Pointless (TV series)
Encyclopedia
Pointless is a quiz show
shown on BBC One
, hosted by Alexander Armstrong
, with Richard Osman
as assistant. It has been broadcast since 24 August 2009.
Similar to Family Fortunes
, contestants must give answers to a question which had previously been asked to one hundred members of the public. However, on Pointless, the aim is to give obscure answers.
The object of the game is to score as few points as possible by giving correct answers that the public have or have not given, ultimately scoring lower than other contestants. The contestants particularly try to look for answers which score no points, which are known as "Pointless" answers. Finding a Pointless Answer adds £250 to the jackpot in rounds prior to the Final, and finding a Pointless Answer in the Final wins the game.
Prior to the show, 100 people are each given 100 seconds to give as many answers as they can to the questions that will be asked to the teams during the show. The number of points given to the teams during the quiz is decided by how many of the 100 people have previously given the same answer.
Name a country beginning with the letter "C".
Correct answers that scored no points on the quiz are known as "Pointless" answers, and are the ones the teams should be aiming to get.
(Alexander's "Pointless friend"). During each round, he gives information about the most unusual and most common statistics.
Teams gain points depending on how many people answered the question with that answer. If the player gives an incorrect answer, they gain 100 points.
At the end of each round, the team with the highest score is eliminated from the game. In the event of a tie, the tied teams each give an extra answer each until the deadlock is broken and the team with the highest points eliminated, and the teams are allowed to confer in the tie-break.
Also, at the end of each round, Richard reveals all the "Pointless" answers, or lowest popular three if there aren't any "Pointless" answers, plus the top three answers, which would be worth the highest amount to any player.
There are three different formats of the elimination round which can be played: the first was introduced in the first series (and was the only version used in that run), with subsequent series introducing variant formats.
The original format saw open-ended questions: contestants would be given the question and a free choice of answer - no prompts or preset answers were shown. If the answer given by the contestant was adjudged to be correct under the terms of the question, the contestant would score according to the results of the poll; giving an answer not adjudged to be correct would result in 100 points being scored. In the first series, this game was played three times (as each of the elimination rounds), then in subsequent episodes this game was played no more than once.
The possible answers format, introduced as the new second-elimination-round format in series 2, sees the question given and then a board of potential answers (between six and eight, commonly seven) given to the contestants; each contestant in turn picks one of the answers shown and scores accordingly. Following the first pass, Richard reveals the value of the remaining answers. The other team members have a new set of answers to choose from. Each set of answers includes at least one Pointless Answer and at least one 100-point-scoring incorrect answer. Usually the incorrect answer has some indirect link (often humorous) back to the question.
The third format, names and answers, was introduced in series 3 and sees the teams given a two-part subject, such as "Famous Battles and their Countries", and then a list of names relating to part of the question - in this example, they would see a list of historical battles. The contestants would have to select an item from the list and give the corresponding other half of the answer (in this case, the country where the battle took place). All the options have a correct answer, and a more obscure answer will score fewer points. Giving an incorrect answer to any question scores the team 100 points. For example, when the question was The Battle of Hastings, the correct answer was England, scoring 92 points. After the first pass, all the correct answers and their scores were revealed, with a fresh board of names for the second pass. Unlike in "possible answers", there is no guarantee there will be a Pointless Answer on the board.
Another format, introduced in Series 5, provided the teams with two closely related categories (e.g. "Boy Bands" and "Rock Bands"). The first category would be played on the first pass (first player from each team playing), and the second category would be played on the second pass (the second player from each team playing). The questions were still played in an open-ended format and so far, this format has only been played in the first round.
The games which were played in each series were arranged as follows:
Whatever the format, the two teams remaining from the elimination rounds would go forward to the head-to-head round.
The remaining two teams face off in a head-to-head battle. The team who acquired the fewest points in the first two rounds gets to go first.
A question is asked which has between 4 and 14 possible answers (the graphics are designed to display up to seven answers at a time, so 14 is the most that can be shown on two screens), the teams get to confer and give one answer in turn. The scores for both answers are then revealed and the team with the lower score get a point and the opportunity to answer first on the next question. The first team to get three points (2 points from series 3) wins the Head to Head and enters the final.
The team is given a choice of three categories. After choosing one, they get the question, and have 60 seconds to give three answers for that category. If any of them are "Pointless" answers then they win the jackpot. If not, then the jackpot is rolled over to the next show and £1,000 is added.
For reaching the final the team receives a glass "Pointless" trophy, regardless of what happens in the final. Any team that makes it through to the final cannot return for the next show, even if it is their first appearance.
Quiz Show
Quiz Show is a 1994 American historical drama film produced and directed by Robert Redford. Adapted by Paul Attanasio from Richard Goodwin's memoir Remembering America, the film is based upon the Twenty One quiz show scandal of the 1950s...
shown on BBC One
BBC One
BBC One is the flagship television channel of the British Broadcasting Corporation in the United Kingdom. It was launched on 2 November 1936 as the BBC Television Service, and was the world's first regular television service with a high level of image resolution...
, hosted by Alexander Armstrong
Alexander Armstrong (comedian)
Alexander Henry Fenwick Armstrong is a British comedian, actor and television presenter.-Early life and career:Armstrong was born in Rothbury, Northumberland, the youngest of three children, to Henry Angus Armstrong and his wife Emma Virginia Peronnet Thompson-McCausland, daughter of Lucius...
, with Richard Osman
Richard Osman
Richard Thomas Osman is an English television presenter, producer and director. He is creative director for the television production company Endemol UK, but is best known on-screen as the co-presenter of the quiz show Pointless.-Television work:Since 2009, Osman has worked on the BBC Two quiz...
as assistant. It has been broadcast since 24 August 2009.
Similar to Family Fortunes
Family Fortunes
Family Fortunes is a British game show, based on the American game show Family Feud. The programme ran on ITV from 6 January 1980 to 6 December 2002 before being revived by the same channel in 2006 under the title of All Star Family Fortunes...
, contestants must give answers to a question which had previously been asked to one hundred members of the public. However, on Pointless, the aim is to give obscure answers.
The object of the game is to score as few points as possible by giving correct answers that the public have or have not given, ultimately scoring lower than other contestants. The contestants particularly try to look for answers which score no points, which are known as "Pointless" answers. Finding a Pointless Answer adds £250 to the jackpot in rounds prior to the Final, and finding a Pointless Answer in the Final wins the game.
Introduction
At the beginning of the show there are four teams (five in the first series) of two players. Any team which does not reach the final of the show on their first appearance is invited back for a second (and final) appearance on the next show.Rules
The aim of the show is to get as few points as possible, by answering questions with lesser known correct answers.Prior to the show, 100 people are each given 100 seconds to give as many answers as they can to the questions that will be asked to the teams during the show. The number of points given to the teams during the quiz is decided by how many of the 100 people have previously given the same answer.
- Example:
Name a country beginning with the letter "C".
- If 79 people said CanadaCanadaCanada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
, the team would gain 79 points for that answer. - If no one said the Central African RepublicCentral African RepublicThe Central African Republic , is a landlocked country in Central Africa. It borders Chad in the north, Sudan in the north east, South Sudan in the east, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and the Republic of the Congo in the south, and Cameroon in the west. The CAR covers a land area of about ,...
, the team would score no points for that answer. - If the team gave an incorrect answer, such as ColoradoColoradoColorado is a U.S. state that encompasses much of the Rocky Mountains as well as the northeastern portion of the Colorado Plateau and the western edge of the Great Plains...
, they would receive a penalty of 100 points. If the team receives 2 incorrect answers in each pass, the total is taken to 200.
Correct answers that scored no points on the quiz are known as "Pointless" answers, and are the ones the teams should be aiming to get.
Adjudicator
The show's assistant is Richard OsmanRichard Osman
Richard Thomas Osman is an English television presenter, producer and director. He is creative director for the television production company Endemol UK, but is best known on-screen as the co-presenter of the quiz show Pointless.-Television work:Since 2009, Osman has worked on the BBC Two quiz...
(Alexander's "Pointless friend"). During each round, he gives information about the most unusual and most common statistics.
Format
The format and gameplay changed slightly between series. The game consists of initial elimination rounds (three in the first series, two in subsequent series) to whittle the starting lineup down to the two teams who contest the head-to-head; the winning team of the head-to-head plays in the Final.Elimination rounds
In the first rounds, the teams are given a subject (such as geography or sport). Each team chooses one player from their team to answer the question first. Then the question within the subject is revealed. The order of play starts with the person at the podium nearest to Alexander, then goes all the way to the farthest podium away from Alexander; this forms what is known as the 'first pass'. Then, the players at each podium switch to the second player, and the order is then reversed for the 'second pass', so it ends up with the person nearest to Alexander going last. During each of these rounds, teams may not confer.Teams gain points depending on how many people answered the question with that answer. If the player gives an incorrect answer, they gain 100 points.
At the end of each round, the team with the highest score is eliminated from the game. In the event of a tie, the tied teams each give an extra answer each until the deadlock is broken and the team with the highest points eliminated, and the teams are allowed to confer in the tie-break.
Also, at the end of each round, Richard reveals all the "Pointless" answers, or lowest popular three if there aren't any "Pointless" answers, plus the top three answers, which would be worth the highest amount to any player.
There are three different formats of the elimination round which can be played: the first was introduced in the first series (and was the only version used in that run), with subsequent series introducing variant formats.
The original format saw open-ended questions: contestants would be given the question and a free choice of answer - no prompts or preset answers were shown. If the answer given by the contestant was adjudged to be correct under the terms of the question, the contestant would score according to the results of the poll; giving an answer not adjudged to be correct would result in 100 points being scored. In the first series, this game was played three times (as each of the elimination rounds), then in subsequent episodes this game was played no more than once.
The possible answers format, introduced as the new second-elimination-round format in series 2, sees the question given and then a board of potential answers (between six and eight, commonly seven) given to the contestants; each contestant in turn picks one of the answers shown and scores accordingly. Following the first pass, Richard reveals the value of the remaining answers. The other team members have a new set of answers to choose from. Each set of answers includes at least one Pointless Answer and at least one 100-point-scoring incorrect answer. Usually the incorrect answer has some indirect link (often humorous) back to the question.
The third format, names and answers, was introduced in series 3 and sees the teams given a two-part subject, such as "Famous Battles and their Countries", and then a list of names relating to part of the question - in this example, they would see a list of historical battles. The contestants would have to select an item from the list and give the corresponding other half of the answer (in this case, the country where the battle took place). All the options have a correct answer, and a more obscure answer will score fewer points. Giving an incorrect answer to any question scores the team 100 points. For example, when the question was The Battle of Hastings, the correct answer was England, scoring 92 points. After the first pass, all the correct answers and their scores were revealed, with a fresh board of names for the second pass. Unlike in "possible answers", there is no guarantee there will be a Pointless Answer on the board.
Another format, introduced in Series 5, provided the teams with two closely related categories (e.g. "Boy Bands" and "Rock Bands"). The first category would be played on the first pass (first player from each team playing), and the second category would be played on the second pass (the second player from each team playing). The questions were still played in an open-ended format and so far, this format has only been played in the first round.
The games which were played in each series were arranged as follows:
- Series 1 used three rounds of "original format".
- Series 2 used a round of "original format" and a round of "possible answers".
- Series 3 onwards used a first round of either "original format" or "possible answers", and a second round of either "possible answers" or "names and answers" ("possible answers" would not be played twice in the same show).
Whatever the format, the two teams remaining from the elimination rounds would go forward to the head-to-head round.
Series 1
The lowest scoring team overall is given a choice of two categories and picks one. Each team takes it in turns to give as many correct answers as possible to the single question while still keeping their scores as low as possible. The round ends when one team goes above 100 points, after both teams have had the same amount of turns. If both teams go above 100, then the team that is nearest to 100 goes through to the final.Series 2 onwards
The format of the head-to-head changed from series 2 to a multi-question best-of-five (best-of-three from series 3).The remaining two teams face off in a head-to-head battle. The team who acquired the fewest points in the first two rounds gets to go first.
A question is asked which has between 4 and 14 possible answers (the graphics are designed to display up to seven answers at a time, so 14 is the most that can be shown on two screens), the teams get to confer and give one answer in turn. The scores for both answers are then revealed and the team with the lower score get a point and the opportunity to answer first on the next question. The first team to get three points (2 points from series 3) wins the Head to Head and enters the final.
Final
The aim of the Final is to get one "Pointless" answer to win the jackpot.The team is given a choice of three categories. After choosing one, they get the question, and have 60 seconds to give three answers for that category. If any of them are "Pointless" answers then they win the jackpot. If not, then the jackpot is rolled over to the next show and £1,000 is added.
For reaching the final the team receives a glass "Pointless" trophy, regardless of what happens in the final. Any team that makes it through to the final cannot return for the next show, even if it is their first appearance.
Regular series
| Series | Start date | End date | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 24 August 2009 | 6 October 2009 | 30 |
| 2 | 8 March 2010 | 16 April 2010 | 30 |
| 3 | 30 August 2010 | 22 December 2010 | 50 |
| 4 | 14 March 2011 | 26 August 2011 | 60 |
| 5 | 29 August 2011 | 60 |
Pointless Celebrities
| Series | Start date | End date | Episodes |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 4 July 2011 | 8 July 2011 | 5 |