Weakest Link

Who would've thought that Anne Robinson would become a sight to be reckoned with on both sides of the atlantic?

It's not surprising to know why the " The Weakest Link" became such a show that had more than just a few average heads turning in it's direction.

This is more than just a typical game show to begin with. . .Gone are the days when pathetic game shows featuring annoying fake charmed contestants would congratulate one another for beating the best one out. This one really bites the dust!

Anne Robinson has become one HELL of a lean mean killing machine with her brute-force cutthroat comments towards her contestants, narrowing it down to more of a black and white outlook.

It's even amazing to learn that this is not of those "go lucky game shows" where everyone leaves satisfied, but more realistic with the way everyone responds to winning and losing.

This truly is a GAME for the new Millenium. ROCK ON Anne Robinson, you are the strongest link.

The Weakest Link is great telly! So nice to see a gameshow where all the contestants, and the host, aren't doing that same old smiley, friendly stuff. You go on a show like this to win....so it's great that you can actually say what the hell you like about the others. It's gripping because at home it's dead easy and they all look like rabbits trapped in headlights. Plus, real jealousy rears it's ugly head!! I love it!!

I also won it in March 2001, so perhaps I'm slightly biased...but what the hell!

Come on, giving a show a 1/10 shows you are giving an extremely biased review. Let's rate shows on their merit.

I am giving this show a 7 because it is extremely entertaining to watch. Anne may be the cock of the walk in this show, but she gets her fair share of insults from the contestants who have the gumption to dish it back out. It is interesting to see people's real personalities come out among strangers--sometimes people are sneaky, other times they are very noble and allow others to stay on and compete against them even though they pose a greater threat.

The voting off can be very unfair, which is something I hate about this show. In plenty of episodes people gang up to eliminate specific individuals based on their gender, ethnicity or sexual orientation. These are the moments when Anne's personality makes the show, however. We have all seen an episode where Anne calls a contestant out on ganging up on one individual, when it is clear that one person is not being voted off for being the "weakest link," but for being the only woman left, etc.

The truth of the matter is that Anne has a very unique personality and one that is captivating for others to watch. She is a quick-witted person and makes a great moderator for a game show that pits contestants against each other. I'm in the US, and everyone I know who has seen this show thinks Anne is far more entertaining to watch than her American male replacement.

I've never heard Anne make a comment that could not be taken all in good fun, but she maintains her hard exterior because the show is supposed to have a no-nonsense approach. The cut-throat nature of it all makes the jabs and the personal interaction among contestants that much more interesting, and keeps the suspense high when time is counting down.

I love this show and cannot get enough. I always consider it a treat when I happen across it flipping through channels.

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.

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!!