Quizmania (UK)

For the Australian television program of the same name, see Quizmania (Australia)

Quizmania is an interactive gameshow showing on ITV Play. The show was created by Chuck Thomas, Debbie King and Simone Thorogood (formerly of 9Live and Bowling For Bucks). In a similar vein to other premium-line call-in shows such as Quiz Call, viewers are encouraged to phone a premium-rate number in order to provide an answer to a quiz question.

The show airs from 7.30pm to 1.30am, weeknights on ITV Play. In order to win money, viewers must ring in at a cost of 75p from a BT landline (Previously 60p). If they are successful they will be placed on hold, then transferred live to the studio if they are lucky, where they go on to deliver their answer. Prizes usually range from £50 to £25,000. The biggest prize to date is £28,000 won on March 22 2006.

According to an article in The Times, Quizmania earned ITV over £1.2million during the first two weeks of transmission on ITV1. Part of this is believed to be down to the shows ever growing cult status of students, insomniacs and those returning from a night out all taking part.

Quizmania originally began broadcasting on 12 August 2005 on Sky channels 139 (Life Showcase) and 181 (Information TV) and completed a three-month run on terrestrial channel ITV1 from December 16 2005 to March 30 2006. After its last show on March 31 2006, the show became solely shown on ITV as it disappeared from the schedules of the two Sky channels. It began airing nightly on ITV2, where for the first time it contained ad-breaks, and from May 26 2006, Quizmania rejoined ITV1's weekend lineup airing three nights a week from 12am. The show also appeared on ITV Play and Men & Motors during weekday afternoons from 3pm until 6pm. On 27 August 2006, Quizmania stopped showing late-nights on ITV1 and from the week beginning 4 September 2006, Quizmania is now available exclusively on ITV Play in the evening between 19:30 and 1:30 on weekdays.

Current Games

Some of the games played on Quizmania include:

Tower Games

This game was created by Quizmania in August 2005. It consists of 6 blank spaces increasing in value, ranging from anywhere up to £25,000. Unlike many other quiz shows, on Quizmania, an example answer is given at the top of the tower. At the top of the tower, will either be a phrase with a missing word or a topic to guess. For example, one game could be HOT _____, viewers could call in and guess hot weather, hot water, hot pants, etc. Alternatively, the game could be "Boys Names Beginning With T" and viewers could call and guess Trevor, Timothy, Thierry, etc.

Games of this type have come under particular criticism because they appear specifically designed so as not to have any solid 'right or wrong' type answers. For example, the viewers might simply be asked to "name a rock band", while a graphic will appear on screen with 10 spaces to represent the 10 bands that need to be named. The problem with this is that there is no way to verify in advance what bands were actually on the list - essentially, it is down to the discretion of the Quizmania team to declare which bands are and are not on the list.

There is also a bigger version of the tower game, dubbed the "Turbo Tower", with one example and thirteen answers to guess.

Beat the Presenter

Regularly seen as the first game of the day, this is a variation of the Tower Game. The presenter thinks of a word to go after another known word.

For example:

BLUE_____

The presenter would have the answer written down on the card. For example, STILTON to make Blue Stilton. This would be the only answer to receive the prize money, which ranges from £25 to £500.

One variation is "Beat the Crew" - during which the presenter and two other crew members write down answers, theoretically tripling your chances of guessing a winning answer.

The major flaw with having the answer written down on the card is that the word can sometimes be seen through the other side of the card. To help combat this problem, the presenter now seals their piece of card containing the answer in a special 'Beat the Presenter' envelope.

On October 11th a new version of Beat the Presenter was introduced, with a "theme" instead of a missing word. The first of these new games asked viewers to name an "item of clothing".

Guess the Country

Rarely seen nowadays, on screen will be shown the name and flag of a country with a few letters missing. Viewers must guess the country to win £50.

Beat the Break

When the show was on ITV2, a brand new game was launched. It took place during the ad-breaks, where they gave the viewers a clue to a phrase (or one of the other simpler games). Viewers then had to call in during the ad-breaks and, if they gave the correct answer, won a small amount of money (usually £50).

Snakeword

Another rarity, this consists of a 9 letter word which is broken into parts and re-arranged in a 3x3 grid. For example:

S   T   S

I   R   O

M   O   T

The answer would be Motorists.

The words always "snake" in the same direction - probably due to the "snake" graphic being difficult to change for each game.

Crosswords

A new type of game which is becoming more and more common. A crossword appears on the screen with three answer fields, and one of the clues. In the below example, one across might be "The opposite of rare" (Common). The prize is usually £50 or £100 for each of the three clues.

C O M M O N
      E
T O W E L
      T

Make a Word From These Letters

Viewers are asked to make a word from a selection of six letters that appear on screen. They must be at least three letters long, no letter may be used more than once, and previously mentioned words do not win a prize. Words are verified by a member of the camera production crew with a dictionary, the role being rotated between Ben, Phil, Oliver, Sean and Jess (sometimes referred to as "Studious Jess").

Wordsearch

Viewers are asked to find a certain type of word in the grid, for example:

   >>> Find a Fruit <<<
       E E C H Y L
       O A P P L E
       I Q U E A T
       L O V E A O
       P E A T Y R

Words can be written horizontally, vertically or diagonally; and occasionally words are written backwards. Repeat answers result in a loss.

Splitword

In Splitword, the viewer must guess the correct 4-letter word, with only 2 letters given. For example:

? A ? E

The answer, could be game, have or many different answers.

The two letters given are not always in the same position.

The example above is a popular example and in this case there are 248 different possibilities.

Chuck a Duck

Chuck a Duck was similar to Quizmania's "Christmas Bonus" jackpot - when a caller got an answer right they walked over to a dart board and a camera operator would be blind-folded and spun round. They then had to throw a toy duck towards a giant dart board with £200 being the bullseye; £10, £20, and £30 around the inside and Double Money around the outside.

The Game that takes ages that doesn't take ages

Rarely, if a game is taking 'ages' and the presenter is starting to get bored, they will play a game of: "The Game that takes ages that doesn't take ages" to play the game, the presenter will tell various members of the crew that it's a celebrity's birthday and they will have to guess their age.

Other Games

There are many other variations on games played on Quizmania, including other fill in the blanks, guessing games, etc.

Incentives

Periodically, an incentive to call in will be displayed on the screen. These include:

• Next caller 2 guesses or Buy One Get One Free. (However, only one guess is usually permitted if the first guess is a correct answer)

• Bonus round when the next caller will be offered a certain amount of extra cash if they win.

• Speed round, where many calls are taken with no banter.

• Caller every 30 seconds. (The time can vary)

• Double (2x)/Triple (3x)/Quadruple (4x)/Pentuple (5x)/6x/7x/8x/9x/10x/30x/40x the Money

• Caller wins a set amount of money just for ringing in and giving an answer related to the game.

Facts and Trivia

Sound effects

• The female voice often heard singing "It's a Speed Round!" during the show is that of Lottie Mayor.
• The male voice also heard singing "It's a Speed Round!" in a deep voice is in fact presenter Greg Scott.
• Camera operator Flash provides the voice of the strange laugh sound effect, and the "b-b-b-b-bonus!" noise.
• Lee Baldry provides the voice for the "Triple Money" sound effect.
• Nigel Mitchell has recorded a jingle for the show's new game, which says "Make a Word With These Letters" in a girlish tone.
• A caller named Linda was asked if she wanted to make a jingle for Chuck A Duck and she sang the words and it was used as a Jingle
• Saying the answer to a puzzle or question has come to be known as 'A Baldry' (usually followed by a sound effect of Flash, camera operator, saying the phrase) It derives from one of the presenters, mainly Lee Baldry who regularly and amusingly gives away answers by accident
• Nigel Mitchell has also recorded a jingle for one of the show's new games, which says "The game that takes ages that doesn't take ages" in a girlish tone.

Confusion

• Because of the premium rate phone number similarity, occasionally viewers will phone the show thinking that they have got through to The Mint on ITV1. They will precede by giving an answer for another game, and are often given a "second chance" by the Quizmania presenters. This may now be less frequent as Quizmania was assigned a new phone number on July 29, 2006.

Current Presenters

• Debbie King
• Greg Scott
• Lee Baldry
• Nigel Mitchell
• Chuck Thomas
• Kirsty Duffy
• Lottie Mayor
• Tim Lichfield
• Stuart Headlam (aka "Producer Stu")

Chuck Thomas and Stuart Headlam present rarely, because they also sometimes produce the show. Chuck Thomas's voice can sometimes be heard speaking or giving away clues, when invited by a presenter.

Former Presenters

• Lee Clark - Is still listed as presenter on Quizmania.tv

Crew

Flash, the cameraman, was the most popular and spent a lot of time in front of the camera. From May 2006 he did not appear in front of the camera for unknown reasons. In compromise, Zool (Flash) is often heard by acting out studio made props (such as Michael Jackson and Morgan Freeman cutouts) and hand puppets sent in by fans of the show. He has since returned and was heard playing a character called "Zool" with his face covered by a cape, and operates camera two. On the night of his return he was called the Emperor and not mentioned by the name Flash. It was the next night his name was changed to "Zool". In recent times, he has been refered to as the "Mystery Guest"

However, on the evening of September 21st 2006, Flash at last reappeared in front of the camera, referred to again as Flash. No reason has been given as yet for his 4 month absence. It is rumoured that if Flash appeared too often on camera, he would have to be classed (and thus paid) as a presenter, something which ITV was not too keen on doing.

The list of Crew are as follows:

• Flash
• Oli
• Sky
• Shaun
• David
• Ben
• Emma
• Deloris
• Dave
• Phil

Former Crew Members:

• Paul
• Jess
• Neil

Flash and Sky are also members of a rock band called King Lizard.

Producers

Quizmania is also unique in that the producers interact with the presenters live on air, through a microphone link from the control room. They are responsible for the games, and the sound effects that appear in-game.

The list of Producers are as followed:

• Stuart Headlam
• Sky
• Simone Thorogood
• Chuck Thomas

Studio Set

The Quizmania studio reflects the show's main colour theme, bright pink with elements of blue. In main section of the studio is a very large door, that is set in a low-angled pink wall. This door is normally where the presenters enter the show from at the start, and when another presenter arrives to take over.

From the viewer's perspective, to the left of the studio is a bar section, with various odds and ends on it. Going further to the right is a large noticeboard-like wall, which has a large gold frame (nicknamed 'Quizframia') where viewer submitted photographs are pinned up. Also in the left section is a flat screen TV, where the animated Quizmania logo is displayed for most of the show. When special events happen in the show (e.g. Double money, speed round) large text is normally displayed on the screen. The screen is also used to display video clips as part of some games.

To the right of the main section, is another main bar section with a flat screen TV in the background, which displays the same picture as the other TV. The bar has traditionally had a gumball machine on it, and a large selection of random props and items that viewers have sent in. It also has two picture frames, for the 'King & Queen of Quizmania'. The bar also has some things underneath it that the presenters often get out, but the actual back of the bar has never been seen by viewers. Going further right, there is a 'podium of love' (a nickname started by Debbie) that the presenter will normally 'mount' when a speed rounds happens. The podium has a backdrop of large white bulb lights on a black background, and the lights are often flashing.

On July 31, 2006, the studio was redesigned into a summer theme. Items like the large door were painted yellow, the left side of the studio was turned into a seaside-like setting, complete with deckchair, bucket and spade, some artificial palm trees, a barbecue etc. Meanwhile, the right side has also be changed, with the bar becoming a different colour, and the frame around the TV repainted yellow. The podium/speed round area of the studio has recieved new blue and red lights and newly painted podium. Additionally, a large jukebox was placed at the back of the main studio area.

Quizmania in different countries

Quizmania is also shown in other countries, such as Australia and Poland. In Poland it was shown on Polsat and the same studio was used as in the British version. Polsat now has replaced the show with Halo Kasa.

External links

• itv.com - ITV Play - Quizmania
• Quizmania.tv
• BBC article with complaints about this genre of TV programme

Fansite

• Quiz Telly

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