mostly david ephgrave

Today, I watched the filming of two episodes of the BBC1 game show Pointless. I was struck by how relaxed the shoot was. It was a world of difference from my previous game show experience, when I attended a recording of the Paul Daniels-fronted Nineties quiz Wipeout (I've never been starved for entertainment). That programme was filmed in a much larger studio at Television Centre (today’s was shot in Elstree) - and consequently felt like a much bigger deal. Conversely, today's shoot was relatively low-key. I’m not saying that Armstrong and Osman were blasé about the job in hand (except for then, when I just said it). They were just completely in control of proceedings. It was like watching a well-oiled machine . A well-oiled machine that intersperses dry one-liners with trivia.  (I'm not sure what would be the purpose of this appliance.) The hardest thing was refraining from playing along out loud. This is perfectly accepta...

Watching tonight’s episode of the BBC1 game show Pointless led me to mull over a question I’ve been pondering for ages: why does the studio audience always clap and cheer when Alexander Armstrong reads out the jackpot?  Surely no-one finds big digits that exciting. I've never cheered spontaneously after giving out my phone number. If I’m honest, I know the answer: it’s because the floor manager tells them to. It’s supposed to add a little tension to proceedings. Being aware of this doesn’t make it any less irritating; once you notice it, it quickly starts to grate. It’s not like everybody in the audience has a vested interest; they can’t all be related to the contestants. I could understand it if the prize was evenly divvied out. They’re also not actually applauding anything. It’s not as if the money is sitting somewhere, waiting to be collected. The sum total only exists from the moment somebody wins it. Richard Osman hasn’t got a...