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Quizmania 2005-2007

Also known as the 'Greggles watch' thread (January 2007)

This site closed in March 2021 and is now a read-only archive
WO
Woody_streatham
Bail posted:
Woody_streatham posted:
Whataday posted:
Woody_streatham posted:
No. Genuine late night entertainment was James Whale, God's Gift, Carnal Knoweldge, Alien Nation, Get Suffed, The Big E, Pyjama Party, The Haunted Fishtank, American Gladiators, The Equaliser, Prisoner: Cell Block H and so on.


Really? Sounds like a Who's Who of TV Hell.


So four hours of someone standing there telling you "it's only 75p a minute from a BT landline" or "You need to be on hold right now" over and over with a static screen of a tower game, where no-one has gotten an answer for over an hour (and they won't as the answers border on illegal, they are so obscure - A girls name with M? Meadow. Who is called Meadow?), with long pauses with the presenter staring at the screen.

You are saying that is better than the magic that was Cell Block H?

Quizmania isn't/wasn't like that, thats why people liked it.


It was though. You can pad it out with photo's of people sad enough to send them in ala CBBC's broom cupboard, but at the end of the day it was an exercise in extracting the most amount of money out of people as possible. It was never about entertaiment. Money was it's sole purpose!
DI
thediaryroom
Woody_streatham posted:
It was though. You can pad it out with photo's of people sad enough to send them in ala CBBC's broom cupboard, but at the end of the day it was an exercise in extracting the most amount of money out of people as possible. It was never about entertaiment. Money was it's sole purpose!


Greg would never have got away with his "I'm doing other quiz shows " (staying silent and pretending to work out the answers) gag if Quizmania wasn't so much better than that.

The emails (especially when they did Hot Topics and live emails for a while), photos, general chit-chat and interaction with the crew made QM unique and really very entertaining.
WO
Woody_streatham
thediaryroom posted:
Woody_streatham posted:
It was though. You can pad it out with photo's of people sad enough to send them in ala CBBC's broom cupboard, but at the end of the day it was an exercise in extracting the most amount of money out of people as possible. It was never about entertaiment. Money was it's sole purpose!


Greg would never have got away with his "I'm doing other quiz shows " (staying silent and pretending to work out the answers) gag if Quizmania wasn't so much better than that.

The emails (especially when they did Hot Topics and live emails for a while), photos, general chit-chat and interaction with the crew made QM unique and really very entertaining.


But isn't our national commerical broadcaster better than four hours of this overnight?

Channel M, maybe.

I know Gregg is a poster on here and I must admit he is pretty damn good as a live presenter, but I want my Cell Block H!
CW
Charlie Wells Moderator
Personally one thing I like about Quizmania compared to other quiz programmes is the banter between the presenter and others in the studio (and with the producer). It seems to allow the presenter to chat more as they've got someone they in the room who can respond, rather than just doing [Name of game]-[Number to call]-[Time remaining] routine. From what I've seen I think that the show was fair in the number of calls taken, and overall the puzzles are 'fair' (compared to 'add the numbers').
WE
Westy2
IMO Quizmania seems to be the only one of these quiz things with personality!
WO
Woody_streatham
You are all missing the point!

It is like saying having TB is better than having cholera!

None of this quiz rubbish should be on TV in the first place!
JO
Johnny83
Woody_streatham posted:
You are all missing the point!

It is like saying having TB is better than having cholera!

None of this quiz rubbish should be on TV in the first place!


The same could be said for Big Brother / Fame Academy / X Factor / I'm A celebrity get me out of here, etc.

They're big selling point to TV execs is making money.

I agree with the majority in this thread QM was different as Greggles, Debbie, Flash, et all made a laugh of it & never took themselves too seriously.

I'll miss it, but it will be the only one I will, the sooner Make Your Play, The Mint, etc. dissapear the better.... However if they show Darma & Greg again on late night ITV then I'll be displeased
AM
amosc100
Quizmania, WAS the best of all the money-grabbing quiz shows. As expressed by many already, it was the banter, the in-jokes, the "Don't take things too seriously", and interaction between repetitive callers and the studio made QM the one and only quiz show to watch.

In my own personal opinion, I would rather have QM than the relentless "I wannabe famous" shows (e.g. The X Factor, Big Brother etc) or the relentless "I need to kick-start my career shows" such as I'm A Celebrity... etc" - mainly the ones shown on the commercial stations- as they are hiding the fact more than the Quiz shows that they are money grabbing shows and where does ALL the profit go to - the broadcasters, and yes they do actually make more money than the Quiz shows due to the fact of higher viewing figures (due to a more primetime slot than the quiz shows).

BTW not really including the BBC shows as a large percentage of the money raised through phone-calls do go to charities such as Comic Relief and CiN.

Good luck to the future for Greggles et al. You will be missed by many, including myself.

With regards to how it has been treated - ITV should be ashamed of themselves - QM was the one and only best late-night quiz shows and it was treated very badly.

If anything QM should have been on ITV NightTime Thur, Fri and Sat between Midnight and 5am, whilst the rest of ITV Nightime could have been used to show Signed programmes and a tradition of low-budget/ high viewing programmes (e.g. James Whale, Gods Gift, Carnal Knowledge, Sportsweek, Sport AM, The BIG Little Picture Show, OSM, America's Top Ten, et al)
LL
Lottie Long-Legs
Woody_streatham posted:
thediaryroom posted:
Woody_streatham posted:
It was though. You can pad it out with photo's of people sad enough to send them in ala CBBC's broom cupboard, but at the end of the day it was an exercise in extracting the most amount of money out of people as possible. It was never about entertaiment. Money was it's sole purpose!


Greg would never have got away with his "I'm doing other quiz shows " (staying silent and pretending to work out the answers) gag if Quizmania wasn't so much better than that.

The emails (especially when they did Hot Topics and live emails for a while), photos, general chit-chat and interaction with the crew made QM unique and really very entertaining.


But isn't our national commerical broadcaster better than four hours of this overnight?

Channel M, maybe.

I know Gregg is a poster on here and I must admit he is pretty damn good as a live presenter, but I want my Cell Block H!


What?!!

You can't possibly consider replacing Channel M's overnight entertainment - Frank Sidebottom doing his "live" testcard... Surprised
PT
Put The Telly On
Agree with the majoritiy on here. I'm really not a fan of these quiz shows and would never phone in but QM had personality and these other quiz shows don't - certainly this Make Your Play garbage doesn't, which is on now, presented by what can only be described as two weeds!

I just think its a shame that the most popular of these interactive quiz shows is getting axed yet the ITV Play strand still continues. I don't know... I mean if it is FremantleMedia's decision then surely some discussion needs to take place between certain managerial teams. I would argue to find out what the real reason is that QM is being taken off the air. I know Greg can only give us very minor clues as to what is happening but I think with the rapport this show had from viewers and fans alike, it needs or should have remained on TV.

If the whole of the ITV Play channel was closing or there was now a government ban on these interactive quiz shows - then I would be all for it ending, but the current question for the time being remains.... What the hell is going on?

Goodbye Greg and the team.
DB
dbl
Quizmania, yes; it was a quiz show that took money from viewers, but the thing is it was different it provided entertainment for Insomniacs.

The presenters were quite good (Including Greggles), at first we were all moaning about it, now I'm sad to see it go due to penny saving ITV. Crying or Very sad

Loads of p**sed off myspace Quizmania fans:
http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendid=107291264 Evil or Very Mad
AI
Aidy
Is there any chance of them going back to being on other channels?

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