Poll of the Year 2006
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Poll of 2006
Like last time, we want to know your favourite and least favourite new formats. However, this year we have a third category, we want you to cut through the hyperbole and tell us what you really watched last year.
And of course, there's a bribe involved, so everybody who participates in all three categories will get put into a draw where not just one, but TWO lucky punters will win a tenner... each!
Hall of FAME 2006
22 different shows recieved votes in this category, despite the fact that many contributors described it as the worst year for new shows in years.
5= Codex, How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?
With a whopping 5.6% of the vote each, an extra show sneaks onto the leaderboard, just as some people might sneak round the British Museum. Codex wasn't the commercial success Maria was though, and Connie Fisher is currently working through a six-month contract as Maria. New show Any Dream Will Do, aiming to find a new Joseph (of Technicolour Dreamcoat fame) is in the pipeline.
3= Let Me Entertain You, Take It or Leave It
Polling 11.3% each, Let Me Entertain You seemed to be a pre-emptive strike against all the forthcoming "not JUST singing" talent shows, which was then gone and won by a singer, as per every talent show ever. Still, as an updated Opportunity Knocks vs The Gong Show afternoon spectacular, it was very nicely executed and it's nice seeing Brian Conley back on television.
Take It or Leave It can alienate fans of gameshows that just get on with things as quickly as possible, but there's certainly an entertaining game there, and a definite quality in the question writing. We still don't think it needs to be an hour long though. But it's coming back for a new series in 2007.
2 1 vs 100
The current show being bandied around as an international megahit, 15.5% of your votes make it the second best new format of 2006. It's been around for years on the continent of course, and is another strong quiz to add to the list of "actually quite decent lottery shows, actually" list. And it's probably really cheap to produce, what with all the contestant researchers nabbing past contestants from other Endemol shows to appear, too.
1 PokerFace
The best new format of 2006 as created by TV's Ant and Dec on a back of a bit of paper in a pub polled a whopping 22.5% of the popular vote. Nicely pitched challenging questions, an element of bluff and a large element of risk? You're spoiling us!
Bubbling Under: Shipwrecked, Sitcom Showdown, Unanimous
Hall of SHAME 2006
27 different shows feature in this list, of which the absolute worst offenders, as judged by you, were...
5= Just the Two of Us, Celebrity Scissorhands
With 5.6% of the vote each, Just the Two of Us took the same formula used in Strictly Come Dancing and applied it for singing... with inevitable hilarious consequences. For all the kvetching, a second series went out in 2007. I don't think anyone on the UKGameshows.com team actually bothered watching Celebrity Scissorhands. We're sure it was rubbish, though.
4 Only Fools On Horses
This year's winner of the "Show That's Most Likely To Have Came Up With The Title Before It Came Up With The Format" award earnt 7% of your hatred. It is unlikely Strictly Come Showjumping will return.
3 In the Grid
The Tesco Value of nightly luck-based gameshows was meant to be Les Dennis' bigtime TV comeback. Hasn't really happened, although a few of us on the team think it's more fun than many people make out, and it looks as though Five has extended the contract which was only meant to run until Christmas as we recall. That wasn't enough to stop it securing 8.5% of your votes, though.
2 Unanimous
In only acheiving 12.7% of the vote, it is not a unanimous decision and therefore is punished by being voted only the second worst show of 2006. Completely fairly described by us as being "a bit grim", it did have quite a nice set though.
1 The Mint
Money-making racket ITV Play's flagship show (starring the surely-better-than-that Brian Dowling, amongst others) polled a (surprisngly low, we thought) 14.1% of the vote. At least Quizmania made you laugh whilst robbing you blind.
Bubbling Under Cirque de Celebrité, Extinct: The Quiz, Never Mind the Full Stops
The UKGameshows.com Golden Fiver
A new award, we wanted you to cut through the hyperbole and tell us what you really enjoyed watching last year. The only limits we put on was that it had to be a gameshow and that new episodes of it had to go out during 2006.
So how did you vote? 32 different shows got a look in and the top five (or so) are...
5= The Apprentice, University Challenge, The Weakest Link
4.2% each. It's quite nice to see the elderly quizzers make the list after the collapse in last year's all time vote. The Apprentice is as popular as ever, even if it is Dumper-bound in the States.
3= PokerFace, Take It or Leave It
5.6% each. New shows have featured very well in this year's Golden Fiver.
2 [[Let Me Entertain You]
But oddly, with 8.5% of the vote, whilst you thought PokerFace was the better format, LMEY was the new show evidently you enjoyed watching the most. Which just goes to prove something, although we not quite sure what.
1 Deal or No Deal
There's no keeping a good Noel down, the Banker's Big Box Game polled a massive 24% of the overall vote, and evidence of its dying appear to have been greatly exaggerated if the recent highest ever weekly viewing figures are anything to go by. But will it still be a force to be reckoned with this time next year? Why not join us then and find out!
Bubbling Under 1 vs 100, Big Brother, Have I Got News For You, How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?, QI, Who Wants to be a Millionaire?
