Show Discussion: Take On The Twisters

By | July 22, 2013

Take.on_.the_.TwistersWeekdays, 5pm,
ITV1

The Chase is on a break for a few weeks, last year the break gave us awesome and popular returnable hit series Tipping Point which basically successfully overcome the natural “urgh, this isn’t The Chase” reaction you’d expect from the audience, this year the slot has been given over to Julia Bradbury and eight (EIGHT!) eggtimers. We have hit the gameshow eggtimer motherlode. Whatsmore each of those eggtimers are different lengths, we’re hoping for some tense juggling action.

Unfortunately in this heat the only Twisters we fancy taking on are of the Walls ice cream variety. Still, though.

103 thoughts on “Show Discussion: Take On The Twisters

  1. David

    This is assuming of course they don’t do a special report when the big announcement comes…

    Reply
  2. Tom H

    Is it a pre-requisite for all ITV teatime quiz shows to have 3-pronged multiple choice questions plus a straight Q&A round in some form?

    This is really quite boring, and the main font’s possible one of the ugliest ever known to typographers. Julia Bradbury’s competent, though.

    Reply
    1. GIzensha

      She deserves better, certainly.

      As for the show itself, a neat idea ruined by slow pacing, for me.

      Reply
      1. Eileen Brown

        Absolutely agree. The contestants that have been on so far have had a low level of general knowledge on the whole. And does someone tell them to string out the time till they give an answer?

        Responses to questions usually start with “I don’t think it’s so & so” or “This is not my strongest subject” or “I seem to remember from the back of my head that it’s (whatever). Just answer the blooming question for goodness sakes!

        Absolutely tedious, I’ve stopped watching as it’s so frustrating.

        Reply
        1. Peter

          I agree with most of the comments.This is a very poor substitute for The Chase which has all the elements of genuine knowledge, human greed, self interest at all costs and humour.
          Bring back Brad.

          Reply
          1. D Askew

            Please, PLEASE either up the tempo of the show or scrap it. It’s mind-numbingly dull for one reason – the pace. how can anybody be expected to wait 10-15 seconds for the answer to a question. Bring back The Chase. Please.

  3. Lewis

    A note on how quickly (or not) this game moves along: we’re at the second break now and only two people have had the chance to actually score anything.

    Yeah. I agree with Tom above that this is boring, simply because it’s draggggggggingly slow. I’ll save all other commentary for a future Fifty 50.

    Reply
    1. Andrew 'Kesh' Sullivan

      I’d actually like to join in on that discussion, seeing as I haven’t been on a Fifty50 episode for a while

      Reply
      1. Lewis

        It won’t be this weekend, since I’m away (don’t worry everyone, I’ll have an episode pre-recorded to go out on Friday) so how’s about August 4th?

        Reply
        1. Andrew 'Kesh' Sullivan

          Yeah, that’s fine. In the meantime, I’ll leave a quick pros and cons of the show for Brig to look over

          PROS
          The set looks nice
          The questions are of an OK difficulty, I’d say Tipping Point level

          CONS
          The name. Twisters? They’re eggtimers, not swirling masses of air or, as Brig joked, ice creams.
          Being the first person to take the Twisters on is at a clear disadvantage because they’re worth their normal amounts. Nothing will stop the next round being that they light the 3 ones that haven’t had their amounts revealed, keeping them in play and having all their amounts doubled.
          The purple one was very hard to see when it was about to run out, maybe it was from where I was sitting in relation to the TV.

          It’s not a bad show as such, it’s just not a very good one either. At least with Tipping Point, you have the machine itself which keeps the game interesting. Here, it’s about as exciting as a bunch of spinning plates and trying to make sure none fall off. I’d grade this show as a B-

          Reply
    2. Daniel H

      I was just going to post the same major flaw! You could argue that there are only 4 opportunities to “score” in The Chase, too, but at least with The Chase you’re always working towards the “scoring” – here, about 90% of each “round” has virtually no bearing on the actual scores.

      Plus, some people won’t be happy that the clock only appears with 10 seconds to go in the speed rounds.

      It’s a shame that a more accurate title would be Light Up The Twisters…

      Reply
      1. Lewis

        At least in The Chase each person gets a go, and everything goes into a central bank. Here they’re competing, and I imagine most games at least one person won’t get a go at scoring at all.

        Reply
        1. Daniel H

          Absolutely. I can’t see it being common for all four to get one go each so it’s pretty much just a race to make it to the “scoring round” twice to win. To be super-sure , make it up twice after the “double points” has happened just in case someone else gets there twice.

          I think the double points might also be another flaw – in a show which only has four opportunities to score as it is and you’re going to be doubling the points for what on most shows I suspect will be three of the four rounds then it makes it pretty useless going up in the “Single Money” round unless you make it back to the Twisters again in “Double Money.”

          I think I’m also right in saying that the last guy up couldn’t even win before he started his Twisters round which all seemed a bit silly – the primary flaw there isn’t necessarily that he couldn’t catch 1st place but that it’s either 1st place or nothing in terms of progression/prizes.

          Reply
          1. Lewis

            Today’s game is proving that might not always be true. 2 rounds in and only 4 have their values revealed, so trying to get the double values going now provides a chance to catchup.

          2. Daniel H

            Yes – I may have been a little quick with my judgement there.

            I think a better rule might be that you get Double Money if you keep all your own set of six in play as then you earn your own double-points – at the minute you could get double points just for finishing off a job already 7/8ths done for you!

        2. Delano

          Take On The Twisters is just morally unjust, churning out Tantaluses.

          (Tantalus, the unlucky Greek, who was incarcerated for life and died a gruesome death for being unable to reach for either the grape tree or the nearby river.)

          Reply
  4. ianfrontier

    I think that the pacing on this was horrific, it felt like it would never end.The set is nice and Julia Bradbury is a competent host but failed to liven the show up. The actual “taking on the twisters” element was interesting and this should have made up more of the show. The final round was good, sort of reminded me of Take it or Leave it.

    Most of the questions were of a reasonable difficulty for a daytime show, but did I hear “What is the third letter in the English alphabet?” that is a bit of a joke.

    Also they got a question wrong. The answer to “Which of these is the world’s largest desert?” Antarctica is the largest desert in the world but the answer was Sahara. Fair enough that Antarctica wasn’t an option but it’s still wrong.

    This show is a sure bet for the Hall of Shame. 4/10

    Reply
    1. Eileen Brown

      To be fair, the question you mentioned was actually “What is the third letter of the Greek alphabet?”, and the contestant answered correctly that it was “Gamma”. I saw that episode. So not such a dumb question as you thought.

      I still think it’s a tedious programme though and have stopped watching because I got so frustrated with the slow pace.

      Reply
  5. Weaver

    Precisely one hour ago, at 17.36 this afternoon, DaveX1990 made a bold prediction: Think it’s clear what will be topping the @UKGameshows hall of shame this year. #takeonthetwisters.

    C’mon. It’s no Face the Clock.

    On the other hand, it’s got a lot of little things to improve: how far along are we in the round, is there a better play-or-pass mechanism, can Julia generate the same sort of atmosphere as Ben does?

    On the other other hand, Twisters on ITV+1 is more appealing than ISIHAC with Celebrity Big Brother’s Jack Dee.

    Reply
  6. Mr CT2U

    I see everyone “enjoyed” the show then?………… 😉

    Cannot say very much but I actually do appear as a contestant later on in the series and when my show does air if any of you want to ask me any questions about my experience on the show then feel free to do so! 😉

    Reply
  7. Greg

    I have to admit i was bored. I will not be making any effort to watch this again.

    Did anybody see that epic game of Deal yesterday? Worth checking it out on catchup if not

    Reply
    1. Mr CT2U

      A good friend of mine appeared on Face The Clock and narrowly missed out on the head to head but with that show didn’t matter how good a quizzer you were, you needed the luck to survive in that game.

      Rory Bremner was certainly an affable host but the format was really not that good.

      Reply
    2. Kamen Duck

      I thought it was fun and it had an excellent set, but the format had some major issues.

      Reply
    3. Steven

      I grew to like it, plenty of questions; Rory Bremner was dire though.

      Reply
    4. Delano

      Let’s say Face The Clock was a guilty pleasure, which was still under construction when commissioned.

      Reply
  8. Michelle Scott

    As far as I can see the producers of the show could easily fix who wins or loses seeing as its all done electronically and the rest of the show was boring :0(.
    Bring back The Chase!

    Reply
    1. Paul

      I’m getting VERY tired of people saying that X is fixed. It really isn’t. Since the OFCOM scandal in 2007 literally everything has been whiter than white. There is an external adjudicator on most gameshows now, this one included. I can guarantee you that this wasn’t fixed and I can guarantee you a whole load of other shows aren’t fixed too.

      Reply
      1. David B

        I think the key point is that, while I’m sure it isn’t fixed, there’s nothing in the mechanism to prove it isn’t. In a way, a low tech card would demonstrate fairness far better than a reprogrammable computer screen.

        Reply
  9. Michelle Scott

    P.s. once they gamble that is (in connection to my earlier comment.)

    Reply
  10. Mart with a Y not an I

    Oh dear.
    Suppose the Set is nice, music nice and Bradbury was better than I thought asking questions at speed (unless that was made to sound better in the dark art of the pick-up), but..

    The sand ran out in at least 1 timer in Paul’s round (sorry for any spoilers) and he was allowed to spin it around and back in play.

    Sorry, but that is just a plain nasty and incompetent piece of studio production. No sand left in the timer means that timer should have been put out of play – instantly.

    Plus, I am slightly uncomfortable with the 1 out of 8 end round. It’s done for the tension of the reveal. Of course, if someone keeps all 8 in play – tension wrecked.

    A better end game would be to split the money in a 50/25/25% split across three random timers. But then, this is 12 Yard and we can’t have the possibility of someone winning money in every show of the series – can we?

    6/10. Welcome to The Fuse of 2013.

    Reply
    1. Dave M

      I’m pretty sure in the case of the Twister running out of sand but still being left in play (it happened twice today that I noticed), the contestant had already answered and was in the midst of asking that Twister be twisted. I’m guessing the Official Rules would state that if a Twister still has time left when you start to ask for it to be twisted, it’s still in the game.

      Reply
      1. David

        I’m wondering if they just have offstage clocks that are “official” (like 5MTOF), and so long as the player calls for it before the clock hits zero, it counts..

        Reply
  11. David B

    The gamble at the end was terrible. £1000 vs. a 5/8 chance of winning £9,100? C’mon…

    Reply
    1. Dave M

      Having the buyout be a straight £200/twister, and not tied to the amount of money at risk seems like a massive oversight.

      Doing a little back-of-the-envelope calculation using some theory cribbed from Deal or No Deal suggests a better buyout offer in that situation would have been £3,500.

      Reply
      1. David B

        And that’s the irony – thanks to DOND, everyone knows what a decent 5/8 offer would look like.

        Reply
  12. Kamen Duck

    The Twisters really needed to be more visually stunning. After the awesome hourglass in 5 Minutes to a Fortune, where it was easy to both hear and see the money running out, the pathetic little dots on the wall really underwhelmed.

    Reply
  13. John R

    It was far too dragged out to enjoy, cut it down to a 30 minute show (and maybe 3 players) then it might be more enjoyable.

    Reply
  14. Brig Bother Post author

    Well it’s not quite good enough really, and it’s a shame because I think the core idea of juggling eggtimers is quite fun, but it didn’t really come across as as manic as it does in my head, and therefore less entertaining.

    Given that that’s the meat of the show, the whole lighting up of the Twisters was basically interminable and I’m slightly baffled as to why you’d choose to twist – worst case scenario if you take the question and get it wrong: control passes to next player. Worst case scenario if you twist and they get it right: they light up a twister and keep control. Everyone hates Tipping Point, but at least it gets to the fun bit quickly and consistently.

    There is a real chance on lots of episodes that if one person gets more than one go (very likely) that the final qualifier game is completely pointless because there’s no chance of catching up because there’s not enough money in the game. There’s actually a decent case for allowing a remultiply of the values somehow. It would be a bit cheap, but there’s a good televisual case for rising stakes if you can justify it as earnt.

    I’m told they’re aiming for In It To Win It style the contestants not knowing how many rounds they’ll be until time’s up, I’m pretty confident it’ll be four for 80%+ episodes.

    My gut says the Twisters need to have about five seconds less time in each of them if it wants to be more exciting.

    The gamble at the end is silly. I rail against The Million Pound Drop for having a gamble no-one except rich celebrities who are guaranteed money will take, because to a young person who has just been through the mill £6-12.5k is a lot of money to lose on a coin flip. Here the gamble is stupid because everyone will take it. The extreme choices are: 1 Twister, gamble £200 for a 1 in 8 shot at around £10k (oh, go on then), 7 Twisters, gamble £1,400 at a 7 in 8 shot at around £10k (oh, go on then). I can’t see many people turning down £800-£1k for a 50/50 or better shot at over ten times the cash, can you?

    So I think it’s a lot of missed opportunities really, not an awful idea done in a pretty boring and viewer-unfriendly way. Or Standard 12 Yard as we say in the non-trade.

    Reply
  15. Simon

    Just watched it and not much more to add that hasn’t been said.

    Not something I’ll go out of my way to watch again.

    Reply
  16. Brig Bother Post author

    2.3m for episode one, which I’m not going to lie, is pretty incredible considering. I wonder if it will keep that by the end of the week.

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    1. Gina

      The show was rubbish. Hard to understand and very boring. I do hope it is not on for the rest of the Summer. Women Presenters are not good with Game Shows.

      Reply
      1. Delano

        Apart from the cash calculation in the quickfire rounds, I think TOTT is easy to follow and Julia Bradbury does next to nothing wrong.

        But it cannot knock Five Minutes To A Fortune, Pointless or The Chase from their perches as the imagination lets TOTT a bit down.

        Reply
      2. JC

        “Women Presenters are not good with Game Shows.”

        What is this idiocy? Have you never seen Only Connect?

        There are plenty of things wrong with this show without resorting to baseless sexism.

        Reply
  17. Dave

    Just watched it, don’t normally do this but…What utter, utter garbage,come back Bradley ALL is forgiven. Uncomprehensible garbage, goodbye ITV 5 oclock slot I’d rather watch flog it. absolute crap

    Reply
  18. Weaver

    I agree that the graphics on the wall are painfully weak. And that the endgame would benefit from the independent adjudicator walking on with an envelope and leaving it in front of the graphics wall for the host to open.

    But I enjoyed what I saw of episode two (the last half) far more than episode one. The game works a whole lot better when things aren’t a foregone conclusion. Yes, it’s great to start with a big win, but I’m not convinced it showed the game to its best.

    Reply
    1. Brig Bother Post author

      I was thinking that there’s really no reason you couldn’t just have the contestant pick one of eight envelopes before they play the end game, and then if you wanted tension you could open the other envelopes to eliminate the losing Twisters after the game. Fit the cards inside with RFID chips if you are insistent on using the screens.

      Reply
      1. Lewis

        But then the tension is lost in a situation like today’s: say with 2 twisters still lit you go for it, and the first 2 you eliminate happen to be the ones left (incidentally, that’s a 2/8 x 1/7 = 2/56 = 1/28 chance I think, so not ridiculously low chance)

        Reply
        1. Brig Bother Post author

          Well I’ll take those odds, especially as I have not-very-secret-option-B of just opening the winning envelope when I want which wouldn’t be much less tense than it would be currently, especially as you could be pretty sure they’re not going to reveal the winning Twister if you’ve picked it first. And if they *did* do it eliminating the losing ones, then DOND shows there’s plenty of mileage in landmine avoiding, even if it would be quick and dirty.

          Reply
    2. Brig Bother Post author

      Watching it now, it does seem a bit odd that the game is much more entertaining when people aren’t all that good at playing it.

      Reply
  19. Brekkie

    Not having real twisters is such a mistake. Also difficult to get excited abut games when prizes revealed are in the hundreds rather than thousands.

    As Buzzerblog keep saying ITV should bring back Divided instead. Even 24 Hr Quiz with Barry from EastEnders was better than this.

    Reply
    1. John R

      I still dream that one day they might suddenly decide to make a daytime version of Duel.

      Reply
      1. Crimsonshade

        Seconded. Thanks for reminding me of Duel by the way – there’s a show that really didn’t get the attention it deserved.

        Reply
        1. Brekkie

          Thirded. Big mistake by ITV not giving it a second chance – one of the few shows that actually grew it’s audience week in week out to the point where it was on a par with the figures Millionaire was getting and it was loved by those who watched it.

          So based on ratings this week Take on the Twisters is the most inexplicable hit since Tipping Point, so will almost certainly return. I’d bet on it alternating in the 4pm slot with Tipping Point leaving 5pm clear for The Chase, a couple of series of Paul O’Grady and perhaps to try something new next summer.

          Reply
  20. Brig Bother Post author

    2m/17% for episode two yesterday I’m informed. That’s about what Tipping Point was getting at the end of its first run so if it stays there then people will be pleased I’m sure, but TP started low and grew, TOTT has lost 300k and 2 points after a day. Coincidentally, Pointless up 300k and 2 points after a day (2.8/22), although I don’t think anyone’s expecting it to beat Pointless.

    So tense!

    It had Tipping Point’s 1.7m/19% as a lead-in, next week it’s Midsommer Murders.

    Going by Digital Spy people are mainly watching for Julia Bradbury’s legs, which is unfair because she’s better at hosting this than I was expecting.

    Reply
  21. Nico W.

    Oh I like this show, I think it’s too slow and there are too many players for the format as it is now, but still the idea of 6 eggtimers you have to twist again and again to keep their money in your pocket, is great I think. Maybe they should have 5 twisters and a round before the actual game as it is now, in which each one gets a go to get one question right with a certain amount of multiple choice answers, they can choose (e.g. no option required= 5 twisters, 5 options required= 4 twisters, and so on). Then they would get to play the amount of twisters they have earned and put some money in the bank. The worst player has to leave and the game continues with three players the way it is now.
    Another bad thing about this show is this “double the money for revealing all the money”. It’s just a thing of luck…
    And I think the finale is really too short. It’s meant to be the big highlight (just like the finale chase), but it’s not that exciting at all…
    All in all an alright show, but it’s not worth searching for a proxy to watch it…

    Reply
  22. Crimsonshade

    Anyone notice that the stylized “W” in the show’s logo, makes it look kind of like an egg timer is in the centre of the W?

    Reply
  23. Mary

    Sorry but I don’t understand this game at all. Where can you read the rules, and Julia Bradbury should stick to Country File. Surely we could have some repeats of another game show.

    Reply
  24. Gingerlucy

    Bring back The Chase please – Twister is just awful . I have watched three episodes to try and fathom it out to no avail….it’s slow, boring and pretty pointless

    Reply
  25. Phil

    i have to say iv never in my life found a game show sooooooo boring. and her voice puts me to sleep! i think ITV has lost the plot.

    Reply
  26. Brig Bother Post author

    From ITV Insider Dan:

    1.8/22 for Tipping Point, 1.7/16 Take On The Twisters, 2.6/23 Pointless.

    Gosh and indeed blimey.

    Reply
  27. Delano

    Today for the first time, a contestant fell victim of her own avarice.

    Couldn’t say I feel sorry, I’m always attached to the strongest or cleverest contestant.

    Reply
    1. Brig Bother Post author

      It’s absolutely the correct decision to gamble – evens for a 7x payoff, nobody is not going to take it unless they’re basically destitute at that sort of level.

      Wanted the older guy to win, but I find the lighting of the Twisters so dull I have to fast forward through it so I don’t know if he blew chances or not. It does feel a bit frustrating that so much of that but feels out if your hands though.

      Reply
  28. Brig Bother Post author

    Thursday numbers from Dan:

    1.7/21 Tipping Point, 1.8/16 Take On The Twisters, 2.7/23 Pointless.

    Slight rise for TOTT, I reckon it will bottom out at 1.5m next week without the TP lead-in but go no lower.

    I’ve spent the last few days watching it on fast forward until the Twister games. Surprised nobody’s noticed that the first fifteen seconds or so are basically a waste of everyone’s time, perhaps they should be allowed to bank twists for right answers or something.

    Reply
    1. David B

      True though I suppose, if you were extremely ballsy, you could twist the fastest one after your first question and then twist it back for the second, and then forget about it for much of the rest of the round.

      Reply
  29. Chris M. Dickson

    Basically, what just about everybody else said. The minutes with the Twisters are fun, the structure to get there is not.

    Incidentally, I have a suspicion that there are very few activities sufficiently entertaining for the same things to happen four times in immediate succession without sufficient variety. For instance, imagine Going For Gold with four people playing Four In A Row rather than three… that would start to drag. “Sufficient variety” can come in lots of flavours; the Mental Agility rounds in The Krypton Factor sometimes lost a little flavour third and fourth time around, but they did get harder within each round and you as a viewer got better at the activity, making later iterations more entertaining. Only Connect does similar things six times in each of the first two rounds, but the picture and music questions do spark things up, and it’s one of the rare shows where the questions are the star, rather than the format. Alongside the star, of course.

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  30. Mr CT2U

    Any chance none of you can watch the show on Monday 19th August and watch something more interesting like molecular science lol! 😉

    Reply
  31. Mr CT2U

    Just been listening to the latest Fifty Fifty Podcast regarding Take on the Twisters and no offence but some of the talk about the show is totally laughable and inaccurate.

    All I’ll say is after the show is aired on Monday 19th August, I’ll give you my thoughts on the show mainly as I appear on the show as a contestant.

    Reply
  32. Delano

    Found a new rule:

    If two contestants are tied after four runs, the most efficient player throughout enters the final.

    Which I find a nice departure from throwing in a tie-break.

    Reply
      1. Delano

        Today’s show had two top scorers, both topping £ 1,800.

        So, no DS conspiracy theory I pluckily Ctrl+C-and-Ctrl+V’ed.

        Reply
        1. Mr CT2U

          Just checking that was all as some of them on Digital S***E really have not got a clue what they are talking about!…

          Yes the tie-breaker ruling was certainly an interesting one to say the least and at first I thought if I lose via that way, I would really have not been happy, saying that though like with any quiz/game show the best performing player should always go through on merit and not someone that fluked their way to victory.

          Reply
    1. Mr CT2U

      No offence but just for my own curiosity needed to ask that in case your one of those brainless conspiracy theorists commenting about the show and don’t know what they are talking about on Digital S***E…….. I mean Spy 🙂

      Reply
  33. Mr CT2U

    As I said in an earlier post I would comment about the show as my game was shown on Monday.

    Reading a lot of comments both here and Digital S***E don’t get me wrong i’d say 80% of the comments are accurate and the rest of them is utter tosh.

    Certainly was a very interesting show to do was Take on the Twisters, sadly though it probably ranks as my least favourite show that I’ve taken part in mainly due to the slow pace of the game and in all honesty found the show to be a bit too scripted for my liking especially when it comes to answer the multiple choice questions as explaining how I got to the answer was annoying to say the least but it is “encouraged” and for me If I know the answer to a question, I’m going to answer and sod the reasoning bit.

    Also it was mentioned somewhere on here that the contestants get around a half a day with one another to try and suss out each ones strengths and weaknesses. Try more like 1-2 hours and if there was no real interaction like between me and my opponents you don’t get too much but I’ll say this as well I went there to purely win and in my eyes my 3 opponents saw me as the biggest threat to winning and to lose by £200 was a bit of a sickener but I gave it my best shot and yeah there was a couple of big opportunities to win the game which I did not capitalise on but you can’t win them all.

    One thing I will say is that I take my hat off to all the team at 12 Yard who produce the show who incredibly professional and very friendly and certainly was a very slick production! 🙂

    Reply
  34. Damian

    Anybody else noticed this. On the twisters when the player gets to the final if Julia asks them to pick the first twister they never win. If Julia picks the first twister they always win. It’s obviously to prolong the show and its almost like she knows in advance where the Money is.
    I might be a bit sad but its ruining my entertainment.

    Reply
    1. Eileen Brown

      A few weeks ago when a woman had potentially won a large amount of money she was down to two twisters after her quickfire question round. She decided not to take £200 for each of the two twisters left and was going to gamble. Julia said OK, let’s start with the one furthest away. This of course had an X on it. But the remaining one was a winner and the woman walked away with around £9000+.
      It was a big gamble because it could have been any one of the unlighted six twisters.
      I thought to myself then that she must have had prior knowledge. Even when there are more twisters to choose, Julia gets to choose which twister to reveal.

      Reply
      1. Mr CT2U

        Sigh!…………………..

        The ONLY person that knows where the money is hidden in the final twist is the independent adjudicator and nobody else.

        I should know, my show was on last week and trust me EVERYTHING is fully above board and done with a fine tooth comb.

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        1. David B

          Now, now – no-one’s suggesting there’s anything underhand. But if you’ve watched even a few programmes, there’s clearly a pattern that they tend to reveal the money twister towards the end.

          I imagine that, once the offer’s been accepted or rejected, the adjudicator tips off Julia where the money is. This isn’t cheating, but it does allow them to play the drama out to full effect.

          Reply
          1. Mr CT2U

            Please do not think I’m having a go at anybody it’s just some of the “conspiracy theories” that I’ve been reading on DS have been truly laughable and some of the brainless (not all there has been some very articulate, sensible and nice comments especially regarding my performance even though I lost by £200 in a tight game) morons who think they know it all and have never ventured into a tv studio annoy me like hell.

            Like I said before and I’ll say it again, I literally cannot fault 12 Yard for their amazing professionalism and how slick the production was and how above board everything was.

            The only criticism I have with the show was that obviously I didn’t win and the general slowish pace with regards to game play.

            Can’t honestly see the show getting another series in my honest opinion but I’d could be proved wrong. Interesting fact with any 12 Yard Quiz/Game show on ITV that to my knowledge there has not been any of their shows that have lasted more than 1 series and I’m talking about shows like the Colour of Money, Holding out for a Hero and Don’t Blow the Inheritance.

          2. Weaver

            I think Mr. CT2U is correct, as no 12 Yard Production shown on ITV has yet been renewed.

            (Some expectation that Big Star’s Little Star will break that record, it’s a generation-gap version of Mr and Mrs and is being put in the same slot as Schofe had in the spring.)

            Must be ever-so-slightly galling that 12 Yard’s UK income almost all comes from the BBC, thanks to Eggheads, In It to Win It, Who Dares Wins, and now Perfection.

  35. Damian

    Yes that’s right so when I watch tomorrow and if Julia picks in the final the contestant will win. If she says to the player you pick the player will loose. I can’t wait for the next show although if I’m right it somewhat ruins the show. I actually quite like the show but it did take a few watches to get into it. I think Julia very good.

    Reply
  36. Eileen Brown

    That’s what I think as well. I’m well aware they are only known to an independent adjudicator.
    I didn’t say that she’s knows all along, just when the reveal is going to happen.

    Reply
  37. Damian

    Thanks for all the comments. And if I where a contestant on TOTT and I was lucky enough to get to the final and Julia turned to me and said “right where shall we start” (Julia then picks the colour) – I would be pretty sure I had won.
    As I said earlier I think it ruins the surprise element in the final and believe its a format error.
    I genuinely get excited when someone’s wins and this ruins that.
    They need to look at the best quiz show on Tv “Pointless” for some inspiration.

    Reply
  38. NeilVW

    Just to add re the ratings, TOTT almost certainly won’t be coming back. It had just 984k/8.9% (excluding +1) on Mon 19 August (versus 2.92m/24.6% for a Pointless repeat), and the Friday before a mere 790k/6.7% (again excluding +1 – it was up against Mo Farah on BBC Two). I bet ITV can’t wait for the return of The Chase on Monday.

    Reply
    1. Brig Bother Post author

      Someone on DS suggested that Pointless got over 3m and its highest ever share just yesterday at 27%, which with deduction means TOTT didn’t do very well.

      If share is good for anything its in pointing out the strength/weakness of opposition.

      Reply
  39. Delano

    Someone at the Graphics Design Dept. tinkered with the computer screens, but I doubt that the readability has improved significantly.

    Reply
  40. Crimsonshade

    As Delano already somewhat mentioned, today’s episode of TOTT showed a few minor production changes that seem interesting to point out:

    – Players no longer wear name badges (or I didn’t see any). Player names are now listed on their podiums with their current money totals.
    – Lighting for the Twisters has been changed too; so the sand appears the same colour in all of them and the colours seem brighter. They also seem to light/de-light quicker.
    – Screens underneath the Twisters have been enlarged. During the main rounds, they are now fully coloured the same colour as the Twister; during the final, the additional space is used to show a coloured ribbon of the Twister’s colour but the remainder is turned silver.
    – Win and lose graphics are slightly different as well.
    – The offer is now £250 per remaining Twister (still not good enough, but nice to see an attempt to improve the offers).

    It’s always sad to see shows attempt to improve themselves mid-series and then realise the unlikelihood of a second series means we’ll never see if they would have taken it any further…

    Reply
    1. Mr CT2U

      Hmmm very interesting indeed.

      For all of the above mentioned, it very well could be the case that this was the first recording as the recordings are not tx’ed in order and I know that to be fact.

      Reply
      1. Brig Bother Post author

        Watching this afternoon this looks correct, like that episode was a dry run or something.

        The other thing I noticed is that there seemed to be a bigger variation in pinch points – the blue one had more sand in it than the orange one but was clearly running faster.

        Reply
  41. Mr CT2U

    Well the series is over and done with and probably never to return but you never say never in TV as it is a funny old vehicle of entertainment at times.

    Obviously 12 Yard have got it bang on the money with their quiz/game shows on the BBC but just cannot understand why from viewing figures/opinions that they cannot get it right with any of their shows on ITV.

    Obviously I appeared on the show as a contestant and for me in all honesty I cannot pinpoint exactly where they could have improved TOTT because I believe there was the potential but the potential was just not willing to show itself through 30 shows, make the show a must see and warrant itself a 2nd series.

    Said before I cannot fault 12 Yard for their extremely high standard of professionalism during my recording and I thank them for my opportunity to appear on the show after a 10 year quiz/game show hiatus 😉

    Which show do I target next?? – Been shortlisted for the Chase for donkeys and am really losing hope so either that or Pointless would be nice! 🙂

    Reply
    1. Andrew 'Kesh' Sullivan

      I know I’m well late to this party, but I’ve also been shortlisted for The Chase for over 2 years myself! I auditioned on August 12th 2011, the day after my 28th birthday and have been waiting to get my shot ever since.

      Reply
  42. Octopus

    It’s awful, in my view. I watch it, so perhaps I’m a hypocrite.

    I am sick to the back teeth of seeing (Yes, I’ll say it!) plebs failing to answer even the simplest general knowledge questions.

    It actually makes me very angry that “teachers”, one of which features in almost every show, are some of the least intelligent people around. That’s not funny – That’s a serious problem. Phew, I’m seething just thinking about that!

    “I don’t know, jool-ee-ah, I teach science not the periodic table…”

    Why don’t ITV just buy ‘Fifteen to One’ from Channel 4? They’re not using it any more…

    Reply
    1. Crimsonshade

      Just wanted to point out the spookiness that Channel 4 did indeed bring back Fifteen to One for a one-off around a month after the above comment…

      Reply

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