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Review: The Whole 19 Yards
Originally posted: May 15, 2010
Text by: Cyndi
Seidelman
In 2009, CBS decided to try out a pilot for a
new quiz/stunt game called The Whole 19 Yards. While it got some good
press, ultimately it went nowhere and was quickly scuttled in favor of
another run of Big Brother. While that may seem stupid, it actually
proved to be the right decision as ratings for that summer run went up
by a few percent than last years run. Not to be deterred, the creators
went over to England to sell their format. And lo and behold it is now
airing on ITV 1. Have any questions about the site? Submit them to us
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The host for the show is Vernon Kay. Is it just me or does he and the
duo of Ant & Dec seem to be hosting every single new primetime game show
out there? Either way, I don't know what people see in either one of
these people. I think he's a smidge on the annoying side than being a
good host. I remember him over here in the US hosting the import show,
Hit Me Baby One More Time, and he was annoying there. So, at least he
didn't care to change. The Hostess is Caroline Flack. Her role is pretty
much setting up and announcing the challenges and describing them. This
is what irks me sometimes on most UK game shows nowadays. Instead of
having the host, who's presumably being paid quite well, they have some
nameless female either describing the games being played or reading the
questions that any capable host should be reading. I honestly hope this
practice changes in the future.
Now, the object for this game is interesting to say the least. The host
reads a question and then once the contestants have to run through some
19 yard construct in order to hit their buzzer. But while they run, the
audience at home is treated to a THIRD HOST! His name is Grant Hugill
and he gives running commentary on the action. I mean, just because it
worked on Gladiators doesn't mean you can do it on any show. Some shows
call for that, like Gladiators or Supermarket Sweep, but not this type
of show. If the contestant gets the question right, then they get a rest
and the others have to do it all again. The last one left is eliminated.
This process is repeated until there's only 1 left and they play the
bonus game.
The bonus game is somewhat simple. The contestant is asked a question
akin to Sale of the Century's Fame Game. After the first clue, the
buzzer moves away and the contestant, once he knows the answer has to
run to the buzzer, hit it and give the right answer. A correct answer
gives the contestant 5,000 Pounds. The next answer being 10,000 Pounds,
third worth 20,000 Pounds, fourth being 50,000 Pounds and the 5th and
last question is 100,000 pounds. If the contestant lets the buzzer go
The Whole 19 Yards, then the game is over and the contestant leaves with
nothing. If the contestant gets a question wrong, then the game is over
and they fall back to the amount they got last.
Now back to the simple question. Is this a good show? Honestly, no. Is
it a bad show? No. It's probably the most mediocre show I've seen. It
pretty much takes every single stereotype in the current genre and
mashes them all up together: Host that was on every single primetime
show that wasn't hosted by either Philip Schofield, Ant & Dec, or Chris
Tarrant; Female that adds nothing to the presentation of the show;
Commentator that is more annoying than good; and finally the biggest
annoyance: The audience who claps after every single thing. I mean,
Vernon Kay can say he passed gas and the audience would cheer like it
was the second coming of The Beatles. It's hopefully a one and done
series and let's just hope that it goes away and doesn't come here to
the states.
Grade: C-