International versions of ''The Weakest Link''
The Weakest Link is a television game show which first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and originally ended on 31 March 2012 when its host Anne Robinson completed her contract. The original British version of the show is still aired around the world on BBC Entertainment. The format has been licensed across the world, with many countries producing their own series of the programme and is the 2nd most popular international franchise, behind only the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? franchise, which also originated in the UK.[1]
Format
A group of nine (or ranging from five to ten, varying among versions) contestants work as a team to try and win as much money as possible. If a person answers the question correctly, the next stage in the chain is reached. If a person answers the question wrong, the money is lost and the chain starts again. A player can "bank" before their question to save the money, but the chain must be started again. If there are nine correct answers in a row without anyone banking, the maximum money amount is added to the jackpot and the round stops. The time allowed for each round decreases as the game goes on. In some versions, if the contestant takes too long to think, the host may give the answer, and it will be considered incorrect. At the end of each round, the contestants must vote for who they thought was the "Weakest Link" in the round that just occurred, and the person with the most votes is eliminated. If the vote comes to a tie, the Strongest Link can decide which of the tied players should leave. The Strongest Link is the person who had the most correct answers or banked the most money. The host, Anne Robinson in the original UK version, says "(name), you are the Weakest Link, goodbye". The contestant then takes the walk of shame and is then interviewed outside the game. The person who was the strongest link in the last round goes first. If the strongest link got voted off, the second-strongest player starts. In the UK version, the final round has a 90-second triple stake round with no voting but money is still to be earned. After the final round, a head-to-head contest is played, with five questions asked to each player in turn. If there is a draw, the game continues to sudden death. 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%.[2]
Game rule and format variations
Compare with the original format the others have some changes which not same as the original.
Format changes
In the UK original series the host (Anne Robinson) acted cold, harsh and mean to the contestants. Some international hosts went to the BBC Studio for instruction and training purpose (meeting the UK production team and Anne Robinson) to replicate the presenting style. However, the format distributor BBC Worldwide changed the rules and this is not required anymore. As a result, some international hosts are nicer and more relaxed to the contestants. This has changed the whole program style compared with the original BBC series. Notable examples are France (2014-2015), Turkey (2015), Cyprus (2017) and Finland (2017).
US syndicated version
In the 2nd syndicated version of the American version, after the 2nd last round, the last 2 contestants do not face the clock and the money tree. Instead, the remaining 2 contestants go straight into the head-to-head round.
French version
The latest French version (aired from 2014 to 2015) also does not use the clock and money tree for the final round, and in the penultimate round is the 3-player triple stake round for €15,000 and lasts 90 seconds.
International versions
The format is distributed by BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC, and also produce by different production company. Australia was the 1st country to adapt the format; not all the international versions share the same title as UK.
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 exceptions being Fausto Silva (Brazil), Tasos Tryfonos (Cyprus), Julien Courbet (2014 France), Riku Nieminen (Finland), Nikolai Fomenko (Russia), Eamon Dunphy (Ireland), Edu Manzano, Allan K. (both Philippines), Shiro Ito (Japan), Pedro Granger (Portugal), Enrico Papi (Italy), Tseng Yang Qing (Taiwan), Baybars Altuntaş (Turkey) and George Gray (United States). Gray and Courbet are comedians, and those versions were designed to play off comedy.
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.
Legend: Currently airing No longer airing Unsold pilot Future version
| Country | Name | Host | TV station | Top prize | First episode | Last episode |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
الحلقة الأضعف Elhalka Eladaaf |
Rita Khoury | Future Television | US$16,000 | 2001 | 2003 |
 |
Weakest Link | Cornelia Frances | Seven Network | AU$100,000 | February 2001 | April 2002 |
 |
Zəif bənd | Kamila Babayeva | Lider TV | AZM45,000,000 AZN9,000 (2006) |
2004 | 2006 |
| Solmaz Süleymanlı | AZN9,000 | 2012 | 2014 | |||
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De zwakste schakel | Goedele Liekens | VTM | 2,000,000BEF | 2001 | 2002 |
 |
Ponto Fraco | Fausto Silva | TV Globo | R$1,000,000 | 2001 (Pilots rejected by BBC) | |
 |
El rival más débil | Catalina Pulido | Canal 13 | CL$40,000,000 | 2004 | |
 |
汰弱留强·智者为王 Tài ruò liú qiáng·zhìzhě wéi wáng |
Chen Luyu | Nanjing TV | CN¥200,000 | 2002 | 2004 |
| 智者为王 Zhìzhě wéi wáng |
Shen Bing | |||||
| Xia Qing | ||||||
 |
Najslabija karika | Nina Violić | HRT 1 | 90,000 kn | 2004 | 2010 |
| Daniela Trbović | ||||||
| Mirko Fodor[4] | ||||||
 |
Ο Πιο Αδύναμος Κρίκος O Pio Adynamos Krikos |
Tasos Tryfonos | RIK 1 | €5,000 | September 18, 2017 | |
 |
Nejslabší! Máte padáka! | Zuzana Slavíková | TV Nova | 1,000,000 Kč | 2002 | 2004 |
 |
Det svageste led | Trine Gregorius | DR1 | DKK 200,000 | 2001 | 2002 |
 |
Nõrgim lüli | Tuuli Roosma | Kanal 2 | EEK 500,000 | 2004 | |
 |
Heikoin lenkki | Kirsi Salo | MTV3 | €16,000 €18,000 €20,000 |
September 6, 2002 | February 18, 2005 |
| Riku Nieminen | Nelonen | €20,000 | March 20, 2017 | |||
 |
Le maillon faible | Laurence Boccolini | TF1 | 150,000₣ €20,000 €50,000 |
July 9, 2001 | August 12, 2007 |
| Julien Courbet | D8 | €45,000 | September 8, 2014 | July 22, 2015 | ||
 |
სუსტი რგოლი Susti rgoli |
Nino Burduli | Rustavi 2 | ლ10,000 | 2005 | |
 |
Der Schwächste fliegt! | Sonja Zietlow | RTL Television | DM50,000 | March 19, 2001 | March 2002 |
| €50,000 | ||||||
 |
Ο Πιο Αδύναμος Κρίκος O Pio Adynamos Krikos |
Elena Akrita | MEGA | ₯5,000,000 | 2001 | 2003 |
| €15,000 | ||||||
 |
一筆OUT消 Jat1 bat1 OUT siu1 |
Carol Cheng | TVB Jade | HK$3,000,000 | August 20, 2001 | January 18, 2002 |
 |
A leggyengébb láncszem | Krisztina Máté | TV2 | 3,000,000 Ft | 2001 | 2004 |
| Nincs kegyelem[5] | 6,000,000 Ft | |||||
 |
Kamzor Kadii Kaun | Neena Gupta | Star Plus | Rs. 2,500,000 | 2002 | 2003 |
 |
Weakest Link | Eamon Dunphy | TV3 | €10,000 | 2001 | 2002 |
 |
החוליה החלשה HaChulia HaChalasha |
Pnina Dvorin | Channel 10 | ₪100,000 | 2002 | 2004 |
| Hana Laszlo | ₪90,000 | |||||
 |
Anello debole | Enrico Papi | Italia 1 | €15,000 | October 29, 2001 | November 17, 2001 |
 |
Weakest Link ウィーケストリンク☆一人勝ちの法則 Uikesutorinku: Hitori-gachi no Hosoku |
Shiro Ito | Fuji Television | JP¥16,000,000 | April 16, 2002 | September 16, 2002 |
 |
Најслаба алка Najslaba alka |
Živkica Gjurčinovska | Alfa TV | 420,000 MKD | 2010 | 2011 |
 |
Weakest Link | Sekilara Kiramila | RTM | RM80,000 | 2003 | 2009 |
 |
El rival más debil | Montserrat Ontiveros | Azteca Trece | MX$200,000 | 2003 | 2008 |
| Lolita Cortés | July 27, 2013 | September 7, 2013 | ||||
| May 26, 2014 | 2014 | |||||
 |
Veriga slaba | Andrei Gheorghe | Kanal 1 | MDL1,000,000 | 2002 | 2009 |
 |
De zwakste schakel | Chazia Mourali | RTL 4 | €10,000 | 2001 | 2004 |
 |
Weakest Link | Louise Wallace | TVNZ 1 | NZ$20,000 | July 2001 | March 2002 |
 |
Det svakeste ledd | Anne Grosvold | NRK | NOK 200,000 | 2004 | |
 |
Weakest Link | Edu Manzano | IBC | ₱1,000,000 | 2001 | 2002 |
| Allan K. | ||||||
 |
Najsłabsze ogniwo | Kazimiera Szczuka | TVN | 27,000 zł | March 1, 2004 | January 26, 2006 |
 |
O elo mais fraco | Julia Pinheiro | RTP1 | €10,000 | 2002 | 2003 |
| Luisa Castel-Branco | ||||||
| Pedro Granger | 2011 | 2012 | ||||
 |
Lanţul slăbiciunilor | Andrei Gheorghe | Pro TV | 50,000 lei | 2001 | |
 |
Слабое звено Slaboe zveno |
Mariya Kiselyova Leonid Yakubovich (December 25, 2002) [6] |
ORT/Channel One Russia | ₽300,000 (from September 25 until October 30, 2001) ₽400,000 (from November 1, 2001 until October 2004) ₽350,000 (from October 2004 until July 2, 2005) ₽1,000,000 (celebrity editions, 2001–2004) |
September 25, 2001 | July 2, 2005 |
| Nikolai Fomenko | Channel 5 | ₽350,000 | December 2, 2007 | December 28, 2008 | ||
 |
Najslabija karika | Sandra Lalatović | BKTV | 5,000,000 RSD | 2002 | 2006 |
 |
智者生存 Zhizhe shengcun |
Yvette Cui (Cui Lixin) | Mediacorp Channel 8 | S$100,000 | 2002 | 2003 |
| Weakest Link | Asha Gill | Mediacorp Channel 5 | S$1,000,000 | |||
 |
Najšibkejši člen | Violeta Tomič | SLO 1 | 2,400,000 SIT (€10,000) | 2003 | 2005 |
 |
Weakest Link | Fiona Coyne | SABC3 | R50,000 | September 3, 2003 | 2008 |
| R100,000 | ||||||
 |
El rival más débil | Nuria González | TVE1 | €7,200 | 2002 | 2004 |
| Karmele Aranburu | TVE2 | |||||
 |
Svagaste länken | Kajsa Ingemarsson | Sjuan | SEK 100,000 | 2011 | 2013 |
 |
Weakest Link 智者生存 Weakest Link zhizhe shengcun |
Belle Yu | STAR Chinese Channel | NT$400,000 | 2001 | 2003 |
| Tseng Yang Qing | ||||||
 |
Weakest Link กำจัดจุดอ่อน Weakest Link Kamchat Chut On |
Krittika Kongsompong | ThaiTV 3 | ฿1,000,000 | 2002 | 2003 |
 |
En zayıf halka | Hülya Uğur Tanrıöver | Show TV | 100,000,000,000 old TL | 2001 | 2002 |
| Baybars Altuntaş | TV8[7] | ₺54,000 | September 21, 2015 | November 15, 2015 | ||
 |
The Weakest Link | Anne Robinson | BBC | £10,000 (Daytime) £20,000 (Primetime)[8] £50,000 (Primetime) |
August 14, 2000 | March 31, 2012 |
| £15,000 | November 17, 2017[9] | |||||
 |
Weakest Link | Anne Robinson | NBC | US$1,000,000 | April 16, 2001 | July 14, 2002 |
| George Gray | Syndicated | US$75,000 | January 7, 2002 | May 20, 2003 | ||
| US$100,000 | ||||||
See also
References
- ↑ "Millionaire dominates global TV". BBC News. 12 April 2005. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
- ↑ Klarreich, Erica (16 January 2002). "Strongest strategy for The Weakest Link revealed". New Scientist. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
- ↑ In Dutch language only.
- ↑ Due to Daniela having a surgery at 2010, HRT asked Mirko to temporary host the show until Daniela recover.
- ↑ Nincs kegyelem was the alternative name of this show, but recently used original name (A leggyengébb láncszem).
- ↑ A special Christmas and New Year celebrity edition.
- ↑ Original production was Kanal D, but later they decide to reject and TV8 was takeover.
- ↑ 8/7 players version (2000–2001)
- ↑ "The Weakest Link is coming back to TV - complete with Anne Robinson". 19 July 2017.