Poll of the Year 2012

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<div class="square" style="float:left">[[Image:Square Vote.jpg]]</div>Unbelieveably despite wind, rain and financial crashes the world did not end in 2012. But something the Mayans ''did'' predict correctly is that once again UKGameshows.com and Bother's Bar would be doing another of its polls of the year just gone. What new shows did you like? Which ones weren't you so fond of? We'd like to know.
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<div class="square" style="float:left">[[Image:Square Vote.jpg]]</div>Unbelieveably despite wind, rain and financial crashes the world did not end in 2012. But something the Mayans ''did'' predict correctly is that once again UKGameshows.com and Bother's Bar would be doing another of its polls of the year just gone. What new shows did you like? Which ones weren't you so fond of? We wanted to know.
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'''The polls are now closed!'''
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And here are your results!
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We'd like to thank everyone for contributing for towards a record amount of ballots this year. Look out for the results in the next few days!
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The voting system was ''slightly'' different to how it has been in the past, whereas you used to devote up to three votes on a single show, this year you were limited to two.
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== Hall of FAME 2012 ==
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In a record year for the amount of ballots recieved, it's also a record year for the amount of votes that were left blank.
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Still vote you did, and 34 different shows were voted in total. The ones you liked the most were:
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10: [[Don't Blow the Inheritance]]
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9: [[Fort Boyard|Fort Boyard: Ultimate Challenge]]
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7= [[School of Hard Sums]], [[Tipping Point]]
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6: [[The Bank Job]]
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===5: [[1001 Things You Should Know]] ===
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Well it's no Sandwich Quiz, but Sandi Toksvig's late in the year afternoon quiz sounds like it's been a quiet success. It's certainly one of the first shows we can think of where tactics in category selection can have proper consequences. You said:
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* "A bit of a 'quiz for thickies' but it does a lot more right than it does wrong."
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* "Another quirky little quizzer from Channel 4. The game is simple to follow, just answer questions that you should know the answers to on a wide range of categories. The set is very well-designed, Sandi Toksvig makes for a decent host and the questions are of a nice steady difficulty, of which you get 26 of them to answer in every episode (the 24 questions behind the 12 categories, the viewer question in the break and the Cashpot question at the end)."
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* "Sandi Toksvig saves this from languishing in obscurity, but it's got good strategic play in it for such a simple game."
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* "Proof that sometimes a simple premise is the best one. Also, proof that hosts don't have to be dicks to be entertaining."
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===4: [[Cleverdicks]] ===
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It's unusual to see highbrow quizzes played for reasonable cash sums but Sky had a very reasonable stab with this and the quizzing fraternity have voted in their droves. However it looks like Sky weren't quite sure with what to do with
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it and it doesn't look like coming back. The stunt host casting didn't help. You said:
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* "Another sound game, tough questions which we like to see, though perhaps not the best choice of host and definitely not the best choice of channel."
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* "A quiz where you can win up to five points by identifying the link between clues revealed one at a time - who'd have thought it??? The questions didn't have the same 'workoutability' factor that [[Only Connect]] does, which was its Achilles heel, but it was still refreshing to see a satellite channel give something like this a go."
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* "[[Mastermind]] updated, i would argue that any given heat had a quality of players that ''Mastermind'' could only dream of."
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* "Yeah yeah, Anne Widdecombe wasn't the best host, and it aired on a channel with an average viewership of twelve people and two cows. Still, a tough quizzer with its own style will always get my respect. I was very happy when they reran the series on Challenge so I could eventually watch it all."
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* "A nice refuge from endless other quiz shows which ask questions about soaps, basic GCSE history or The Only Way Is Essex. Really tough questions, prize money that you felt the winner deserved, and Ms Widdicombe sort of grew on me as a host - even though her delivery style swerved between a frantic headmisstress and your great aunt who is annoyed you've ate all the green triangle chocolates in the Quality Street tin on Christmas Evening."
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===3: [[Blockbusters]] ===
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A faithful reproduction of the original (even down to the £5 a question prizemoney) and apparently the comedy hit of the summer suggested by the amount of audience laughter that "Can I have a P please, Simon?" managed to elicit every. Single. Time. You said:
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* "Not just because the format still works but because the remake was done with a lot of respect and skill, even if the theme tune was TOO SHORT."
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* "This is exactly what I want to see from gameshows. Instead of having formats that are all about greed, lying and treachery, it's sometimes better to go back to a tried and tested format that was extremely popular in the 90s. Challenge pulled out all the stops with this wonderful revival of a British institution. Nothing changed with the core gameplay, just as it should be, and it was brought bang up to date with modern computer graphics for the board, a nice guitar twangy version of the theme music (one gripe...IT'S TOO SHORT!!!) and Simon Mayo was a wonderful replacement for the late Bob Holness. More of this, please!"
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* "Proving you don't have to rely on unfathomable new gameplay, twists, introduce hints of meance or silly tweaks with the format to revive a show. Sky played it straight and made a very watchable and faithful remake of the original. Hats in the air to Sky and the Rev Mayo."
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* "Simon Mayo did very well as host and it didn't suffer from the lack of students and the hand jive as much as I feared it might. It was a nice little nostalgia trip while it lasted wasn't it?"
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===2: [[The Exit List]] ===
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Almost certainly 2012's biggest quiz in terms of size of studio it seems to represent best this year the dichotomy of what the fans want and what the general public will watch. Happily for the show this is a poll that tends to be voted for by genre fans and it almost came top (literally a handful fo votes in it) and here's what they said:
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* "Great show with a great format that tests the memory well. Love the set, graphics, soundtrack and the panic rooms!"
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* "I'm admittedly a little biased on this, having been to see a recording of one of the better episodes, but it still had a good aesthetic and a sound game behind it."
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* In a fairly dry year for new quizzes, the Exit List was the only show that convinced me to watch all of its episodes. The format brings about some exciting, tense moments, and I found myself getting emotionally involved in the contestants' fates. Though not without its faults (slow pacing, and an eminently missable first half), the Exit List was my favourite new show. P.S. Could someone please ensure that the excellent Matt Allwright hosts another quiz in the future, please? Ta."
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* "Didn't quite work in practice, but serious points for trying a reasonably smart game show with high production values. Can we find a way to shoehorn that set into something else in the future? It would be expensive, but a daytime 30 minute version without the gamble at the end could work quite well..."
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* "All-around great format. I think part of the appeal for me is that my memory is terrible, so seeing people rattle off the long and random lists makes me wonder how I would fare in the same situation. It plays up the drama quite well, making the final reveal a pretty emotional moment. If they could pick up the pace just a tiny hair and get over the "one game to an episode, one episode to a game" formula, I'd call it perfect."
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* "Quite a good new show, even better because it had a maze."
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===1: [[Breakaway]] ===
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Bit of a surprise hit this but it is the quiz you voted as the best new UK show of 2012. First series people sort of liked but didn't love. Then London 2012 happened and now everyone understands cycling, then they made some changes for series two and everyone warmed to it very quickly. Well done ''Breakaway''!
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* "Even ignoring the much improved second season this was interesting enough a show to make the list."
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* "Standout show, good solid questions, capable hosting, and the second season made the big improvements that were needed to take this from a good show to a great show. I eagerly await its return."
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* "A classic design with nuances of tactics and psychology which have been barely explored yet. You could write a theses on when to breakaway, when to ask for assistance and who to take."
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* "The original incarnation of this quiz was relatively good fun, but had its faults. Fortunately, many of these were fixed for the second series; in particular, the ability to save the pot with a life was a welcome change. I wouldn't call it must-see viewing, but it's a pleasant thing to have on in the background."
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* "Sure, the first half of the show is meaningless, but more shows than we'd care to admit don't get going until the second half.  A great combination of quiz and tactics.  Nick Hancock is a great host for the format."
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* "''Breakaway'' took "flawed brilliance" up to eleven. The best concept of the year, and then they ruined it by writing Nintendo Hard penultimate questions once they realised that wireless buzzers and using an oversized version ofthe set for [[The Whole 19 Yards]] left them with no prize budget. My vote for this show is purely on the back of season 2, which fixed most of the problems, and deservedly saw a ratings rally as it progressed."
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* "Nick Hancock wins his wage with the show with the light-up floor, and the good mix of general knowledge and tactical play that this format brings. Any residual nastiness caused in the 'abandoning' of the team by the splitter is ironed out by the format - if the breaker fouls up, they're in greater jeopardy than with the team, providing a good balance of risk and reward. Also good to see the show addressing some of its format issues between the first and second series of 2012, with rules around lives simplified suggesting, like [[Pointless]], a willingness to evolve rather than stick stubbornly to a format. Let's hope this show survives the butchery of BBC Two's daytime, and joins the likes of [[Perfection]] in transferring to BBC One."
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Well done '''Breakaway'''!
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== Hall of SHAME 2012 ==
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As ever you seemed to have a much more fun filling this in though. Overall 40 different shows felt your ire. And of those the ones you really disliked were:
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8= [[The Voice]], [[Don't Blow the Inheritance]], [[LemonAid]]
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6= [[1001 Things You Should Know]], [[The Exit List]]
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===5: [[The Mad Bad Ad Show]] ===
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Nobody really bothered watching this, so it's probably the highest low profile show (or maybe the lowest high profile show) in this line up. Maybe it should have tried advertising itself a bit better.
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* "The clue is in the name. I really quite dislike Micky Flanagan's comedy style and the show really wanted to follow his lead."
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* "Unfunny, uneducational, almost unwatchable."
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===4: [[The Love Machine]] ===
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This was quite a big show for Sky Living featuring the talents of both one of Britain's most popular DJs and one of Britain's most popular X-Factor contestants (Chris Moyles) and also Stacey Solomon. It's managed to get two series off the back of being a little bit like [[Take Me Out]], despite not being as good as ''Take Me Out''.
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* "Even by the low, low standards of dating shows, this was nigh unwatchable."
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* "''Take Me Out'' - Paddy + Annoying Fatty + Oversized machine from [[Takeshi's Castle]] = Awful."
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* "Like ''Take Me Out'' except really boring, hilariously missing the point by playing up looks and playing down personalities. That is quite the set piece though."
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===3: [[Baggage]] ===
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This was a breakout hit in the US, hosted by Jerry Springer on the Game Show Network it quickly developed a following and made its way into US syndication. On paper, having the ever chirpy Gok Wan host a UK version for Channel 4 looks like a good idea. Unfortunately it did so badly it was taken off its Friday evening primetime slot and moved to E4, where everyone thought was a more natural fit anyway.
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* "Don't shows like this belong on E4 anyhow?"
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* "How can you stuff this up? By ruining the retribution aspect to the end game and casting people with not terribly bad foibles."
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* "The show that offended me the most this year, especially the change of the endgame from offering some agency to the person picked to "Win a holiday if you can correctly accuse your date of something awful!" Makes Take Me Out look like a masterpiece."
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* "Gok Wan was basically the only thing that worked in this show, similar to how Cilla Black was the only reason anyone watched [[Blind Date]], really."
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* I have watched every episode of the original version of this on GSN in America, hosted by Jerry Springer. So when it came to the UK, I was very excited. Watching it is like someone picking up your cute puppy and beating it to death while ''Gangnam Style'' is playing loudly in the background.
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===2: [[Tipping Point]] ===
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Well it appears that ''Tipping Point'' is the ''Mrs Brown's Boys'' of the game show world - the critics hate it, but goodness it seems to bring in the viewers. Well bring in enough viewers anyway. It is the quiz based around a giant coin pusher machine, and is either television's most exciting mix of question answering, skill and luck or a stupid dumb boring show fronted by Ben Shephard. You chose the latter.
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* "''Tipping Point'' was such a bore, to the point where I skipped all the questions and only watched the chips dropping down the machine.  And even that was like watching paint dry."
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* "Terrible idea for a show but if you accidentally see the start of a show you are hooked! I wasted pounds on 10p machines when I was younger and I've wasted minutes to ''Tipping Point''."
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* "It's a show about penny pushers. Still not quite sure how this one got past the planning stage, let alone the second series."
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* "The main arcade machine gimmick is super-slow and boring. I barely made it through the first episode."
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* "The 'tipping point' came in the first 5 minutes, when I switched it off and marked it as one to avoid in future."
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===1: [[The Bank Job]] ===
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If there was an award for most disappointing show ever, ''The Bank Job'' would be right up there. Viewer expectations were high after the show premiered its webgame six weeks before the show was starting - and the only way to qualify for the show was to prove adept at the webgame. And it was fun! Lots of fun. And then the show happened, and everyone went "oh, what a waste."
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* "TERRIBLE decision to do it live, was way too complicated to risk. And the prisoners dilemma....yet the worst decision by far for me was the "Logan's Run" rule, only those under 30 and pretty mysteriously made it onto camera"
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* "There was a really good format in there somewhere. Shame about the end game. And the production team. And George Lamb. I do think it's worth another shot though."
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* "Great idea implemented poorly. And the prisoner's dilemma! How could that not go wrong?"
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* "Frustrating enough to kick the wall: it's a good game, suffocated by poor production decisions and an endgame crowbarred in."
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* "It felt at times that the sound orignal format (as played by the on-line tie-in game) wasn't good enough during the pilot, so lets get a leery host, ditch the question cards and put the them on a tablet, broadcast the show from the most echoy location possible, and try again the share/shaft, split/steal format twist. When it worked and flowed - it was a good watch. When it fell apart, you wish the vault door would slam shut and the police arrived to take away those responsible for the crimes against quiz shows."
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* "worst format, worst narrative, worst host, worst music, worst stage management, worst tempo, worst camera work, worst climax, worst game show ever produced. Did heads roll? No, it got a second series. I've given up watching Channel 4 since."
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* "Really looking forward to seeing this after spending the odd half hour over Christmas 2011 playing the on-line game knowing I'm playing against a real other player than a random computer algorithm. Imagine, then my slight crushing disapointment once I'd watch show one.The basic gameplay of start the clock, ask question, buzz in, choose safe, bank cash, get out before clock runs out - was pretty sound. But for Endemol, that wasn't good enough. So they pressed the 'style over substance' button and stood back and admired the wreckage. And what carnage! A Wi-fi signal that played up at the business end of a round meaning questions were lost, clumsy breaks in gameplay, a host who at times didn't appear to understand the rules (and on a couple of occasions being corrected by the contestants on gameplay points) and at times presented the show in a smug and condesending manner, and do I really need to mention the prisoner dilemma show stopper? Lose that, strip out the gimmicks, put in a host who has previous with the workings of a quiz show, you have a very strong show. With the flaws in - lock the safe doors and don't let them out again. Shame."
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== The UKGameshows.com Golden Five 2012 ==
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But there were more than just new shows on last year. In this category you could vote for any show that's had a new episode broadcast in the UK during the year. Between you you chose 46 different shows, although all you've done is select the same shows from last year in a slightly different order:
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===5: [[Deal or No Deal]]===
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It's still hanging in there. It's still hanging in there. The old man of the Golden Five (the only show to be in every single one since we started doing it in 2006) continues to cling on as others would write it off, and it's still manages to entertain on a weekday afternoon, and whatever time of day Channel 4 choose to fling it out on weekends.
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* "Been in the Golden 5 since records began! Still holding up with ratings, and Noel on top form as ever."
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* "Still watchable, prone to occasional bouts of padding due to the hour running time, but on it's day still nails it. A close set, easy to pick up gameplay no matter when you came into the game, and Noel is still one of the best hosts on television."
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* "This year may go down as the most underappreciated year in ''DoND'' history. There was the odd high-profile change - celebrity specials, a long-overdue move to HD - but the bigger change was far more subtle and profound. This was the year the production team finally seemed to realise they couldn't goad players on against their will, and largely stopped trying. The result was a historic 14-box Deal, 11-box offers gaining more attention than ever before, and an emphasis on the wingers' personality rather than their obliviousness to risk. This was the year ''DoND'' stopped living in 2006."
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===4: [[The Cube]]===
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Real chance this might be the last year you see it in the Golden Five, production's gone a bit quiet after some rather lacklustre numbers this year. However despite that it has provided some of this year's best moments including (yes) THAT Mo Farah win.
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* "Getting a bit samey week-to-week, but they had some cracking moments this year."
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* "Mel Sykes and Ashley Banjo proved how great this show still is over Christmas. At moments I could barely watch, at others I was shrieking at the screen. ''The Cube'' is the [[The Crystal Maze]] of our time, simple to follow, deeply engaging and so apparently simple."
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===3: [[The Chase]]===
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In terms of raw numbers this appears to be the King of Daytime right now, a hard fought battle with ''Pointless'', but one it tends to win. And it's the sort of thing ITV used to do quite well - a quiz with unforced personality. Maybe it can learn something from that.
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* "''The Chase'' also seems to be only getting better and better - helped no end by the questions that leave Bradley in stitches. And who said Paul Sinha wouldn't be a good addition to the show?!"
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* "Probably, my teatime preference. The banter between Bradley, Chaser and contestant is wonderful and a superb question/time ratio you don't often see in a quiz nowadays."
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* "''The Chase'' continues to engage it's viewers with a very simple but brilliantly executed format, a thrilling end game and a great chemistry between Bradley and the Chasers."
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* "Voted this number 1 last year, and see no reason to change. Great fun, high question content, great banter between Bradley and the contestants, and the Chaser. All round good teatime fun."
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* "Great episodes and great contestants. Proud of the fact that my show routinely has great contestants who would be excluded from most other shows due to age or appearance" - ''Mark Labbett''
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===2: [[Only Connect]]===
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Well here's a turn up for the books - Golden Five Champion since 2008, this year ''Only Connect'' drops to second place, just as it starts hitting a million viewers regularly on BBC4. Shouldn't feel too bad, it only lost out to the
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winner by a solitary vote.
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* "Continues to provide a serious challenge, with some very good quizzers taking part. Still not convinced about the missing vowels round though."
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* "WS M (That's awesome without the vowels by the way). Brilliant host, brilliant questions (testing all sorts of general knowledge) and brilliant teams. Just brilliant."
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* "Has become the lone flag carrier for the quiz/entertainment genre on BBC Four - and easy to see why. Intelligent, baffling, entertaning, at times infurating, but always watchable."
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* "Still providing more Aha! moments than an Alan Partridge DVD."
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* "Still excellent. You’d think they might start to run out of ideas, but some of the questions this series have been more devious than ever."
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* "Partly because the question-setting is still the best on television by a country mile, but mostly because of our insights into the dark, dark world that VC is living in. Highlights include the increasingly obvious looks of disgust whenever the team picks the music round, and the Missing Vowels for boosting my points score and earning me dirty looks from my friends."
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* "How could it not be? Six series in and no sign of flagging, ''OC'' still finds ways to confuse and delight, this year's wrinkles including seeding the answer to a question into the show's introduction, a brave gambit that could only be pulled off by a show with plenty of confidence - and the still-warm response to Only Connect means this wickedly witty show has thus far survived a tightening of the BBC Four belt. The arrival of regular Connecting Wall puzzles in Radio Times and the show's rise to the million-viewers mark - still a big deal in digital games and matched only by the seemingly unbeatable and strikingly different [[Celebrity Juice]] - suggests this is a show now well established as part of the gameshow furniture."
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===1: [[Pointless]]===
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Well this is quite the turn up for the books. Richard Osman retweeting the poll to his 80,000 followers doubtless helped (by our reckoning it was worth six votes. Brand engagement, there!) but it was just enough to do the trick. A new deal means in 2013 it should pass the 500 episodes mark and it continues to successfully reinvent the rounds to avoid running out of questions. 2013 will see the beginning of a new endgame and it remains to be seen if the viewers will go for it, but right now  it's the 2012 Golden Five Champion. Well done ''Pointless'', you been a fantastic contestant!
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* "Armstrong and Osman are the ideal double act for this programme. Great revision for pub quizzes - chemical elements, countries/capitals, Oscar winners, etc."
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* "''Pointless'' seems to be only getting better and better at the moment - and quite a few of the jackpot wins in 2012 were epic, too, including the tennis buff who came up with three Pointless answers for £14,750, and the brothers who won a record £20k by knowing their countries that contain only one particular vowel. If the endgame is to be changed as Richard Osman suggested, then let's hope it's not changed such that the show's success comes to a juddering halt..."
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* "Striding weekday afternoons like colossi, this show has really come of age in the last few years and is still, despite earlier concerns about possible subject burnout, finding new ways to look at things. The show's unique sense of humour, driven by the witty gents who helm the series, has even spilled out into a spinoff book this year, and it's going to be interesting to see what happens in 2013 when Xander and Richard's lead-in swaps from CBBC shows to the likes of ''Flog It'' - sure, ratings may go up, but kids won't stumble into the show anymore, which may hit its family appeal..."
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* "Against ''The Chase'' this continues to evolve in good ways. I'm somewhat dubious about the new endgame but we'll see what they give us."
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* "I didn’t really like ''Pointless'' in its early days, but I think the key change is the way they’ve built up the role of Richard Osman – who turns out to be perfect teatime company."
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'''Bubbling under - 6: [[University Challenge]], 7: [[Secret Fortune]], 8= [[Breakaway]], [[The Great British Bake Off]], [[The Exit List]] '''
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It's quite nice to see this year's Hall of Famers make in-roads into the Top Five. Who knows what next year's Golden Five will bring? And look at ''The Great British Bake Off!'' A reality competition to break the top ten is very unusual indeed.
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==BEST IN(ternational) SHOW 2012==
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We're still playing about with this, I think. Ideally we're interested in New Formats, but this year we opened it up a little to foreign shows that have been on and you liked. Well tallying up the votes, We think only one of the top five qualifies as a new show so what we'll do is list the Top Five as is and then quickly go through the remaining shows listing the new formats and Bother's Bar will endeavour to have a look at them over the next few months. How's that?
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===5: Fort Boyard===
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In its native France it's still going after 23 series and even if it doesn't have the smarts it used to, we still enjoy watching it in the Summer to see what new things they have come up with. In 2012 there were three seasonal night timespecials where they decorated the fort magnificently, and having gone to all that effort they were big flops. Still though.
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* "Oh but the night-time specials *felt* like new shows. They were enchanting and beautiful. It didn't matter that I speak, at most, ten words of French, these specials were absolutely amazing. In particular the Christmas show was easily the best episode in recent years. Of note of course is The Sword in the Stone - On Ice. A game which actually worked better than it's non-wintery counterpart."
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===4: Let's Ask America===
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Yes lets! And by the sounds of it it's been a minor breakout hit in the markets its shown in, where it's replaced the mighty ''Wheel of Fortune''. It's a game of guessing popular answers to polls, but the big difference is that the contestants are playing from their living rooms over Skype, and in the event of a tie there's usually some sort of physical challenge where they have to race to grab something from their house. Truly it's the [[The Main Event]] for the 2012 generation. [http://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLXTG_0q-eCzUqkoRIsxwV7T3VyiEP94pd You can watch episodes on their Youtube page.]
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* "It's the only new show of note I can think of, and it has a neat little format."
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* "...hat-tip to ''Let's Ask America'' for its relentless pace if nothing else."
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===3: Wie is De Mol?===
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It's very interesting that this show in Dutch received votes where something like ''Survivor'' did not (although ''The Amazing Race Australia'' picked up a few). Doubtless helped by friendly Dutch people putting up English languange
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translations of most of the episodes, and Bother's Bar giving it some proper coverage. Because it is exceptionally brilliant.
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[http://www.bothersbar.co.uk/?page_id=6644 Ongoing coverage of ''WIDM? 2013'' on Bother's Bar]
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* "It was fantastic to discover that one country didn’t give up on what I now consider to be the best game ever."
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===1= Schlag den Raab, Avanti un Altro!===
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Unfortunately neither of these are new formats - ''Beat Raab!'' has been going since 2006 and ''Avanti un Altro!'' actually began in 2011, but it feels new because we think it's only last year Rai put full unblocked episodes up.
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Anyway both are tremendous in different ways.
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''Schlag den Raab'' has the length of a charity telethon, but instead of dancing newsreaders and crying children it has German Superstar Stefan Raab competing with a member of the public over fifteen unusual games to defend a lifechanging amount of money and it's all completely live. Nobody knows what games are going come up, and half the fun is finding out. Currently it airs six Saturdays a year, and recently Bother's Bar have been offering live English commentary to help you understand what's going on. Of course there has already been a UK version with Vernon Kay in [[Beat the Star]] which was axed after two series.
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[http://www.bothersbar.co.uk/?p=6651 Link to an example of Bother's Bar's LIVE ''Raab'' commentary]
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* "Watching a man kick a hole in a block of potting foam on SCHLAG DEN RAAB for 3.5m was the first time I ever stood up and cheered while watching a game show."
 +
* "I've always said the key to a good overseas format is if you can't understand the language, you can still pick up whats going - such is the case with this show. Big variety of games from the low tech to the high budget, make this a six times a year Germanic treat."
 +
* "Putting the SUPERB in the Superbowl of game shows."
 +
 
 +
''Avanti un Altro'' is an incredible Italian daily quiz that perfectly fuses a high stakes quiz, chance elements and a big dollop of broad humour. Actually the humour would probably travel quite well as is from Italy to the UK, as lots of
 +
it revolves around the show's cast of characters and other staffers who come on and ask questions and banter. The day's champion gets the chance to win a huge amount of money if they can beat the astonishingly tough yet absolutely electric final round, where they must get 21 questions consecutively wrong against the clock.
 +
 
 +
[http://www.bothersbar.co.uk/?page_id=6356 Bother's Bar feature on ''Avanti Un Altro!'' including a link to watch the show online.]
 +
 
 +
* "Endemol why do we not have a UK version yet?"
 +
* "Good fun to watch, even when I can't understand the language."
 +
* "Never thought I’d find myself regularly watching a gameshow in a language I didn’t know, but ''Avanti'' is, as well as being utterly brilliant, totally ubiquitous. I’m worried a UK version would probably not get a host of the quality the show needs, but we might at least see the endgame stuck onto another quiz, it’s easily up there with wonderwall in the "best ever endgames" hall of fame."
 +
 
 +
OK, other shows further down the list that people voted for but were actually new (as far as we can tell) with links to Bother's Bar where there is coverage are:
 +
 
 +
* ''[http://www.bothersbar.co.uk/?p=5755&cpage=1#comment-36427 Battle For Money]'' (Japan)
 +
* ''[http://www.bothersbar.co.uk/?p=6097 31 Questions]'' (Australia)
 +
* ''The Pyramid'' (reversioning of The $X,000 Pyramid format, GSN in the US)
 +
* ''New Iron Chef Japan'' (Japan)
 +
* ''5 Gegen Jauch'' (Germany)
 +
* ''[http://www.bothersbar.co.uk/?p=6370 TV Total Quizboxen] (Germany - that man Stefan Raab again)
 +
* ''Opdenhovel's Countdown'' (Germany, nothing to do with [[Countdown]])
 +
* ''Dalli Dalli''
 +
* ''Den Store Bagedyst'' (by the looks of things, The Great Danish Bake Off)
 +
* ''The Block'' (Australian remake)
 +
* ''Total Blackout'' (might be earlier than 2012 elsewhere, but new in the US.)
 +
 
 +
So there we are.
 +
 
 +
==MAGIC MOMENTS of 2012==
 +
 
 +
Finally we asked you if there were any stand out moments of the year just gone. We'll list the ones that were most popular and intersperse them with some more unusual ones.
 +
 
 +
First to [[Pointless]] which seemed to have a few...
 +
 
 +
* "That contestant on Pointless who had invited along her (not very good) best friend to be her partner and looked absolutely furious at how bad she was. I fear there may have been a murder after they lost the second time."
 +
 
 +
* "Another Pointless contestant who managed to get a pointless answer by combining a random forename with a random colour in a politics round. Was pretty good."
 +
* "When a completely random guess at a surname "Name an MP with the first name David, Nick or Ed" on Pointless resulted in a Pointless answer! The resulting couple then got to the final and won the jackpot. The feelgood story of the year."
 +
* "One that stands out is the two young women who fluked a second-round pointless answer by adding the surname 'Brown' to the given name 'Nick' to find the identity of an obscure Labour MP. It was bound to happen with a lucky guess sooner or later. They then went on to win the jackpot."
 +
 
 +
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pbha6qJzQI0 "Pointless jackpot win of £20,000."]
 +
 
 +
* "[[The Great British Bake Off]] becoming cool - who would have seen that coming?"
 +
 
 +
* "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3MhQGNpoXoM Jenny Bentley recalling her ''Exit List'' for 100 000 pounds. The pure tension as she retraced her route through the maze and the sheer joy when she won the money, made this a moment of highest-class television for me.]"
 +
* "Jenny Bentley somehow remembering her ''Exit List''. And Scott and Jane Cooper making the whole game look laughably easy. Those moments hinted that the show might be this generation's [[Interceptor]] in terms of fandom acclaim relative to longevity. A shame the show was rarely that good the rest of the time."
 +
* "The two teams that won six figures on ''Exit List'', both times a serious feat of memory and guts to get the whole list and risk the money, especially the £137k-winning pair, who they played an absolutely excellent game and then had the husband risk £55k on the list - I doubt ''Exit List'' will return but I’d love to see a reprise in some form of the deal-or-no-deal style endgame. Seriously exciting."
 +
 
 +
* "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0JYaAQQHsfE Lisa Riley's samba on the semi-final of Strictly Come Dancing, and the subsequent fits of laughter from judges, contestants and audience... Also, any time Bruno Tonioli opens his mouth.]"
 +
 
 +
* "[[Only Connect]]'s sequence question based on Victoria Coren's introduction to the show! Just the thought of around 1 million people scratching their heads as the sequence was revealed saying "Surely they wouldn't do that..." made me smile!"
 +
* "The Alex Guttenplan question on the third place playoff of [[Only Connect]] made me very happy indeed."
 +
 
 +
* "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xqb3JCh1ifk Even though it flopped, the £1.5m win on Red or Black was great.]"
 +
 
 +
* "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xSnes65llPs Red or Black's farce of an endgame made me laugh. So poorly conceived, it got what it deserved.]"
 +
 
 +
Most of your moments came from big money wins:
 +
 
 +
* [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3upxdjIiujA "I nearly fell out of my chair when Nong won the quarter mill on DOND. And then I nearly cried."]
 +
* "Has to be Nong Skett becoming ''Deal or no Deal's'' 5th Quarter-millionaire. ANOTHER WOMAN! Turning down £68,000 on an all or nothing board, Very few people do THAT let alone set off conffetti!"
 +
* "Nongs £250k win on ''DOND''."
 +
* "Nong becoming the 5th quarter millionaire winner on Deal or No Deal."
 +
 
 +
* "Does a whole episode of one particular game show count as a moment? In which case, Manchester's epic 270-250 win over Clare Cambridge on [[University Challenge]] on 20 February 2012. One couldn't have asked for more from this match - both teams brilliant on the bonuses, Daniel Janes picking up ten starters for Clare, the Cambridge side recovering from a slow start, the lead changing hands plenty of times towards the end, and Manchester securing the win on pretty much the very last question. Plus Clare finished with the highest losing score in the Paxman Era, and the aggregate of 520 is the highest this century. Classic."
 +
 
 +
* "Andy trying to game the Gold Run on [[Blockbusters]] and rack up the consolation cash, only to scupper his scheme by accidentally winning - funny at the time, but he did shamefully blot his copybook by successfully implementing the scheme second time out."
 +
 
 +
* "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZGTzhLSut-I The end of the first series of ''The Bank Job'' when both finalists decided to stitch each other up and ended with nothing and the other three finalists who had been eliminated ended up winning a lot of money between them.]"
 +
 
 +
* "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T1BQxZ_ZXVg Shaun Wallace as a panto dame on the Christmas episode of ''The Chase''. Oh yes they did.]"
 +
* "The walk ons of the four chasers in the Text Santa Chase special. I nearly wet myself laughing."
 +
* "Text Santa is rapidly becoming highlight of the year for us folks at ITV so I have to nominate the Pantomime Special of ''The Chase'', genuinely brilliant family entertainment for a good cause."
 +
 
 +
And here's this year's Fanny Chmelar moment:
 +
 
 +
* "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMKq2y5aQos Tim Vine vs That Andy Capp question. "There's a hundred grand at stake here, pull yourself together!"]
 +
 
 +
Finally, by far your most nominated moment:
 +
 
 +
* "[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nlVcEElpJzw Mo Farah defeating ''The Cube''.]
 +
* "Surely had to be Mo destroying ''The Cube'', even if it was the least notable of all his achievements that year."
 +
* "Mo Farrah on The Cube of course was incredible and rightly deserves a mention for beating probably the toughest gameshow on TV at the moment.  Proper, edge-of-seat entertainment."
 +
* "After all these years, seeing Philip Schofield finally entering the Cube after Mo won the jackpot had great metaphorical impact. It probably spurred him on for the two jogs he did a few months later."
 +
* "Mo beats ''The Cube'' is my number 1 moment from this year. Not just the fact that he beat it, but that it was a total whitewash, beating so many games in one shot. Miles and miles better than anyone we’ve ever seen before. I hope, ninja warrior style, they completely change up the games now; The Cube never seems to have a disappointing new game."
 +
* "Mo Farah beating ''The Cube''. Despite the leaked spoilers and the fact that there obviously was not enough time left in the hour for Mo Farah to fail 7 times, it was still stunning to watch."
 +
* "Mo Farah beating ''The Cube'' - why they haven't considered "Barrier" as an Olympic sport after this I don't know."
 +
 
 +
==Phew, what a poll==
 +
 
 +
And that ladies and gentlemen was what you thought of 2012. Thanks to everyone who voted, you can turn over now to [http://www.bothersbar.co.uk/?p=6846 Bother's Bar for the Poll of 2012 Afterparty] with Caroline Flack and Olly Murs where you can get percentages for the main polls and whinging, probably. See you next year!
 +
 
 +
[[Category:Polls]]

Current revision as of 16:30, 15 April 2020

Image:Square Vote.jpg
Unbelieveably despite wind, rain and financial crashes the world did not end in 2012. But something the Mayans did predict correctly is that once again UKGameshows.com and Bother's Bar would be doing another of its polls of the year just gone. What new shows did you like? Which ones weren't you so fond of? We wanted to know.

And here are your results!

The voting system was slightly different to how it has been in the past, whereas you used to devote up to three votes on a single show, this year you were limited to two.

Contents

Hall of FAME 2012

In a record year for the amount of ballots recieved, it's also a record year for the amount of votes that were left blank.

Still vote you did, and 34 different shows were voted in total. The ones you liked the most were:

10: Don't Blow the Inheritance

9: Fort Boyard: Ultimate Challenge

7= School of Hard Sums, Tipping Point

6: The Bank Job

5: 1001 Things You Should Know

Well it's no Sandwich Quiz, but Sandi Toksvig's late in the year afternoon quiz sounds like it's been a quiet success. It's certainly one of the first shows we can think of where tactics in category selection can have proper consequences. You said:

  • "A bit of a 'quiz for thickies' but it does a lot more right than it does wrong."
  • "Another quirky little quizzer from Channel 4. The game is simple to follow, just answer questions that you should know the answers to on a wide range of categories. The set is very well-designed, Sandi Toksvig makes for a decent host and the questions are of a nice steady difficulty, of which you get 26 of them to answer in every episode (the 24 questions behind the 12 categories, the viewer question in the break and the Cashpot question at the end)."
  • "Sandi Toksvig saves this from languishing in obscurity, but it's got good strategic play in it for such a simple game."
  • "Proof that sometimes a simple premise is the best one. Also, proof that hosts don't have to be dicks to be entertaining."

4: Cleverdicks

It's unusual to see highbrow quizzes played for reasonable cash sums but Sky had a very reasonable stab with this and the quizzing fraternity have voted in their droves. However it looks like Sky weren't quite sure with what to do with it and it doesn't look like coming back. The stunt host casting didn't help. You said:

  • "Another sound game, tough questions which we like to see, though perhaps not the best choice of host and definitely not the best choice of channel."
  • "A quiz where you can win up to five points by identifying the link between clues revealed one at a time - who'd have thought it??? The questions didn't have the same 'workoutability' factor that Only Connect does, which was its Achilles heel, but it was still refreshing to see a satellite channel give something like this a go."
  • "Mastermind updated, i would argue that any given heat had a quality of players that Mastermind could only dream of."
  • "Yeah yeah, Anne Widdecombe wasn't the best host, and it aired on a channel with an average viewership of twelve people and two cows. Still, a tough quizzer with its own style will always get my respect. I was very happy when they reran the series on Challenge so I could eventually watch it all."
  • "A nice refuge from endless other quiz shows which ask questions about soaps, basic GCSE history or The Only Way Is Essex. Really tough questions, prize money that you felt the winner deserved, and Ms Widdicombe sort of grew on me as a host - even though her delivery style swerved between a frantic headmisstress and your great aunt who is annoyed you've ate all the green triangle chocolates in the Quality Street tin on Christmas Evening."

3: Blockbusters

A faithful reproduction of the original (even down to the £5 a question prizemoney) and apparently the comedy hit of the summer suggested by the amount of audience laughter that "Can I have a P please, Simon?" managed to elicit every. Single. Time. You said:

  • "Not just because the format still works but because the remake was done with a lot of respect and skill, even if the theme tune was TOO SHORT."
  • "This is exactly what I want to see from gameshows. Instead of having formats that are all about greed, lying and treachery, it's sometimes better to go back to a tried and tested format that was extremely popular in the 90s. Challenge pulled out all the stops with this wonderful revival of a British institution. Nothing changed with the core gameplay, just as it should be, and it was brought bang up to date with modern computer graphics for the board, a nice guitar twangy version of the theme music (one gripe...IT'S TOO SHORT!!!) and Simon Mayo was a wonderful replacement for the late Bob Holness. More of this, please!"
  • "Proving you don't have to rely on unfathomable new gameplay, twists, introduce hints of meance or silly tweaks with the format to revive a show. Sky played it straight and made a very watchable and faithful remake of the original. Hats in the air to Sky and the Rev Mayo."
  • "Simon Mayo did very well as host and it didn't suffer from the lack of students and the hand jive as much as I feared it might. It was a nice little nostalgia trip while it lasted wasn't it?"

2: The Exit List

Almost certainly 2012's biggest quiz in terms of size of studio it seems to represent best this year the dichotomy of what the fans want and what the general public will watch. Happily for the show this is a poll that tends to be voted for by genre fans and it almost came top (literally a handful fo votes in it) and here's what they said:

  • "Great show with a great format that tests the memory well. Love the set, graphics, soundtrack and the panic rooms!"
  • "I'm admittedly a little biased on this, having been to see a recording of one of the better episodes, but it still had a good aesthetic and a sound game behind it."
  • In a fairly dry year for new quizzes, the Exit List was the only show that convinced me to watch all of its episodes. The format brings about some exciting, tense moments, and I found myself getting emotionally involved in the contestants' fates. Though not without its faults (slow pacing, and an eminently missable first half), the Exit List was my favourite new show. P.S. Could someone please ensure that the excellent Matt Allwright hosts another quiz in the future, please? Ta."
  • "Didn't quite work in practice, but serious points for trying a reasonably smart game show with high production values. Can we find a way to shoehorn that set into something else in the future? It would be expensive, but a daytime 30 minute version without the gamble at the end could work quite well..."
  • "All-around great format. I think part of the appeal for me is that my memory is terrible, so seeing people rattle off the long and random lists makes me wonder how I would fare in the same situation. It plays up the drama quite well, making the final reveal a pretty emotional moment. If they could pick up the pace just a tiny hair and get over the "one game to an episode, one episode to a game" formula, I'd call it perfect."
  • "Quite a good new show, even better because it had a maze."

1: Breakaway

Bit of a surprise hit this but it is the quiz you voted as the best new UK show of 2012. First series people sort of liked but didn't love. Then London 2012 happened and now everyone understands cycling, then they made some changes for series two and everyone warmed to it very quickly. Well done Breakaway!

  • "Even ignoring the much improved second season this was interesting enough a show to make the list."
  • "Standout show, good solid questions, capable hosting, and the second season made the big improvements that were needed to take this from a good show to a great show. I eagerly await its return."
  • "A classic design with nuances of tactics and psychology which have been barely explored yet. You could write a theses on when to breakaway, when to ask for assistance and who to take."
  • "The original incarnation of this quiz was relatively good fun, but had its faults. Fortunately, many of these were fixed for the second series; in particular, the ability to save the pot with a life was a welcome change. I wouldn't call it must-see viewing, but it's a pleasant thing to have on in the background."
  • "Sure, the first half of the show is meaningless, but more shows than we'd care to admit don't get going until the second half. A great combination of quiz and tactics. Nick Hancock is a great host for the format."
  • "Breakaway took "flawed brilliance" up to eleven. The best concept of the year, and then they ruined it by writing Nintendo Hard penultimate questions once they realised that wireless buzzers and using an oversized version ofthe set for The Whole 19 Yards left them with no prize budget. My vote for this show is purely on the back of season 2, which fixed most of the problems, and deservedly saw a ratings rally as it progressed."
  • "Nick Hancock wins his wage with the show with the light-up floor, and the good mix of general knowledge and tactical play that this format brings. Any residual nastiness caused in the 'abandoning' of the team by the splitter is ironed out by the format - if the breaker fouls up, they're in greater jeopardy than with the team, providing a good balance of risk and reward. Also good to see the show addressing some of its format issues between the first and second series of 2012, with rules around lives simplified suggesting, like Pointless, a willingness to evolve rather than stick stubbornly to a format. Let's hope this show survives the butchery of BBC Two's daytime, and joins the likes of Perfection in transferring to BBC One."

Well done Breakaway!

Hall of SHAME 2012

As ever you seemed to have a much more fun filling this in though. Overall 40 different shows felt your ire. And of those the ones you really disliked were:

8= The Voice, Don't Blow the Inheritance, LemonAid

6= 1001 Things You Should Know, The Exit List

5: The Mad Bad Ad Show

Nobody really bothered watching this, so it's probably the highest low profile show (or maybe the lowest high profile show) in this line up. Maybe it should have tried advertising itself a bit better.

  • "The clue is in the name. I really quite dislike Micky Flanagan's comedy style and the show really wanted to follow his lead."
  • "Unfunny, uneducational, almost unwatchable."

4: The Love Machine

This was quite a big show for Sky Living featuring the talents of both one of Britain's most popular DJs and one of Britain's most popular X-Factor contestants (Chris Moyles) and also Stacey Solomon. It's managed to get two series off the back of being a little bit like Take Me Out, despite not being as good as Take Me Out.

  • "Even by the low, low standards of dating shows, this was nigh unwatchable."
  • "Take Me Out - Paddy + Annoying Fatty + Oversized machine from Takeshi's Castle = Awful."
  • "Like Take Me Out except really boring, hilariously missing the point by playing up looks and playing down personalities. That is quite the set piece though."

3: Baggage

This was a breakout hit in the US, hosted by Jerry Springer on the Game Show Network it quickly developed a following and made its way into US syndication. On paper, having the ever chirpy Gok Wan host a UK version for Channel 4 looks like a good idea. Unfortunately it did so badly it was taken off its Friday evening primetime slot and moved to E4, where everyone thought was a more natural fit anyway.

  • "Don't shows like this belong on E4 anyhow?"
  • "How can you stuff this up? By ruining the retribution aspect to the end game and casting people with not terribly bad foibles."
  • "The show that offended me the most this year, especially the change of the endgame from offering some agency to the person picked to "Win a holiday if you can correctly accuse your date of something awful!" Makes Take Me Out look like a masterpiece."
  • "Gok Wan was basically the only thing that worked in this show, similar to how Cilla Black was the only reason anyone watched Blind Date, really."
  • I have watched every episode of the original version of this on GSN in America, hosted by Jerry Springer. So when it came to the UK, I was very excited. Watching it is like someone picking up your cute puppy and beating it to death while Gangnam Style is playing loudly in the background.

2: Tipping Point

Well it appears that Tipping Point is the Mrs Brown's Boys of the game show world - the critics hate it, but goodness it seems to bring in the viewers. Well bring in enough viewers anyway. It is the quiz based around a giant coin pusher machine, and is either television's most exciting mix of question answering, skill and luck or a stupid dumb boring show fronted by Ben Shephard. You chose the latter.

  • "Tipping Point was such a bore, to the point where I skipped all the questions and only watched the chips dropping down the machine. And even that was like watching paint dry."
  • "Terrible idea for a show but if you accidentally see the start of a show you are hooked! I wasted pounds on 10p machines when I was younger and I've wasted minutes to Tipping Point."
  • "It's a show about penny pushers. Still not quite sure how this one got past the planning stage, let alone the second series."
  • "The main arcade machine gimmick is super-slow and boring. I barely made it through the first episode."
  • "The 'tipping point' came in the first 5 minutes, when I switched it off and marked it as one to avoid in future."

1: The Bank Job

If there was an award for most disappointing show ever, The Bank Job would be right up there. Viewer expectations were high after the show premiered its webgame six weeks before the show was starting - and the only way to qualify for the show was to prove adept at the webgame. And it was fun! Lots of fun. And then the show happened, and everyone went "oh, what a waste."

  • "TERRIBLE decision to do it live, was way too complicated to risk. And the prisoners dilemma....yet the worst decision by far for me was the "Logan's Run" rule, only those under 30 and pretty mysteriously made it onto camera"
  • "There was a really good format in there somewhere. Shame about the end game. And the production team. And George Lamb. I do think it's worth another shot though."
  • "Great idea implemented poorly. And the prisoner's dilemma! How could that not go wrong?"
  • "Frustrating enough to kick the wall: it's a good game, suffocated by poor production decisions and an endgame crowbarred in."
  • "It felt at times that the sound orignal format (as played by the on-line tie-in game) wasn't good enough during the pilot, so lets get a leery host, ditch the question cards and put the them on a tablet, broadcast the show from the most echoy location possible, and try again the share/shaft, split/steal format twist. When it worked and flowed - it was a good watch. When it fell apart, you wish the vault door would slam shut and the police arrived to take away those responsible for the crimes against quiz shows."
  • "worst format, worst narrative, worst host, worst music, worst stage management, worst tempo, worst camera work, worst climax, worst game show ever produced. Did heads roll? No, it got a second series. I've given up watching Channel 4 since."
  • "Really looking forward to seeing this after spending the odd half hour over Christmas 2011 playing the on-line game knowing I'm playing against a real other player than a random computer algorithm. Imagine, then my slight crushing disapointment once I'd watch show one.The basic gameplay of start the clock, ask question, buzz in, choose safe, bank cash, get out before clock runs out - was pretty sound. But for Endemol, that wasn't good enough. So they pressed the 'style over substance' button and stood back and admired the wreckage. And what carnage! A Wi-fi signal that played up at the business end of a round meaning questions were lost, clumsy breaks in gameplay, a host who at times didn't appear to understand the rules (and on a couple of occasions being corrected by the contestants on gameplay points) and at times presented the show in a smug and condesending manner, and do I really need to mention the prisoner dilemma show stopper? Lose that, strip out the gimmicks, put in a host who has previous with the workings of a quiz show, you have a very strong show. With the flaws in - lock the safe doors and don't let them out again. Shame."

The UKGameshows.com Golden Five 2012

But there were more than just new shows on last year. In this category you could vote for any show that's had a new episode broadcast in the UK during the year. Between you you chose 46 different shows, although all you've done is select the same shows from last year in a slightly different order:

5: Deal or No Deal

It's still hanging in there. It's still hanging in there. The old man of the Golden Five (the only show to be in every single one since we started doing it in 2006) continues to cling on as others would write it off, and it's still manages to entertain on a weekday afternoon, and whatever time of day Channel 4 choose to fling it out on weekends.

  • "Been in the Golden 5 since records began! Still holding up with ratings, and Noel on top form as ever."
  • "Still watchable, prone to occasional bouts of padding due to the hour running time, but on it's day still nails it. A close set, easy to pick up gameplay no matter when you came into the game, and Noel is still one of the best hosts on television."
  • "This year may go down as the most underappreciated year in DoND history. There was the odd high-profile change - celebrity specials, a long-overdue move to HD - but the bigger change was far more subtle and profound. This was the year the production team finally seemed to realise they couldn't goad players on against their will, and largely stopped trying. The result was a historic 14-box Deal, 11-box offers gaining more attention than ever before, and an emphasis on the wingers' personality rather than their obliviousness to risk. This was the year DoND stopped living in 2006."

4: The Cube

Real chance this might be the last year you see it in the Golden Five, production's gone a bit quiet after some rather lacklustre numbers this year. However despite that it has provided some of this year's best moments including (yes) THAT Mo Farah win.

  • "Getting a bit samey week-to-week, but they had some cracking moments this year."
  • "Mel Sykes and Ashley Banjo proved how great this show still is over Christmas. At moments I could barely watch, at others I was shrieking at the screen. The Cube is the The Crystal Maze of our time, simple to follow, deeply engaging and so apparently simple."

3: The Chase

In terms of raw numbers this appears to be the King of Daytime right now, a hard fought battle with Pointless, but one it tends to win. And it's the sort of thing ITV used to do quite well - a quiz with unforced personality. Maybe it can learn something from that.

  • "The Chase also seems to be only getting better and better - helped no end by the questions that leave Bradley in stitches. And who said Paul Sinha wouldn't be a good addition to the show?!"
  • "Probably, my teatime preference. The banter between Bradley, Chaser and contestant is wonderful and a superb question/time ratio you don't often see in a quiz nowadays."
  • "The Chase continues to engage it's viewers with a very simple but brilliantly executed format, a thrilling end game and a great chemistry between Bradley and the Chasers."
  • "Voted this number 1 last year, and see no reason to change. Great fun, high question content, great banter between Bradley and the contestants, and the Chaser. All round good teatime fun."
  • "Great episodes and great contestants. Proud of the fact that my show routinely has great contestants who would be excluded from most other shows due to age or appearance" - Mark Labbett

2: Only Connect

Well here's a turn up for the books - Golden Five Champion since 2008, this year Only Connect drops to second place, just as it starts hitting a million viewers regularly on BBC4. Shouldn't feel too bad, it only lost out to the winner by a solitary vote.

  • "Continues to provide a serious challenge, with some very good quizzers taking part. Still not convinced about the missing vowels round though."
  • "WS M (That's awesome without the vowels by the way). Brilliant host, brilliant questions (testing all sorts of general knowledge) and brilliant teams. Just brilliant."
  • "Has become the lone flag carrier for the quiz/entertainment genre on BBC Four - and easy to see why. Intelligent, baffling, entertaning, at times infurating, but always watchable."
  • "Still providing more Aha! moments than an Alan Partridge DVD."
  • "Still excellent. You’d think they might start to run out of ideas, but some of the questions this series have been more devious than ever."
  • "Partly because the question-setting is still the best on television by a country mile, but mostly because of our insights into the dark, dark world that VC is living in. Highlights include the increasingly obvious looks of disgust whenever the team picks the music round, and the Missing Vowels for boosting my points score and earning me dirty looks from my friends."
  • "How could it not be? Six series in and no sign of flagging, OC still finds ways to confuse and delight, this year's wrinkles including seeding the answer to a question into the show's introduction, a brave gambit that could only be pulled off by a show with plenty of confidence - and the still-warm response to Only Connect means this wickedly witty show has thus far survived a tightening of the BBC Four belt. The arrival of regular Connecting Wall puzzles in Radio Times and the show's rise to the million-viewers mark - still a big deal in digital games and matched only by the seemingly unbeatable and strikingly different Celebrity Juice - suggests this is a show now well established as part of the gameshow furniture."

1: Pointless

Well this is quite the turn up for the books. Richard Osman retweeting the poll to his 80,000 followers doubtless helped (by our reckoning it was worth six votes. Brand engagement, there!) but it was just enough to do the trick. A new deal means in 2013 it should pass the 500 episodes mark and it continues to successfully reinvent the rounds to avoid running out of questions. 2013 will see the beginning of a new endgame and it remains to be seen if the viewers will go for it, but right now it's the 2012 Golden Five Champion. Well done Pointless, you been a fantastic contestant!

  • "Armstrong and Osman are the ideal double act for this programme. Great revision for pub quizzes - chemical elements, countries/capitals, Oscar winners, etc."
  • "Pointless seems to be only getting better and better at the moment - and quite a few of the jackpot wins in 2012 were epic, too, including the tennis buff who came up with three Pointless answers for £14,750, and the brothers who won a record £20k by knowing their countries that contain only one particular vowel. If the endgame is to be changed as Richard Osman suggested, then let's hope it's not changed such that the show's success comes to a juddering halt..."
  • "Striding weekday afternoons like colossi, this show has really come of age in the last few years and is still, despite earlier concerns about possible subject burnout, finding new ways to look at things. The show's unique sense of humour, driven by the witty gents who helm the series, has even spilled out into a spinoff book this year, and it's going to be interesting to see what happens in 2013 when Xander and Richard's lead-in swaps from CBBC shows to the likes of Flog It - sure, ratings may go up, but kids won't stumble into the show anymore, which may hit its family appeal..."
  • "Against The Chase this continues to evolve in good ways. I'm somewhat dubious about the new endgame but we'll see what they give us."
  • "I didn’t really like Pointless in its early days, but I think the key change is the way they’ve built up the role of Richard Osman – who turns out to be perfect teatime company."

Bubbling under - 6: University Challenge, 7: Secret Fortune, 8= Breakaway, The Great British Bake Off, The Exit List

It's quite nice to see this year's Hall of Famers make in-roads into the Top Five. Who knows what next year's Golden Five will bring? And look at The Great British Bake Off! A reality competition to break the top ten is very unusual indeed.

BEST IN(ternational) SHOW 2012

We're still playing about with this, I think. Ideally we're interested in New Formats, but this year we opened it up a little to foreign shows that have been on and you liked. Well tallying up the votes, We think only one of the top five qualifies as a new show so what we'll do is list the Top Five as is and then quickly go through the remaining shows listing the new formats and Bother's Bar will endeavour to have a look at them over the next few months. How's that?

5: Fort Boyard

In its native France it's still going after 23 series and even if it doesn't have the smarts it used to, we still enjoy watching it in the Summer to see what new things they have come up with. In 2012 there were three seasonal night timespecials where they decorated the fort magnificently, and having gone to all that effort they were big flops. Still though.

  • "Oh but the night-time specials *felt* like new shows. They were enchanting and beautiful. It didn't matter that I speak, at most, ten words of French, these specials were absolutely amazing. In particular the Christmas show was easily the best episode in recent years. Of note of course is The Sword in the Stone - On Ice. A game which actually worked better than it's non-wintery counterpart."

4: Let's Ask America

Yes lets! And by the sounds of it it's been a minor breakout hit in the markets its shown in, where it's replaced the mighty Wheel of Fortune. It's a game of guessing popular answers to polls, but the big difference is that the contestants are playing from their living rooms over Skype, and in the event of a tie there's usually some sort of physical challenge where they have to race to grab something from their house. Truly it's the The Main Event for the 2012 generation. You can watch episodes on their Youtube page.

  • "It's the only new show of note I can think of, and it has a neat little format."
  • "...hat-tip to Let's Ask America for its relentless pace if nothing else."

3: Wie is De Mol?

It's very interesting that this show in Dutch received votes where something like Survivor did not (although The Amazing Race Australia picked up a few). Doubtless helped by friendly Dutch people putting up English languange translations of most of the episodes, and Bother's Bar giving it some proper coverage. Because it is exceptionally brilliant.

Ongoing coverage of WIDM? 2013 on Bother's Bar

  • "It was fantastic to discover that one country didn’t give up on what I now consider to be the best game ever."

1= Schlag den Raab, Avanti un Altro!

Unfortunately neither of these are new formats - Beat Raab! has been going since 2006 and Avanti un Altro! actually began in 2011, but it feels new because we think it's only last year Rai put full unblocked episodes up. Anyway both are tremendous in different ways.

Schlag den Raab has the length of a charity telethon, but instead of dancing newsreaders and crying children it has German Superstar Stefan Raab competing with a member of the public over fifteen unusual games to defend a lifechanging amount of money and it's all completely live. Nobody knows what games are going come up, and half the fun is finding out. Currently it airs six Saturdays a year, and recently Bother's Bar have been offering live English commentary to help you understand what's going on. Of course there has already been a UK version with Vernon Kay in Beat the Star which was axed after two series.

Link to an example of Bother's Bar's LIVE Raab commentary

  • "Watching a man kick a hole in a block of potting foam on SCHLAG DEN RAAB for 3.5m was the first time I ever stood up and cheered while watching a game show."
  • "I've always said the key to a good overseas format is if you can't understand the language, you can still pick up whats going - such is the case with this show. Big variety of games from the low tech to the high budget, make this a six times a year Germanic treat."
  • "Putting the SUPERB in the Superbowl of game shows."

Avanti un Altro is an incredible Italian daily quiz that perfectly fuses a high stakes quiz, chance elements and a big dollop of broad humour. Actually the humour would probably travel quite well as is from Italy to the UK, as lots of it revolves around the show's cast of characters and other staffers who come on and ask questions and banter. The day's champion gets the chance to win a huge amount of money if they can beat the astonishingly tough yet absolutely electric final round, where they must get 21 questions consecutively wrong against the clock.

Bother's Bar feature on Avanti Un Altro! including a link to watch the show online.

  • "Endemol why do we not have a UK version yet?"
  • "Good fun to watch, even when I can't understand the language."
  • "Never thought I’d find myself regularly watching a gameshow in a language I didn’t know, but Avanti is, as well as being utterly brilliant, totally ubiquitous. I’m worried a UK version would probably not get a host of the quality the show needs, but we might at least see the endgame stuck onto another quiz, it’s easily up there with wonderwall in the "best ever endgames" hall of fame."

OK, other shows further down the list that people voted for but were actually new (as far as we can tell) with links to Bother's Bar where there is coverage are:

  • Battle For Money (Japan)
  • 31 Questions (Australia)
  • The Pyramid (reversioning of The $X,000 Pyramid format, GSN in the US)
  • New Iron Chef Japan (Japan)
  • 5 Gegen Jauch (Germany)
  • TV Total Quizboxen (Germany - that man Stefan Raab again)
  • Opdenhovel's Countdown (Germany, nothing to do with Countdown)
  • Dalli Dalli
  • Den Store Bagedyst (by the looks of things, The Great Danish Bake Off)
  • The Block (Australian remake)
  • Total Blackout (might be earlier than 2012 elsewhere, but new in the US.)

So there we are.

MAGIC MOMENTS of 2012

Finally we asked you if there were any stand out moments of the year just gone. We'll list the ones that were most popular and intersperse them with some more unusual ones.

First to Pointless which seemed to have a few...

  • "That contestant on Pointless who had invited along her (not very good) best friend to be her partner and looked absolutely furious at how bad she was. I fear there may have been a murder after they lost the second time."
  • "Another Pointless contestant who managed to get a pointless answer by combining a random forename with a random colour in a politics round. Was pretty good."
  • "When a completely random guess at a surname "Name an MP with the first name David, Nick or Ed" on Pointless resulted in a Pointless answer! The resulting couple then got to the final and won the jackpot. The feelgood story of the year."
  • "One that stands out is the two young women who fluked a second-round pointless answer by adding the surname 'Brown' to the given name 'Nick' to find the identity of an obscure Labour MP. It was bound to happen with a lucky guess sooner or later. They then went on to win the jackpot."
  • "Only Connect's sequence question based on Victoria Coren's introduction to the show! Just the thought of around 1 million people scratching their heads as the sequence was revealed saying "Surely they wouldn't do that..." made me smile!"
  • "The Alex Guttenplan question on the third place playoff of Only Connect made me very happy indeed."

Most of your moments came from big money wins:

  • "Does a whole episode of one particular game show count as a moment? In which case, Manchester's epic 270-250 win over Clare Cambridge on University Challenge on 20 February 2012. One couldn't have asked for more from this match - both teams brilliant on the bonuses, Daniel Janes picking up ten starters for Clare, the Cambridge side recovering from a slow start, the lead changing hands plenty of times towards the end, and Manchester securing the win on pretty much the very last question. Plus Clare finished with the highest losing score in the Paxman Era, and the aggregate of 520 is the highest this century. Classic."
  • "Andy trying to game the Gold Run on Blockbusters and rack up the consolation cash, only to scupper his scheme by accidentally winning - funny at the time, but he did shamefully blot his copybook by successfully implementing the scheme second time out."

And here's this year's Fanny Chmelar moment:

Finally, by far your most nominated moment:

  • "Mo Farah defeating The Cube.
  • "Surely had to be Mo destroying The Cube, even if it was the least notable of all his achievements that year."
  • "Mo Farrah on The Cube of course was incredible and rightly deserves a mention for beating probably the toughest gameshow on TV at the moment. Proper, edge-of-seat entertainment."
  • "After all these years, seeing Philip Schofield finally entering the Cube after Mo won the jackpot had great metaphorical impact. It probably spurred him on for the two jogs he did a few months later."
  • "Mo beats The Cube is my number 1 moment from this year. Not just the fact that he beat it, but that it was a total whitewash, beating so many games in one shot. Miles and miles better than anyone we’ve ever seen before. I hope, ninja warrior style, they completely change up the games now; The Cube never seems to have a disappointing new game."
  • "Mo Farah beating The Cube. Despite the leaked spoilers and the fact that there obviously was not enough time left in the hour for Mo Farah to fail 7 times, it was still stunning to watch."
  • "Mo Farah beating The Cube - why they haven't considered "Barrier" as an Olympic sport after this I don't know."

Phew, what a poll

And that ladies and gentlemen was what you thought of 2012. Thanks to everyone who voted, you can turn over now to Bother's Bar for the Poll of 2012 Afterparty with Caroline Flack and Olly Murs where you can get percentages for the main polls and whinging, probably. See you next year!

Retrieved from "http://ukgameshows.com/ukgs/Poll_of_the_Year_2012"

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