Weakest Link ~ Game Free Download

Weakest Link is a television game show which first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and ended on 31 March 2012 when its host Anne Robinson ended her contract. The original British version of the show is still aired around the world on BBC Entertainment.

History

The format was devised by Fintan Coyle and Cathy Dunning, and developed for television by the BBC Entertainment department. It has been licensed across the world, with many countries producing their own series of The Weakest Link. As with the original British version, all of the hosts wear black clothing (or sometimes dark colours with black). Most versions also have disciplinarian female hosts, again similar to the British original (with notable exceptions of Fausto Silva (Brazil), Julien Courbet (France), Eamon Dunphy (Ireland), Edu Manzano, Allan K. (both Philippines), Shiro Ito (Japan), Pedro Granger (Portugal), Tseng Yang Qing (Taiwan) and George Gray (United States)). Recordings of the show commenced from BBC's Elstree facility, but were switched in 2009 to Glasgow and the BBC Pacific Quay studio centre.

Not all the international versions share the title The Weakest Link. The format is distributed by BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC. Australia was the first country to adapt the BBC show, and versions have also been produced in Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Udmurtia and the United States.

In Croatia, in May 2010 the quiz reached its 1008th episode, and with the British original, is the only version to have reached as many episodes.

The Weakest Link franchise is the second most popular international franchise, behind only the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? franchise, which also originated in the United Kingdom.

Format

Each weekday, a group of 9 contestants work as a team to reach up to the most amount of money. If a person answers the question correctly, the money will move upwards to the next stage in the chain. If a person answers the question wrong, the money is lost and the chain starts again. If a person banks the money it stays safe, however the chain will start again. If there are 9 correct answers in a row (No banking). When approaching the top stage of money, the last player who answered it correctly must pass over to the next player (on their right), must bank to receive the money. There is a time limit which goes down, usually around 10 seconds as the game progresses. At the end of each round the contestants must vote for who they thought was the Weakest Link in the round that just occurred, If the vote comes to a tie, the strongest link can decide between the players of who should leave, usually this player votes for who they voted first. The strongest link is the person who either: had the most correct answers, banked money, only person to answers all the questions right or not hesitating. Then Anne, to the voted contestant will say "whatever their name is - YOU ARE THE WEAKEST LINK GOODBYE and she has been known famously for doing this. The contestant is asked for the walk of shame and has an interview outside the game. The person who was the strongest link in the last round goes first. If the strongest link got voted, the second strongest player starts. In the UK version, the final round has a 90 second last round with no voting but money is still to be earned. After the final money round the grand money chance is given. To decide who takes the money. There is a head-to-head round with 5 questions asked to each player in turn decided by the strongest link from the final money round. Whoever gets the most questions correct wins, If there is a tie, we have a sudden death battle with this going on and on until there is winner. The loser goes home with nothing.

Strategy for banking money

In a New Scientist blog article, Erica Klarreich argues that there are only two sensible strategies in The Weakest Link (the U.S. edition) when it comes to banking money. Either players should choose to bank after every correct answer, or after six straight correct answers to maximize the pot. The correct strategy to take will depend upon the skill at answering questions of the members of the team. For all but the weakest teams, the optimal strategy is to raise the pot six straight times without banking. But since this happens so seldom on the show, Klarreich argues, the dominant strategy will usually be instead to bank after every question. The common practice of banking after just three questions would only outperform the strategy of banking after every question if a team maintained a success rate of over 67%.

International versions

Legend: Â Â Â Â Currently airing Â Â Â Â Â No longer airing Â Â Â Â Â Future version Â

In popular culture

Anne Robinson's catchphrase "You are the weakest link. Goodbye!" has made several appearances in pop culture, including references in Family Guy, Scary Movie 2 and The League of Gentlemen. In the first season of the 2005 revival of Doctor Who, character Rose Tyler appears on a futuristic version of The Weakest Link, hosted by an "Anne droid" voiced by Anne Robinson, where eliminated contestants were supposedly disintegrated. The "Anne droid" began a special Doctor Who themed version of the real show, with actors from the series playing for charity; the real Anne Robinson, however, unplugged her droid counterpart and continued the show herself.