c4countdown

Having been a Countdown fan for many years I now find that I have to give it up. Who in their right mind insists on bringing back that very unfunny lady, Jo Brand. The format has to be changed. Get rid of the so called celebrities which seems to consist of out of work second rate magicians, comedianes and other people who are totally out of their depth. As for the origin of words section! You can see Rachel and Nicks eyes glazing over at Suzies drivel. Watching it today I was cringing at some of the stupidity coming out of Jo Brand, even the audience laughter was forced and they were clearly embarrassed. Viewers are leaving in droves and the powers that be, insist on sticking to the same tired format. Shame to see it go, but I wont be back until they change.

It's all very well complaining, but what format would you rather see? They have just altered it slightly. Beyond radically changing the format (and almost certainly alienating far more viewers) to some sort of alternative variant, I'm not sure what a better alternative is.

Also, I think you'll find that viewing figures have decreased because the higher powers at C4 insist on pimping the show out to earlier time slots. In any case, they're not as dramatically down as the Daily Mail would have you believe.

Some DC guests may be better than others and various aspects of the non-game part of the show might not be to your liking, and by all means moan about them, but if you're primarily watching for the game none of that should stop you watching.

If Countdown was just the game, and nothing else, the only people who would watch would be apterites.
I agree that DC gets very tedious, although enthusiasts for words make good guests (GBrandreth).
Jo Brand is very funny, but not on Countdown.

I generally like Jo Brand on Countdown but I admit that the whole making up silly words thing starts to tire if it's done to death like it has the last couple of shows. As Gavin says though, if you're here for the letters and numbers, there's nothing to stop you watching. If you don't like certain sections, you can always reach for the mute button.

Peter Fenton wrote:I generally like Jo Brand on Countdown but I admit that the whole making up silly words thing starts to tire if it's done to death like it has the last couple of shows.

Some people can pull it off. Richard Stilgoe was excellent at it - but his inventions were always inspired in comparison with most of Jo Brand's offerings. Also they normally used all nine letters (which is at least clever).

Jennifer Steadman wrote:It's all very well complaining, but what format would you rather see? They have just altered it slightly. Beyond radically changing the format (and almost certainly alienating far more viewers) to some sort of alternative variant, I'm not sure what a better alternative is.

Also, I think you'll find that viewing figures have decreased because the higher powers at C4 insist on pimping the show out to earlier time slots. In any case, they're not as dramatically down as the Daily Mail would have you believe.

The Daily Mail got their figures from official viewing figures, there is no need to 'make up' figures... the viewing figures have fallen drastically FACT, no embellishment needed to point that out... air times need sorting but the damage has been done.

Unfortunately!

Dave Preece wrote:

Jennifer Steadman wrote:It's all very well complaining, but what format would you rather see? They have just altered it slightly. Beyond radically changing the format (and almost certainly alienating far more viewers) to some sort of alternative variant, I'm not sure what a better alternative is.

Also, I think you'll find that viewing figures have decreased because the higher powers at C4 insist on pimping the show out to earlier time slots. In any case, they're not as dramatically down as the Daily Mail would have you believe.

The Daily Mail got their figures from official viewing figures, there is no need to 'make up' figures... the viewing figures have fallen drastically FACT, no embellishment needed to point that out... air times need sorting but the damage has been done.

Unfortunately!

I don't think anyone's suggesting that the Daily Mail make up the viewing figures. I think what grates some people on this forum is how they take the viewing figures for a single show, compare this to the highest ever viewing figures that Countdown ever got (over 20 years ago when it was on at a sensible time and there were only four channels) and then spin this into a story about how Countdown is about to be axed.

So to say the viewing figures have fallen drastically is a bit of an overstatement. Sure, they're not as high as they once were, but let's not be too dramatic about it. If you take into account the time slot, the number of channels now available and the plethora of quiz shows on afternoon TV nowadays, then I think the viewing figures (over a whole series) are actually holding up rather well.

It's interesting to see how often people who frequent this forum, who clearly have some interest in the show, watch it (this includes Sky+ etc.): http://www.c4countdown.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=8481.

My dear old Mum and I have this sorted perfectly.

Sky+ show ---> watch after dinner ---> fast forward letter choosing ---> Mum reads me the letters so I can write them down ---> Listen to words available ---> Skip guests bit depending on who it is (Gyles Brandreth gone, Dr. Phil good) ---> watch more rounds ---> fight over whether we listen to Susie (I never win, cause my Mum hates her delivery) ---> watch rest of show ---> Watch Mum try and exit Sky+ before Nick can say "You be sure of it"

Zarte Siempre wrote: fast forward letter choosing

Why would you want to do that? That's usually the time when I work out my answer!

Because there seems to be a trend for taking 3 years between each letter. Tis irritating.

John friar wrote:Having been a Countdown fan for many years I now find that I have to give it up. Who in their right mind insists on bringing back that very unfunny lady, Jo Brand. The format has to be changed. Get rid of the so called celebrities which seems to consist of out of work second rate magicians, comedianes and other people who are totally out of their depth. As for the origin of words section! You can see Rachel and Nicks eyes glazing over at Suzies drivel. Watching it today I was cringing at some of the stupidity coming out of Jo Brand, even the audience laughter was forced and they were clearly embarrassed. Viewers are leaving in droves and the powers that be, insist on sticking to the same tired format. Shame to see it go, but I wont be back until they change.

If I remember rightly when I joined this forum a took a little while to get the account activated. It seems a bit pointless to me to hang around waiting for that to happen just to make a first post telling everybody you are no longer going to watch a programme they didn't know you watched anyway.

Keith Bennett wrote:

John friar wrote:Having been a Countdown fan for many years I now find that I have to give it up. Who in their right mind insists on bringing back that very unfunny lady, Jo Brand. The format has to be changed. Get rid of the so called celebrities which seems to consist of out of work second rate magicians, comedianes and other people who are totally out of their depth. As for the origin of words section! You can see Rachel and Nicks eyes glazing over at Suzies drivel. Watching it today I was cringing at some of the stupidity coming out of Jo Brand, even the audience laughter was forced and they were clearly embarrassed. Viewers are leaving in droves and the powers that be, insist on sticking to the same tired format. Shame to see it go, but I wont be back until they change.

If I remember rightly when I joined this forum a took a little while to get the account activated. It seems a bit pointless to me to hang around waiting for that to happen just to make a first post telling everybody you are no longer going to watch a programme they didn't know you watched anyway.

Right on!

Zarte Siempre wrote:

Keith Bennett wrote:

John friar wrote:Having been a Countdown fan for many years I now find that I have to give it up. Who in their right mind insists on bringing back that very unfunny lady, Jo Brand. The format has to be changed. Get rid of the so called celebrities which seems to consist of out of work second rate magicians, comedianes and other people who are totally out of their depth. As for the origin of words section! You can see Rachel and Nicks eyes glazing over at Suzies drivel. Watching it today I was cringing at some of the stupidity coming out of Jo Brand, even the audience laughter was forced and they were clearly embarrassed. Viewers are leaving in droves and the powers that be, insist on sticking to the same tired format. Shame to see it go, but I wont be back until they change.

If I remember rightly when I joined this forum a took a little while to get the account activated. It seems a bit pointless to me to hang around waiting for that to happen just to make a first post telling everybody you are no longer going to watch a programme they didn't know you watched anyway.

Right on!

Well yeah but I think it's also interesting to know reasons why people might be stopping watching regardless of whether we knew they did watch or whether they existed.