by James Kent

Created on: July 31, 2011   Last Updated: August 02, 2011

Pointless is a British game show that has recently started to be broadcast on BBC1, the game show is not brand new – because it had previously been shown on BBC2. The show is currently being shown at 5:15pm on BBC1 during the week and is presented by Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman.

On the face of it, the show doesn’t seem a lot different to any other game show with teams of two getting turns at answering questions on general knowledge. However, teams are rewarded for finding the obscure answers and the object of the game is to score as low as possible. The name Pointless refers to the fact that the best answers that can be given are the ones that score zero points. This is done quite simply by finding an answer not given by any of the people surveyed in preparation for the show.

In theory, the game starts off easy with all the teams still in play. Very often in the first round, there is additional help for the teams.  An example of this is a list of possible answers and the teams must choose a correct answer; however, they are looking for the most obscure in order to score the lowest score or even better a score of zero. Now, it’s not as easy as taking a wild guess, because there are always one or two incorrect answers. An incorrect answer would receive the maximum score of 100 points. There are also two stages to each round with both members of the team getting the chance to answer a question. The worse score than can be achieved would be 200 points and the best is zero points. The team with the highest score at the end of the round is eliminated.

The second round takes a similar path with some information given, but this time it is usually only a clue to the answer. Again, at the end of the round the team with the highest score is eliminated. When there are only two teams that remain, the game enters the head to head stage. In this round the teams are given a question to answer that is usually quite straightforward, but they need to find an obscure answer, rather than offering something that might be obvious. Sometimes, there are no pointless answers at this stage in the game. The aim is to score lower than the other team; it is the best of three and teams play together as a pair – rather than giving answers as individuals.

The team that comes out on top progresses to the final, in the final the team should select a category and they are than presented a question. The only way to win the jackpot is to find a pointless answer – the team will be able to offer three answers to find it. The team needs to only find one pointless answer. There are usually plenty of possibilities in the final round. However, it seems to be very difficult to find a pointless answer and the jackpot typically doesn’t get won. When this happens, the jackpot amount is increased a little, because it is whenever pointless answers are found throughout the show.

One nice and unusual feature of the game is the fact that teams return to the show for a second try if they didn’t make the final in their first attempt. The show is very watchable and appeals to people of all ages and you can’t help but get involved to try and find those all important pointless answers. If you haven’t checked it out yet, please do so – you won’t be disappointed!

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