c4countdown

Presumably, we all love Countdown, however there must be things about it which irritate at times. I'm pretty sure all of these have been mentioned on the forum before.

Just to reiterate, I don't personally dislike all of these things, but it'd be interesting to see what the C4C crowd (which is perhaps not a representative cross-section of the Countdown audience) feel could be improved on - maybe something I haven't mentioned?

Coo, I had the first votes. Allow me to elaborate:

Certain DC guests: well, this'll be a universal one I'd expect, no one likes every guest, everyone has their favourites/unfavourites. I rarely sit through any anecdotes nowadays though I always have time for Paul Zenon, Dr. Phil and Rick Wakeman (if he ever goes back on). Tim Vine, Rory McGrath and Anton du Beke are some of the newcomers that have grown on me over the last year.

Not allowing US spellings: okay, it's a British show and all, but if there were, say, Australian or South African variant spellings as well, would they be disallowed? It's arguable either way but it is a bit too 'stiff upper lip' I feel.

Adverts aimed at the 150+ viewers: okay, you advertise to the audience but it'd be nice to have a little variety every now and again. When I get older and infirm I'm buying a jetpack to get around simply out of spite at Stannah.

I'm a bit younger than you, so when I reach 65 a jetpack will also have a built in MP3 player and hearing aid.

Ben Wilson wrote:Certain DC guests: well, this'll be a universal one I'd expect, no one likes every guest, everyone has their favourites/unfavourites. I rarely sit through any anecdotes nowadays though I always have time for Paul Zenon, Dr. Phil and Rick Wakeman (if he ever goes back on). Tim Vine, Rory McGrath and Anton du Beke are some of the newcomers that have grown on me over the last year.

I'm also finding myself less and less likely to sit through the guests. However, I don't have a problem with this - the guests are clearly aimed at the more casual viewer, whereas most of us are here for the raw letters and numbers fun. Yes, would be nice to appreciate both, but hey. Nevertheless, I still voted this one too cos Jon Gaunt is a cunt.

Ben Wilson wrote:Not allowing US spellings: okay, it's a British show and all, but if there were, say, Australian or South African variant spellings as well, would they be disallowed? It's arguable either way but it is a bit too 'stiff upper lip' I feel.

Same again.

Ben Wilson wrote:Adverts aimed at the 150+ viewers: okay, you advertise to the audience but it'd be nice to have a little variety every now and again. When I get older and infirm I'm buying a jetpack to get around simply out of spite at Stannah.

Bit misleading this inclusion. Fairly sure this is Channel 4 marketing, nothing to do with the program as such, or rather nothing that the staff could ever control.

The other one I went for was Origin of Words - nice in theory, annoying in positioning, if I want to watch the 2nd numbers I have to sit through it. I often enjoy it, but it just really breaks the flow.

Can I have 2 please?
Richard Digance and Rachel's voice.

If it were in the list, I'd go for the imbalance between letters and numbers rounds. 10-4-1 seems right to me, but I have of course spent many hours trying to find a satisfactory way to arrange the rounds and haven't managed it yet.

There was an incredibly annoying feature whereby for about half a second the camera would always cut to a full screen close-up of the player who had just finished picking the letters/numbers, momentarily cutting the viewer off from the selection. This meant I couldn't watch Countdown without writing everything down and consciously not looking at the screen. One day I found they'd stopped doing it, but it can be seen on many of the Youtube uploads now available so I know I didn't imagine it.

Clive Brooker wrote:If it were in the list, I'd go for the imbalance between letters and numbers rounds. 10-4-1 seems right to me, but I have of course spent many hours trying to find a satisfactory way to arrange the rounds and haven't managed it yet.

Good one, but there's no point spending hours on it - the simple fact is that if you have four numbers games and three parts, you're going to have one part with two numbers games.

LLLLN LLLLN LNLNC is as good as any as far as I can see.

Origin of words is like 'You've Been Framed'. You never look forward to it but its actually quite good.

Gavin Chipper wrote:

Clive Brooker wrote:If it were in the list, I'd go for the imbalance between letters and numbers rounds. 10-4-1 seems right to me, but I have of course spent many hours trying to find a satisfactory way to arrange the rounds and haven't managed it yet.

Good one, but there's no point spending hours on it - the simple fact is that if you have four numbers games and three parts, you're going to have one part with two numbers games.

LLLLN LLLLN LNLNC is as good as any as far as I can see.

That can't be quite right because the challenger gets three numbers picks. I think my best effort is LLLLN LLLNN LLLNC, which introduces consecutive numbers rounds for the first time but otherwise looks pretty balanced.

Clive Brooker wrote:

Gavin Chipper wrote:

Clive Brooker wrote:If it were in the list, I'd go for the imbalance between letters and numbers rounds. 10-4-1 seems right to me, but I have of course spent many hours trying to find a satisfactory way to arrange the rounds and haven't managed it yet.

Good one, but there's no point spending hours on it - the simple fact is that if you have four numbers games and three parts, you're going to have one part with two numbers games.

LLLLN LLLLN LNLNC is as good as any as far as I can see.

That can't be quite right because the challenger gets three numbers picks. I think my best effort is LLLLN LLLNN LLLNC, which introduces consecutive numbers rounds for the first time but otherwise looks pretty balanced.

Under my proposed system I wouldn't be too bothered about strict alternation of choosing. LLLN LLLNC had the same person pick in rounds four and five I think. I would do a similar thing at the end of the second "half".

Matt Morrison wrote:
The other one I went for was Origin of Words - nice in theory, annoying in positioning, if I want to watch the 2nd numbers I have to sit through it. I often enjoy it, but it just really breaks the flow.

I didn't vote on this as there's nothing on the list I actively dislike.As for Origin of Words, I like it. Keep it as it is.

Is there a reason why there isn't a "It's perfectly perfect, there's nothing wrong with it!" option

James Robinson wrote:Is there a reason why there isn't a "It's perfectly perfect, there's nothing wrong with it!" option

Because it would be weird to suggest that your most disliked aspect of the show is that there's nothing wrong with it.

My only gripe would be for it to be on a bit later, say 6pm.

Matthew Green wrote:Origin of words is like 'You've Been Framed'. You never look forward to it but its actually quite good.

Funny, I ended up thinking the opposite (about YBF).

I pretty much like everything the way it is, but if I were being selfish I'd probably have it so there was one extra letters round and one less numbers round - LLLLN LLLLN LLLLC. That way everything's even and neither contestant has an advantage when it comes to picking numbers. The only problem is the lack of Rachel Riley in the final third (unless, origin of numbers?)

I would not crit Rachel's voice, but people with hearing probs may find it strident when using headphones or other aids.
Rather unusual for me, I voted the same way as the majority - so far. Countdown's absolute biggest prob is the choice of DC guests.
If Jon Gaunt returns, as I understand he will, I will probably have to stop watching Countdown for a week - which may lead to a total end of it for me, a creature of habit. I do not even want to look at him let alone listen.

If you edit the options, the poll gets reset

John Bosley wrote: Countdown's absolute biggest prob is the choice of DC guests.

Because you personally don't happen to like some of them?

Oh for a world where everyone has the same tastes as you. Wouldn't it be nice.

I'd like to think that people were mature enough and rational enough to accept that we all have varied opinions on what we consider good / bad on TV, hence the reason there are about 100 options when it comes to channel selection. I don't believe there is a problem at all, it's just a case of accepting that it's impossible to please everyone all the time. Short of you posting a list of all the guests you dislike and us ensuring they are never back on the show again, there's very little we can do about it.

I was initially suprised that Rachel's diction has cme into question, but my mum (she is 80) reckons her F's sound like S's.
But I am always transfixed to the screen when Rachel is on,so I never notice.

D Eadie wrote:

John Bosley wrote: Countdown's absolute biggest prob is the choice of DC guests.

Because you personally don't happen to like some of them?

Oh for a world where everyone has the same tastes as you. Wouldn't it be nice.

I'd like to think that people were mature enough and rational enough to accept that we all have varied opinions on what we consider good / bad on TV, hence the reason there are about 100 options when it comes to channel selection. I don't believe there is a problem at all, it's just a case of accepting that it's impossible to please everyone all the time. Short of you posting a list of all the guests you dislike and us ensuring they are never back on the show again, there's very little we can do about it.

You're right, of course, Damian, but I did not write the list of possible dislikes - I just joined in. You have the devil's job trying to please everyone but I am clearly not alone in feeling that Gaunt isn't gaunt at all - he is fat and opinionated. I also promise I will stop now and never mention him again. Incidentally, you must not let this stuff get you down or else you will resort to personal insults.

John Bosley wrote:You're right, of course, Damian, but I did not write the list of possible dislikes - I just joined in. You have the devil's job trying to please everyone but I am clearly not alone in feeling that Gaunt isn't gaunt at all - he is fat and opinionated. I also promise I will stop now and never mention him again. Incidentally, you must not let this stuff get you down or else you will resort to personal insults.

It doesn't get me down at all, John. I don't mind one bit seeing a list of what people may or may not dislike, but i won't lose sleep over trying to do anything about it, otherwise you end up spinning plates. If we fixed the current batch of dislikes, they'd only be replaced with something else a few months later. JG is the same as every other guest, in that he's not universally popular, but we've never had a guest who is and never will, unless of course we book Raymond, as everyone loves him, apparently.

D Eadie wrote:JG is the same as every other guest, in that he's not universally popular, but we've never had a guest who is and never will, unless of course we book Raymond, as everyone loves him, apparently.

It'd be interesting if you booked Chris, becuase everyone hates him.

James Robinson wrote:

D Eadie wrote:JG is the same as every other guest, in that he's not universally popular, but we've never had a guest who is and never will, unless of course we book Raymond, as everyone loves him, apparently.

It'd be interesting if you booked Chris, becuase everyone hates him.

I rather like Mr Corby, senior.

John Bosley wrote:If Jon Gaunt returns, as I understand he will, I will probably have to stop watching Countdown for a week - which may lead to a total end of it for me, a creature of habit. I do not even want to look at him let alone listen.

Sorry Buddy but that's a completely stupid position to take. I don't care for Gaunt either but he isn't going to stop me watching a show I've watched since it began. All you have to do is leave the room when he's on. Or do what I do - record the show (I'm at work when it's on) and FF the bits you don't like. Some gutests I like, others I don't. So what?

Susie's origins segment is one of my favourite parts of the show - often quite informative and it's nice that Susie gets to take a more active part that simply adjudicating.

Someone criticised Rachel's voice? OK - glad you're so freakin' perfect.

Marc Meakin wrote: but my mum (she is 80) reckons her [Rachel's] F's sound like S's.

Me too. And I'm not 80, not quite. With Carol, it was M and N which I couldn't distinguish. However, it's not a problem that irritates me at all.

I've just gone for two options. The occasional DC guest who I don't like, but on the whole series 61 has had a better selection of guests then other recent series. Some guests I really did not like from earlier series have not appeared this time, and that's a definite improvement. The other option was the mass noun confusion. And having voted, I see that those two options are well ahead of the rest. I must be in line with other forum members on something then.

Actually I agree with the comment on here that it should be later...possibly around 4:30-5pm. More kids and families can watch it then and that has to be a good thing.

Kirk Bevins wrote:Actually I agree with the comment on here that it should be later...possibly around 4:30-5pm. More kids and families can watch it then and that has to be a good thing.

Agreed.

Steve Durney wrote:

Kirk Bevins wrote:Actually I agree with the comment on here that it should be later...possibly around 4:30-5pm. More kids and families can watch it then and that has to be a good thing.

Agreed.

Really the show hasn't quite been the same since it was pushed back the first time. When it first happened, I was still at school, so when it got moved back to 3:30pm, I only got to see the last part of the show, so it wasn't really worth watching, which was disappointing.

Thank god for Sky+ & 4OD nowadays.

James Robinson wrote:
Thank god for Sky+ & 4OD nowadays.

But only hardcore fans will watch it on 4oD or sky+. Sometimes my parents come home from work and won't bother with channel4+1 ...they'll just say "I've missed it" and watch DOND on channel 4.

Marc Meakin wrote:I was initially suprised that Rachel's diction has cme into question, but my mum (she is 80) reckons her F's sound like S's.
But I am always transfixed to the screen when Rachel is on,so I never notice.

Haha - it's all coming full circle again. I did say above that once certain gripes are ironed out, they are immediately replaced by something else.

About 9 months ago, lot of forumites moaned that Rachel was over-emphasising the letters - like Effffff-fer and Esssss-ser, which was done deliberately to help differentiate. Now i'm reading that your mum and Howard both struggle to split the two from one another. Yet further proof that its a case of damned if you, damned if you don't. If we re-allow US spelling we'll get caned for it, if we moved origins, some will want it back to end of Rd 9 again, and on it goes.

Incidentally, of the things i mostly dislike about Countdown, not one of them is listed as an option in the poll. Just shows how we are all different.

D Eadie wrote:

Marc Meakin wrote:I was initially suprised that Rachel's diction has cme into question, but my mum (she is 80) reckons her F's sound like S's.
But I am always transfixed to the screen when Rachel is on,so I never notice.

Haha - it's all coming full circle again. I did say above that once certain gripes are ironed out, they are immediately replaced by something else.

About 9 months ago, lot of forumites moaned that Rachel was over-emphasising the letters - like Effffff-fer and Esssss-ser, which was done deliberately to help differentiate. Now i'm reading that your mum and Howard both struggle to split the two from one another. Yet further proof that its a case of damned if you, damned if you don't. If we re-allow US spelling we'll get caned for it, if we moved origins, some will want it back to end of Rd 9 again, and on it goes.

Incidentally, of the things i mostly dislike about Countdown, not one of them is listed as an option in the poll. Just shows how we are all different.

Which is?

D Eadie wrote:
Incidentally, of the things i mostly dislike about Countdown, not one of them is listed as an option in the poll. Just shows how we are all different.

James Robinson.

Kirk Bevins wrote:

D Eadie wrote:
Incidentally, of the things i mostly dislike about Countdown, not one of them is listed as an option in the poll. Just shows how we are all different.

James Robinson.

The Q tile that's wasted without a U.

Contestants who give one-word replies when spoken to by Jeff.

Contestants who pick the same selection every single time, ie CCCCCCVVV, without ever applying any logic to what they are doing.

Contestants who ignore the guidelines sent to them and turn up in clothes that most wouldn't wear to fix the car.

"Can i have an inverted J please Rachel"?

"How many this time John?"......"8"
"And what about you Peter?"....."5 but i haven't written it down"

Basically, it's you, Kirk.

D Eadie wrote: Basically, it's you, Kirk.

Yup, thought so. I'm in denial though.

D Eadie wrote:"Can i have an inverted J please Rachel"?

How many people have ever asked for an inverted J (Or even a normal J for that matter)

I may have been close with a K & C, but a J

James Robinson wrote:

D Eadie wrote:"Can i have an inverted J please Rachel"?

How many people have ever asked for an inverted J (Or even a normal J for that matter)

I may have been close with a K & C, but a J

You'll see it in 2010, mid to late January.

James Robinson wrote:
I may have been close with a K & C, but a J

Ha, you make it sound like a K and a C are normal but a J is just ridiculous.

D Eadie wrote:

James Robinson wrote:

D Eadie wrote:"Can i have an inverted J please Rachel"?

How many people have ever asked for an inverted J (Or even a normal J for that matter)
I may have been close with a K & C, but a J

You'll see it in 2010, mid to late January.

Ooh, I look forward to it.

Kirk Bevins wrote:

James Robinson wrote: I may have been close with a K & C, but a J

Ha, you make it sound like a K and a C are normal but a J is just ridiculous.

Well, when I did that show I hoped to use 2 letters for my numbers, so I was going to go J & R, obviously, but the capital R is hard to make with those 6 numbers. So, I went with K & C instead.

D Eadie wrote:"How many this time John?"......"8"
"And what about you Peter?"....."5 but i haven't written it down"

SD "I'm awfully sorry, Peter, it's not there."

James Robinson wrote: Well, when I did that show I hoped to use 2 letters for my numbers, so I was going to go J & R, obviously, but the capital R is hard to make with those 6 numbers. So, I went with K & C instead.

But didn't she struggle to understand what you meant? What's wrong with "1 large and 5 small"?

Kirk Bevins wrote:

James Robinson wrote: Well, when I did that show I hoped to use 2 letters for my numbers, so I was going to go J & R, obviously, but the capital R is hard to make with those 6 numbers. So, I went with K & C instead.

But didn't she struggle to understand what you meant? What's wrong with "1 large and 5 small"?

This.

As mentioned in another thread I'd like to go for a P.

I'm getting a bit tired of the difficulty of the finals conundrums. If you look at series 50 the grand final conundrum was ENTHRONED, compared with series 60's GRANIVORE. Series 61 spoilers below:

And now (so far) we've had GRIMALKIN and BALLADEER - the series 50 analogoues were INTERFACE and BEACHWEAR.

Perhaps I am poorly educated, but if you have to go to Susie after a conundrum then it's too hard, imo, and the change in difficulty (which seems to have happened at the series 60/61 mark) seems rather marked.

Kirk Bevins wrote:

James Robinson wrote:
Thank god for Sky+ & 4OD nowadays.

But only hardcore fans will watch it on 4oD or sky+. Sometimes my parents come home from work and won't bother with channel4+1 ...they'll just say "I've missed it" and watch DOND on channel 4.

What happened to taping stuff? But it seems that the suggestion is that with all this new technology, people are more likely to fail to mop up programmes they missed at the broadcast time.

As for the time, there was a petition about that once. I take it nothing became of that. I'm really surprised that such an internet petition failed.

The placing of the 'Origin of Words' section, why not have it after the second numbers round, and just before the adverts (as with the dictionary guest slot after the first numbers round), instead of before the second numbers round, as it is now, it breaks up the rhythm of the flow of the game a bit too abruptly, after relaxing for the definition you then have to gear yourself up for just the one numbers round, then relax for the next ad break.

Kirk Bevins wrote:

James Robinson wrote: Well, when I did that show I hoped to use 2 letters for my numbers, so I was going to go J & R, obviously, but the capital R is hard to make with those 6 numbers. So, I went with K & C instead.

But didn't she struggle to understand what you meant? What's wrong with "1 large and 5 small"?

That makes it too easy most of the time. I never used 1 large and 5 small on the show.

All the other jerks that watch it.

Jojo Apollo wrote:The placing of the 'Origin of Words' section, why not have it after the second numbers round, and just before the adverts (as with the dictionary guest slot after the first numbers round), instead of before the second numbers round, as it is now, it breaks up the rhythm of the flow of the game a bit too abruptly, after relaxing for the definition you then have to gear yourself up for just the one numbers round, then relax for the next ad break.

Totally agree with this. Why is it before the numbers and not after?

James Robinson wrote: That makes it too easy most of the time. I never used 1 large and 5 small on the show.

OK smart-arse, why didn't you just say "2 large 4 small" then rather than "I'll have a capital K facing me with the second large number being the top of the left hand side of the K. Work your way down 3 numbers. Pick those up, then go half way and choose one diagonally across so it's a large number and one diagonally down from the centre of the left hand side of the K so it's a small number. If you look on its side you have a V underlined."

Kirk Bevins wrote:

James Robinson wrote: That makes it too easy most of the time. I never used 1 large and 5 small on the show.

OK smart-arse, why didn't you just say "2 large 4 small" then rather than "I'll have a capital K facing me with the second large number being the top of the left hand side of the K. Work your way down 3 numbers. Pick those up, then go half way and choose one diagonally across so it's a large number and one diagonally down from the centre of the left hand side of the K so it's a small number. If you look on its side you have a V underlined."

Hahaha. Shall I make this an option on apterous?

Charlie Reams wrote: Hahaha. Shall I make this an option on apterous?

Please do. Put it under a subheading of "Robinson's Choice". Include K and C but not J of course, as that's ridiculous.

Kirk Bevins wrote:

James Robinson wrote:That makes it too easy most of the time. I never used 1 large and 5 small on the show.

OK smart-arse, why didn't you just say "2 large 4 small" then rather than "I'll have a capital K facing me with the second large number being the top of the left hand side of the K. Work your way down 3 numbers. Pick those up, then go half way and choose one diagonally across so it's a large number and one diagonally down from the centre of the left hand side of the K so it's a small number. If you look on its side you have a V underlined."

Kirk, it was a special show! At the time, I never thought I'd be on the show again, so why not try something different and slightly out of the ordinary. It just adds to the enjoyment of the show. There was no harm done. No-one died.

P.S. The "K" was 6 small, not 2 large. If you ever go back on (which you will for the CoC, I believe) you should try it.

James Robinson wrote:
P.S. The "K" was 6 small, not 2 large. If you ever go back on (which you will for the CoC, I believe) you should try it.

It's not a case of doing 6 small or whatever, James. The point is the obscurity of using letters. I just watched the clip of it on youtube and Carol's like "what!?" and you have to explain it to her...it's upside down for her don't forget. It even states in the contestant guidelines something along the lines of "don't ask Carol for difficult things such as one from each end of the penultimate rows". It looked awkward to me although you'd probably disagree.

D Eadie wrote: "Can i have an inverted J please Rachel"?

I take it my attempt at 'banter' when offering Rachel any 4 large of her choice, which seemed to confuse her a bit when she repeated it, was looked upon very dimly from the gallery then.

Steve Durney wrote:

Jojo Apollo wrote:The placing of the 'Origin of Words' section, why not have it after the second numbers round, and just before the adverts (as with the dictionary guest slot after the first numbers round), instead of before the second numbers round, as it is now, it breaks up the rhythm of the flow of the game a bit too abruptly, after relaxing for the definition you then have to gear yourself up for just the one numbers round, then relax for the next ad break.

Totally agree with this. Why is it before the numbers and not after?

I agree, i think it should be moved.

Edit - Nahhhh, only kidding.

D Eadie wrote:

Steve Durney wrote:

Jojo Apollo wrote:The placing of the 'Origin of Words' section, why not have it after the second numbers round, and just before the adverts (as with the dictionary guest slot after the first numbers round), instead of before the second numbers round, as it is now, it breaks up the rhythm of the flow of the game a bit too abruptly, after relaxing for the definition you then have to gear yourself up for just the one numbers round, then relax for the next ad break.

Totally agree with this. Why is it before the numbers and not after?

I agree, i think it should be moved.

Edit - Nahhhh, only kidding.

But WHY is it before the numbers? Hasn't anyone on the production team ever suggested it being after instead? Wouldn't the contestants prefer it that way?

It made me laugh Jeff.

Steve Durney wrote: But WHY is it before the numbers? Hasn't anyone on the production team ever suggested it being after instead? Wouldn't the contestants prefer it that way?

Because people switch off after Round 10 to make a cuppa, and Damian wants them to watch Origin of Words. This has been mentioned before but I can't find the relevant post, sorry.