You are the Weakest Link... hello!

Go Harvey Go

:eek: :eek: :eek: :eek:

Metro UK wrote:

It’s been five years since Anne Robinson said ‘Goodbye!’ to teatime game show favourite The Weakest Link.

But now it’s on the way back to screens – with the so-called ‘Queen of Mean’ reportedly returning to scare the living daylights out of yet more contestants.

Yes everybody, the show is apparently being dusted down and primed for a comeback – with Robinson set to front a special edition of the long-gestating show for Children In Need in November.

But that’s not all – because there’s even a possibility the show could be returning to screens for a whole new series, only this time in a primetime Saturday night slot instead of tucked away at teatime.

‘The Weakest Link was one of the most exciting and original quizzes in television history, and left a huge void when it came off air,’ a source told The Sun.

‘Nothing has really replaced it so the prospect of its return is really exciting.’

And the move to Saturday night won’t be the only change – as it’ll reportedly feature celebrities, rather than members of the public, taking part.

‘Terms have been agreed in principle, and the BBC are hopeful of attracting some great – albeit brave – celeb names,’ the insider revealed.

The show saw Anne presiding over contestants who had to try and win money by answering a ‘chain’ of general knowledge questions – with the amount of cash increasing according to how many were correctly guessed.

Those who gave wrong answers were in danger of becoming the titular ‘weakest link’ and being voted off the show.

It ran for almost 1,700 episodes before finally coming to an end in March 2012.

A BBC spokesperson told metro.co.uk: ‘Plans for this year’s exciting BBC Children in Need programming will be announced in due course.’

http://metro.co.uk/2017/07/19/the-weakest-link-is-coming-back-to-tv-complete-with-anne-robinson-6789860/

Surely it's a bit too soon for it to come back, though? And does that pointless show hosted by Alexander Armstrong not count as a replacement?

Birneybau

How long will it take to defrost her?

Go Harvey Go

Filming on 6 November at Elstree Film Studios.

It appears there'll be only seven celebrities taking part, as opposed to the more familiar eight or nine. I guess they want to fit in as much banter as possible.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/showsandtours/shows/weakest_link_cin_6nov17

I still think it's too soon to bring it back for a full series, though - even if it is celebs only and on Saturday nights. And even if they *are* struggling to fill the hole left by The Voice...

CastorTroy

Maybe it'll be like the Anne-bot from Doctor Who

Go Harvey Go

Filmed yesterday. The celebs included Rylan, Giles Coren and some fellow off Love Island.

Nick Gates, AKA Brig Bother, was in the audience - and wasn't impressed...

http://www.bothersbar.co.uk/?p=10415

We'll have to wait until the Friday after next, at 10pm, to see for ourselves.

BTW, I actually never knew that Peter Simon - famous for Double Dare, Run the Risk, and repeatedly falling over on Bid TV - was the warm-up man for primetime WL. You learn something new every day...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_9_mDB3qDMs

Go Harvey Go

No change to the music, titles or graphics. And Jon Briggs is still on voiceover duties.

Not sure about Anne's glasses, though. And a seven-link money chain going from £20 to £2,500 feels wrong, even if the game is being played mainly for laughs...

The set, meanwhile, is apparently the one used on the French version of the show:

http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-41984552

Skid X

I was disappointed with this.

The contestants seemed like an attempt to hit every demographic, as a result there was no chemistry or connection between them. For Children In Need they should have done a themed show like Doctor Who (again) or even The One Show Presenters and Correspondents, where there could be some banter and jokes between them.

Better still, they could have done a Comic Relief version with Comedians, that would have had more energy.

I wouldn't see much need for a revival of this anytime soon.

Go Harvey Go

I also thought Chizzy won just a little *too* easily (no disrespect intended, of course). Not only was she the strongest link in every round bar one - but apparently they all decided beforehand that they were going to play "properly", hence the worst player in each round being promptly voted off.

They were, of course, all playing for the same charity. But even so, surely there was nothing wrong with even the smallest bit of tactical voting? This *was* such a hallmark of the show during its original run, after all - and it's unlikely that the winnings would have suffered greatly as a result.

As it was, it was no surprise at all that the winnings were doubled. That money chain really was awful, and the £500 that Chizzy banked in round 3 accounted for nearly half the total (prior to doubling). Previous seven-player episodes had a chain that went £50, £100, £250, £500, £1,000, £1,750, £2,500 - why couldn't they have used this one again, regardless whether or not the game was being played mainly for laughs?

Anne, meanwhile, seemed a bit short of energy. She flung out the insults as necessary, of course, and all her catchphrases were intact too - but she didn't seem *quite* as fired up as expected, and nor did she read out the questions as quickly as before. That said, she *is* 73 now, and it *was* the first time she'd done this in over five years.

The Beeb *do* seem serious about bringing the show back full-time, though, with Anne doing her traditional sign-off: "Join us again for the Weakest Link. [wink] Goodbye." And with over three million watching this episode, they may well feel justified in doing so.

I probably won't be watching, though. I'll stick with watching classic episodes and classic clips - like Egghead Chris Hughes being voted off because he was far too strong for his opponents...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HPjd6AFSk_4