Pass the Buck (1998 British game show)

Last updated

Pass the Buck
Genre Game show
Presented by Fred Dinenage (1998)
Eamonn Holmes (1999–2000)
Country of originUnited Kingdom
Original languageEnglish
No. of series3
No. of episodes117
Production
Production locations New Broadcasting House (1998) [1]
Granada Studios (1999–2000)
Running time25 minutes (1998)
30 minutes (1999–2000)
Production companiesZenith
Blaze Television
BBC Manchester
Original release
Network BBC One
Release12 October 1998 (1998-10-12) 
28 June 2000 (2000-06-28)

Pass the Buck was a British television quiz show which aired on daytime on BBC One. Created by The Chatterbox Partnership. It ran for three series from 12 October 1998 to 28 June 2000. The programme was originally hosted by Fred Dinenage in 1998, then by Eamonn Holmes from 1999 to 2000.

Contents

Format

Fast Buck

The players stood on the top step of a staircase, and one was chosen at random to begin the round. The host gave a general category (i.e. "United Kingdom") and a detail about it (i.e. "days on which the Union Jack is flown on government buildings"). Each player in turn had to give a valid answer to remain in the game. The first player who gave an invalid answer, repeated any opponent's previous answer, or failed to respond within three seconds was eliminated for the day. All remaining players moved one step down toward the studio floor, and the host gave a new category and detail; play then resumed with the next player in line. In some cases, the host would give an example of a valid response and warn the players not to use it. In 2000, losing players received a t-shirt and mug.

The round continued until five players remained. In 1998, with the exception of Fridays, all eliminated players returned to compete on the next episode. Each Monday featured a pool of 15 new players; those who won a Monday-Thursday episode sat out until Friday, reducing the pool by one each day.

The Big Buck Game

The five players left standing after Fast Buck played this game to determine the day's winner. As before, all players eliminated from Monday-Thursday games returned to compete on the next episode.

Pass It On

The five players were each given three lives. The host gave a category and detail, and one player was chosen at random to start the round. They had to give a valid answer, then choose an opponent to give the next one. When a player missed, repeated, or failed to respond in three seconds, they lost one life and play resumed with the next player in line using a new category and detail. Players were eliminated upon losing all three lives; the round ended when only two remained. From 1999 to 2000, the other three players returned to the next programme.

Memory Moment

Played only during the Eamonn Holmes era; he read a list of 18 words and the players took turns recalling one word at a time, with penalties as before.

The Buck Stops Here

The host gave a category and detail, and the two players alternated giving one answer at a time. Each correct answer scored one point; when one player missed, repeated, or did not respond in three seconds, a new category/detail were given and play resumed with the opponent. The player with more lives remaining from Pass It On started the round; if the players were tied in this respect, one was chosen at random.

The high scorer after time expired (90 seconds in 1998, 2 minutes and 30 seconds in 1999, and 2 minutes in 2000) became the day's winner. In 1998, the winner competed against the other four daily winners in Friday’s Pass It On round. From 1999 to 2000, the winner chose one of three prizes. If the scores were tied when time ran out, one last, un-timed category was played and the first player to fail lost.

Final

In 1998, the daily Monday-Thursday winners had their names placed on the week's "Big Buck Board" and sat out until Friday, in which the remaining 11 players competed in Fast Buck until only one was left. That player's name was added to the board, and they then joined the four earlier winners to play the Big Buck Game under the normal rules.

The Friday winner received £1,000 and a trophy, and all other daily winners received a portable television and a sweatshirt. The other four daily winners each received a pocket television and a sweatshirt.

From 1999 to 2000, the field started with 12 players, including the last four to be eliminated on the last programme, and the winner chose one of three prizes.

Transmissions

SeriesStart dateEnd dateEpisodes
112 October 1998 [2] 18 December 1998 [3] 50
26 September 1999 [4] 15 October 1999 [5] 30
38 May 2000 [6] 28 June 2000 [7] 37

Related Research Articles

<i>The Weakest Link</i> (British game show) British television quiz show

The Weakest Link is a British television quiz show, mainly broadcast on BBC Two and BBC One. It was devised by Fintan Coyle and Cathy Dunning and developed for television by the BBC Entertainment Department. The game begins with a team of nine contestants, who take turns answering general knowledge questions within a time limit to create chains of nine correct answers in a row. At the end of each round, the players then vote one contestant, "the weakest link", out of the game. After two players are left, they play in a head-to-head penalty shootout format, with five questions asked to each contestant in turn, to determine the winner.

<i>Mastermind</i> (British game show) British quiz show

Mastermind is a British television quiz show for the BBC, currently presented by Clive Myrie. Its creator, Bill Wright, drew inspiration from his experiences of being interrogated by the Gestapo during World War II. The show features an intimidating setting and challenging questions. Four contestants face two rounds, one on a specialised subject of the contestant's choice, the other a general knowledge round.

<i>Wipeout</i> (1988 game show) American first-run syndicated game show (1988-1989)

Wipeout is an American game show. Contestants competed to eliminate correct answers to trivia questions from a game board without eliminating incorrect answers, known as "wipeout"s. It aired from September 12, 1988, to June 9, 1989, with Peter Tomarken as host. The series was produced by Dames-Fraser Productions, and was distributed in first-run syndication by Paramount Domestic Television.

Idiot Savants is an American television game show on the MTV network which ran from December 9, 1996, to April 25, 1997. It was created by Michael Dugan and Chris Kreski, directed by Steve Paley, and hosted by comedian Greg Fitzsimmons.

Masterteam was a BBC Television daytime quiz programme that aired on BBC One from 21 October 1985 until 21 December 1987. The programme was hosted by Angela Rippon.

Going for Gold is a British television game show that originally aired on BBC1 between 12 October 1987 and 9 July 1996. It was revived for Channel 5 from 13 October 2008 to 20 March 2009.

<i>Debt</i> (game show) 1996 American TV series or program

Debt is an American game show hosted by Wink Martindale which aired on Lifetime from June 3, 1996, to August 14, 1998. It was produced by Buena Vista Television, a part of The Walt Disney Company. The show featured contestants who were trying to earn money to get out of debt. It had a similar format to Jeopardy!, on which contestants answered trivia. However, it targeted a younger audience and placed a larger emphasis on popular culture.

<i>Game Ka Na Ba?</i> Philippine television game show

Game Ka Na Ba?, formerly Million-Million Na! Game Ka Na Ba?, Next Level Na! Game Ka Na Ba?, and Pilipinas Game Ka Na Ba is a Philippine television game show broadcast by ABS-CBN and Jeepney TV. Originally hosted by Kris Aquino, it aired on ABS-CBN's Primetime Bida line up from October 8, 2001 to February 27, 2004, and was replaced by Star Circle Quest. The show moved to the Bigtime Trio line up from November 15, 2004 to October 23, 2009, and was replaced by Showtime. The show was revived to Jeepney TV from October 12, 2020 to November 19, 2021 and on Kumu from February 19 to June 18, 2022. Robi Domingo serve as the final hosts.

<i>Go Go Stop</i> Australian childrens television game show

Go Go Stop is an Australian children's game show, airing on the Seven Network, and fronted by formerThe Big Arvo co-host (and current Weekend Sunrise weather presenter Jesse Tobin. Each week, three schools compete to win a weekly prize. One student from each school appears on the show daily. The program is currently on hiatus; however repeats are shown at 2:30pm on weekdays during the NSW school holidays. At the end of each week, the school with most points wins.

Pass the Buck is a game show that aired on CBS television's daytime lineup from April 3 to June 30, 1978. The series was hosted by Bill Cullen and was created by Bob Stewart. Bob Clayton was the announcer.

Bob's Full House was a British television quiz show based on the game bingo. It aired on BBC1 from 1 September 1984 until 27 January 1990, and was hosted by Bob Monkhouse.

Playing for Time is a BBC Television daytime quiz programme that aired on BBC One from 13 November 2000 to 23 July 2001. The programme is hosted by Eamonn Holmes.

Pass the Buck was an Australian game show hosted by John Burgess based on the American game show of the same name, airing on the Nine Network from 11 February 2002. Burgess began hosting the show after five years of hosting Burgo's Catch Phrase. Before Pass the Buck went to air, Nine's Director of Programming at the time, John Stephens, was confident of Burgess as host, stating that he would "make the transition [from Burgo's Catch Phrase] to the new format without missing a beat".

The Waiting Game was a Saturday night game show that aired on BBC One from 17 November 2001 to 15 June 2002, with Ruby Wax as host.

Family Feud was an Australian game show based on the American show of the same name. The program ran on the Nine Network from 1978 to 1984, and on the Seven Network from 1990 to 1996. The program has been revived twice, in 2006 and 2014.

<i>Fifteen to One</i> British game show

Fifteen to One is a British general knowledge quiz show broadcast on Channel 4. It originally ran from 11 January 1988 to 19 December 2003 and had a reputation for being one of the toughest quizzes on TV. Throughout the show's original run, it was presented and produced by William G. Stewart. Thousands of contestants appeared on the programme, which had very little of the chatting between host and contestants that is often a feature of other television quiz shows.

<i>Wipeout</i> (British game show) British TV quiz show (1994–2003)

Wipeout was a British television quiz show for BBC One, based on the original American programme of the same name. First shown on 25 May 1994, it ran for nine series: the first four of which aired at primetime and were hosted by Paul Daniels; and the last five at daytime and hosted by Bob Monkhouse, with the final episode airing on 17 April 2003, 8 months before Monkhouse died on 29 December 2003.

L'eredità is an Italian Rai 1 game show currently hosted by Marco Liorni. It premiered on 29 July 2002. From 29 July 2002 to 10 June 2006, it was hosted by Italian presenter Amadeus. He was succeeded by Carlo Conti, who hosted the show until 14 April 2014, when he was replaced by Fabrizio Frizzi. Frizzi hosted until 23 October 2017, when he became ill during the taping of the next show and was taken to the hospital. Carlo Conti substituted for Frizzi from 30 October 2017 to 15 December 2017, and he hosted the special episode in tandem with Fabrizio Frizzi when the latter returned to host the quiz. On 16 December 2017, Fabrizio Frizzi resumed hosting the show by himself until 25 March 2018. The next day, Frizzi died of a brain haemorrhage. Following a hiatus due to Frizzi's death, the game returned from 3 April 2018 until the end of the season with the host Carlo Conti. Flavio Insinna presented the show from 24 September 2018 until 2023.

Hive Minds is a British television quiz show that aired on BBC Four from 14 July 2015 to 1 December 2016. It was hosted by Fiona Bruce.

The Alphabet Game is a comedy panel game show that aired on BBC1 from 5 August 1996 to 27 March 1997 and is hosted by Andrew O'Connor. The programme was created by O'Connor, Rebecca Thornhill, Mark Maxwell-Smith and produced by Objective Productions. It was remade in Spain as Pasapalabra, for which ITV Studios sued Telecinco for €17,000,000; ITV would later remake the show as Alphabetical.

References

  1. "Old BBC Regional Production Studios". TV Studio History. Retrieved 21 December 2021.
  2. "Pass the Buck – BBC One London – 12 October 1998". BBC Genome Project . Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  3. "Pass the Buck – BBC One London – 18 December 1998". BBC Genome Project . Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  4. "Pass the Buck – BBC One London – 6 September 1999". BBC Genome Project . Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  5. "Pass the Buck – BBC One London – 15 October 1999". BBC Genome Project . Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  6. "Pass the Buck – BBC One London – 8 May 2000". BBC Genome Project . Retrieved 22 April 2015.
  7. "Pass the Buck – BBC One London – 28 June 2000". BBC Genome Project . Retrieved 22 April 2015.