The Button

Current revision as of 03:24, 8 October 2024

Host

Alex Horne (voice of The Button)

Broadcast

Avalon for BBC One, 20 April to 8 June 2018 (8 episodes in 1 series)

Synopsis

Back in the early years of the century, TV shows encouraged us to "press the red button for playalong fun". Now this fashion has passed, the button has popped out of the television set.

Five households have agreed to play The Button's game. Their homes have been rigged up with cameras, and over the course of the day they'll play five fun challenges.

Press red now.

Challenges of skill, intellect, determination, and outright silliness. Name as many countries of the world as you can. Find someone called Gary. Stand in a silly position.

A silly position.

Each challenge is worth more money - £1000 for the first, £5000 for the last. Only the winners of each show can take their prize and leave the contest, and the winners are offered a bonus of £10,000 to come back next week. Everyone else stays to play again: like on Going for Gold, victory is the only escape.

The Button is fun and feelgood. Alex Horne announces his presence with a cheery "Hello, households!", and the programme is cut to show all the interesting bits. We don't need to see all the waiting around, so we don't. Alex also banters with the contestants, and will react to something someone said.

The final challenge is always spectacular.

By keeping the same teams from week to week, we're able to draw out some of their personalities. Loud screaming from one household, a string of defeats for another. The producers cast some very diverse households, with different ways of thinking.

Inventor

Original concept by Tris Cotterill. Developed by Alex Horne and Andy Devonshire, also responsible for Taskmaster.

Title music

Studio 13 and Richard Thomas are credited as "Composers".

Trivia

Voted the Best New Show in this site's Poll of 2018.

Scheduled at 8:30 on Fridays. To give you an idea of how inappropriate that slot was, the fourth episode actually rated higher when it was repeated at ten past midnight around 28 hours later, after the Eurovision Song Contest.

Web links

BBC programme page

Feedback

@@ Line 1: / Line 1: @@
-[[File:Button logo.jpg|300px]]
+<div class="image">[[File:Button logo.jpg|300px]]</div>
 <div class="box">
 == Host ==
@@ Line 8: / Line 9: @@
 == Broadcast ==
-Avalon for BBC One, 20 April 2018 to present <!--8 episodes in 1 series-->
+Avalon for BBC One, 20 April to 8 June 2018 (8 episodes in 1 series)
 </div>
 == Synopsis ==
-The BBC Press Office previewed the programme:
+Back in the early years of the century, TV shows encouraged us to "press the red button for playalong fun". Now this fashion has passed, the button has popped out of the television set.
-: The Button (the show’s host, judge and, of course, actual button) makes its debut in this brand-new game show taking place in the houses of five families who compete to win challenges in the comfort of their living rooms.
+Five households have agreed to play The Button's game. Their homes have been rigged up with cameras, and over the course of the day they'll play five fun challenges.
-: Arriving in all five locations simultaneously, The Button will set the households a series of fiendishly fun challenges requiring skill, determination and intellect, over one anything-can-happen day. At any time The Button can decide to turn red, meaning all five families must keep a vigilant eye on their talkative new house guest and press it as soon as they can to start – the games are played at precisely the same time in each home so a late push of the button puts a team at a serious disadvantage. Drawing on the resourcefulness of all members of the house, from whip-smart kids to ever-wise (you’d hope) grandparents, the families compete for big money prizes.
-: With different amounts of money up for grabs for each challenge, The Button lets the most successful household pocket everything they’ve won during the show. The losing teams get... absolutely nothing, but do return to try again next week. Each episode’s winning family must then decide whether to keep the cash and exit the series, or accept The Button’s tempting offer of a bonus £10,000 in the belief they can win again next week (although if they don’t, they lose it all).
-: Get to know The Button’s chosen households over the coming series as they spend their days waiting for their affable house guest to turn red – entrusting the all-important job of Button-watching (with varying degrees of success) to different family members, hopefully always poised to pounce the split-second it’s time to play.
-{{notaired}}
+<div class=image>
+[[File:The button nobody there.jpg|400px|The Button]]
+''Press red now.''
+</div>
+Challenges of skill, intellect, determination, and outright silliness. Name as many countries of the world as you can. Find someone called Gary. Stand in a silly position.
+<div class=image>
+[[File:The button replay.jpg|400px|The Button]]
+''A silly position.''
+</div>
+Each challenge is worth more money - £1000 for the first, £5000 for the last. Only the winners of each show can take their prize and leave the contest, and the winners are offered a bonus of £10,000 to come back next week. Everyone else stays to play again: like on [[Going for Gold]], victory is the only escape.
+''The Button'' is fun and feelgood. Alex Horne announces his presence with a cheery "Hello, households!", and the programme is cut to show all the interesting bits. We don't need to see all the waiting around, so we don't. Alex also banters with the contestants, and will react to something someone said.
+<div class=image>
+[[File:The button ball pool.jpg|400px|The Button]]
+''The final challenge is always spectacular.''
+</div>
+By keeping the same teams from week to week, we're able to draw out some of their personalities. Loud screaming from one household, a string of defeats for another. The producers cast some very diverse households, with different ways of thinking.
 == Inventor ==
-Alex Horne and Andy Devonshire, also responsible for [[Taskmaster]].
+Original concept by Tris Cotterill. Developed by Alex Horne and Andy Devonshire, also responsible for [[Taskmaster]].
+== Title music ==
+Studio 13 and Richard Thomas are credited as "Composers".
+== Trivia ==
+Voted the Best New Show in this site's [[Poll of the Year 2018#Hall of FAME 2018|Poll of 2018]].
+Scheduled at 8:30 on Fridays. To give you an idea of how inappropriate that slot was, the fourth episode actually rated higher when it was repeated at ten past midnight around 28 hours later, after the [[Eurovision Song Contest]].
 == Web links ==
@@ Line 31: / Line 61: @@
 == See also ==
+[[Weaver's Week 2018-05-27|Weaver's Week review]]
 [[Push the Button]], an Ant and Dec family game from earlier in the decade.
 [[Category:Family Game|Button, The]]
-[[Category:Current|Button, The]]
-[[Category:Awaiting Review|Button, The]]