[Gary McEwan]

That's the big difference between Jeopardy in the US vs Jeopardy in the UK, there it and Millionaire are the sole serious 'high brow' quiz shows. Here there are loads. It's lost a lot of its USP here - it's not got the prestige that winning Mastermind or Countdown has

Didn’t Chris Tarrant call Millionaire at least in the early days ‘Event TV’ where everyone used to sit down and literally do nothing.

There doesn’t seem to be that sort of thing anymore when it comes to big prime time game shows.

[SuperSajuuk]

Didn’t Chris Tarrant call Millionaire at least in the early days ‘Event TV’ where everyone used to sit down and literally do nothing.

There doesn’t seem to be that sort of thing anymore when it comes to big prime time game shows.

I don’t think he outright said it was event tv, but he did hint — in the magic moments and more dvd — that “it emptied pubs without tv’s and filled pubs which had them”. A rather oversimplification of what was meant, but obviously millionaire could draw viewers in like a magnet, without any effort really needed in the early years.

[Gary McEwan]

I don’t think he outright said it was event tv, but he did hint — in the magic moments and more dvd — that “it emptied pubs without tv’s and filled pubs which had them”. A rather oversimplification of what was meant, but obviously millionaire could draw viewers in like a magnet, without any effort really needed in the early years.

I found it on YouTube when he appeared on Live with Regis and Kathie Lee right back in the early days when he said it was event tv when everyone rearranged their lives and no one went to the pub.

[Brekkie]

I just don’t know how the can drag it out to an hour when it’s on half an hour in the States.

Have ITV got a thing now where all game shows that were normally half an hour are drawn out to an hour?

It is usually quite annoying and I think Wheel of Fortune will really suffer for it on Saturday but I thought the pacing here actually wasn't too bad. Perhaps it helps not being familar with the half hour format but three game boards (rather than two in the US) and then the final jeopardy question gives them 91 questions across the hour, which isn't bad going nowadays really. The revived Fifteen to One had a similar number of questions across the hour but felt much slower. The Chase probably has about 120 questions per show for comparison.

I really do think Stephen Fry lifts this alot too - he obviously backs the format and has the right level of enthusiasm throughout, plus doesn't bog the whole thing down with extra facts.

[Juicy Joe]

I found an old episode of Jeopardy from 1993 on ITV on YouTube and watched a few minutes. The format, logo, contestant podiums, no background music - appeared to be remarkably similar to today's episode. Having said that, I did enjoy the less flashy presentation style of the programme today.

www.youtube.com 

One of the answers today was "Who is Adil Ray" for example in the Daytime Shows category. If the contestant responded "Adil Ray", would that be classed as incorrect? Would Stephen Fry say the answer is "Who is Adil Ray?"

In a pub quiz, I suppose in theory, you would get ½ marks for answering "Is the answer 'Who is' " if you didn't know.

[VMPhil]

There was a contestant who almost answered without phrasing it as a question but corrected herself.

But when Stephen gives the correct answer when the contestant has given the wrong one, he just gives the answer without phrasing it as a question, the inconsistency of which annoys me.

[Juicy Joe]

There was a contestant who almost answered without phrasing it as a question but corrected herself.

But when Stephen gives the correct answer when the contestant has given the wrong one, he just gives the answer without phrasing it as a question, the inconsistency of which annoys me.

Well, that is just plain wrong.

Couldn't they simply get the host to read out the clue with a "What is" or "Who is" and then the contestant could then give a straight answer - or is that deviating too far from the format?

[Jon]

I’m guessing if the ‘who is’ and ‘what is’ part of the question the contestant gives are correct they don’t feel the need there to repeat it. But yes it just adds to the confusion of trying to establish the whole answer with a question thing.

[tellyblues]

One of the answers today was "Who is Adil Ray" for example in the Daytime Shows category. If the contestant responded "Adil Ray", would that be classed as incorrect? Would Stephen Fry say the answer is "Who is Adil Ray?"

Fry did let a contestant off very early on for not responding first with "what is..." (she quickly corrected herself) and said he would get strict, so if this had happened later in the show she probably wouldn't have been correct.

Jeopardy will be confusing and annoying for viewers used to the typical UK quiz show not just because of the format but because it's usually clear what the prize is and they get to hear what people would spend their winnings on (the first episode told us none of this), not to mention it will be too difficult for those who need multiple choice answers on the screen to help them play the game.

Nothing wrong with a hard quiz but its perceived highbrow status is severely let down by its presentation (Des Clarke of all people announcing, dear oh dear...) and the Barneyesque theme tune is particularly laugh out loud when it plays in the background as the contestants write down their bids in Final Jeopardy. Viewers must think "WTF?!". The titles... is it a quiz or a science/tech magazine show with Stephen Fry? Also, not too sure about the contestants having their surnames revealed. This is possibly the worst aspect of keeping with the format.

Along with other US acquisitions ITV have recently made, I feel that licensing requirements will be responsible for shows failing moreso than them being expanded to an hour because presentation is key to setting a mood and attempts which make people laugh at shows instead of getting them buoyed up for is a bad approach. Maybe ITV's thinking is that brands will bring in the viewers whereas original formats and presentation require more money and effort to work, but people don't care about that though when watching TV and rightly so.

For all its faults, Jeopardy at least gets on with the game. I'd sooner watch it over Tipping Point or Deal or No Deal which are padded out.

[Humphrey Hacker]

Fry did let a contestant off very early on for not responding first with "what is..." (she quickly corrected herself) and said he would get strict, so if this had happened later in the show she probably wouldn't have been correct.

Jeopardy will be confusing and annoying for viewers used to the typical UK quiz show not just because of the format but because it's usually clear what the prize is and they get to hear what people would spend their winnings on (the first episode told us none of this), not to mention it will be too difficult for those who need multiple choice answers on the screen to help them play the game.

Nothing wrong with a hard quiz but its perceived highbrow status is severely let down by its presentation (Des Clarke of all people announcing, dear oh dear...) and the Barneyesque theme tune is particularly laugh out loud when it plays in the background as the contestants write down their bids in Final Jeopardy. Viewers must think "WTF?!". The titles... is it a quiz or a science/tech magazine show with Stephen Fry? Also, not too sure about the contestants having their surnames revealed. This is possibly the worst aspect of keeping with the format.

Along with other US acquisitions ITV have recently made, I feel that licensing requirements will be responsible for shows failing moreso than them being expanded to an hour because presentation is key to setting a mood and attempts which make people laugh at shows instead of getting them buoyed up for is a bad approach. Maybe ITV's thinking is that brands will bring in the viewers whereas original formats and presentation require more money and effort to work, but people don't care about that though when watching TV and rightly so.

For all its faults, Jeopardy at least gets on with the game. I'd sooner watch it over Tipping Point or Deal or No Deal which are padded out.

The combination of up tempo theme and pedestrian pace of the show is jarring (reminds me of All Clued Up in that respect) but once the concept is absorbed its a good show to follow and Fry in his benevolent headmaster guise is the right host.