Countdown Pilot Episode

[Thomas Wood]

Hi Mike,

The pilots up. Link to part 1:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGR-Fhizcyc

[Kirk Bevins]

Hi Mike,

The pilots up. Link to part 1:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGR-Fhizcyc

Good watch. Love it when Richard asked Joyce how many crosswords she does and she says "compiles or solves?" and Richard says "OK" and moves on. First show nerves maybe? It's great to see how Countdown has evolved, in particular showing the target number alongside the small numbers.

[Michael Wallace]

Hi Mike,

The pilots up. Link to part 1:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGR-Fhizcyc

That was terrible, I hope it never gets commissioned.


(srsly though, that was amazing, this should be in its own thread, there is so much awesome about it)

[Clive Brooker]

James, hurry up with the recap please. Make sure you use the right dictionary.

[Michael Wallace]

Awesomes, in its own thread now.

So yeah, what the hell was with the format? I guess the plan was to try lots of different rounds to see what worked, but the whole "you can only score when it's *your* round" thing was really peculiar. Also the 'preselected word' round, genius.

[Charlie Reams]

I've never seen a game show pilot before, but I would guess that kind of crazy experimentation is pretty par for the course.

[Matt Morrison]

"It's as easy as ABC, as simple as one to ten"

Can't believe that catchphrase didn't take off.

[D Eadie]

I've never seen a game show pilot before....

Never want to see one again after that, it's hideous.

[Matt Morrison]

Makes you realise how perfect 9 letters is, the extra one makes such a huge difference.

And did Christine in 'DC' get introduced as an "ex-contestant" ?

it's hideous.

Yeah. Calendar Countdown is dead, long live Countdown!

[Howard Somerset]

Love it when Richard asked Joyce how many crosswords she does and she says "compiles or solves?"

Interesting. Joyce gave me that same answer when I asked her a similar question when we played each other at CoNot08. I'd occasionally seen Joyce's name as a prizewinner in the Times crossword, but didn't know until then that she's a frequent complier too.

[Alec Rivers]

Horrifying and hilarious at the same time - like watching a chav drive your new car off a cliff.

[Julie T]

Very interesting for us nostalgia buffs, thanks for posting that up, Thomas. Watched part 1, and looking forward to seeing the rest of the pilot when it's uploaded. Or is it just I can't find the links?

Love it when Richard asked Joyce how many crosswords she does and she says "compiles or solves?"

Interesting. Joyce gave me that same answer when I asked her a similar question when we played each other at CoNot08. I'd occasionally seen Joyce's name as a prizewinner in the Times crossword, but didn't know until then that she's a frequent complier too.

Maybe my imagination, but Alec also seemed to sigh in a "I'm way too good for this, but I've been roped into doing this pilot" kind of way.

Weird scoring, and only 8 letters, but great fun seeing the first ideas, and, of course, the lovely Whiters.

[Kirk Bevins]

Very interesting for us nostalgia buffs, thanks for posting that up, Thomas. Watched part 1, and looking forward to seeing the rest of the pilot when it's uploaded. Or is it just I can't find the links?

It's all up there. Just click on Countdowngoofs profile and check out which vids he's uploaded.

[Julie T]

Very interesting for us nostalgia buffs, thanks for posting that up, Thomas. Watched part 1, and looking forward to seeing the rest of the pilot when it's uploaded. Or is it just I can't find the links?

It's all up there. Just click on Countdowngoofs profile and check out which vids he's uploaded.

Thanks, Kirk!

[Ben Hunter]

I like the rotating screaming man's head at the beginning, they should've kept that in the proper version of Countdown.

[Marc Meakin]

I can see why it has taken so long to see the light of day
It was bad and that's not in a Michael Jackson kind of way.
Still the ugly duckling turned into a beautiful swan.

[Steve Durney]

Anyone else notice that the score was 7-5 at the end of round 2, when it should have been 12-12?!

Loved the "Compiled or.....?" bit that Kirk mentioned!

[Thomas Wood]

Very interesting for us nostalgia buffs, thanks for posting that up, Thomas.

No problem Julie, glad you and everyone else enjoyed seeing this classic gem.

[Innis Carson]

Anyone else notice that the score was 7-5 at the end of round 2, when it should have been 12-12?!

Yeah they seemed to have a scoring system where only one person scores even when they both declare the same word. How very fair.

[Michael Wallace]

Anyone else notice that the score was 7-5 at the end of round 2, when it should have been 12-12?!

Yeah they seemed to have a scoring system where only one person scores even when they both declare the same word. How very fair.

Yep. Declarer scores if it's a tie, it seems, which is particularly unfair when the first round was 45 seconds, but the second only 30. I guess that's what pilots are for, though.

[Marc Meakin]

Anyone else notice that the score was 7-5 at the end of round 2, when it should have been 12-12?!

Yeah they seemed to have a scoring system where only one person scores even when they both declare the same word. How very fair.

Maybe Charlie should make it a variant on Apterous.

[Steve Durney]

Was that meant to be the case then?! I obviously didn't watch it properly as I just assumed it was a fuck up!!

[Marc Meakin]

Was that meant to be the case then?! I obviously didn't watch it properly as I just assumed it was a fuck up!!

I liked the bit when Joyce accused Ralph? of using the 5 twice in the first numbers.
And the retake on the conundrum.

[Michael Wallace]

Was that meant to be the case then?! I obviously didn't watch it properly as I just assumed it was a fuck up!!

I think it was deliberate, since they seemed to check the first declarer's word, and then say "out of interest, what did you have?" to the second player.

Was that meant to be the case then?! I obviously didn't watch it properly as I just assumed it was a fuck up!!

I liked the bit when Joyce accused Ralph? of using the 5 twice in the first numbers.
And the retake on the conundrum.

I think you mean the Preselected Word, the one part of the show I think should have caught on.

[Matt Morrison]

Anyone else notice that the score was 7-5 at the end of round 2, when it should have been 12-12?!

Yeah they seemed to have a scoring system where only one person scores even when they both declare the same word. How very fair.

Yep. Declarer scores if it's a tie, it seems, which is particularly unfair when the first round was 45 seconds, but the second only 30. I guess that's what pilots are for, though.

This is only really a decent argument if part of the pilot's job was to physically test the capabilities of the clock stopping at different points. But I doubt it was.
The scoring and timing system in evidence in the first two rounds is so ill-conceived it's a fucking miracle that what we have today spawned from this.

[Michael Wallace]

Yep. Declarer scores if it's a tie, it seems, which is particularly unfair when the first round was 45 seconds, but the second only 30. I guess that's what pilots are for, though.

This is only really a decent argument if part of the pilot's job was to physically test the capabilities of the clock stopping at different points. But I doubt it was.
The scoring and timing system in evidence in the first two rounds is so ill-conceived it's a fucking miracle that what we have today spawned from this.

I can only presume that they had different round lengths to get a feel for which time was better, obviously I have no idea what their real rationale was. The scoring system is definitely barking.

[Matt Morrison]

Yeah, some bits definitely seemed put in to test how they'd work - other bits like displaying the pre-selected word for about 20 seconds while the rules are explained before the clock even starts (not that that held Joyce back from buzzing) just kind of leave me a bit lacking in the ol' human race faith department. Either the pilot was hastily arranged after two minutes of brainstorming on the back of a cigarette packet or there were just some genuinely special people who'd helped devise it.

Maybe I'm just making informed assumptions based on modern information (Countdown as it is now) that nobody had discovered at the time (Charlie's told me off for doing that before but I can't remember the proper terminology), but I really don't think I'm being harsh, and if I sat down with no knowledge at all of letters and numbers quiz games I'd come up with something closer to Countdown than the pilot episode managed. Dammit I should just apply for a job in TV.

[Michael Wallace]

Yeah, some bits definitely seemed put in to test how they'd work - other bits like displaying the pre-selected word for about 20 seconds while the rules are explained before the clock even starts (not that that held Joyce back from buzzing) just kind of leave me a bit lacking in the ol' human race faith department. Either the pilot was hastily arranged after two minutes of brainstorming on the back of a cigarette packet or there were just some genuinely special people who'd helped devise it.

Haha yep. I did wonder wtf was going on with the preselected word round. They did it once, and Joyce buzzed before he started the clock, and then they did it again, and I presumed they'd said "ok Joyce, could you buzz after, like, 15 seconds please?", but no, we got 45 seconds of shots of both contestants clearly utterly bored. Utterly bizarre.

[David Williams]

Cifras y Letras is the name of Countdown tv show in Spain.
I am a Cifras y Letras contestant on Canal Sur 2 channel.
I have win 101 times and I must come back to play with new contestants next season.

Differences:
There are four rounds consisting of a number game followed by two letter games.
Words are worth one point per letter, but a nine-letter word is worth double; that is, 18 points.
Wrong words don't give points to the opponent.
The correct sum gets 9 points, and aproximations gets 6 points.
If both players tie with the answers, the champion add points on even games and the newbie on odd games.

Someone thought it was a good idea.

[Clive Brooker]

Many thanks to Thomas for the upload - fantastic stuff. The bungling over the preselected word gets funnier every time I watch, and Christine Jones must be easily the most attractive female contestant to appear so far this year.

In a moment of idiocy I reworked all the scores from Series 49 onwards (excluding finals and COCs) using a method as close as possible to the Pilot. Out of 1424 games, the results of 186 would have been different. Notable casualties are John Davies and Stewart Holden, whilst the beneficiaries include Beth Sutton and Joseph Bolas.

[Alec Rivers]

Maybe I'm just making informed assumptions based on modern information ... I can't remember the proper terminology

IIRC it's called the Availability Error.

[David Roe]

With 12 points for the pre-selected word (catchy), the other 5 rounds become a bit irrelevant.

How did the gazebo round work? First to buzz got it, regardless of length? And why did Cathy, if that's who it was, have to turn every letter over after fishing it out - why not put the letters the other way up in the box?

Though I do like the way the loser gets escorted from the studio. Did Ann Robinson learn something from that?

(Incidentally, for a supposed "maths whizz from Leeds University", Beverley took an awfully long time to add 529 + 13. Let's be charitable, first night nerves.)

[Kirk Bevins]

(Incidentally, for a supposed "maths whizz from Leeds University", Beverley took an awfully long time to add 529 + 13. Let's be charitable, first night nerves.)

I noticed this. It really makes you appreciate the find they had in Carol and Rachel.

[Tracey Anne Mills]

I've never seen a game show pilot before....

Never want to see one again after that, it's hideous.

I agree with you on that