That’s right! And after threatening to do some sort of retrospective for a while, I think it’s time to take a bit of stock.
It’s always fun to go back to when shows first started and look at our reaction to them.
Our first foray into the world of Pointless was friend of the Bar Martyn went and saw an episode being filmed in series one. This was written up on July 31st 2009. “It’s actually what would happen if Who Dares Wins and Family Fortunes mated – and it sort of works… Alexander is a affable chap and if the edit allows him to be quickwitted and doesn’t cut out the post question banter with Richard then it will be a welcome addition to the land of quizzes… in the right timeslot (i.e not up against Edmonds or O’Grady) it may just become the sleeper gameshow of the year.” Bang on there, Martyn. And look! My addenum (“It’s unfortunate then than at 45 minutes, I suspect it’s going in Weakest Link‘s slot…”) turned out to be correct in the end so rerally, well done me.
(Although I think it would be prudent to ignore the final message in the comment box, “I wouldn’t get too excited just yet, I think the game sounds basically solid but I don’t think it’s going to excite too many people when it finally gets broadcast.” Or at least include this hilarious comment about Panic Attack (“In conclusion: Irish.”))
So what about Episode 1, eh? Well the video on Youtube doesn’t work very well. So here’s episode two (despite what the title says):
Look how young Xander and Richard look! Clearly Pointless is the most challenging show in television to make. Also that swooshy graphics thing the first time a contestant gives an answer – good job they got rid of that I think.
Anyway that went out on August 24th at 4:30pm on BBC2, I wrote about it on August 25th (funny grammatical joke regarding would have/would of, surprise that Richard Osman would be involved, good use of the word ‘pizzicato’, “He’s very likable and quick witted, he just has some irritating habits,” and finally concluded that “yeah it’s just a list quiz, but the second guessing the public’s knowledge element so that all answers are not equal is an entertaining twist. Possibly surprisingly, because I’m unsure it will be a hit, we’d place it in the upper quartile of daytime quizzes in the last five years.).
Comments are fun – is Alexander Armstrong scathing enough? The set is horrible! It should give away more money! “Most of the banter between Alexander and Richard has been left on the edit room floor.” – the bang on Mart S again, although of course they corrected that for series two by dropping a pair of contestants to fit more banter in. What show other than Michael Barrymore’s Strike It Lucky could succeed in such in thing! David B was hilariously uncomplimentary.
Fast forward to a bitter day in January this year where we go and see it live and end up overestimating Richard Osman’s height and compare watching it live to a Jane Austen novel, betraying the fact I have an English A-Level. For me it remains one of the shows you absolutely should go and try and see being recorded live – no matter how funny it comes across on screen, the reality is much more fun.
And that’s how The Bar has covered the first 200 episodes of Pointless! Pity about the French version though.
Uncomplimentary? Well, let’s see how I scored with my negative comments:
– Poor direction with clunky edits (i.e. about 76,184 “Well, it’s correct”s added to the audio track).
– One couple too many.
– Too much “let’s see if that answer’s in there” padding.
– A format that has too many possibilities for anti-climactic moments.
– Why commission this at the same time as “Who Dares Wins”?
I think all that was fair comment at the time, no, and 2-3 of these comments seem to have been taken on board?
Well I’d suggest quite a few of those are still there. The point is, sometimes shows transcend formats *nods sagely*.
So, as the first of the regulars around here to point my eyeballs towards the world of Pointless, and since Brig is in retrospective mode – I thought I would look at yesterdays show and compare and contrast…
..but I can’t as I’m on holiday and currently somewhere just off the coast of Portugal on a big ship with a couple of thousand other people.
But, as I watched Mondays show before I left, I did remember thinking “I wonder if Alexander Armstrong has had any work done pinning his ears back?” They were huge in series one, and less noticiable now in the show’s BBC One era.
I also wish they would do something with that monitor behind ‘the Oz’. It’s a rubbish shape, and if they went for a semi-set wraparound led wall like they do on Secret Millionaire or The Chase, they could incorporate the answer count tower, contestant backdrop and the subject category screen in one…
..but that would probably break the budget.
I think you mean Secret Fortune. Actually I’m not sure I can agree with that, the Big Tower Of Points would lose a lot of its impact if it was incorporated into a bigger screen, I think.
Thanks Brig, I did mean Secret Fortune (such is the problem of watching the very quick time remaining counter on the ships internet terminals and trying to speed type fast enough..)
I actually agree with you about your issue with the points tower getting lost in the wrap around – but not it they added a extra higher bit at the top. I.e a horizontal wraparound for the set, but a vertical oblong for the points tower…
That one went out on the 25th at 4:30pm, surely?
Anyway, enough nitpicking, sorry! – did you know that today’s Pointless is actually a special standalone edition where they’re bringing back past Round One, 200-point scorers and giving them another go – see what they did there!
Yes well spotted and changed accordingly, thanks.
Well, I really didn’t like the show to begin with. The questions were very obvious at the start, it was soooooo slow (which I can bear in various shows such as Golden Balls, surprisingly), and it just felt like a good idea half baked.
I didn’t like it, and vowed not to watch it again.
Zoom to early 2011, when I accidentally saw another episode. It was quicker, a tighter and more solid format, more interesting questions and excellent Armstrong/Osman banter. I’m now addicted.
This is one of those shows that has ripened with age [as the early shows now look a bit rough!]. I’ll admit that I didn’t think it would last very long. I’m pleased to say that I was wrong.
You see, whilst I can empathize up to a point (I think watching old shows makes it look a lot clunkier than it did at the time), I’m slightly baffled by the idea that the old version was slow – it had an entire extra round compared to series two onwards in the same timeframe!
I think the slightly stunted presentation and lack of rapport between Richard and Alexander made it feel like you’re watching a really awkward party with everyone standing at the side and not on the dancefloor.
Dude you should totally see it live!
Interestingly I read an article somewhere suggesting Xander and Richard were at uni together.
I do imagine it’s much better live than edited! And that rapport may have just been edited out in the early stages to fit the extra question in. Either way, it now has a nice welcoming feel to it.
The point being, it’s still a bit awkward live. That’s part of the appeal.
Don’t Scare the Hare recorded 400,000 (5.3%) yesterday afternoon.
It got beaten by The X Factor repeat and Channel 4 Racing.