The Weakest Link (Australian game show)
Encyclopedia
The Weakest Link was an Australian game show
based on the successful UK format
, which aired from February 2001 until April 2002 and was broadcast on the Seven Network
. Presented by Cornelia Frances
, the show featured nine contestants competing for a potential prize of $100,000. Airing twice weekly in primetime, on Mondays and Fridays, later Thursdays, it received modest ratings until its cancellation.
The Monday edition indirectly competed against the more-popular Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
(which airs at a later time on another network) and the Friday edition served as a lead-in to the AFL telecasts
in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia only. Later on in the year, The Weakest Link was moved to Thursdays at 7:30pm. In 2002, the show aired only once a week, on Mondays. Due to poor ratings, the show was cancelled for good with one of the final episodes being a lifestyle special that aired on 8 April 2002.
The show was produced in the Seven Network
's South Melbourne headquarters.
The voice-over was Marcus Irvine, whilst the adjudicator was Alan Mason, the contestant revealed as the first season's Mole
.
. In this episode Bob Young won the final over Thao Nguyen. The prize was a free pass to the next episode of The Mole and the money won went to the kitty in that's show's competition. The prize money, $14,100, was the lowest amount won in any Australian episode of the Weakest Link, but the money was only won after it was proven that the contestants did not cheat backstage. On The Mole this was rounded up to $15,000 as all kitties were rounded up to the nearest $1,000. This episode was watched by a nationwide audience of 1.312 million, well under what Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
achieved that night, with 1.51 million.
On 9 August 2001, a Blue Heelers
special of the show aired. John Wood
, Neil Pigot, Ditch Davey
, Jeremy Kewley
, Jane Allsop
, Suzi Dougherty, Paul Bishop
, Caroline Craig
and Peta Doodson
all participated. In that episode, there was a round where nothing was banked. On 4 February 2002, an All Saints
special of the show also aired. Ben Tari
, Joy Smithers
, Martin Lynes
, Georgie Parker
, Conrad Coleby
, Judith McGrath
, Erik Thomson
(who won the special), Ling Hsueh Tang and Josh Quong Tart
all participated.
On 4 October 2001, a special sports edition of the show aired, five days after the Seven Network
televised the 2001 AFL Grand Final
. Contestants included fullback Max Hudghton
, Brisbane Lions
premiership player Justin Leppitsch
, player David King
and Melbourne Storm
foundation player Rodney Howe
, who won $46,300 (at the time the highest score achieved on the show), which he subsequently donated to the Cancer Council of Victoria.
Celebrities to have participated on a celebrity special of The Weakest Link were Cornelia Frances' Home and Away
colleague and actress Ada Nicodemou
, talk show host Andrew Denton
, Scott McGregor
, Kimberley Cooper
, Tom Williams, Warwick Capper
, Michael Caton
, Monica Trapaga
and Shelley Craft
. In 2001, a special edition made up of contestants from the first season of Big Brother in Australia also aired. Prominent actor Graham K. Furness has also appeared on the show , in which he was the third contestant eliminated on a countback. Several contestants who have appeared on the show and were eliminated have since participated in other TV shows such as Millionaire Hot Seat
.
The "Worst Loser Special" featured eliminated contestants from previous episodes. There were two editions featuring teams made up of winners of previous episodes. In the latter of these, subtitled "The Best of the Best", a record $72,900 prize money was won. The highest amount won outside of specials was $53,300, whilst it is unknown what the lowest was outside of specials.
The grand total prize of $100,000 was never won, neither reached.
Game show
A game show is a type of radio or television program in which members of the public, television personalities or celebrities, sometimes as part of a team, play a game which involves answering questions or solving puzzles usually for money and/or prizes...
based on the successful UK format
Weakest Link
The Weakest Link is a British television quiz show, currently broadcast on BBC Two. It was devised by Mr Wilton and Euan Green and Cathy Dunning, and developed for television by the BBC Entertainment Department. It has since been replicated around the world. The UK version is hosted by Anne...
, which aired from February 2001 until April 2002 and was broadcast on the Seven Network
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
. Presented by Cornelia Frances
Cornelia Frances
Cornelia Frances is a British-born actress based in Australia since the early 1970s. Frances is best known for her recurring role as judge Morag Bellingham on Home and Away.-Early life and personal life:...
, the show featured nine contestants competing for a potential prize of $100,000. Airing twice weekly in primetime, on Mondays and Fridays, later Thursdays, it received modest ratings until its cancellation.
The Monday edition indirectly competed against the more-popular Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (Australian game show)
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? was an Australian television game show which would offer a maximum cash prize of $1,000,000 for answering 15 successive multiple-choice questions of increasing difficulty as a team...
(which airs at a later time on another network) and the Friday edition served as a lead-in to the AFL telecasts
Friday Night Football (Australia)
In Australia, Friday Night Football is the broadcasting of both the National Rugby League and Australian Football League Friday night matches on television. Friday Night Football is generally considered to be the biggest stage and generate the most publicity for the clubs involved in both codes...
in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia only. Later on in the year, The Weakest Link was moved to Thursdays at 7:30pm. In 2002, the show aired only once a week, on Mondays. Due to poor ratings, the show was cancelled for good with one of the final episodes being a lifestyle special that aired on 8 April 2002.
The show was produced in the Seven Network
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
's South Melbourne headquarters.
Format
The format of the Australian series was identical to that of the British version apart from some slight time differences on rounds. The first round lasted for 2 minutes and 30 seconds as opposed to 3 minutes on the British version, and each round thereafter was reduced by 10 seconds (meaning a time limit of 80 seconds for the triple stakes round). As well as this, any money banked in round eight is tripled (e.g. if the contestants bank $1,000 then $3,000 would be added to the final total). The money tree is as follows:- $10,000
- $8,000
- $6,000
- $4,500
- $3,000
- $2,000
- $1,000
- $500
- $200
The voice-over was Marcus Irvine, whilst the adjudicator was Alan Mason, the contestant revealed as the first season's Mole
The Mole (Australia season 1)
The first season of the Australian version of The Mole aired between 27 February and 24 April 2000, on Seven Network. It took place mostly in Tasmania and was hosted by actor Grant Bowler.-Show details:...
.
Special versions
The show also featured several special editions. In one episode contestants were those from reality TV show The MoleThe Mole (Australian TV series)
The Mole was an Australian reality television series that aired on the Seven Network. It is based on The Mole franchise of programs that have aired in numerous countries. The sub-title for the Australian version of the show was a simple question: Who is the traitor?...
. In this episode Bob Young won the final over Thao Nguyen. The prize was a free pass to the next episode of The Mole and the money won went to the kitty in that's show's competition. The prize money, $14,100, was the lowest amount won in any Australian episode of the Weakest Link, but the money was only won after it was proven that the contestants did not cheat backstage. On The Mole this was rounded up to $15,000 as all kitties were rounded up to the nearest $1,000. This episode was watched by a nationwide audience of 1.312 million, well under what Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (Australian game show)
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? was an Australian television game show which would offer a maximum cash prize of $1,000,000 for answering 15 successive multiple-choice questions of increasing difficulty as a team...
achieved that night, with 1.51 million.
On 9 August 2001, a Blue Heelers
Blue Heelers
Blue Heelers is an Australian police drama series which depicted the lives of police officers stationed at the fictional Mount Thomas police station in a small town in Victoria.- Overview :...
special of the show aired. John Wood
John Wood (Australian actor)
John Wood is a Gold Logie Award-winning Australian actor, best known for his role as Senior Sergeant Tom Croydon in the Seven Network's long running police drama Blue Heelers.-TV career:...
, Neil Pigot, Ditch Davey
Ditch Davey
Ditch Davey is an Australian actor.He was born Kristian Lind, but legally changed his name to Ditch when he was 18. Ditch came about because his older sister could not pronounce Christian, so instead she ended up calling him 'Ditchin'...
, Jeremy Kewley
Jeremy Kewley
Jeremy Leo Kewley is an Australian actor, based in Melbourne, who made his professional acting debut at the age of 14 in the feature film The Devil's Playground .-Early life:...
, Jane Allsop
Jane Allsop
Jane Claire Allsop is an Australian actress, best known for her role as Jo Parrish on Blue Heelers.-Personal life:...
, Suzi Dougherty, Paul Bishop
Paul Bishop
Paul Bishop is an author and a detective in the Los Angeles Police Department with the current rank of Detective III. He is also a writer with numerous published novels and produced episodes of episodic television and feature film scripts...
, Caroline Craig
Caroline Craig
Caroline Craig is an Australian television and stage actress, and television director, based in Sydney Australia...
and Peta Doodson
Peta Doodson
Peta Doodson is an Australian television actress. She was more commonly known as playing the hardlined Inspector of police, Inspector Monica Draper, on the hit TV show Blue Heelers....
all participated. In that episode, there was a round where nothing was banked. On 4 February 2002, an All Saints
All Saints (TV series)
All Saints is an Australian medical drama which first screened on the Seven Network. The series debuted on 24 February 1998 and concluded its run on 27 October 2009...
special of the show also aired. Ben Tari
Ben Tari
Ben Tari is an Australian actor most known for his work as Jared Levine on All Saints, an Australian hospital drama.He is a graduate of the Australian National Institute of Dramatic Arts .He joined all Saints from 1998–2003, and stayed for consecutive 235 episodes and guest starred in 2005 in...
, Joy Smithers
Joy Smithers
Joy Smithers is an Australian actress, best known for her acting performances on television, and her role as a television news presenter....
, Martin Lynes
Martin Lynes
Martin Lynes is an Australian actor.-Biography:Lynes is known for his work as Dr. Luke Forlano on All Saints, an Australian hospital drama. On the series he tried many times to become the Chief medical officer but failed. He was a primarily surgeon but spent time helping in ward 17. He has also...
, Georgie Parker
Georgie Parker
Georgina "Georgie" Parker is an Australian television actress. She grew up in the suburb of St. Ives.-Personal life:...
, Conrad Coleby
Conrad Coleby
Conrad Julius Coleby is an Australian actor.-Biography:Coleby is the son of actor Robert Coleby and brother of actress Anja Coleby. He attended Somerset College on the Gold Coast, graduating in 1996. In the same year, he played the role of Colonel Juan Perón in the school's production of Evita...
, Judith McGrath
Judith McGrath
Judith McGrath is an Australian actress. She spent many of her formative years training at Brisbane Arts Theatre and was a company member of Twelfth Night Theatre under theatre director, Joan Whalley....
, Erik Thomson
Erik Thomson
Erik Thomson is an actor known for playing Hades in the television series Hercules: The Legendary Journeys, Dr. Mitch Stevens in All Saints and Dave Rafter in Packed to the Rafters...
(who won the special), Ling Hsueh Tang and Josh Quong Tart
Josh Quong Tart
Josh Quong Tart is an Australian actor who has performed in several television, commercial and film roles.-Biography:...
all participated.
On 4 October 2001, a special sports edition of the show aired, five days after the Seven Network
Seven Network
The Seven Network is an Australian television network owned by Seven West Media Limited. It dates back to 4 November 1956, when the first stations on the VHF7 frequency were established in Melbourne and Sydney.It is currently the second largest network in the country in terms of population reach...
televised the 2001 AFL Grand Final
2001 AFL Grand Final
The 2001 AFL Grand Final was an Australian rules football game contested between the Essendon Football Club and the Brisbane Lions, held at the Melbourne Cricket Ground in Melbourne on 29 September 2001. It was the 105th annual Grand Final of the Victorian Football League/Australian Football...
. Contestants included fullback Max Hudghton
Max Hudghton
Max Kenneth Hudghton is a former Australian rules footballer in the Australian Football League....
, Brisbane Lions
Brisbane Lions
The Brisbane Lions is an Australian rules football club which plays in the Australian Football League . The club is based in Brisbane, Queensland. The club was formed from the merger of the Brisbane Bears and the Fitzroy Lions in 1996...
premiership player Justin Leppitsch
Justin Leppitsch
Justin "Leppa" Leppitsch is a former Australian rules footballer who was a key defender for the Brisbane Lions.Leppitsch played with the Hawthorn Under 19s as a 16-year old in 1991, however did not make the Hawks' senior list...
, player David King
David King (Australian rules footballer)
David King is a former Australian rules footballer who played for the North Melbourne Football Club in the Australian Football League . He debuted for the Kangaroos in 1994 after being recruited from Port Melbourne...
and Melbourne Storm
Melbourne Storm
The Melbourne Storm are an Australian professional rugby league club based in the city of Melbourne. They are the first fully professional rugby league team based in the Australian rules football-dominated state of Victoria....
foundation player Rodney Howe
Rodney Howe
Rodney Howe , is an Australian former rugby league footballer. He played in the forwards for the Newcastle Knights, Western Reds, Melbourne Storm, New South Wales and for the Australian national side....
, who won $46,300 (at the time the highest score achieved on the show), which he subsequently donated to the Cancer Council of Victoria.
Celebrities to have participated on a celebrity special of The Weakest Link were Cornelia Frances' Home and Away
Home and Away
Home and Away is an Australian soap opera that has been produced in Sydney since July 1987 and is airing on the Seven Network since 17 January 1988. It is the second-longest-running drama and most popular soap opera on Australian television...
colleague and actress Ada Nicodemou
Ada Nicodemou
Ada Nicodemou is a Greek Cypriot-born Australian actress, best known for her role as Leah Patterson-Baker in the soap opera Home and Away.-Early life:Nicodemou was born in Larnaca, Cyprus. She has been an Australian resident since 1987....
, talk show host Andrew Denton
Andrew Denton
Andrew Christopher Denton is an Australian television producer, comedian, Gold Logie-nominated television presenter and former radio host, and was the host of the ABC's weekly television interview program Enough Rope. He is known for his comedy and interviewing technique...
, Scott McGregor
Scott McGregor
Scott Houston McGregor is a former Major League Baseball player, a pitcher who spent his entire career with the Baltimore Orioles from to . He is the pitching coach for the Aberdeen IronBirds....
, Kimberley Cooper
Kimberley Cooper
Kimberley Cooper, in Sydney New South Wales, is an Australian actress who played Gypsy Smith in Home and Away . Cooper won the Logie Award for Most Popular New Talent on Australian television in 1999 and the Best Aussie Actress for The Inside Soap Awards, UK, 2000...
, Tom Williams, Warwick Capper
Warwick Capper
Warwick Capper is a retired high profile professional Australian rules football full-forward who played with the Sydney Swans with a short stint at the Brisbane Bears in the VFL ....
, Michael Caton
Michael Caton
Michael Caton is an Australian television, film and stage actor, and television host, best known for playing Uncle Harry in the Australian television series, The Sullivans, playing Darryl Kerrigan from 1997's low budget hit film The Castle and playing in the popular Packed to the Rafters. He is...
, Monica Trapaga
Monica Trapaga
Monica Trapaga is an Australian entertainment presenter, jazz singer and actress, best known for her work on the Australian series Play School. Trapaga appeared on Better Homes and Gardens from 1997-2003 in segments related to decorating. She worked as a presenter on the children's television...
and Shelley Craft
Shelley Craft
Shelley De Billinghurst Craft and known professionally as Shelley Craft is an Australian television personality....
. In 2001, a special edition made up of contestants from the first season of Big Brother in Australia also aired. Prominent actor Graham K. Furness has also appeared on the show , in which he was the third contestant eliminated on a countback. Several contestants who have appeared on the show and were eliminated have since participated in other TV shows such as Millionaire Hot Seat
Millionaire Hot Seat
Hot Seat is a spin-off of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire that began airing on Australia's Nine Network on 20 April 2009, and is hosted by Eddie McGuire, as with the original version of the show...
.
The "Worst Loser Special" featured eliminated contestants from previous episodes. There were two editions featuring teams made up of winners of previous episodes. In the latter of these, subtitled "The Best of the Best", a record $72,900 prize money was won. The highest amount won outside of specials was $53,300, whilst it is unknown what the lowest was outside of specials.
The grand total prize of $100,000 was never won, neither reached.
Awards
Logie Awards:- 2002Logie Awards of 2002The 44th Annual TV Week Logie Awards were presented on Sunday 28 April 2002 at Crown Casino in Melbourne and broadcast on the Nine Network. Wendy Harmer from the Sydney radio station 2Day FM was the Master of Ceremonies.The ratings of the 2002 logie awards averaged around 1,865,000 and ranked at #5...
Most Popular Game Show (lost to Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (Australian game show)Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? was an Australian television game show which would offer a maximum cash prize of $1,000,000 for answering 15 successive multiple-choice questions of increasing difficulty as a team...
)
See also
- ShaftedShaftedShafted was a British quiz show on ITV, presented by Robert Kilroy-Silk, based on game theory.- Format :The quiz begins with six players. In the first round each must declare how much money they would like. This is important as a lot of money is needed to bet on questions during the show...
- Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (Australian game show)Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? was an Australian television game show which would offer a maximum cash prize of $1,000,000 for answering 15 successive multiple-choice questions of increasing difficulty as a team...
- Deal or No DealDeal or No Deal (Australian game show)Deal or No Deal is an Australian game show airing on the Seven Network and in New Zealand on Prime . It was the first international version of the game show, after the original Dutch version. It was the first of the versions to use the Deal or No Deal name...
- The MasterThe Master (Australian Quiz Show)The Master was an Australian quiz show that aired on the Seven Network on Wednesday 16 August 2006 and was cancelled after its premiere episode. The remaining episodes aired over the non-ratings period in 2006 and 2007...
- It's AcademicIt's Academic (Australian game show)It's Academic is an Australian children's game show airing on the Seven Network. The show is based on the long-running American version of It's Academic, and pits students from different schools against each other in a test of knowledge covering a number of diverse subjects including English,...