Weakest Link

I have to say that The NBC 1 hr. version of Weakest Link is so BORING! I liked the 1/2 hr version better simple, because the show and the game itself doesn't strain out like Anne Robinson's edition. The whole gang seats there for the whole 30 min. and they don't get kicked off the show. However, this show which only lasted for I think only 18 months (Jan. 2002-Sept. 2003) But I think this show really had the potential to be out only after this long period of time. But the good thing about this show was the fact that the host George Gray and the second season change of the $25,000 chain instead of the $12,500 chain in the first season made the gameplay look a lot faster. But I thin that the show will be back again in the near future, but being this the end of the game show era, it's likely to stay that way forever. :( However the Weakest Link with George Gray gets a total of:

8/10 Not a bad game although with the whole changes at least it is much more comforting.

I miss the Anne Robinson version of "The Weakest Link." This daytime syndicated version with George Gray is nice (and he /is/ cute) but I prefered Anne's dry wit to George's bad attempt at humour. Please bring back the hour long version of "Weakest Link" with Anne Robinson, even if you have to import it!!!

I've found myself both repulsed and fascinated with this show(both versions). Repusled in that it professes to be a game show of knowledge and skill,yet seems to be as much or more about nominally average(sometimes below average)contestants' guile,duplicity and arrogance. Added to that is the fact that though either Anne Robinson(the original host)or George Gray(the American host,who would be applied to this particular version)are very keen on reminding how dim and inept the assorted group of contestii(a Ken Ober term. Anyone remember "Remote Control"!?)are at banking the maximum amount of money that each round of answers collects,whereas one could argue that between the complicitly choice assortment of individuals that are assembled on the show and the fact that is actually QUITE difficult to reach maximum banking on a given round,so as the show is mostly more about setting up each individual to FAIL rather than succeed. Perhaps I'm just not a great fan of irony in unscripted television(in this case,game shows)but I feel like shows that profess or portend an element of "honest" competition,while fostering the what is essentially the opposite,AREN'T great examples of good television.

Having said all of that,and having watched a fair number of shows now in re-runs on GSN,I can honestly say that it IS,flaws and all,an intriguing show,albeit for probably many of the wrong reasons just stated. I suppose that if one can be better resigned to this as sort of a distaff Q-and-A show,or an "Anti-Quiz Show" as per my SL,then one can sit back and watch,play along and even feel a sense of superiority(or,contrarily,embarrassment)to those hearty but often dense souls who stand behind that luminescent lit semi-circle of podiums. A better show than equally suited for dim,attention-ed-deficit-ed participants such as "Dog eat Dog","Greed" or "Fear Factor",it is something that I cannot claim a great affinity for--call me old-fashioned,but to me quiz/game shows SHOULDN'T have a side-agenda of humiliating those who so bravely partake in them--but I probably wouldn't turn away from. Since,in this area,it runs against,among other shows,"Dr.Phil" and "Oprah",shows that have almost NO business being run in daytime,this show will suffice.

Granted, Anne Robinson was a breath of fresh air, just as Richard Dawson was when "Family Feud" was new--a host willing to call contestants on it when they give an obviously stupid answer. That seems to be a trait of British hosts and I'm not sure American audiences are quite as receptive to it, even if they do like Judge Judy making the people who come before her look stupid. That's why I liked George's version of the show--he needled contestants without angering them (sort of like Groucho), and it was clear he was having fun with them. Even comparing him to new host Jane Lynch, I still think he's better; she sounds like she's insulting the contestants because that is what she gets paid to do, but the insults seem to fall flat.

As for the smaller potential payouts on the daytime show, remember that the show's budget had to cover five shows a week instead of one (which is why some of the classic shows with both daytime and primetime versions had higher stakes at night).

This show started out okay, but then it turned into a nightmare. The worst part about it was the contestants. Most of them had weird behavior. They did stupid things for a living and they also did strange hobbies. Also, no one cared about winning money. All they ever wanted to do was make alliances like it was "Survivor" or something. The men were always afraid that the women were going to team up together. The women were the same also. I really did not enjoy this game show at all. I feel like I wasted my time coming from school and watching this. It would have been better for me to turn on 'Who Wants to be a Millionaire' or Japanese animated cartoons instead.