Weakest Link

Anne Robinson was a good choice of presenter. She previously presented Points of View in a cynical way. Calling her the "queen of mean" is generous hyperbole. It's clearly an act and she can be seen breaking character by smiling or even laughing in a few instances.

The game is a basic quiz show with a banking mechanic and a voting system. Contestants would often vote off who they saw as the most competition. These two mechanics I've not seen implemented before on a quiz show. I know shows like Catchphrase had a banking mechanic, but it was automatic and didn't rely on the contestants saying bank. In the Weakest Link they would often forget or say pass by mistake, losing the team money. The cash prizes were often pretty small, I think £10, 000 was the maximum and most players took home around £4,000 or less. The game was cheap as the questions got harder and more obscure as the game went on, not to mention more long-winded to run the clock down.

Overall, this was a cold and cynical gameshow with a metallic set to match; see also Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, Shafted and Golden Balls for more of the same. Anne Robinson was a hit with viewers and the show ran for a massive 12 years as a regular series and had a US spin-off with Anne also presenting. There was also a spin-off game for PS1, PS2 and Windows which I wouldn't recommend as it's dull and for trivia fans Anne Robinson was sampled in a cheesy hard house record by the usually excellent Pants & Corset (Paul King).

The series was rebooted in 2021 for the Christmas season with Romesh Ranganathan on presenting duty. To be fair he does a good job, but it is the quiz show nobody asked to be resurrected. The cynic in me says the BBC are stuck for new ideas and programmes to fill the primetime slots.

This is quite a good quiz show . I know everyone mentions the camp nastiness of quiz mistress Anne Robinson and she does a good job of the quiz mistress from hell but the most enjoyable part of the show is laughing at the muppet contestants who show themselves to be intellectually challenged :

Robinson: Brian Cox played what notorious serial killer in Michael Mann`s 1986 film Manhunter ?

Muppet : Robert De Niro

Robinson : What is the national anthem of New Zealand ?

Another Muppet : Australia forever

I didn`t make up these two answers by the way , they`re both genuine . Makes me wonder if anyone has been turned down by the show for being too stupid , and believe it or not a complete half wit occasionally goes home with the money

The Weakest Link oddly manages to be successful despite the fact that it is a decidedly low-budget, daytime TV quiz show. There is in-built cut-throat competition between the contestants that often results in amusing bust-ups or vain egotism, and, like "Millionaire," there is a good feel of at-home playability. The only downside is the jackpot, which, at a measly £10,000, makes you wonder what all the fuss is about. In reality, the only reason why this is not just another run-of-the-mill boring game show is Anne Robinson, the presenter. She is so cruel towards the contestants that she was recently named the Meanest Person on British TV; her cutting, demoralising comments once brought a contestant to tears. Her catchphrase, which she utters whenever the weakest link (ie: the worst contestant) is voted off the show, should go down in the annals of gameshow history: "You are the weakest link. Goodbye."

This show is so funny that sometimes it can be a horrible show. I hate it when Ann makes fun of somebody when they do something wrong. She thinks that she is better than everyone else. I also hate the attitude that the contestant give after they have been voted off.

There are two reasons that Weakest Link is the greatest game show on television. One is Anne Robinson and the other is the fact that most of the questions are answerable by most most people. What makes it hard to do is the fact that you have very little time to think about your answer and if you screw up you can be voted off by your team members. Where as The Millionaire show is good, after about the $64,000 question, they get quite tough. In Weakest Link you can answer most of the questions most of the time. That gives the audience a sense that they could also be there and win the 60 or 80 thousand dollars. In the Millionaire show, unless you have a true knowledge of architecture, you would not know that I.M. Pei designed the rock and roll hall of fame. But you would know that "V" was the 80's mini series that had lizards trying to take over the world.

Anne is also the catalyst of the television show. I'm sure that most of her "Who's a couple cans short of a six pack" jibes are scripted for her before she goes on the air. But her ability to rip into the contestants is priceless. In one of the funnier episodes, she asks one contestant if he belongs to any organizations. He responds that he belongs to MENSA. What is that? she asks. He carefully responds that it is an organization for people that scored well on an I.Q. test. She asks him if he has to pay to be a part of that organization. He says yes. How much? $400.00 he responds. And that is a pity, she says, you could have used that money to buy yourself a new jacket.

Anne's caustic venom towards the contestants is priceless and she keeps me coming back time and time again. I really hope that the show permanently expands to two nights a week. Monday's are not enough. And finally, we all love her famous line, "You are the weakest link. Goodbye!"

Great show!!