Weekdays, 2:15pm,
BBC1
The Gabster Gabby Logan is the new host of surprise second series of test-your-strength bowling quiz The Edge.
We are aware of minor changes but not the broader picture, it has been intimated that The Edge is a bit bigger on the larger lanes, for example, but hopefully it will have corrected some of the more obvious things you’d think they’d have picked up in playtesting but evidently didn’t, namely the quiz bit manages to be really boring and goes on too long and the danger zones were completely pointless and added zero to the proceedings.
It’s such a sort of silly idea that we do sort of want to like it but found it very difficult to love first time round. We wish this new run best of luck.
I watched this on a work lunch on mute so I’m not going to give a definitive opinion just yet, but that felt like a greatly improved show (especially with the pacing in the early rounds – immediate throw after a quiz race, no multiple part answers), I like the extra money floating about on the lanes, I like the idea of the variable edges (but let’s be clear here, you’ve got it the wrong way round – the easiest lane has the biggest edge? What?), the split screen is a great addition.
Clearly they’ve opted to put today’s episode first where someone actually hits a Danger Zone to make some kind of point. Not buying it, still useless.
There is still too much shine on lanes, especially the red one, they need to be backlit more or the camera angle needs to be more directly above it I think – you can’t read where the ball is! I also had the thought that some sort of Pointless-esque red line equivilent might be a future idea.
They have changed the format completly. To start with you now only need 3 correct answers to roll. BUT you now start on the shortest lane (no choice needed). An announcer has been introduced to commentate on proceedings. money amounts have been spread further on the lane. plus each edge has increased in size the shorter the lane is. They have taken away any cash amount lower than £100 so it starts at it. If the ball lands outside the cash zone it equals £0.
Round 2 instead of giving two answers in one question you now need 4 individual correct answers to roll.The danger zone now equals £0 instead of a pound.
Round 3 does not need a three part response to an answer but 5 individual correct answers to roll. One danger zone is still controlled by the winner of the lane advantage.
Round 1 edge total is now £1,500 from £1,000 (Season 1)
Round 2 edge total is still £2,000
Round 3 edge total is still £3,000
Final Round no 4 part answer is needed. simple question answer response now.
Although it was entertaining enough, my issues with it have reversed. In S1 it was, as you say, the quiz element that was boring with the actual bowling being the more interesting part. Today, I noticed how much time they took to complete 5 rolls in total in the pre-final rounds. Content being stretched thinly isn’t unique to The Edge but whereas the likes of Pointless and The Chase have the humour of Alexander & Richard and Bradley respectively to make the filler bearable, I doubt Gabby will be able to bring that to The Edge (although in her defence, I don’t think Mark Benton did either) I like the format but it is a bit of a struggle to watch live.
Other points of note are that the set seemed lighter than in S1 and that I don’t like the voiceover.
I think I would have simply doubled the size of the edge across the board to make it a viable option, and likewise the size of the danger zones to cover two numbers. Otherwise, I approve of the tweaks.
Hated the voiceover, but that’s all I hated. Much more fast paced, Gabby Logan a superb presenter with much more personality than the other bloke.
Yeah, Dave Corkill doesn’t add anything in the four seconds of commentary given and rather takes the viewer out of the moment – everyone gets ‘oh…ooooh…ooOOOh… Awww’ which is the natural reaction to the game anyway.
Also they probably ought to update the titles with the new cash values.
They have certainly improved the pace of it generally which had to be done really. However, for me, it’s just not one of those shows I’m that bothered about. I didn’t like it the first time…and unfortunately I still don’t like it.
Some incredible rolls today.
Definitely feels like a 7/10 sort of show at this point, I think.
That was certainly bad news for fans of mid three-figure prizes.
They certainly will have turned off in disgust.
I have seen yesterday’s episode and I think we should make a difference between the first and the second series in the Poll Of The Year. I really liked it and if it was easier to watch from Germany, I’d probably watch it 3 times a week. Which is pretty good, I tend to watch things more rarely. Although the commentary wasn’t necessary at all, the rest seemed good.
Generally I feel this is improved though there is still the odd questionable decision.
No lane choice streamlines things quite nicely and interspersing the questions with the bowls in the early rounds is nice.
No £1 zone so you could drop it at your feet and beat someone who has gone over the edge in Round 1 is good
£1 to £0 for the Danger Zones neither here nor there really
Variable Edges an interesting idea but as said elsewhere, probably the wrong way round and not sure you really need them in the first place.
Commentary very much not needed though I can see why they thought it might be as last series Mark Benton, whilst enthusiastic with the catchphrases, said “keep rolling” or “slow down” a lot over the bowling as if he could control physics.
Indeed despite being the BBC’s Actual Bowls Commentator, David Corkill hasn’t really been allowed to commentate on the actual bowling so as to allow for Gabby’s lines from the recording – it’s like Alan Dedicoat on Copycats again!
Higher cash zones mean the jackpots will generally be higher and so far seems to create decent 4-figure sums even when divided down which is good.
Good for getting rid of the multi-answers thing – may have made the final a bit easier, mind, with keeping the time limit the same.
Indeed so far a remarkable 3/3 wins and almost £12,000 given away – I reckon that surpasses the whole of the first series by a long shot already!
anyone know what the ratings are like?
Not yet although I have a sneaking suspicion we might get a glimpse next week.
OK – So I’ve ended up watching 3 out of the 5 of this weeks Edge, and broadly it’s been knocked into a far better show this series than last,
But – They still haven’t covered off the posibility that you could have a contestant not answer a single question (or answer everyone they get to the buzzer first on) and still end up winning the show, by rolling last on the red lane and ending up on The Edge, or at least one of the top lane high amounts.
As others have said. Mrs Logan is a more competent host that Mr Benton ever was – and I like how they now have a commentator stating the bleedin’ obvious. Pre-scripted, yes – but still, nice work for an hour in September for him.
Still hate the end game though. I maybe repeating myself, but a better game would be to have something like the Rangefinder mechanic in the Showcase on The Price Is Right.
75 seconds of quickfire questions. Every question ‘wins’ a £100 downwards window from their final total won in their game.
Eg – Total won in the rounds £3,000. In the 75 seconds they answered 9 questions, so that’s £900. Therefore their window is £2,100 – £3,000.
On to the lanes, and the contestant has 1 bowl on each of the four lanes. The same cash amounts are on all for the lanes.
To win some or all of the money in their window, bowl to land in the money they have to be within – but not over – their range after the red lane. If they hit The Edge on any lane, it’s game over, full total won and everyone happy.
Someone has finally managed to fill the edge to its fullest in the final round today. Now we now know its 11 Q’s to get it. The new situation is what happens if they get more than 11?
I suspect getting more than 11 right would still result in getting the same Final Edge as the guy today as his 11th answer only got him 1 extra space of Edge rather than the usual 2 as there was only one “cash zone” left to fill
Apparently each lane is 3m longer than the last. So there you go.
Handily, if you want to skip the quiz bits then go to 9’00”, 19’00” and 29’00” and you won’t miss too much.
Usually the Danger Zones are of minimal consequence but today with the final roll of round three the red player needed either £1,300 or The Edge to go through to the final but the yellow player made a poor misjudgement and set the danger zone on a truly irrelevant £1,000 only for the red player to then roll £1,300…
Wowsers, incredible tactics there.
They give people less guidance this series about who-needs-what-when, which is good as it leads to moments like this.
And, to be fair, there has been enough danger zones hit this time around to make them a factor in game play. Though there has been a fair share of overcautious rubbish too.
I really liked mark benton as the presenter. Cheesy as hell but so funny with it. Reminded me so much of his character in Barbra from years ago. I think gabby logan was the wrong choice, she just doesn’t seem able to carry it. And she seems to struggle with her pronunciation on some words, a little rehearsal beforehand would be good. Voice over is annoying too…..
Final stats after all 25 shows of the second series:
Edge hit 8 times in main game play compared to 3 in Series 1
(2x Green, 3x Blue, 1x Yellow, 2x Red)
Endgame won 16 times compared to just 7 in Series 1
I’m actually quite impressed the Edge was hit on the red lane more than on the yellow lane, it can’t be more than about an inch, and they’d have had roughly the same amount of bowls.
Endgame stats would make sense I think given that it’s much easier to give a correct answer compared to having to name four. Yorath not really reading the questions out as quickly as she probably could either, could easily have dropped back to a minute without too much harm.
Yes – quite surprising. Perhaps the yellow players wanting to get a score on the board with the reds always still to come.
Yes – 60 secs and quicker Qs would have been better.
Danger Zones also hit 8 times for reference
If my maths is correct that’s eight danger zones hit out of 210 rolls. Mmm.
8 out of 175, I think (25 episodes x 7 possible per episode) but not a lot different…
Ah sorry, thought it was 30 eps for some reason, but yes.
Interesting note about numbers: The Coroner now taking up The Edge slot is getting almost double what The Edge was getting as a raw figure, although doubtless The Edge is likely much cheaper than drama. So there’s some perspective.
Any news regarding Season 3 recording/broadcasting? If not Season 2 is getting a replay starting from next week 8/8/16. Filler for airtime between the olympics switch over.
I’ve heard on the grapevine that S3 isn’t likely to be happening, which makes Decimate’s renewal even more baffling.
I’m *slightly* disappointed, but there we are.
I saw this for the first time today and had to force myself to watch it to the end. The presenter is dull and simply not funny. His attempts at humour left me feeling uncomfortable. The format of the show was fine but because of the presenters lack of personality and passion combined with his irritating attempts at humour, I shall not be watching again.
You might prefer Gabby, though. 😉
Funnily enough, I found Benton and Logan to be a modern-day Dinenage and O’Connor; Benton was idiosyncratic and a bit rough-around-the-edges but basically competent, while Logan was ultra-competent but wasn’t as interesting.