The Poll of the Year 2021 is now OFFICIALLY open!

By | January 2, 2022
2 Comments

Can you hear that? Yes! It’s the UKGameshows/Bother’s Bar Poll of the Year truck touring the nation with a choir of people singing “holidays have finished! Holidays have finished!” for the 17th time! And that means it’s time for you to VOTE VOTE VOTE.

You’ve got a week to do it, all the deets (details) can be found on the Poll Page.

Whilst we’re here, a quick reminder that Wie is De Mol 2022 started last night in The Netherlands, we’re still awaiting English subs at time of writing but I’m sure they’ll appear soon. We don’t have a dedicated WIDM page this year, you lot decided you’d rather discuss it on the Discord, so #molchat is the place to go.

Oh yes, and Happy New Year everyone.

Can’t Fight the Moonlight

By | December 27, 2021
0 Comment

Hello Gang, I hope you’re having a fantastic festive season and have stuffed yourself with meat, cheese and booze, unless you’re vegan, lactose intolerant and teetotal in which case you be you.

Just a note, in the last year it’s become quite clear that you’d prefer to discuss Wie is De Mol? and similar on the Discord rather than the dedicated page, so for the first time I’m not bothering with one and just going to direct you to #molchat in the Bother’s Bar Discord – link in the sidebar. It starts January 1st and it looks like our usual subber Marieke is once again offering to translate for us all – please be mindful not to spoil until those subs have come out.

Happy New Year!

It’s a Christmas Miracle

By | December 23, 2021
0 Comment

That’s us pretty much done for the year, although doubtless I’ll be about on Twitter and Discord over the period. I don’t think there’s anything exciting launching twixt (see we can do Victorian) Christmas and New Year anyway. The Poll of 2021 will launch on January 2nd! And Wie is De Mol starts Jan 1st!

In the meantime, here’s an astonishingly poor judgement call on US Wheel of Fortune. She says all the words, in order, in time, judged to have failed for reasons difficult not to describe as “bullshit”. Happily Audi’s PR department were ON IT.

Show Discussion: The Weakest Link

By | December 17, 2021
14 Comments

Saturday, 6:10pm,
BBC1

No your eyes AREN’T deceiving you, The “The” is now officially part of the title again after twenty years in the wilderness, for no discernable reason.

Look, we wanted Judge Rinder to host. But we like Romesh and can understand why they’ve gone for mildly-pissed-off-uncle in this lighter, brighter The Weakest Link reboot, where eight celebrities will quiz and backstab their way to win up to £50,000 for charity.

Unfortunately there seems to be a lot of the rubbish US reboot DNA lurking in here – a poorly considered chain if the advert to go by (although I accept that having a bottom rung 1/30th of the top is quite generous, that’s just as well as you might as well bank after every answer which isn’t very entertaining is it?), having to push a button to bank (ooh the dynamicism) and we still don’t actually know if there’s a big-money two-player round before the head to head which is an absolutely useless format subtraction. And Christ I hope they’re not going to have to reveal who you voted for before the big reveal of who you voted for. And also by Christ please don’t be plodding with the questions, it IS meant to be quickfire.

I know it’s easy to fall into the trap of going “oh this doesn’t matter, it’s all about the comedy.” Except it’s the quiz that drives the comedy. It’s always been the quiz that drives the comedy. Once you’ve taken the piss out of someone’s job and accent, what are you going to take the piss out of when people making mistakes under pressure isn’t there?

Anyway fingers crossed that it’s good but can well believe it might be rubbish. Let us know what you think in the comments.

Show Discussion: I Literally Just Told You

By | December 15, 2021
27 Comments

Thursdays, 10pm,
Channel 4

The latest creation of Format Powerhouse (or at least, Person) Richard Bacon sees Jimmy Carr asking questions about things that have just happened in the studio for £25,000. It’s an observation and memory quiz basically.

What might be fun is that this interview suggests they’re going quite big on the meta, “we had real fun with the fact that anything can happen. You can have 15-second cameos, you can have false ad breaks, you can mess with people’s minds.” It also sounds like the grand final will have contestants setting each other questions: “I think the best bit of the show is the end round. I’ve never seen another game show do that, where you go, “Oh, you’re setting each other questions”” and I for one can’t believe we’ve all forgotten Mental: The Music Quiz already.

Counting against it: is there going to be enough here to sustain an hour? And it’s not usually a slot that C4 do amazingly well in. Watched it? Let us know what you think in the comments.