Are you ready to be Whittled? Whittle away (Whittle)

Member Name: GraWar

Product:	Whittle
Date:	03/04/02 (312 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: great host, good format, funny

Disadvantages: none

There are no doubt several people who've never heard of this one, and it doesn't suprise me. Whittle was one of the first shows on Channel 5 when it was launched back in 97, however it has probably gained more popularity now second time round, as its being repeated on Sky on Challenge TV.

For those of you who have never seen it I would wholeheartedly recommend that you try and tune in and give it a crack. It is a very basic and simple yet clever idea for a game show. The prizes and set aren't the most upmarket but this all adds to the ombience of the show. It is presented by Tim Vine, who is also a very funny stand up comedien. He helps make the show what it is because his constant one liners in between questions are hilarious. Even the bad ones are funny because they're so bad!

The show starts with Tim introducing the '4 to follow'. These are the 4 people that the computer has supposedly picked out as the 4 most likely people to win the show. This gives the chance for a bit of conversation and also the chance for a couple of Tims 1 liners.

There are 100 people in the audience altogether, and they double as the contestants in the show. Tim Vine stands at the front along with a large computer screen. The show starts off with a fairly simple multiple choice question with 4 possible answers. Each member of the audience has a key pad and has 10 seconds to select an answer for the question. After the 10 seconds the answer and the way people have voted is shown on the computer screen. There are always a couple of people who make a stupid answer and these are normally asked to own up who they are so that Tim can have some fun with them. This format continues for another couple of questions until the half way point in the show, where just before the break the contestants have to be whittled down to a final ten. Therefore if theres more than 10 left in, the quickest 10 correct answers from the previous question qualify for
the final round.

After the break the 10 qualifiers are brought to the front of the studio and they'll be asked to name something they love and something they hate, and to basically introduce themselves. The same practice comes as before for as multiple questions are asked and the contestants are whittled down. The difference this time is that once they are eliminated they have to wear the famous 'Whittle mask' on their face, which is the ultimate humiliation. Once 1 person is remaining (this can be based on a fastest finger first after all questions are asked), they win the 250-00. They can boost that to 500-00 if they win the final round of putting 4 choices in the right order. If they get it wrong, everyone in the audience gets to vote on the same question and the people with the correct answers get to share the 250-00 put between themselves.

All in all this is a great idea for a game show and I would love to see a new series. It is quite light hearted and funny, which makes a change for todays game shows where it all seems to be based on pressure and nastiness, as if there isn't enough of this around already! If you get chance tune into Challenge TV and watch one of the repeats, im certain you'll be glad you do.

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