Poll of the Year 2022
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<div class="square" style="float:left">[[Image:Square Vote.jpg]]</div> It's the poll that EVERYBODY'S talking about, The UKGameshows.com/Bother's Bar Poll of the Year 2022, and it opens January 2nd! Join us then.
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<div class="square" style="float:left">[[Image:Square Vote.jpg]]</div> We can't believe it ourselves, but it's time once again for the poll that EVERYBODY'S talking about - The UKGameshows.com/[https://www.bothersbar.co.uk/ Bother's Bar] Poll of The Year 2022!
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== Opens January 2nd ==
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Not many changes this year but the New Media Five is now the Streaming Five because it isn't 2013 any more and streaming is a much bigger part of the landscape - who knows at what point we might drop it completely and just incorporate it into the Halls of Fame and Shame? The BBC have suggested they'll become streaming only in 2030. Right now we're still in a messy period of broadcasters working things out, we now have the headache of shows appearing online with a view to getting a broadcast several months later. Hopefully we'll have more clarity by this time next year.
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This year's poll is dedicated to the memory of Emerson Milford Dickson.
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=== [https://www.youtube.com/live/gE3cMVrWhJM?feature=share&t=437 Watch the Youtube broadcast] ===
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== Hall of FAME 2022 ==
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Difficult to tell if it was a good year overall or not really - in total 45 shows got a vote which is quite a bit up on previous, but in reality six shows got lots and lots of votes (the show in sixth got three-and-a-half times the votes of seventh) and there's a rather large long tail. Still, the winners are notable so let's take a look at them now.
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9= [[Sign2Win]], [[One and Six Zeros]], [[That's My Jam]], [[The Great Big Tiny Design Challenge]]
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8- [[Starstruck]]
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7- [[Make Me Prime Minister]]
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6- [[Riddiculous]]
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=== 5- [[One Question]] ===
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We really weren't expecting much from this from the premise, have a chat with Claudia Winkleman, pick an answer to a simple question from twenty from a board and if it's right you win £100,000. In reality the execution was rather better, the writing was unexpectedly probably a bit closer to [[Jeopardy!]] than anything. It actually did OK in its rather difficult slot (or at least better than other shows) so who knows if it comes back or not. You said:
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* ''"A lot to like here. Seemingly simple questions but with a lot of clever trips and traps on the answer grid to give contestants cause to tread carefully, and made the game more of a journey - compared to the likes of Six Zeros where the plod through only slightly more questions felt a lot more like going through the motions."''
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* ''"Slow, sure, but a consistent pace, relaxed atmosphere, a fun game - honestly, it's a masterclass in minimalism in quiz shows. It's this year's Answer Trap in that it's a format that's not gotten much attention and won't get another season, but I for one will fondly remember it."''
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* ''"One Question had a sort of gentle more-ish playalong value to it, feeling a bit like Jeopardy-in-reverse, and Claudia fits this show like a glove. It's only flaw is unfortunately quite a big one, in that if you know the answer, the game is a bit redundant."''
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* ''"Deceptively simple, and props to the question setters for finding so many ways to obscure what we reckon is a single easy inquiry."''
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* ''"Nice, relaxing show, good for Friday night viewing."''
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=== 4- [[Limitless Win]] ===
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A show that at no point actually lives up to its gimmick, nonetheless Ant and Dec's quizzy take on ''Cliffhanger'' off of [[The Price is Right]] has proven fun enough on a Saturday night.
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* ''"A nice format which proved its best qualities in the very first episode when a couple won half a million. Will be interested to see if it starts feeling a “bit of wasted journey” if players start getting really far up the ladder but never actually bank the money."''
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* ''"I was quite late to this show, and the promised limitless ladder seemed a bit hollow with the difficulty of getting a bang on answer late on in the ladder. Despite that, it's not long before you get the feeling that you'd definitely play it a lot better than the contestants, and want to give it a go yourself. And, of course, Ant & Dec always add to a show."''
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* ''"Finally! A show with interesting tactics and risk/reward gameplay. It produced excruciatingly high drama, had some interesting questions, and I look forward to more in the new year."''
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* ''"Ant & Dec's latest gambit is certainly ambitious, and I find the concept of an infinite jackpot (when presented as such) quite fascinating. I suspect we'll never see anyone break 2 million, and certainly someone leaving with that much is very unlikely, but at it's core, the gameplay is really fun and a great group watch."''
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* ''"Whole family were discussing each thought provoking question, exciting, feels like someone eventually will make a very deep run."''
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=== 3- [[Bridge of Lies]] ===
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Come for ''Ross Kemp: The Gameshow'', stay for interesting quiz element, perhaps disappear before you discover how stingy the prize is split four-ways. If you liked the "does this thing belong in a category" style of question from [[Moneybags]] you'll be in your absolute element here.
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* ''"Ross Kemp proved a better host than predicted and the game is a good idea improved by its physicality. A slight peculiarity seemed to be that the endgame was often easier to complete than the main games – the win rate must have been half or even more. I’d probably make the endgame harder then you could boost the prize fund to more than a few hundred pounds per person."''
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* ''"First solid attempt at a daytime quizzer from the Beeb in a fair bit. And it manages to not be too cliche with the whole "you could play for double or half your winning so far" gimmick."''
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* ''"A simple, yet brilliant game with thought-provoking questions, and just enough tactics to make it more than a quiz. A second series could see some of the flaws: namely the rubbish set and lifelines, ironed out for a truly great daytime quiz."''
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* ''"Just felt like an absolute treat, lovely physicality with the set and a really breezy playalong value. Ross Kemp feels like an odd fit, but he doesn't hinder the show by any means."''
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* ''"An amazingly tense, yet easy-to-grasp game show which Ross Kemp hosts so naturally and excellently. Yes, the stakes played for can be laughably small, but who cares? There's real glory when a team manages to cross the final bridge."''
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* ''"...because it’s a game which has more depth than at first glance, and with bigger prize money could enter the top tier of daytime quizzes"''
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* ''"Not a perfect format by any means (the final round often being a damp squib) but I'm putting it here because a) it's really watchable and has great playalongability, and b) it's something innovative in a year of many derivative formats and repeats."''
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=== 2- [[The Traitors]] ===
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What? But this was the show EVERYBODY (media people on Twitter) was talking about! Well it turns out there was another show that got more votes (evidently) and was actually more watched as well. Still, what a show this ended up being, effectively a big-scale version of the party game ''Werewolf/Mafia'' played over a fortnight in a Scottish castle with Claudia Winkleman spending the time prowling around in incredible tweed and/or knitwear. It proved to be frequently dramatic and often hilarious thanks to its judicious choice of conversations in the editing, fun people in the casting and gothpop covers in the soundtrack. There were also some challenges to build the prize pot but nobody really watched for those.
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* ''"A couple of missteps but on the whole a show the nature of which British TV has been lacking for a long time, made magnificently."''
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* ''"If you'd have told me a couple years back I'd be getting this excited over a Dutch import of the most barebones version of Werewolf ever made, I'd be calling you a lunatic. Hell, even the theme music (which I initially thought was a step down from the epic theme music of the Dutch version) grew the hell on me. And a cover of "Toxic" playing over the first kill of the season was so on the nose it wrapped right back to brilliant."''
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* ''"Social/Strategic games on these shores tend to go wrong, with sanctimonious players unwilling to play the game properly. While this series had some of that, it was a genuinely gripping exercise in herd mentality, with some of the best production value ever seen on a UK reality show. Bonus points for the haunting soundtrack."''
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* ''"A show that truly rewarded its loyal viewers. So much drama! So many twists!"''
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* ''"The show EVERYONE is voting for surely? (Also the joke EVERYONE is making too I bet) Feels like early Big Brother as in it's a slow burn "new" type of format to Joe Public. The Red Breakfast gave it a viral moment it needed after a slow start. Series 2 has a lot to live up to"''
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* ''"It's the show that EVERYONE'S talking about, even those who are talking about how not everyone is talking about it. Since we can't have [[The Mole]] UK back this is the next best thing; and in fact knowing who the traitors are gives us the behind the scenes look at all the drama, the people being thrown under the bus, and the dramatic irony of all the terrible accusations being thrown at genuine faithfuls. No other show hooked me to the same extent this year."''
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* ''"I'm never usually a fan of reality-type shows, but this was one of the most compelling pieces of television I've ever seen. A show which would have absolutely died if the contestants were 'Reality TV' people, but worked absolutely perfectly with 22 ordinary people. Claudia played the role of the Queen of the Castle perfectly."''
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=== 1- [[The 1% Club]] ===
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I think how well this did on broadcast took a lot of people by surprise. We had heard massive horror stories about the recordings from members of the audience, which is never usually a good sign of a quality production, but then we watched it and it turned out to be a genuinely engaging hour of TV that's a bit of a Holy Grail: a quiz you weren't too embarrassed to bring up casually with friends. Ostenably it's a brainteaser version of [[Everybody's Equal]] - the audience answers increasingly difficult logic questions on keypads until a handful are left to attempt to answer a question 1% of the sample could get for all the beans. Lee Mack jollies things along with a large amount of consolation piss-taking and does quite a good job of humanizing 100 players in a short amount of time. I suspect this is going to be harder and harder to come up with questions for - quite a few in the first series were already old chestnuts, how many new things you'd need to come up with just to get results that fall into quite narrow bands doesn't bear thinking about. But that's the future, well done [[The 1% Club]] you've been voted this year's best new format.
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* ''"Great way to sneak a (relatively) brainy lateral-thinking quiz into primetime ITV, Lee Mack's levity ensuring the series didn't disappear up itself in the way the brainbox likes of Only Connect sometimes threaten to do. One of the best things on ITV in years, even if we did have to wait for a pandemic to pass until we could get enough people in a room to make it happen!"''
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* ''"This is the show that made me realise just how thick I can sometimes be, but it did so in a brilliant way; the questions were challenging but fun and Lee Mack was as funny as can be. Let's just hope that for the next series, they've made the questions easier to read during the time limit."''
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* ''"As a Lee Mack fan I wasn’t sure how he would translate to game show presenter but as it turns out this is the perfect format for him. Also great to see these kind of questions find an audience. Hopefully a few tweaks (bigger on screen Qs please!) can make this even better for Series 2."''
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* ''"It's got a great playalong factor to it, and Lee Mack is as good as one would expect. Funny to think that another star of Not Going Out has done a show involving whittling down 100 contestants..."''
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* ''"A fun family quiz for everyone to enjoy and play at home. Questions are fun and entertaining, Lee Mack has a very good hosting charm, and theme tune is a banger, definitely recommending it!"''
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* ''"Definitely one of those play-along-at-home formats which I really enjoyed. Annoyed that they didn't have a play-along app like 5 Gold Rings though!"''
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* ''"Absolutely fantastic new idea for a quiz show, lateral thinking required rather than general knowledge. Lee Mack well suited to this role, quick and off the mark! Hope another series is on the way!"''
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* ''"In the wrong hands it could have been a very dry show… Luckily it was in the right hands and was really, really enjoyable."''
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* ''"Hilariously putting this for both Hall of Fame and Hall of Shame, the faux [[1 vs 100]] retooling is actually pretty smart, the brainteaser-esque questions are excellent fun, especially for viewers at home - don't think I've ever been so involved in quiz show questions!"''
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== Hall of SHAME 2022 ==
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Unusually there were *fewer* shows on this list this year than the Hall of Fame, 40 in total. Your votes were a bit more evenly spread as well. Let's take a look at them, shall we?
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9= [[Make Me Prime Minister]], [[Starstruck]]
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8- [[Unbreakable (2)|Unbreakable]]
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7- [[The Games]]
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6- [[Limitless Win]]
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=== 5- [[Riddiculous]] ===
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A bit surprised this turned out to be the most contentious show of the year apparently but that's how you voted.
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* ''"Basically, everything about this show is the same as a show on recently. Secondly, I find the questions not compelling. The general knowledge ones are too easily and distract for the USP of the show, with something done in some many shows. While the riddles don’t seem to excite or invest me for some reason."''
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* ''"As much as I love Paul Farrer's music, sadly I have to say this quiz didn't even speak up. Some of the questions and its values aren't even balanced throughout the gameplay and the riddle master (or much like, the riddle grinchster) isn't even trying to be entertaining and acts like a kid who didn't get his christmas present and he's still sore about it to this day. [[The Tournament]] was much better since it had its own pace for their gameplay, Riddiculous struggles to find one."''
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* ''"Almost certainly too harsh giving it a HoS vote, but oh well. Unambitious to the extreme, and Henry Lewis, bless his heart, seemed out of place and surprisingly uncomfortable."''
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* ''"A sad lesson in how even with fun questions throughout, a show can be completely undermined just by having two hosts with no onscreen chemistry between them, and by killing the pacing throughout (e.g. repeating interrupted questions in full unnecessarily). A real pity."''
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=== 4- [[That's My Jam]] ===
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TV once again fails to find a format for Mo Gilligan, this one a direct version of a Jimmy Fallon spin-off show. A bit *too* direct, by the sounds of it.
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* ''"A show that thinks it’s more entertaining than it actually is. If the Brits are going to make a version of something like this it needs British-ifying. Currently it’s way too Americanized for our tastes. Mo Gilligan, in particular, is far too good for this cringe-fest."''
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* ''"Maybe recency bias, but I expected it to be quite watchable at worst, and the first two eps were actually close to unwatchable."''
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* ''"They got the tone all wrong. It was completely LA when it needed to have more homegrown charm. Some of the rounds were fun but it didn't feel like a complete show and more just like a compendium of Fallon's chat show games (which they obviously were to start with)."''
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* ''"Mo is fabulous, let's be clear about that and will go on to bigger and better things. I'm sure it's some contract thing, but lets be clear - US light entertainment doesn't work over here - UK light entertainment doesn't work over there. This halfway house is a total mess, and who cares about the naff US celebs people wouldn't turn over for in their homeland. So many poor decisions."''
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* ''"Because nothing says "BBC One primetime" more than a staged, Americanised format with celebrities we don't know!"''
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=== 3- [[Romeo & Duet]] ===
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Not a great year for music-based formats really, this was ITV's big hope - it's a singing meets dating show, basically the throwaway joke endgame from E4's [[My Little Princess]] dragged out to an entire hour fronted by Oti Mabuse.
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* ''"People like singing shows. People like dating shows. Oti Mabuse is popular on Saturday night TV. But put the three together and its poison. Choosing a date 'blind' based on a skill or talent has long made fine TV, but there was just too much going on here - judging both people's romantic compatibility and musical ability - all weighing on the shoulders of an inexperienced host whose links were a shade too shouty; bouncing off the usually witty Vikki Stone was very underused. The Baddiels had the germ of a good idea here, but somewhere along the line the trolley came a long way off the rails."''
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* ''"Another show where one idea is repeated ad nauseam for the entire episode. Basically Blind Date but with a singing element that doesn’t really relate to the dating aspect of the show. Something that also gets on my wick is when it’s clear contestants have been told to behave in a certain way – here, the “will they/won’t they get to the bottom of the stairs" routine – it’s not adding tension, it’s just annoying!"''
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* ''"Feels like light entertainment by committee. Oti totally the wrong choice and feels like ITV threw the first submission they had at her to get her away from the Beeb."''
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=== 2- [[One and Six Zeros]] ===
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A really odd commission for Channel 4, a big money quiz with a big name host just flung out to little real fanfare on early Sunday evenings. It's central conceit is actually mildly interesting - if you don't know an answer do you take a 50% cut and take a different question or risk a 90% penalty by guessing wrong? But seven questions over an hour too few, even with Dara to jolly things along.
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* ''"The one in this group that I really *wanted* to like. Dara's a fine enough host, his wit and flair honed on series from Mock the Week to Robot Wars, and the 'correct answers lock in a cash prize' idea is solid as all hell, but the execution was lacking: paced slowly (padded to fit as few as seven questions into an hour), placed oddly (a million-quid quiz sitting at six on a Sunday?) which gave it a 'doesn't really matter what happens' vibe. Would like to see it back with the problems fixed, but that's sadly unlikely"''
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* ''"About 10-15 years ago, slow, dragged out shows used to be all the rage but thankfully have mostly fallen out of favour. It’s disappointing, then, that this show seems to be from that bygone age, potentially spinning out as few as seven questions to an entire hour of screen time, barely getting out of first gear in terms of tone. There’s the basis of a clever game in there but it’s drowned in so much bland sauce that you can barely taste it."''
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* ''"This has to be the slowest paced quiz show I’ve ever seen- it just dragged out forever and the format which should have been so simple was made unnecessarily confusing."''
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* ''"It’s a shame, because there is a rather interesting game mechanic lurking underneath the lackluster production of this show. Why is it so laid back when the stakes are so high? Why does the set look like a level from the Backrooms? Why are the graphics so uneven? Dara deserved better."''
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* ''"Big fan of Dara, but this was just rubbish. Interesting prize structure let down by a weird diminishing team mechanic in a desperate attempt to create some sort of tension."''
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* ''"Nice idea, no budget went on the set or determining the pacing was way off what it could've been. Least exciting way to watch someone potentially win an exciting prize."''
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* ''"Love Dara but this is the least exciting show offering a million pounds. Felt really slow."''
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* ''"It's a good idea but I got so bored of the waffle that I tuned out about halfway through and spent the rest of the show identifying which Glasgow landmarks could be seen in the background."''
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=== 1- [[Fastest Finger First]] ===
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On the face of it this isn't actually that bad an idea, a feeder show into the main event if you like, but in reality there was no joined-up thinking into how to make it work - a week of shows and then a few weeks later these people just appear on [[Who Wants to be a Millionaire]]. If it was a midweek show with the winner going into that Saturday's Millionaire than maybe, at least there is some synergy in that where the two shows can advertise each other. As it is, who cares? As for the show itself, quite a fun quickfire ladder building element followed by multiple minutes of watching people stare at a screen stabbing at buttons answering ordering questions which is just as fun as that sounds. And in the end the first 75% of the show is largely irrelevant as only the final round counted. Hilariously, having put these people through a more rigourous selection process than FFF would be on the show, one contestant got into the hotseat and crashed out with nothing. There are currently no plans for a second series. Anita Rani still waiting for a quiz breakout hit.
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* ''"While the host was excellent much of rest of it lets it down. It is slow lacking a round type or two. Secondly particularly given it is a Millionaire qualifier, certainly in the fast finger first segment, the question difficulty is far too easy."''
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* ''"A qualifying show for Millionaire isn’t necessarily a bad idea, however, this is so repetitive that you’ve seen everything you’re ever going to see in the first 10 mins."''
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* ''"FFF works on Millionaire because it's a nice quick introduction to the show. What they were thinking when they decided to extend this into a one hour show is absolutely beyond me. It's a real shame for Anita Rani, a very good host who has received to killer blows of A) A very good show that nobody watched, and B) A very bad show that everybody watched and universally hated."''
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* ''"A completely unnecessary addition to Millionaire, that was stretched beyond belief to an hour-long format, made as dreary and dull as possible, and made to feel so low stakes, it stands in firm contrast to the main show. "''
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* ''"Having a “qualifier” to be on Millionaire used to just be the phone lines… the Fastest Finger round is far too thin a format point to spin off into its own show."''
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* ''"What a total mess, this quiz doesn't even resemble the original WWTBAM format nor even tries to become one. The repeating process of quick-fire and duels are so dull and too repetitive, it's just another airtime filler. And what's worst, only the final duel (which is quite similar to a weakest link penalty shootout) is important to win the whole game."''
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* ''"Because how anyone could hear the suggestion “let’s take the bit that’s so widely regarded as the worst bit of Millionaire that most territories dropped if ages ago and make that the basis of an entire format” and actually think that sounds like a good plan is beyond baffling."''
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* ''"Why did this have to exist? And at such a weird air time too - perhaps as a lead-in to that night's Millionaire it would've been better, whereas now by the time Millionaire aired I had completely forgotten who the winners were."''
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== Streaming Five of 2022 ==
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Really pleased this has been getting more votes the longer it's been running - the streaming space isn't going away any time soon after all. The top five are still dominated by online communities but whilst they're still producing excellent content I'm not sure this is a problem, and still says quite a lot about how difficult it is for a format on the big streamers to break through to the mainstream markets.
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=== 5- [https://play.acast.com/s/fingersonbuzzers Fingers on Buzzers] (Podcast) ===
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Lucy and Jenny are back with their quizzing based podcast! Although they're a bit more sproadic these days.
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* ''"Still interesting (and fun to have my listener quiz featured!) – not really enough episodes a year!"''
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=== 4- [https://www.twitch.tv/topper1gaming Topper1gaming's Quizzcal Evening] (Twitch) ===
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Lots of general positive noises for the Twitch Community based channels this year which is nice (but a bit unhelpful when I have to split them up like this year).
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* ''"I regret not chipping in a vote for Topper in last year's vote. His original formats of Elimination and CheckList are incredibly strong and fun to play with, and his ports of Rebound and Slam (France) have been great additions to his channel."''
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* ''"Topper's taken to this business like he's been doing it for years. As much as we love joking about the title, Checkvist is always a chill time, and I'm so glad he's implemented the best crossword based quizzer."''
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* ''"A man who shares my appreciation for forgotten gems and weird little flop formats, with excellent attention to detail and graphical design. And what a hairline!"''
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=== 3 - [https://www.twitch.tv/royal_flush RoyalFlush's Game Night] (Twitch) ===
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* ''"Ben's streams are fun to play along with, and he has an astonishingly large library of formats to play with. I enjoy being part of the community and playing the test runs of new games; whether or not they make it to the regular rotation, it's interesting getting to see how everything's put together in a miniature masterclass on format development."''
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* ''"I think Ben's finally started holding himself to a schedule this year, and it's showing - the games are getting better and better. The Hive especially has become a bit of a favourite of mine."''
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* ''"Royal's Game Night (got to really!) or if we're going more specific, The Hive was probably my best new game of the year, though the January charity stream was also good fun."''
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=== 2- [https://lateralcast.com/ Lateral With Tom Scott] (Podcast and [https://www.youtube.com/lateralcast Youtube]) ===
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Extremely strong showing from Tom here, a no-stakes reversioning of his ''What? When? Where?''-esque quiz tournament from a few years ago where he sits down with pleasant Youtube chums and answer unusual lateral thinking questions. A jolly listen.
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* ''"Not sure why the Lateral name was reused here - this is more QI-like, in the Citation Needed mould, rather than the OC-esque original run. But as a fan of shows which turn interesting and unusual facts and trivia into fun, this was quite pleasant to see. More of this sort of thing, please!"''
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* ''"You know how you get a spate of lavishly produced costume dramas that wow the critics just a few weeks before the Oscar nominations deadline? This is blatant UKGS/Bother's Bar Poll Bait in the same way, but happily the questions and casts are consistently good enough to make it very worthy of its almost inevitable victory. I've even stopped disliking the theme music."''
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* ''"A fun reimagining of this idea but a very strange decision to upload the first episode in full to YouTube and then force you to seek out audio-only providers for subsequent weeks."''
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=== 1- [https://www.twitch.tv/at_bash Ash The Bash's Quiz Night] (Twitch) ===
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Continues to dominate the space and this year held a very successful live event which impressed actual TV computer systems people so much there was talk of actual positions going. Incredible.
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* ''"An excellent game show streamer with an excellent community. In addition to fun quizzes on a regular basis, he is skilled at organizing larger events, such as 500 Questions, Time Shock, and an entire two-day gaming conference with his community. Whatever he comes up with next, I look forward to seeing it."''
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* ''"Okay yes, it's probably odds on to win the poll again, but it's been an absolute joy again this year - Time Shock a few weeks ago was brilliant, Lewcario finishing 500 Questions was fantastic, and QNL was the party that we all needed after the pandemic."''
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* ''"Glorious heaps of fun whenever forgotten-by-TV formats 1 vs 100, Duel, Secret Fortune, Turnabout or Wipeout are the main game on stream, which they frequently are. Also that time Ash booked out a venue in London for a whole weekend of top quizzing which he expertly compèred... once the audio was working properly, that is."''
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* ''"The Time Shock tournament was a visual and aural delight. Everything this man does blows me away."''
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Here's some stuff that didn't quite make the top five, a complete list of nominated formats will be listed on Bother's Bar: [https://www.youtube.com/@AllThingsQuiz All Things Quiz] (Youtube), [https://www.youtube.com/@NoMoreJockeys No More Jockeys] (Youtube), [https://www.netflix.com/title/81286686 The Mole] (Netflix), [https://www.netflix.com/title/81480089 Run For The Money] (Netflix), [https://shows.acast.com/tv-show-podcast TV Show and Tell] (Podcast), [https://www.netflix.com/title/81333845 Is It Cake?] (Netflix), [https://www.netflix.com/title/81326202 Bullshit] (Netflix), [https://www.netflix.com/title/81044551 The Circle] (Netflix), [https://www.itv.com/watch/loaded-in-paradise/10a2042/10a2042a0001 Loaded in Paradise] (ITVX)
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== The Golden Five of 2022 ==
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Our long term project to see which shows you like and finding the exact point you get a bit fed up of popular formats. Perhaps you're a little *too* comfortable with this, or so expectant of the results, we got virtually no supporting comments so this year we will dive into the archive to see how shows are doing.
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=== 5- [[The Chase]] ===
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This has been slowly sliding down the table over the past five years, topping the chart in 2017 and this is its lowest position since 2010, it only just pipped [[The Wheel]] into this position this year. Still, it's been a great run if this is its final year in the Golden Five. Interestingly of the Golden Five, it's still the show that reliably rates the highest, frequently ITV's highest rating show outside of the news.
 +
 
 +
=== 4- [[The Traitors]] ===
 +
 
 +
The inevitable new entry and always amusing when a new entry does better in the the Golden Five than it does in the Hall of Fame - [[The 1% Club]] finished joint 8th.
 +
 
 +
=== 3- [[Richard Osman's House of Games]] ===
 +
 
 +
Slowly climbing since 2017 where it came 8th, but having a few years in second, coming third this year and last is that *it* for ROHoG in the Golden Five? The primetime editions got a bit lost, but the daily ones seem to be going from strength to strength. At time of going to press just celebrated its 500th episode as well.
 +
 
 +
=== 2- [[Taskmaster]] ===
 +
 
 +
4th, 4th, 4th, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, and 2nd this year, so in theory 2nd next year and the year after and then gets to number one. Every couple of months it feels like there's a new version popping up internationally. Who could have predicted one of the world's most unexpectedly successful formats is a show that started on Dave?
 +
 
 +
=== 1- [[Only Connect]] ===
 +
 
 +
Topped the chart on its very first outing in 2008, stayed at 1 for a bit, dropped a bit when [[Pointless]] became really popular, then [[The Chase]] and has topped the charts every year since 2018. Has been more popular than ''Eastenders'' for over a year now, perhaps they ought to switch slots.
 +
 
 +
Bubbling Under: 6- [[The Wheel]], 7- [[Moneybags]], 8= [[I Literally Just Told You]], [[The 1% Club]], [[The Masked Singer]]
 +
 
 +
== Magic Moments ==
 +
 
 +
Finally let's take a look at just some of your favourite moments over the year, illustrated where possible.  Spoilers for '''The Traitors''' at the end.
 +
 
 +
* ''"[https://www.reddit.com/r/therewasanattempt/comments/v81wbo/to_ask_a_question_on_a_quiz_show/ The Tenable Iceland Frozen Vegetables question]"''
 +
* ''"TENABLE'S ICELAND QUESTION, the moment that created it's own following in the Internet!"''
 +
 
 +
* ''"[https://www.youtube.com/embed/gBW1XzjXr0c?start=171  Mat Armitage becoming the first amputee to climb up the Warped Wall]"''
 +
* ''"The first single leg amputee in the world to complete the Warped Wall on Ninja Warrior UK"''
 +
 
 +
* ''"In "The Wheel": Jonathan cashing out with the show's highest ever total: £116,000"''
 +
* ''"Helen winning £82,000 by answering just one question on The Wheel followed a few weeks later by Jonathan winning a record-breaking £116,000 when Darren Harriott knew his NFTs."''
 +
* ''"Jonathan clearing the entire wheel himself, then becoming the shows' biggest winner after accumulating £58,000 and then playing to double it."''
 +
* ''"Ally McCoist winning nurse 86k."''
 +
 
 +
* ''"[https://twitter.com/tvmoneybags/status/1559966641454284800  Kate Robbins on Moneybags accidentally revealing an answer….which turns out to be the first bag.]"''
 +
* ''"Green Eyed Monster on Moneybags."''
 +
 
 +
* ''"In "Ant & Dec's Limitless Win": Will and Kathryn cashing out with £500,000."''
 +
* ''"£500,000 win on the first episode of Limitless Win after they just knew off the top of their head what year Amazon was founded."''
 +
* ''"Will and Kathryn winning £500,000 on Limitless Win!"''
 +
 
 +
* ''"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nraCOyWfymA  Alisha Dixon covering Stormzy's Shut Up to the tune of a Disney song on It's My Jam needs a wider audience even if the show itself flops.]"''
 +
 
 +
* ''"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SQofLfEQZUo Countdown: - Tom Stevenson. I don't really need to say more, do I? Only the fourth player ever to score a cumulative total of over 1000 points in his eight original appearances; record single game score; unbeaten in every round in the heats...]"''
 +
* ''"Pretty much the whole of Tom Stevenson on Countdown. What a performance, what a series of performances, what a champion, what a thoroughly nice guy!"''
 +
* '' Tom Stevenson's record breaking score of 154 on Countdown, plus going 160 rounds without losing one"''
 +
 
 +
* ''"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EFWvu_fGeLE Fern Brady's "Oh No" at almost every task in Taskmaster.]"''
 +
 
 +
* ''"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ytnfFiTAijw  Bridget Christie repeatedly saying "Stopcock" over and over again and ending up on Greg's chair]"''
 +
* ''"Bridget Christie's stopcock."''
 +
 
 +
* ''"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZEdmIgck3AU  John Kearns being told to sabotage his team on Taskmaster, and his teammates genuinely thinking he was completely inept up until his treachery was revealed]"''
 +
* ''"John Kearns being the mole in that one task/the hand task."''
 +
* ''"Pretty much every John Kearns moment on Taskmaster but mainly sabotaging his team (Bonus points for the uncaring 'oh noooooo'"''
 +
* ''"John Kearns sabotaging the team task on Taskmaster is probably the most I laughed at the TV all year. John for Celeb Traitors"''
 +
 
 +
And so we'll end on '''The Traitors''', two bits came up by far the most in your comments...
 +
 
 +
* ''"[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_02PmhA-Spk Tom confesses that Alex is his girlfriend/Red breakfast]"''
 +
* ''"The absolute chaos at breakfast on ep 4 of The Traitors where secrets get revealed and wires get uncrossed with explosive and hilarious results. My jaw didn't leave the floor throughout."''
 +
 
 +
* ''"[[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ON8dMsWzsw  The ending of The Traitors, where Wilfred has a complete villainous breakdown, while Hannah screams as she realizes she’s been duped. Incredibly high emotions on display and would have been amazing telly were it not for Keiran ruining it.]"''
 +
* ''"  "My parting gift..." - The Traitors. He knew what was happening and thought "F**k it, I'm taking you down with me." Brutal and brilliant.]"''
 +
* ''"Kieran totally Mark Anthony-ing Wilf on The Traitors, changing the winners of the series with one brilliant act of passive aggressive revenge."''
 +
* ''"Will revealed as a traitor after Kieran outed him at the last round table."''
 +
* ''"Kieran's 'parting gift' on The Traitors: genius! Surprised the Faithfuls picked up the hint though."''
 +
 
 +
== The Fire of Truth ==
 +
 
 +
That's it! We're done for another year. But the game's not over until you say so, as ever [https://www.bothersbar.co.uk/?p=14312 Bother's Bar] has all the statistics if you want to have a peruse. If not, thanks for voting, thanks for reading, we'll hopefully see you next year.

Current revision as of 22:47, 20 June 2024

Image:Square Vote.jpg
We can't believe it ourselves, but it's time once again for the poll that EVERYBODY'S talking about - The UKGameshows.com/Bother's Bar Poll of The Year 2022!

Not many changes this year but the New Media Five is now the Streaming Five because it isn't 2013 any more and streaming is a much bigger part of the landscape - who knows at what point we might drop it completely and just incorporate it into the Halls of Fame and Shame? The BBC have suggested they'll become streaming only in 2030. Right now we're still in a messy period of broadcasters working things out, we now have the headache of shows appearing online with a view to getting a broadcast several months later. Hopefully we'll have more clarity by this time next year.

This year's poll is dedicated to the memory of Emerson Milford Dickson.

Contents

Watch the Youtube broadcast

Hall of FAME 2022

Difficult to tell if it was a good year overall or not really - in total 45 shows got a vote which is quite a bit up on previous, but in reality six shows got lots and lots of votes (the show in sixth got three-and-a-half times the votes of seventh) and there's a rather large long tail. Still, the winners are notable so let's take a look at them now.

9= Sign2Win, One and Six Zeros, That's My Jam, The Great Big Tiny Design Challenge

8- Starstruck

7- Make Me Prime Minister

6- Riddiculous

5- One Question

We really weren't expecting much from this from the premise, have a chat with Claudia Winkleman, pick an answer to a simple question from twenty from a board and if it's right you win £100,000. In reality the execution was rather better, the writing was unexpectedly probably a bit closer to Jeopardy! than anything. It actually did OK in its rather difficult slot (or at least better than other shows) so who knows if it comes back or not. You said:

  • "A lot to like here. Seemingly simple questions but with a lot of clever trips and traps on the answer grid to give contestants cause to tread carefully, and made the game more of a journey - compared to the likes of Six Zeros where the plod through only slightly more questions felt a lot more like going through the motions."
  • "Slow, sure, but a consistent pace, relaxed atmosphere, a fun game - honestly, it's a masterclass in minimalism in quiz shows. It's this year's Answer Trap in that it's a format that's not gotten much attention and won't get another season, but I for one will fondly remember it."
  • "One Question had a sort of gentle more-ish playalong value to it, feeling a bit like Jeopardy-in-reverse, and Claudia fits this show like a glove. It's only flaw is unfortunately quite a big one, in that if you know the answer, the game is a bit redundant."
  • "Deceptively simple, and props to the question setters for finding so many ways to obscure what we reckon is a single easy inquiry."
  • "Nice, relaxing show, good for Friday night viewing."

4- Limitless Win

A show that at no point actually lives up to its gimmick, nonetheless Ant and Dec's quizzy take on Cliffhanger off of The Price is Right has proven fun enough on a Saturday night.

  • "A nice format which proved its best qualities in the very first episode when a couple won half a million. Will be interested to see if it starts feeling a “bit of wasted journey” if players start getting really far up the ladder but never actually bank the money."
  • "I was quite late to this show, and the promised limitless ladder seemed a bit hollow with the difficulty of getting a bang on answer late on in the ladder. Despite that, it's not long before you get the feeling that you'd definitely play it a lot better than the contestants, and want to give it a go yourself. And, of course, Ant & Dec always add to a show."
  • "Finally! A show with interesting tactics and risk/reward gameplay. It produced excruciatingly high drama, had some interesting questions, and I look forward to more in the new year."
  • "Ant & Dec's latest gambit is certainly ambitious, and I find the concept of an infinite jackpot (when presented as such) quite fascinating. I suspect we'll never see anyone break 2 million, and certainly someone leaving with that much is very unlikely, but at it's core, the gameplay is really fun and a great group watch."
  • "Whole family were discussing each thought provoking question, exciting, feels like someone eventually will make a very deep run."

3- Bridge of Lies

Come for Ross Kemp: The Gameshow, stay for interesting quiz element, perhaps disappear before you discover how stingy the prize is split four-ways. If you liked the "does this thing belong in a category" style of question from Moneybags you'll be in your absolute element here.

  • "Ross Kemp proved a better host than predicted and the game is a good idea improved by its physicality. A slight peculiarity seemed to be that the endgame was often easier to complete than the main games – the win rate must have been half or even more. I’d probably make the endgame harder then you could boost the prize fund to more than a few hundred pounds per person."
  • "First solid attempt at a daytime quizzer from the Beeb in a fair bit. And it manages to not be too cliche with the whole "you could play for double or half your winning so far" gimmick."
  • "A simple, yet brilliant game with thought-provoking questions, and just enough tactics to make it more than a quiz. A second series could see some of the flaws: namely the rubbish set and lifelines, ironed out for a truly great daytime quiz."
  • "Just felt like an absolute treat, lovely physicality with the set and a really breezy playalong value. Ross Kemp feels like an odd fit, but he doesn't hinder the show by any means."
  • "An amazingly tense, yet easy-to-grasp game show which Ross Kemp hosts so naturally and excellently. Yes, the stakes played for can be laughably small, but who cares? There's real glory when a team manages to cross the final bridge."
  • "...because it’s a game which has more depth than at first glance, and with bigger prize money could enter the top tier of daytime quizzes"
  • "Not a perfect format by any means (the final round often being a damp squib) but I'm putting it here because a) it's really watchable and has great playalongability, and b) it's something innovative in a year of many derivative formats and repeats."

2- The Traitors

What? But this was the show EVERYBODY (media people on Twitter) was talking about! Well it turns out there was another show that got more votes (evidently) and was actually more watched as well. Still, what a show this ended up being, effectively a big-scale version of the party game Werewolf/Mafia played over a fortnight in a Scottish castle with Claudia Winkleman spending the time prowling around in incredible tweed and/or knitwear. It proved to be frequently dramatic and often hilarious thanks to its judicious choice of conversations in the editing, fun people in the casting and gothpop covers in the soundtrack. There were also some challenges to build the prize pot but nobody really watched for those.

  • "A couple of missteps but on the whole a show the nature of which British TV has been lacking for a long time, made magnificently."
  • "If you'd have told me a couple years back I'd be getting this excited over a Dutch import of the most barebones version of Werewolf ever made, I'd be calling you a lunatic. Hell, even the theme music (which I initially thought was a step down from the epic theme music of the Dutch version) grew the hell on me. And a cover of "Toxic" playing over the first kill of the season was so on the nose it wrapped right back to brilliant."
  • "Social/Strategic games on these shores tend to go wrong, with sanctimonious players unwilling to play the game properly. While this series had some of that, it was a genuinely gripping exercise in herd mentality, with some of the best production value ever seen on a UK reality show. Bonus points for the haunting soundtrack."
  • "A show that truly rewarded its loyal viewers. So much drama! So many twists!"
  • "The show EVERYONE is voting for surely? (Also the joke EVERYONE is making too I bet) Feels like early Big Brother as in it's a slow burn "new" type of format to Joe Public. The Red Breakfast gave it a viral moment it needed after a slow start. Series 2 has a lot to live up to"
  • "It's the show that EVERYONE'S talking about, even those who are talking about how not everyone is talking about it. Since we can't have The Mole UK back this is the next best thing; and in fact knowing who the traitors are gives us the behind the scenes look at all the drama, the people being thrown under the bus, and the dramatic irony of all the terrible accusations being thrown at genuine faithfuls. No other show hooked me to the same extent this year."
  • "I'm never usually a fan of reality-type shows, but this was one of the most compelling pieces of television I've ever seen. A show which would have absolutely died if the contestants were 'Reality TV' people, but worked absolutely perfectly with 22 ordinary people. Claudia played the role of the Queen of the Castle perfectly."

1- The 1% Club

I think how well this did on broadcast took a lot of people by surprise. We had heard massive horror stories about the recordings from members of the audience, which is never usually a good sign of a quality production, but then we watched it and it turned out to be a genuinely engaging hour of TV that's a bit of a Holy Grail: a quiz you weren't too embarrassed to bring up casually with friends. Ostenably it's a brainteaser version of Everybody's Equal - the audience answers increasingly difficult logic questions on keypads until a handful are left to attempt to answer a question 1% of the sample could get for all the beans. Lee Mack jollies things along with a large amount of consolation piss-taking and does quite a good job of humanizing 100 players in a short amount of time. I suspect this is going to be harder and harder to come up with questions for - quite a few in the first series were already old chestnuts, how many new things you'd need to come up with just to get results that fall into quite narrow bands doesn't bear thinking about. But that's the future, well done The 1% Club you've been voted this year's best new format.

  • "Great way to sneak a (relatively) brainy lateral-thinking quiz into primetime ITV, Lee Mack's levity ensuring the series didn't disappear up itself in the way the brainbox likes of Only Connect sometimes threaten to do. One of the best things on ITV in years, even if we did have to wait for a pandemic to pass until we could get enough people in a room to make it happen!"
  • "This is the show that made me realise just how thick I can sometimes be, but it did so in a brilliant way; the questions were challenging but fun and Lee Mack was as funny as can be. Let's just hope that for the next series, they've made the questions easier to read during the time limit."
  • "As a Lee Mack fan I wasn’t sure how he would translate to game show presenter but as it turns out this is the perfect format for him. Also great to see these kind of questions find an audience. Hopefully a few tweaks (bigger on screen Qs please!) can make this even better for Series 2."
  • "It's got a great playalong factor to it, and Lee Mack is as good as one would expect. Funny to think that another star of Not Going Out has done a show involving whittling down 100 contestants..."
  • "A fun family quiz for everyone to enjoy and play at home. Questions are fun and entertaining, Lee Mack has a very good hosting charm, and theme tune is a banger, definitely recommending it!"
  • "Definitely one of those play-along-at-home formats which I really enjoyed. Annoyed that they didn't have a play-along app like 5 Gold Rings though!"
  • "Absolutely fantastic new idea for a quiz show, lateral thinking required rather than general knowledge. Lee Mack well suited to this role, quick and off the mark! Hope another series is on the way!"
  • "In the wrong hands it could have been a very dry show… Luckily it was in the right hands and was really, really enjoyable."
  • "Hilariously putting this for both Hall of Fame and Hall of Shame, the faux 1 vs 100 retooling is actually pretty smart, the brainteaser-esque questions are excellent fun, especially for viewers at home - don't think I've ever been so involved in quiz show questions!"

Hall of SHAME 2022

Unusually there were *fewer* shows on this list this year than the Hall of Fame, 40 in total. Your votes were a bit more evenly spread as well. Let's take a look at them, shall we?

9= Make Me Prime Minister, Starstruck

8- Unbreakable

7- The Games

6- Limitless Win

5- Riddiculous

A bit surprised this turned out to be the most contentious show of the year apparently but that's how you voted.

  • "Basically, everything about this show is the same as a show on recently. Secondly, I find the questions not compelling. The general knowledge ones are too easily and distract for the USP of the show, with something done in some many shows. While the riddles don’t seem to excite or invest me for some reason."
  • "As much as I love Paul Farrer's music, sadly I have to say this quiz didn't even speak up. Some of the questions and its values aren't even balanced throughout the gameplay and the riddle master (or much like, the riddle grinchster) isn't even trying to be entertaining and acts like a kid who didn't get his christmas present and he's still sore about it to this day. The Tournament was much better since it had its own pace for their gameplay, Riddiculous struggles to find one."
  • "Almost certainly too harsh giving it a HoS vote, but oh well. Unambitious to the extreme, and Henry Lewis, bless his heart, seemed out of place and surprisingly uncomfortable."
  • "A sad lesson in how even with fun questions throughout, a show can be completely undermined just by having two hosts with no onscreen chemistry between them, and by killing the pacing throughout (e.g. repeating interrupted questions in full unnecessarily). A real pity."

4- That's My Jam

TV once again fails to find a format for Mo Gilligan, this one a direct version of a Jimmy Fallon spin-off show. A bit *too* direct, by the sounds of it.

  • "A show that thinks it’s more entertaining than it actually is. If the Brits are going to make a version of something like this it needs British-ifying. Currently it’s way too Americanized for our tastes. Mo Gilligan, in particular, is far too good for this cringe-fest."
  • "Maybe recency bias, but I expected it to be quite watchable at worst, and the first two eps were actually close to unwatchable."
  • "They got the tone all wrong. It was completely LA when it needed to have more homegrown charm. Some of the rounds were fun but it didn't feel like a complete show and more just like a compendium of Fallon's chat show games (which they obviously were to start with)."
  • "Mo is fabulous, let's be clear about that and will go on to bigger and better things. I'm sure it's some contract thing, but lets be clear - US light entertainment doesn't work over here - UK light entertainment doesn't work over there. This halfway house is a total mess, and who cares about the naff US celebs people wouldn't turn over for in their homeland. So many poor decisions."
  • "Because nothing says "BBC One primetime" more than a staged, Americanised format with celebrities we don't know!"

3- Romeo & Duet

Not a great year for music-based formats really, this was ITV's big hope - it's a singing meets dating show, basically the throwaway joke endgame from E4's My Little Princess dragged out to an entire hour fronted by Oti Mabuse.

  • "People like singing shows. People like dating shows. Oti Mabuse is popular on Saturday night TV. But put the three together and its poison. Choosing a date 'blind' based on a skill or talent has long made fine TV, but there was just too much going on here - judging both people's romantic compatibility and musical ability - all weighing on the shoulders of an inexperienced host whose links were a shade too shouty; bouncing off the usually witty Vikki Stone was very underused. The Baddiels had the germ of a good idea here, but somewhere along the line the trolley came a long way off the rails."
  • "Another show where one idea is repeated ad nauseam for the entire episode. Basically Blind Date but with a singing element that doesn’t really relate to the dating aspect of the show. Something that also gets on my wick is when it’s clear contestants have been told to behave in a certain way – here, the “will they/won’t they get to the bottom of the stairs" routine – it’s not adding tension, it’s just annoying!"
  • "Feels like light entertainment by committee. Oti totally the wrong choice and feels like ITV threw the first submission they had at her to get her away from the Beeb."

2- One and Six Zeros

A really odd commission for Channel 4, a big money quiz with a big name host just flung out to little real fanfare on early Sunday evenings. It's central conceit is actually mildly interesting - if you don't know an answer do you take a 50% cut and take a different question or risk a 90% penalty by guessing wrong? But seven questions over an hour too few, even with Dara to jolly things along.

  • "The one in this group that I really *wanted* to like. Dara's a fine enough host, his wit and flair honed on series from Mock the Week to Robot Wars, and the 'correct answers lock in a cash prize' idea is solid as all hell, but the execution was lacking: paced slowly (padded to fit as few as seven questions into an hour), placed oddly (a million-quid quiz sitting at six on a Sunday?) which gave it a 'doesn't really matter what happens' vibe. Would like to see it back with the problems fixed, but that's sadly unlikely"
  • "About 10-15 years ago, slow, dragged out shows used to be all the rage but thankfully have mostly fallen out of favour. It’s disappointing, then, that this show seems to be from that bygone age, potentially spinning out as few as seven questions to an entire hour of screen time, barely getting out of first gear in terms of tone. There’s the basis of a clever game in there but it’s drowned in so much bland sauce that you can barely taste it."
  • "This has to be the slowest paced quiz show I’ve ever seen- it just dragged out forever and the format which should have been so simple was made unnecessarily confusing."
  • "It’s a shame, because there is a rather interesting game mechanic lurking underneath the lackluster production of this show. Why is it so laid back when the stakes are so high? Why does the set look like a level from the Backrooms? Why are the graphics so uneven? Dara deserved better."
  • "Big fan of Dara, but this was just rubbish. Interesting prize structure let down by a weird diminishing team mechanic in a desperate attempt to create some sort of tension."
  • "Nice idea, no budget went on the set or determining the pacing was way off what it could've been. Least exciting way to watch someone potentially win an exciting prize."
  • "Love Dara but this is the least exciting show offering a million pounds. Felt really slow."
  • "It's a good idea but I got so bored of the waffle that I tuned out about halfway through and spent the rest of the show identifying which Glasgow landmarks could be seen in the background."

1- Fastest Finger First

On the face of it this isn't actually that bad an idea, a feeder show into the main event if you like, but in reality there was no joined-up thinking into how to make it work - a week of shows and then a few weeks later these people just appear on Who Wants to be a Millionaire. If it was a midweek show with the winner going into that Saturday's Millionaire than maybe, at least there is some synergy in that where the two shows can advertise each other. As it is, who cares? As for the show itself, quite a fun quickfire ladder building element followed by multiple minutes of watching people stare at a screen stabbing at buttons answering ordering questions which is just as fun as that sounds. And in the end the first 75% of the show is largely irrelevant as only the final round counted. Hilariously, having put these people through a more rigourous selection process than FFF would be on the show, one contestant got into the hotseat and crashed out with nothing. There are currently no plans for a second series. Anita Rani still waiting for a quiz breakout hit.

  • "While the host was excellent much of rest of it lets it down. It is slow lacking a round type or two. Secondly particularly given it is a Millionaire qualifier, certainly in the fast finger first segment, the question difficulty is far too easy."
  • "A qualifying show for Millionaire isn’t necessarily a bad idea, however, this is so repetitive that you’ve seen everything you’re ever going to see in the first 10 mins."
  • "FFF works on Millionaire because it's a nice quick introduction to the show. What they were thinking when they decided to extend this into a one hour show is absolutely beyond me. It's a real shame for Anita Rani, a very good host who has received to killer blows of A) A very good show that nobody watched, and B) A very bad show that everybody watched and universally hated."
  • "A completely unnecessary addition to Millionaire, that was stretched beyond belief to an hour-long format, made as dreary and dull as possible, and made to feel so low stakes, it stands in firm contrast to the main show. "
  • "Having a “qualifier” to be on Millionaire used to just be the phone lines… the Fastest Finger round is far too thin a format point to spin off into its own show."
  • "What a total mess, this quiz doesn't even resemble the original WWTBAM format nor even tries to become one. The repeating process of quick-fire and duels are so dull and too repetitive, it's just another airtime filler. And what's worst, only the final duel (which is quite similar to a weakest link penalty shootout) is important to win the whole game."
  • "Because how anyone could hear the suggestion “let’s take the bit that’s so widely regarded as the worst bit of Millionaire that most territories dropped if ages ago and make that the basis of an entire format” and actually think that sounds like a good plan is beyond baffling."
  • "Why did this have to exist? And at such a weird air time too - perhaps as a lead-in to that night's Millionaire it would've been better, whereas now by the time Millionaire aired I had completely forgotten who the winners were."

Streaming Five of 2022

Really pleased this has been getting more votes the longer it's been running - the streaming space isn't going away any time soon after all. The top five are still dominated by online communities but whilst they're still producing excellent content I'm not sure this is a problem, and still says quite a lot about how difficult it is for a format on the big streamers to break through to the mainstream markets.

5- Fingers on Buzzers (Podcast)

Lucy and Jenny are back with their quizzing based podcast! Although they're a bit more sproadic these days.

  • "Still interesting (and fun to have my listener quiz featured!) – not really enough episodes a year!"

4- Topper1gaming's Quizzcal Evening (Twitch)

Lots of general positive noises for the Twitch Community based channels this year which is nice (but a bit unhelpful when I have to split them up like this year).

  • "I regret not chipping in a vote for Topper in last year's vote. His original formats of Elimination and CheckList are incredibly strong and fun to play with, and his ports of Rebound and Slam (France) have been great additions to his channel."
  • "Topper's taken to this business like he's been doing it for years. As much as we love joking about the title, Checkvist is always a chill time, and I'm so glad he's implemented the best crossword based quizzer."
  • "A man who shares my appreciation for forgotten gems and weird little flop formats, with excellent attention to detail and graphical design. And what a hairline!"

3 - RoyalFlush's Game Night (Twitch)

  • "Ben's streams are fun to play along with, and he has an astonishingly large library of formats to play with. I enjoy being part of the community and playing the test runs of new games; whether or not they make it to the regular rotation, it's interesting getting to see how everything's put together in a miniature masterclass on format development."
  • "I think Ben's finally started holding himself to a schedule this year, and it's showing - the games are getting better and better. The Hive especially has become a bit of a favourite of mine."
  • "Royal's Game Night (got to really!) or if we're going more specific, The Hive was probably my best new game of the year, though the January charity stream was also good fun."

2- Lateral With Tom Scott (Podcast and Youtube)

Extremely strong showing from Tom here, a no-stakes reversioning of his What? When? Where?-esque quiz tournament from a few years ago where he sits down with pleasant Youtube chums and answer unusual lateral thinking questions. A jolly listen.

  • "Not sure why the Lateral name was reused here - this is more QI-like, in the Citation Needed mould, rather than the OC-esque original run. But as a fan of shows which turn interesting and unusual facts and trivia into fun, this was quite pleasant to see. More of this sort of thing, please!"
  • "You know how you get a spate of lavishly produced costume dramas that wow the critics just a few weeks before the Oscar nominations deadline? This is blatant UKGS/Bother's Bar Poll Bait in the same way, but happily the questions and casts are consistently good enough to make it very worthy of its almost inevitable victory. I've even stopped disliking the theme music."
  • "A fun reimagining of this idea but a very strange decision to upload the first episode in full to YouTube and then force you to seek out audio-only providers for subsequent weeks."

1- Ash The Bash's Quiz Night (Twitch)

Continues to dominate the space and this year held a very successful live event which impressed actual TV computer systems people so much there was talk of actual positions going. Incredible.

  • "An excellent game show streamer with an excellent community. In addition to fun quizzes on a regular basis, he is skilled at organizing larger events, such as 500 Questions, Time Shock, and an entire two-day gaming conference with his community. Whatever he comes up with next, I look forward to seeing it."
  • "Okay yes, it's probably odds on to win the poll again, but it's been an absolute joy again this year - Time Shock a few weeks ago was brilliant, Lewcario finishing 500 Questions was fantastic, and QNL was the party that we all needed after the pandemic."
  • "Glorious heaps of fun whenever forgotten-by-TV formats 1 vs 100, Duel, Secret Fortune, Turnabout or Wipeout are the main game on stream, which they frequently are. Also that time Ash booked out a venue in London for a whole weekend of top quizzing which he expertly compèred... once the audio was working properly, that is."
  • "The Time Shock tournament was a visual and aural delight. Everything this man does blows me away."

Here's some stuff that didn't quite make the top five, a complete list of nominated formats will be listed on Bother's Bar: All Things Quiz (Youtube), No More Jockeys (Youtube), The Mole (Netflix), Run For The Money (Netflix), TV Show and Tell (Podcast), Is It Cake? (Netflix), Bullshit (Netflix), The Circle (Netflix), Loaded in Paradise (ITVX)

The Golden Five of 2022

Our long term project to see which shows you like and finding the exact point you get a bit fed up of popular formats. Perhaps you're a little *too* comfortable with this, or so expectant of the results, we got virtually no supporting comments so this year we will dive into the archive to see how shows are doing.

5- The Chase

This has been slowly sliding down the table over the past five years, topping the chart in 2017 and this is its lowest position since 2010, it only just pipped The Wheel into this position this year. Still, it's been a great run if this is its final year in the Golden Five. Interestingly of the Golden Five, it's still the show that reliably rates the highest, frequently ITV's highest rating show outside of the news.

4- The Traitors

The inevitable new entry and always amusing when a new entry does better in the the Golden Five than it does in the Hall of Fame - The 1% Club finished joint 8th.

3- Richard Osman's House of Games

Slowly climbing since 2017 where it came 8th, but having a few years in second, coming third this year and last is that *it* for ROHoG in the Golden Five? The primetime editions got a bit lost, but the daily ones seem to be going from strength to strength. At time of going to press just celebrated its 500th episode as well.

2- Taskmaster

4th, 4th, 4th, 3rd, 3rd, 3rd, and 2nd this year, so in theory 2nd next year and the year after and then gets to number one. Every couple of months it feels like there's a new version popping up internationally. Who could have predicted one of the world's most unexpectedly successful formats is a show that started on Dave?

1- Only Connect

Topped the chart on its very first outing in 2008, stayed at 1 for a bit, dropped a bit when Pointless became really popular, then The Chase and has topped the charts every year since 2018. Has been more popular than Eastenders for over a year now, perhaps they ought to switch slots.

Bubbling Under: 6- The Wheel, 7- Moneybags, 8= I Literally Just Told You, The 1% Club, The Masked Singer

Magic Moments

Finally let's take a look at just some of your favourite moments over the year, illustrated where possible. Spoilers for The Traitors at the end.

  • "In "The Wheel": Jonathan cashing out with the show's highest ever total: £116,000"
  • "Helen winning £82,000 by answering just one question on The Wheel followed a few weeks later by Jonathan winning a record-breaking £116,000 when Darren Harriott knew his NFTs."
  • "Jonathan clearing the entire wheel himself, then becoming the shows' biggest winner after accumulating £58,000 and then playing to double it."
  • "Ally McCoist winning nurse 86k."
  • "In "Ant & Dec's Limitless Win": Will and Kathryn cashing out with £500,000."
  • "£500,000 win on the first episode of Limitless Win after they just knew off the top of their head what year Amazon was founded."
  • "Will and Kathryn winning £500,000 on Limitless Win!"

And so we'll end on The Traitors, two bits came up by far the most in your comments...

The Fire of Truth

That's it! We're done for another year. But the game's not over until you say so, as ever Bother's Bar has all the statistics if you want to have a peruse. If not, thanks for voting, thanks for reading, we'll hopefully see you next year.

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