The Great Australian Spelling Bee

Last updated

The Great Australian Spelling Bee
GenreReality
Presented by
StarringChris Edmund
Country of originAustralia
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons2
No. of episodes22
Production
Production locations Sydney, New South Wales
Running time60 minutes
Production company Endemol Shine Australia
Original release
Network
Release3 August 2015 (2015-08-03) –
17 September 2016 (2016-09-17)

The Great Australian Spelling Bee was an Australian reality series on Network Ten. Hosted by Grant Denyer and Chrissie Swan, [1] and produced by Shine Australia, [2] the series premiered from 3 August 2015 until 17 September 2016. [3] The series also stars Chris Edmund as pronouncer. [4] [5]

Contents

The series is based on the spelling bee competition whereby contestants are required to spell presented words which vary in their degree of difficulty.

For the first season, the winner received a $50,000 education scholarship, $10,000 worth of equipment for his school, a Macquarie Dictionary, a Sprout computer, and an HP Pro Slate 8 tablet. In addition, the five runners-up received scholarships worth $10,000, an HP Pro Slate 8 tablet, and $1,000 of education goods for their school. [6]

On 19 August 2015, the series was renewed for a second season, which premiered on 17 July 2016. [7] [8]

The Great Australian Spelling Bee was filmed at Fox Studios Australia.

Series overview

SeasonEpisodesOriginally airedNo. of Spellers
First airedLast aired
1 123 August 2015 (2015-08-03)8 September 2015 (2015-09-08)26
2 1017 July 2016 (2016-07-17)17 September 2016 (2016-09-17)18

Format

Individual Challenges

Dictionary Dash

This challenge featured dictionaries, which the competitors must find a word in. The first person to find the word in this challenge would get an advantage in speed spell, which is to select your theme first. The others followed in order of who won dictionary dash in the next rounds.

Flash Cards

Prior to the challenge, the spellers are introduced to a theme of the words that are going to be spelled for the challenge.

Then the spellers receive a token. The tokens are either red or blue and has a letter spelt from A to all the way to the last letter depending on the number of spellers left. The spellers are then arranged in two lines: blue on one side, red on the other and in order of A, B, C and so on.

The challenge is to spell the word relating to the theme correctly by writing it on a tablet within ten seconds. The speller who spells the word correctly will be through to the next round and the other speller will not be safe. This continues for all pairs. If in any case the pairs spell the word correctly for six rounds, a tiebreaker round will happen. To win, the speller who finishes their word first immediately shows their flash cards to the pronouncer.

Letter By Letter Knock Out Mode

Normal Letter By Letter rules apply, except spellers are not in teams, and if you make a mistake, you're out of the round.

Show And Spell Individual Edition

Normal Show And Spell rules apply, except spellers don't earn points for their team, they do for themselves.

Speed Spell

One by one, spellers must stand inside the spell gate and spell as many words as they can in 45/60 seconds. Spelling a word incorrectly will end their turn regardless of time left.

This is usually the first challenge on elimination days. The top spellers, depending on the episode, will be safe from elimination.

Spell Check

The remaining spellers are required to stand in front of their buzzer while a word is shown on screen. The word may be correct or incorrect in which case if it's incorrect, the speller who buzzes in first is allowed to spell the given word correctly. If correct, the speller is safe. If incorrect, or if the spellers buzzes in at a correct word, they are locked out and they can not spell until a speller is safe. A certain amount of spellers may be safe.

Spelling Bee

The remaining spellers follow normal Spelling Bee rules. Only two spellers may be safe in every round, while the rest are eliminated.

Super Word

A square with nine letters is shown on the screen. The spellers find words with more than four letters in the square and it must contain the middle letter. They must press the buzzer and spell the word correctly to get a point. There is also a nine-letter word and it is called the 'Superword'. The speller who finds it and spells it correctly will be safe. A certain amount of spellers may be safe.

Team Challenges

Spellers choose a coloured token out of a bag in which that colour is the team they are in. In every challenge, one or two teams will be knocked out and cannot get immunity for the next elimination (season 1) or must play spelling bee to be safe (season 2).

Laser Word

Four Words are shown on a screen. One of them is misspelled. The competitors must find the misspelled word and spell it correctly to gain a point for their team.

Letter By Letter

The team members must spell a word, saying a letter one by one in the order they are in. If a speller thinks the speller before them has made an error, they must say 'Next word' to continue with the next word. The team must spell as many words as they can within 90 seconds.

Show and Spell

Like Flash Cards, spellers are introduced to a theme of words the spellers must spell. The words, like Spell Check, are shown on a screen. Unlike Spell Check, all the letters except the 1st letter are not shown, and are replaced with underscores. The competitors must guess the word, following a series of clues, and after they guess, spell it correctly to gain a point for their team.

Speed Spell Relay/Speed Spell Duo

Normal Speed Spell rules apply, except they are in teams and they must spell one by one. Spelling a word incorrectly will not end their turn, but the speller who spells incorrectly will be knocked out of the challenge.

Team Spelling Bee

Normal Spelling Bee rules apply. The remaining two teams have their members spell alternating. Spelling a word incorrectly will force the speller to be knocked out of the challenge. The team with spellers still left wins immunity.

Team Super Word

Normal Super Word rules apply, except the spellers are not in individuals, they are in teams.

Seasons

Season One

Season one first aired on 3 August 2015 and concluded on 8 September 2015. The season was hosted by Grant Denyer & Chrissie Swan. It was won by Anirudh who received $50,000 education scholarship, $10,000 worth of equipment for his school, a Macquarie Dictionary, An Electriclefied book, a Sprout computer, and a HP Pro Slate 8 tablet.

Season Two

Season two first aired on 17 July 2016, Grant Denyer & Chrissie Swan both returned as hosts. Poor ratings for the initial episodes of the season saw the series moved from Sundays to the lower viewed Saturday from its fifth episode. [9]

Viewership

SeasonNetworkEpisodesPremiereFinaleRef
Premiere datePremiere
ratings		RankFinale dateFinale ratings
(Grand final)		RankFinale ratings
(Winner announced)		Rank
One Network Ten 123 August 20150.921#78 September 20150.755#110.901#7 [10] [11]
Two Network Ten
(eps 1-6)
Eleven
(eps 7-10)		1017 July 20160.456#1217 September 2016 [12]

International adaptations

In 2016 there has been a Thai series.[ citation needed ]

A UK series based on the format will air in the United Kingdom on Sky 1 under the title The Big Spell . [13] [14]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spelling bee</span> Competition

A spelling bee is a competition in which contestants are asked to spell a broad selection of words, usually with a varying degree of difficulty. To compete, contestants must memorize the spellings of words as written in dictionaries, and recite them accordingly.

<i>The Singing Bee</i> (Australian game show) Australian TV series or program

The Singing Bee is an Australian game show which is based on the original American version of the same name. By combining karaoke singing with a spelling bee-style competition, contestants have to sing lyrics to songs without making a mistake or risk elimination.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chrissie Swan</span> Australian television and radio presenter

Christina Swan is an Australian television and radio presenter and media personality. Since 2023, Swan has hosted The Chrissie Swan Show on Nova FM. In 2022 and 2023, she served as a panellist on The Masked Singer Australia alongside Dave Hughes, Mel B and Abbie Chatfield. In 2024, she began hosting her own podcast called The ChrissieCast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Scripps National Spelling Bee</span> Annual spelling bee held in the United States of America

The Scripps National Spelling Bee, formerly the Scripps Howard National Spelling Bee and often referred to as the National Spelling Bee or simply “the Spelling Bee” in the United States, is an annual spelling bee held in the United States. The bee is run on a not-for-profit basis by The E. W. Scripps Company and is held at a hotel or convention center in the Washington, D.C. metropolitan area during the week following Memorial Day weekend. Since 2011, it has been held at the Gaylord National Resort & Convention Center hotel in National Harbor in Oxon Hill, Maryland, just outside Washington D.C. It was previously held at the Grand Hyatt Washington in Washington D.C. from 1996 to 2010.

<i>My Kitchen Rules</i> 2010 Australian TV series or program

My Kitchen Rules is an Australian competitive cooking game show broadcast on the Seven Network since 2010. The show is currently hosted and judged by chefs Manu Feildel and Colin Fasnidge, with Feildel being the only judge who has appeared in every season of the show. Fellow chef Pete Evans co-hosted until his departure after season 11, following controversy about his personal views and social media posts. Other celebrity chefs and food critics frequently appear as guest judges or mentors in the kitchen. The series was originally produced by the team who created the Seven reality show My Restaurant Rules, and was put into production based on the success of Network 10's MasterChef Australia.

<i>Millionaire Hot Seat</i> Australian television quiz show

Millionaire Hot Seat, also known as Hot Seat, is an Australian television quiz show. The show was a spin-off of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? and began airing on the Nine Network on 20 April 2009. As with the original Australian version of the show, it was hosted by Eddie McGuire and followed a similar format.

<i>Beauty and the Geek Australia</i> Australian reality television series

Beauty and the Geek Australia is an Australian reality television show that follows a group of "Beauties" "Geeks" who must pair up to compete in challenges to survive episodic elimination. The final pair remaining is declared as being "More than a Beauty and a Geek" and wins the grand prize of $100,000.

<i>Million Dollar Minute</i> Australian TV quiz show

Million Dollar Minute is an Australian quiz show which aired on the Seven Network. It premiered on 16 September 2013. The show was originally hosted by Grant Denyer, and later by Simon Reeve, and aired at 5:30 pm on weeknights. The show was cancelled in September 2015 and was replaced by The Chase Australia in its timeslot. Repeats are currently shown on 7TWO in place of Home and Away's Early Years on Hiatus.

<i>Have You Been Paying Attention?</i> Australian television game show

Have You Been Paying Attention? is an Australian panel game television quiz show on Network 10. The series, which is produced by Working Dog Productions, is a mix of news and comedy which sees host Tom Gleisner quiz five guests on the week's top news stories.

<i>Im a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here!</i> (Australian TV series) Australian reality television series

I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here! is an Australian reality television series on Network 10 which is based on the British television show of the same name. The series airs on Network 10 and is simulcast on its HD channel 10 HD. The series sees celebrities living in the jungle with few creature comforts, and competing in various challenges to earn meals and other luxuries. The celebrities compete for $100,000 to be donated to their chosen charity. The series is set in Kruger National Park, South Africa, and is hosted by Julia Morris and Robert Irwin. Until 2023, it was hosted by Morris and Chris Brown.

<i>The Chase Australia</i> Australian television quiz show

The Chase Australia is an Australian television quiz show based on the British program of the same name. It is broadcast on the Seven Network and premiered on 14 September 2015. Four contestants play against an opponent, known as the "chaser", who plays for the bank. The show was originally hosted by Andrew O'Keefe until July 2021, when he was replaced by Larry Emdur. The series began with Brydon Coverdale, Anne Hegerty, Matt Parkinson and Issa Schultz as chasers, with Mark Labbett joining in 2016. Shaun Wallace appeared as a guest chaser in 2018, and Cheryl Toh has appeared as a chaser since 2019. Mara Lejins joined as a chaser in 2022, and David Poltorak joined in 2024. Brandon Blackwell also appeared as a guest in 2024.

The first season of I'm a Celebrity...Get Me Out of Here premiered on Network Ten on 1 February 2015. The season was hosted by Julia Morris and Chris Brown. Andrew 'Freddie' Flintoff won the season, getting crowned King of the Jungle on 15 March 2015.

The first season of The Great Australian Spelling Bee premiered on Network Ten on 3 August 2015. The season was hosted by Grant Denyer and Chrissie Swan, and also starred Chris Edmund as pronouncer.

The second season of The Great Australian Spelling Bee premiered on 17 July 2016 on Network Ten. The season sees Grant Denyer and Chrissie Swan return as hosts.

The Big Spell is a British game show which aired in January and February 2017 on Sky 1. The program is an adaptation of the Australian program The Great Australian Spelling Bee. It features 20 children aged between 9 and 13 competing in a series of spelling-related challenges, and delves into both the spellings and the meanings of various words. The show is hosted by Sue Perkins and Joe Lycett, with newsreader Moira Stuart the pronouncer. Perkins stated that she only was interested in presenting the show if it was "nice" and avoided cynicism. The show was cancelled after one series, with only 160,000 viewers watching the finale.

<i>Game of Games</i> 2018 Australian TV series or program

Game of Games is an Australian TV game show hosted by Grant Denyer based on the American game show Ellen's Game of Games. It premiered on Network Ten on Sunday, 7 October 2018 at 7:30pm and on 24 November 2018 Channel Ten changed its timeslot to 7:00pm every Saturday. The first season concluded on 15 December 2018.

Win the Week is an Australian television comedy quiz show, which premiered on the ABC on 23 June 2021. The series is presented by Alex Lee, who quizzes three teams of paired celebrities and everyday Australian captains on the week's top news stories. At the end of each round, the team captains had the opportunity to "Stay" with their celebrity teammate or "Betray" them by swapping them with a celebrity from another team. In the first series, the winner of each show won a framed themed calendar with the week they had won coloured in gold. From the second series, the winner of each show won a golden "Betray" buzzer trophy.

<i>The Challenge: Australia</i> Australian reality competition series

The Challenge: Australia is the Australian adaptation of the American reality competition series The Challenge. The first season featured twenty-two Australian reality television contestants and celebrities competing against one another in various challenges to avoid elimination.

<i>Guy Montgomerys Guy Mont-Spelling Bee</i> 2023 New Zealand TV series

Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont-Spelling Bee is a New Zealand television comedy panel show on Three, created and presented by Guy Montgomery and co-hosted by Sanjay Patel. The show is loosely based on a spelling bee: each episode, four comedians participate in a series of rounds, where the goal is almost always to spell words or names in rounds that are "designed to be infuriating to take part in and entertaining to watch". The winner of each episode competes again the following week, and the loser of each episode must wear a dunce cap in the Dunce's Corner.

Guy Montgomery's Guy Mont-Spelling Bee is an Australian television comedy panel show on the ABC, created and presented by Guy Montgomery and co-hosted by Aaron Chen, based on the New Zealand TV show of the same name. The eight-episode first series premiered on 14 August 2024; every episode was made available on ABC iview that day.

References

  1. ↑ Knox, David (26 April 2015). "Chrissie Swan, Grant Denyer to host The Great Australian Spelling Bee". TV Tonight . Archived from the original on 14 February 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  2. ↑ Knox, David (24 March 2015). "TEN spells out The Great Australian Spelling Bee". TV Tonight . Archived from the original on 31 July 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  3. ↑ Knox, David (20 July 2015). "Airdate: The Great Australian Spelling Bee". TV Tonight . Archived from the original on 20 August 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  4. ↑ Cronin, Seanna (17 August 2015). "Meet Spelling Bee's wordsmith Chris Edmund". The Queensland Times . Archived from the original on 3 December 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
  5. ↑ Thomas, Sarah (25 July 2015). "The Great Australian Spelling Bee to highlight smart's of the nation's brightest kids". The Sydney Morning Herald . Archived from the original on 24 September 2015. Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  6. ↑ Bowden, Ebony (8 September 2015). "The Great Australian Spelling Bee gives winner surprise $50,000 scholarship". The Sydney Morning Herald . Archived from the original on 11 October 2015. Retrieved 27 October 2015.
  7. ↑ Knox, David (19 August 2015). "Renewed: The Great Australian Spelling Bee". TV Tonight . Archived from the original on 11 September 2015. Retrieved 19 August 2015.
  8. ↑ Cronin, Seanna (15 July 2016). "Chrissie's buzzing about new season of Spelling Bee". Sunshine Coast Daily. Archived from the original on 16 September 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  9. ↑ Dunk, Tiffany (10 August 2016). "The Great Australian Spelling Bee demoted to a Saturday night timeslot due to poor Sunday ratings". Daily Telegraph . Retrieved 10 August 2016.
  10. ↑ Knox, David (4 August 2015). "Monday 3 August 2015". TV Tonight . Archived from the original on 7 August 2015. Retrieved 16 August 2015.
  11. ↑ Knox, David (9 September 2015). "Tuesday 8 September 2015". TV Tonight . Archived from the original on 3 October 2015. Retrieved 14 September 2015.
  12. ↑ Knox, David (18 July 2016). "Sunday 17 July 2016". TV Tonight . Archived from the original on 19 July 2016. Retrieved 18 July 2016.
  13. ↑ Svetlik, Joe (18 July 2016). "Sky 1's 'The Big Spell' to find the nation's best young speller". uSwitch. Archived from the original on 4 November 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
  14. ↑ Knox, David (12 April 2016). "UK to produce local version of Spelling Bee". TV Tonight . Archived from the original on 4 November 2016. Retrieved 4 November 2016.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.