First & Last

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(Review's cribbed from the Week, re-write at your discretion.)
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== Broadcast ==
== Broadcast ==
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Zeppotron (part of EndemolShine) for BBC One, 4 January 2020 to present
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Zeppotron (part of EndemolShineGroup) for BBC One, 4 January 2020 to present
</div>
</div>
== Synopsis ==
== Synopsis ==
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Three press releases floated across our desk. Here's what the second one said:
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The show begins with Jason Manford on stage, with eleven large cardboard boxes. Deftly, he explains the premise of the show. You don't want to be first, you don't want to be last. This show is for the middling, the average, the people in the middle.
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: Jason Manford is to front a brand-new, primetime comedy gameshow for BBC One with one very simple rule: don’t come first or last.
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Jason's script continues by explaining The Leaping Out of a Box Round. All eleven contestants are in these cardboard boxes. They'll decide when to leap out of the box.
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: ''First And Last'', which is being produced by Zeppotron (part of Endemol Shine UK), is a brand new six-part series that will put contestants through a succession of ingenious rounds, all of which have one golden rule - players mustn’t come first or last in any game. If they do, they will be eliminated.
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<div class=image>
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[[File:First and last out of box.jpg|400px]]
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''Jack's out of a box''
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</div>
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: Eleven players start each show and compete across a range of downright daft, stupidly funny, play-along-at-home games that will see one of them leave with a cash prize of up to £10,000. To win, they’ll need to judge every round to perfection and hold their nerve in the nail-biting endgame.
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The audience cheers when someone rises, but the cheers quickly turn to disappointed "ah"s. First person out of their box is out of the show. Last person out of their box is out of their show.
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{{notaired}}
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Next comes the Internet Search Round, where all the contenders write down a search topic (a famous person, a hashtag, something to find on internet sale), and the J-MAC Supercomputer researches how many hits come back. Most and least hits are off the show.
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<div class=image>
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[[File:First and last computer.jpg|400px]]
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''Made from cardboard and flashing lights, it's large enough to hide a researcher inside.''
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</div>
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Before the next round, there's a need to establish the order of play. To do this, we have The Weighing A Vegetable You've Brought From Home Interlude. In this interlude, the contestants put a vegetable that they've brought from home on some scales, and weigh it. It's almost entirely irrelevant to proceedings, so it's all done with the maximum of fuss.
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Then we're into The Picking An Answer Round, where seven options present themselves. Which of these television shows uses the chosen word most (or least)? Which of these fancy-dress runners completed a marathon fastest (or slowest)? Which word appeared most (or least) in a patter song?
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<div class=image>
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[[File:First and last jason manford on phone.jpg|400px]]
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''Yeah, they're all made from re-heated cardboard boxes. Thanks for calling Pizza Shack.''
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</div>
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Two alternatives for the next round. On some shows, the contestants go into the audience and try to find someone who isn't the oldest or youngest.
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On other shows, it's The Round Where Your Friend's On The Phone. Our players call someone, and give them a studio number to ring back within five minutes. First person to call is out; last person to call is out. For our money, this is the far better segment. We're back to the show's first round, waiting for something to happen, but this time we can see the tension and worry on the players' faces. They're no longer anonymous cardboard boxes, they're people we've come to know.
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All of this leads to The Round Where They Name Their Own Prize Finale, where the show becomes serious. Each player writes down their preferred prize, "up to £10,000". Whoever writes the largest prize wins nothing; whoever writes the smallest prize wins nothing. The player in the middle wins what they've written down.
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<div class=image>
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[[File:First and last winner.jpg|400px]]
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''You've won a decent sum!''
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</div>
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''First & Last'' was in Development Hell for over a decade. Pilots were filmed with [[Justin Lee Collins]] and Lee Mack, while they tried to find the right host. And while they found the right mixture of challenges - it turns out that when you ask people to do physical things but not be very good, the results are not very good.
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It's a big dumb show, guileless and aware of its weaknesses, and determined to have a good time. Jason gently ramps up the tension throughout, and we're pleasantly surprised to find that we do actually care about the result.
== Key moments ==
== Key moments ==
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== Trivia ==
== Trivia ==
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First piloted in 2006 with [[Justin Lee Collins]].
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First piloted in 2006 with [[Justin Lee Collins]]. A further pilot, with [[Lee Mack]], was recorded circa 2013. The format also ran for a short time on Italian television.
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 +
The first series was intended for transmission in a family viewing slot around 6 o'clock on Saturday nights. There was fierce competition between performance shows - BBC1's [[The Greatest Dancer]] versus ITV's [[The Masked Singer]] and [[The Voice UK]] - and viewers could only watch one at a time. ''First & Last'' was caught in the scheduling crossfire, and went out around 8.30 in the evening, later than ideal.
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== See also ==
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[[Weaver's Week 2020-01-26|Weaver's Week review]]
[[Category:Family Game]]
[[Category:Family Game]]
[[Category:Endemol Productions]]
[[Category:Endemol Productions]]
[[Category:Current]]
[[Category:Current]]
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[[Category:Awaiting Review]]
 

Revision as of 10:12, 26 January 2020

Contents

Host

Justin Lee Collins (unbroadcast pilots)

Lee Mack (unbroadcast pilot)

Jason Manford

Broadcast

Zeppotron (part of EndemolShineGroup) for BBC One, 4 January 2020 to present

Synopsis

The show begins with Jason Manford on stage, with eleven large cardboard boxes. Deftly, he explains the premise of the show. You don't want to be first, you don't want to be last. This show is for the middling, the average, the people in the middle.

Jason's script continues by explaining The Leaping Out of a Box Round. All eleven contestants are in these cardboard boxes. They'll decide when to leap out of the box.

Jack's out of a box

The audience cheers when someone rises, but the cheers quickly turn to disappointed "ah"s. First person out of their box is out of the show. Last person out of their box is out of their show.

Next comes the Internet Search Round, where all the contenders write down a search topic (a famous person, a hashtag, something to find on internet sale), and the J-MAC Supercomputer researches how many hits come back. Most and least hits are off the show.

Made from cardboard and flashing lights, it's large enough to hide a researcher inside.

Before the next round, there's a need to establish the order of play. To do this, we have The Weighing A Vegetable You've Brought From Home Interlude. In this interlude, the contestants put a vegetable that they've brought from home on some scales, and weigh it. It's almost entirely irrelevant to proceedings, so it's all done with the maximum of fuss.

Then we're into The Picking An Answer Round, where seven options present themselves. Which of these television shows uses the chosen word most (or least)? Which of these fancy-dress runners completed a marathon fastest (or slowest)? Which word appeared most (or least) in a patter song?

Yeah, they're all made from re-heated cardboard boxes. Thanks for calling Pizza Shack.

Two alternatives for the next round. On some shows, the contestants go into the audience and try to find someone who isn't the oldest or youngest.

On other shows, it's The Round Where Your Friend's On The Phone. Our players call someone, and give them a studio number to ring back within five minutes. First person to call is out; last person to call is out. For our money, this is the far better segment. We're back to the show's first round, waiting for something to happen, but this time we can see the tension and worry on the players' faces. They're no longer anonymous cardboard boxes, they're people we've come to know.

All of this leads to The Round Where They Name Their Own Prize Finale, where the show becomes serious. Each player writes down their preferred prize, "up to £10,000". Whoever writes the largest prize wins nothing; whoever writes the smallest prize wins nothing. The player in the middle wins what they've written down.

You've won a decent sum!

First & Last was in Development Hell for over a decade. Pilots were filmed with Justin Lee Collins and Lee Mack, while they tried to find the right host. And while they found the right mixture of challenges - it turns out that when you ask people to do physical things but not be very good, the results are not very good.

It's a big dumb show, guileless and aware of its weaknesses, and determined to have a good time. Jason gently ramps up the tension throughout, and we're pleasantly surprised to find that we do actually care about the result.

Key moments

The six seconds or so the eleventh contestant to jump out of their box/release their bucket got on screen.

The episode where five out of nine contestants spelled the name of their celebrity incorrectly in Trawl of Fame, spelling their names as Louie Walsh to Holly Wilabey, Jorga Smith, Danial Radcliffe and Robert D'Nero.

Trivia

First piloted in 2006 with Justin Lee Collins. A further pilot, with Lee Mack, was recorded circa 2013. The format also ran for a short time on Italian television.

The first series was intended for transmission in a family viewing slot around 6 o'clock on Saturday nights. There was fierce competition between performance shows - BBC1's The Greatest Dancer versus ITV's The Masked Singer and The Voice UK - and viewers could only watch one at a time. First & Last was caught in the scheduling crossfire, and went out around 8.30 in the evening, later than ideal.

See also

Weaver's Week review

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