Here we go. Some of the Beeb's stalwarts (Why won't Dr. Scrote get off my telly?), plus some wild cards. All in all, passable. But probably not watchable.
After last Saturday's Reality TV special, watch out for the latest Weakest Link Celebrity Special this weekend. Some of Britain's best comedians pit their wits against the Queen of Mean in a line-up that includes Arabella Weir, Nina Wadia, Rhona Cameron, Helen Lederer, Ed Byrne, Roland Rivron, Johnny Vegas, Barry Cryer and Dave Gorman.
This is definitely one to set your video for. You can catch Weakest Link: Comedian's Special at 18.40 on Saturday 25th August.
Oh christ. I'm going to watch this, aren't I?
I honestly think The Weakest Link is the poorest thing on the box by a country mile. And it's all down to Anne Robinson's evident stupidity. The fact that Paxman's back with University Challenge an hour or so later just compounds the feeling that, in order to deliver witheringly superior put downs, you have to actually be superior in the first place.
Paxman knows his stuff, and can pull of genuine disbelieving horror if someone displays ignorance. Robinson feigns disgust, whilst constantly misreading the questions and stumbling over her scripted brickbats. Why is she percieved as the strongest selling point of the show when, in fact, she is (tee hee) its weakest link?
(Do you see what I did there?)
It's dreadful, but it's horribly compulsive. And where would Private Eye's "Dumb Britain" section be without it?
(Classic in today's PE, from the Grant Stott Show on Radio Forth (it says here)...
STOTT - Who is the leader of the Ulster Unionist Party?
CONTESTANT - Geri Halliwell)
>Paxman knows his stuff, and can pull of genuine disbelieving horror if someone displays ignorance.
Paxman, however, is not infallible and neither are the show's question-setters. Not that I'm bitter about this or anything. It was four years, FOUR YEARS ago, dammit.
Pah. ;-)
Meanwhile, things take a sporting turn on Friday 31st August, but don't expect Anne to be playing fair. She's joined by Sir Geoff Hurst, George Cohen, Martin Peters, Martin Chivers, Peter Bonetti, Malcolm MacDonald, Kenneth Wolstenholme, John Salako and Frank Worthington, all trying not to get the proverbial red card. The Footballers Special is at 19.00 - don't miss it!
Worringly they haven't exhausted this formula. What next? TV chef special? TV cops. Pop stars. Politicians? International Going For Gold style?
>Worringly they haven't exhausted this formula. What next? TV chef special? TV cops. Pop stars. Politicians? International Going For Gold style?
Have they done quiz show hosts? I'd like to see Eamonn 'nobrains' Holmes v William G Stewart, for starters. (WGS is a smart bloke)
Throw in Mark Lamarr, Nick Hancock, Paxman, Magnusson, Robert Robinson, thingy from the Krypton Factor, etc... oh yes. I'd like to see that.
I like it when Robinson struggles for a tenuous link between a contestant's occupation and the question they got wrong.
"So, what is it you do for a living, Mary?"
"I'm a hairdresser, Anne"
"Well, I hope you never have to give one of your customers a feather cut, because you didn't even know that a Drake is a type of water fowl. Goodbye!"
They're going to need another 30 odd ideas if they're going to compete with ITV throughout the season. Can't wait for Weakest Link Ex-MOTD pundits...
Another of her patronising formulas:
"I'm a Nurse, Anne"
"Well, I don't suppose you need to know much about politics, or geography!"
"No, Anne"
"Just as well. Goodbye!"
>Paxman, however, is not infallible and neither are the show's question-setters. Not that I'm bitter about this or anything. It was four years, FOUR YEARS ago, dammit.
F major?