Saturday Night TV Quizzing - Who Dares Wins Returns and The Bank Job!

I was pleased last night to see Who Dares Wins return as the National Lotterys Saturday Night Game show. This is by far and away my favourite of all the Lottery quiz programmes and in fact one of my favourite quiz shows on tv. It's one of the most perfect play along at home TV quiz shows currently around and bar one or two minor issues its a very entertaining show.

In case you have not seen the show before the premise is very simple. Two teams of two strangers compete in each match. A topic is presented such as "Americas 50 most populated states" or "Plays of William Shakespeare" and each team has to bid on how many correct answers they feel they can get. Both teams cannot hear each others discussions but are told the bid. They continue the bidding until one team decides to let the other have a go at the list. If a team bids say "8" should they win the bid they take on the list, if they get 8 they win the game if they fail to get 8 the other team win. First to 2 wins and then its onto a final where 15 answers can net £50,000.

Who Dare's Wins has a great question setting team who come up with fantastic topics that really do stretch the mind and make you even doubt your own knowledge. Its great playing along at home, there are plenty of games played in the 50 minute show usually having two full games with finals played out.

One down side is what I have to call the "tension" factor. I can only assume Nick Knowles and the team decide even before the list starts when the "tense" moment is going to be. This involves Knowles doing his best Chris Tarrant impression in making the contestants doubt themselves, with the drama in the music revved up and close ups of the contestants. The trouble here is that nine times of out ten they do this on really obvious answers.....so for example like I said if a team bids fifteen answers, the production crew must decide before hand that whatever the ninth answer is they are going to dramatise it. Like I said, nine times out of ten this happens on really obvious answers that 99% of viewers are going to know is right so it kinda takes the edge of a little.

Other than that one minor flaw Who Dares Wins is a fun, entertaining and challenging show that is perfect prime time Saturday night viewing and its just a shame this is only penned in for an 8 episode series.

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Secondly....

I did not get chance to see the first few episodes of the Bank Job. I am sure I read somewhere this was a gameshow not a quiz question based show so did not watch it and stumbled across it last night flicking channels after Who Dares Wins. I had actually played the online version of the Bank Job without ever seeing the show as by the time I realised it was a quiz show it was Friday morning!

Anyway, I wont go too much into the premise other than to say you basically answer questions, choose a box deal or no deal style, collect money and decide whether to leave the vault with the money and go through to the next round. One eliminated each round leading to a Share or Steal Golden Balls style final.

The questions were all very easy, all very entertainment based and a typical channel 4 show with a cast of Under-30's. It was all very Deal or No Deal style melodrama, all very over the top and all very dramatic, but with £467,000 on the line who can blame them. The questions as I said were easy although many were asked incorrectly, and bar one on Rivers I cant remember others which weren't about entertainmentt or news of 2011. 15-to-1 The Bank Job isnt!

However, after only ten minutes I found myself sucked in and before I knew it I had watched an hour and a half of the show and the final showdown was approaching. There must have been something keeping me watching and it certainly was not the standard of questions.

The final showdown was as I said Trash or Cash (think Golden Balls share or steal) and it ended with both Trashing meaning the three runners up won the money.....over £150,000 each. George Lamb was a decent presenter of this show and  Channel 4 did a good job of meeting their aim of creating a tense mix of a few recent gameshows on TV. I am sure this was a ratings winners and it entertained me, I would certainly watch another series as something clearly drew me in.
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And just before I log off for the day, good luck to Sunderland today in the FA Cup against Peterborough. Martin O Neil has got us playing fantastic now and I have been waiting for years for a good cup run. Haway the lads!