |
The phrase "game show" is not one laden with positive connotations.
Along with its cousin "quiz show", it conjures up unpleasant images in the mind of the enemies of dumbing down in modern television.
 | COUNTDOWN  First broadcast in 1982 Presented by Richard Whiteley until death in 2005 Based on French show Des chiffres et des lettres Prototype Calendar Countdown broadcast on Yorkshire TV New presenter Jeff Stelling known for Sky Sport's Soccer Saturday New numbers guru is 22-year-old Oxford graduate Rachel Riley |
They think of overlit studios where gurning former local radio DJs scatter corny quips as sweating contestants struggle to name the capital of Italy or tackle three-letter anagrams.
But the recent controversy over Countdown's choice of new presenters shows the intense feelings that some tea-time game shows can generate.
For those who have never heard the immortal words "consonant please Carol", Countdown works thus:
• Two contestants go head to head making the longest words they can from a selection of letters.
• They must make a number from a selection of other numbers using addition, subtraction, division and multiplication.
• They must solve a conundrum, a nine-letter anagram.
Broadcast since the birth of Channel 4 in 1982, the show is based on a French format from the 1960s, Des Chiffres et Des Lettres.
A game show's success is all about pitching it at the right intelligence level, says William G Stewart, producer and presenter of Fifteen to One for 15 years until 2003, and twice a guest presenter on Countdown.
| SOME OF WILLIAM G STEWART'S FAVOURITE QUESTIONS 1. Who was the only person to win both a Nobel prize and an Oscar? 2. From the world of sport, what distinction did Eddie Eagan earn? 3. On a related theme, what was Philip Neame's unique achievement? Answers at the bottom |
"They must be at a level of intelligence that the viewers will appreciate. The longest running and most appreciated quiz shows have always been intelligent ones like Mastermind and University Challenge. Countdown [despite not technically being a quiz show] comes into that category."
In a daytime or teatime show, this aspect is particularly important. The picking up of viewers from the previous show, the "inheritance", may be less of a factor than on a primetime Saturday night show.
The game show needs to be a distinctive offering for intellectually under-occupied segments of the audience like retirees and students. And they want to feel almost as if they are taking part, says Countdown "octochamp" and Fifteen to One series winner Jack Welsby.
"The main thing is that people can play along at home. You have the same constraints as the contestants."
Graduate reminiscences
For Countdown, these constraints are provided by the famous illuminated clock and the music counting the 30 seconds down. "De-ne-de-ne-de-ne-nah-naaaah."
Mr Stewart is astounded by the regularity with which he hears graduates reminisce about watching Fifteen to One when they should have been studying.
|  I was described as a geography master standing in front of pupils - Terry Wogan used to call me the gauleiter  William G Stewart |
"I've been into an accountant's office and some 24-25 year-old says 'I used to watch it every day at university'. As far as I know at university they do nothing but watch Fifteen to One and Countdown."
Expanding into game shows after being an established producer of television comedy and drama, Mr Stewart has an insight into why certain formats work and others fail.
Shows are often picked up from other countries, as was the case when he brought The Price is Right and Family Fortunes (originally Family Feud) back from the US. But any format must be tinkered with to make it gel with the target audience and fit logistical constraints.
"You have to recognise a good format. I had dozens sent to me. The only one that was appealing was Twenty to One, sent to me by a British Telecom salesman. It was the best investment I ever made, two hundred pounds for a one-year option."
 Fifteen to One winners received kudos and historic artefacts rather than cash |
Of course, when the decision was made to make the show for Channel 4 instead of the BBC it had to drop down to Fifteen to One to fit into a show with adverts.
In the successful format 15 contestants have to answer two out of three questions to qualify for a second round. They then nominate each other in the second round, losing lives for wrong answers until only three remain. In the final round, they must "question or nominate", balancing the need to knock out the two remaining contestants with the need to accumulate a high score to make the finals leaderboard.
The "gladiatorial quality" was part of the format's success says Stewart, with viewers engaged by the idea that quite knowledgeable people could still see themselves knocked out in the first round.
And of course a big part of any show's success is the ambiance the hosts generate, such as the badinage of Countdown.
 Shows do not always have to be cerebral to have cult appeal |
"Over the years Countdown has developed a very distinctive feel," says Mr Welsby. "It is a cosy tea-time show. When they think of Countdown they think of Richard Whiteley's delivery and Carol Vorderman's laugh."
The viewer has to have some affinity with the host, concurs Mr Stewart. "They always thought I was like a severe teacher. I was described as a geography master standing in front of pupils. Terry Wogan used to call me the gauleiter [a Nazi party official].
"When I used to be out shopping in the high street in Richmond or Kingston I would hear a voice behind me say 'question or nominate'."
These stock phrases help brand game shows. Many might have forgotten the Euro-tinged quiz Going for Gold from the late 80s and early 90s, but give them: "I'm a type of antelope, I live in the Serengeti in Africa, I migrate in May. What am I?" and you may get a spark of recognition.
Catchphrase, the ITV game show that ran for 16 years from 1986 to 2002, was innovative in its use of computer graphics to represent maxims and sayings, but it probably sticks in the public consciousness as much for Roy Walker's handling of some of the inept efforts at answers. "It's good, but it's not right" and "say what you see" will live forever in the game show pantheon.
And of course at the root of the successful shows is quality of the puzzles and questions.
| THE ANSWERS 1. George Bernard Shaw won the Nobel prize for literature in 1925 and an Oscar for his work on the Pygmalion screenplay in 1938 2. Eagan is the only person to have won a gold medal at both the summer and winter Olympics 3. Neame is the only person to have won a Victoria Cross and an Olympic gold |
"Over the 15 years, I asked about half a dozen questions that were simply incorrect," says Mr Stewart. "Every time I did that, the letter and phone calls came in like a torrent."
Linked questions and recurring themes allow contestants like Mr Welsby to steer their educated guessing and also prepare for appearances. He remembers "Charles Dickens and the order of succession" being fertile territory on Fifteen to One.
And if all else fails, the important thing is always to have a go. Mr Welsby recalls being asked a question involving American jockeys. He only knew one. "Steve Cauthen" proved to be the correct answer.
"I managed to keep a straight face," says Mr Welsby.
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