Quiz show
A quiz show or quiz show is a game show on television or radio in the form of a guessing game in which questions have to be answered. As a result, the candidates can usually win high cash or material prizes.
Quiz shows have been one of the most popular formats for decades, especially on television. Accordingly, a large variety of formats has developed that differ greatly in terms of regulations, candidates, questions and prizes. So-called call-in competitions are not only held in typical quiz shows, but are also part of the side programs of many other programs. Board, card or computer games are now also available for many quiz programs.
Candidates
Most of the games are played with candidates who are either present in the studio or who are switched on by telephone. In these cases, the winner or the prize will be determined during the course of the broadcast.
Typical examples are:
- Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
- The quiz champion
- Jeopardy!
- Quiz taxi
- The big price (now discontinued)
- The Quiz Show (now discontinued)
Whoever wants to become a candidate usually has to apply for the corresponding program, with the applicants being determined either by drawing lots or in a preliminary decision. In the old version of the TV show Kopfball , the candidates were selected spontaneously from the audience, while in Quiz Taxi the candidates were passers-by who happened to get into a certain taxi. In the case of programs without candidates or viewers, the proposed solutions are often sent by post, telephone or the Internet (for example with DENKmal ).
Game management
The program is typically directed by a quiz master. While the quiz master usually moderates the program alone today, an assistant was initially part of the standard staff of many quiz programs. Some assistants have become as popular as the quiz masters themselves, such as Martin Jente , Walter Spahrbier or Maren Gilzer .
Some programs also had a jury or a "lawyer" who monitored compliance with the rules and had to make a decision in cases of doubt. A well-known example is the now discontinued television show The Grand Prize .
subjects
Many programs include questions from all areas of knowledge, others are limited to certain areas (can you recognize the melody? For example to questions from music). Occasionally, the candidate himself is the subject of advice, for example in What am I? or tell the truth .
Profits
General
The prizes range from small cash prizes and prizes in kind to amounts of money in the millions. Especially since the quiz boom in the 1990s, profits on some programs have risen sharply. Their distribution is mostly financed by license fees or advertising income. Often paid service numbers also help finance the prizes, which potential candidates can use to apply for the show. Call-in competitions are financed almost exclusively by these service numbers (for example the quiz channel 9Live ). Other programs, such as The SKL 5 Million Show , are funded through lotteries where participation is conditional on the purchase of a ticket.
The winnings are not always paid out to the candidates. In some cases they are also donated to a good cause. Many broadcasters organize so-called “celebrity specials” for their quiz programs, in which celebrities appear as candidates. As a rule, they then name specific organizations or projects to which the money should be donated. Well-known examples of this are Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? or The Quiz with Jörg Pilawa . In the case of quiz programs for children, on the other hand, prizes in kind are almost without exception. Some shows, such as I have a big name , forego profits entirely, because the only thing that should be in the foreground is the urge to guess.
Programs with a jackpot are a specialty . Winnings that are not played out are accumulated and remain in the jackpot, increasing the winnings from game to game.
Currency problems
Special problems can arise from the different exchange rates of the individual currencies. In Millionaire? , which is produced and broadcast in the USA, Great Britain, Russia and Turkey as well as in Germany, the candidate can, according to the rules of the game, achieve a maximum profit of one million in the respective national currency. However, one million Russian rubles is only equivalent to a good 24,000 euros , while one million British pounds is equivalent to around 1.2 million euros.
The changeover to the euro also posed considerable problems. The German edition of Wer wird Millionär? increase the main prize from one million German marks to one million euros just because of the name of the show .
Regulations
The regulations are very different from broadcast to broadcast.
Candidates
Often - as in Das Quiz with Jörg Pilawa - two or more candidates play with each other and then share the money earned. At Jeopardy! however, the candidates compete against each other. There are also programs in which each candidate plays individually, for example on Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? or in which the candidates first compete together and then against each other, as in The Weakest Flies .
Round
A quiz show usually consists of several rounds. Many programs have (public) selection rounds in which the next candidate is determined from up to ten other participants, for example by answering a question on a temporary basis. Then the amount of the prize is played out. A public selection round is dispensed with for some shows (for example, Das Quiz with Jörg Pilawa ); here the candidates are determined in a non-public preliminary decision.
ask
Most of the shows are based on knowledge questions. There are also picture, music and film puzzles as well as other brain games. In the now discontinued program What am I? for example, the candidate had to guess the occupation of a second participant by asking them related questions. With his answers he was able to narrow down the solution further and further. There are also numerous word games in which you have to guess terms. Examples of this are family duels , wheel of fortune and let 's go .
Choice of questions
Further differences arise in the choice of questions. Quiz shows like Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? or The Quiz with Jörg Pilawa rely on a pool of questions from which the questions are randomly selected by a computer and displayed on the screens of the moderator and the candidate. It is also possible, but less common, to use prepared and specially selected questions that are also displayed on monitors and read out by the moderator.
joker
Jokers are a popular tool . Candidates can use it when they don't know the answer to a question.
- Substitute question: The question is replaced by another question.
- Slide: The question will be answered later.
- Telephone joker: The candidate can call someone he knows and ask for help.
- Free question: The question does not have to be answered.
- Purchase joker: The candidate receives help in return for points.
- Audience joker: The candidate can question the audience.
- Substitute candidate: A substitute person answers the question.
- Joker: Instead of the question there is a game of skill or something similar.
- 50/50 Joker: So many answer options are deleted that only half remains for the candidate to choose between.
- Internet joker: The candidate has a given amount of time in which he can research the answer on the Internet.
Playing
The end of the game differs from show to show. On some shows, the game ends after a certain number of rounds or a certain amount of time. For most programs, however, the game ends when a question is answered incorrectly or the last question is answered correctly.
disqualification
Basically, gross violations of the rules (attempts at fraud, attempts to make a statement on the part of the audience) lead to immediate disqualification in almost all programs .
Well-known quiz shows on television
The following are well-known quiz programs in German-speaking countries that have run nationwide for at least 5 years, sorted by year of start, as well as their quiz master:
Germany
- Tick-Tack-Quiz ( ARD ), 1958–1967 with Fritz Benscher
- Did you know? (ARD), 1958–1969 with Heinz Maegerlein
- All or nothing (ARD), 1958–1988 with Heinrich Fischer , Georg Böse , Erich Helmensdorfer , Andreas Grasmüller , Günther Schramm , Max Schautzer
- What am I? (ARD), 1958–1989 with interruption, with Robert Lembke
- One will win (ARD), 1964–1969, 1979–1987 with Hans-Joachim Kulenkampff
- In demand is half the battle ( ZDF ), 1965–1970 with Hans Rosenthal
- Do you recognize the melody? (ZDF), 1969–1985 with interruptions, with Ernst Stankovski
- Who Lies Three Times (ARD), 1970–1984 with Wolfgang Spier and ( ORF ) 1973–1977 with Günter Tolar
- The big prize (ZDF), 1974–1993, 2002/2003 with Wim Thoelke , Hans-Joachim Kulenkampff , Carolin Reiber , Marco Schreyl
- Let's start (ARD), 1977–1986 with Joachim Fuchsberger
- I have a big name ( SWR ), since 1977 with Hans Gmür , Hansjürgen Rosenbauer , Wieland Backes
- Guess with Rosenthal (ZDF), 1979–1986 with Hans Rosenthal
- Die Pyramid (ZDF), 1979–1994 with Dieter Thomas Heck
- Riskant! / Jeopardy , ( RTL plus / tm3 ) 1990–2000, with Hans-Jürgen Bäumler , Frank Elstner , Gerriet Danz
- Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? ( RTL ), since 1999 with Günther Jauch
- The NDR Quizshow ( NDR ), 2000–2004 with Ludger Abeln , 2004–2012 with Carlo von Tiedemann , 2013–2014 with Alexander Bommes and since 2014 Jörg Pilawa
- The chance of your life ( Sat.1 ), 2000 with Kai Pflaume
- Die Quiz Show (Sat.1), 2000–2001 with Jörg Pilawa, 2001–2003 with Christian Clerici and 2003–2004 with Matthias Opdenhövel
- The quiz with Jörg Pilawa (ARD), 2001–2010 with Jörg Pilawa
- Star Quiz (ARD), 2002–2010 with Jörg Pilawa and 2011–2012 with Kai Pflaume
- clever! - The show that creates knowledge (Sat.1), 2003–2009 with Barbara Eligmann and Wigald Boning
- The NRW duel ( WDR ), 2006–2016 with Bernd Stelter
- The big show of natural wonders (ARD), 2006–2017 with Frank Elstner and Ranga Yogeshwar
- Ask the mouse (ARD), 2006–2009 with Jörg Pilawa and since 2010 with Eckart von Hirschhausen
- The Junior Quiz with Jörg Pilawa (ARD), 2007–2008 with Jörg Pilawa
- Pilawa's big history quiz (ARD), 2007–2008 with Jörg Pilawa
- How smart is Germany? (ZDF), 2007–2009 with Johannes B. Kerner
- The incredible animal quiz (ARD), 2007-2011 with Frank Elstner
- 20xx - Das Quiz (ARD), since 2008 with Frank Plasberg
- Who knows it? ( hr-fernsehen ), since 2009 with Petra Theisen
- Do you know Germany? (ZDF), 2009 with Jörg Pilawa
- HISTORY! - The Quiz (ZDF), 2009-2010 with Markus Lanz
- 5 against Jauch (RTL), 2009–2017, since 2019 with Oliver Pocher and 2017–2018 with Frank Buschmann
- The German Quiz (ARD), 2009–2011 with Frank Plasberg
- Save the million! (ZDF), 2010–2013 with Jörg Pilawa
- Pot money hunter (ZDF), 2010–2014 with Steffen Henssler and 2014–2015 with Alexander Herrmann
- Hirschhausen's Quiz des Menschen (ARD), original title: The fantastic human quiz , since 2010 with Eckart von Hirschhausen
- The big Disney quiz show (Sat.1), 2010 with Kai Pflaume, 2011 with Harro Füllgrabe and 2012 with Daniel Boschmann
- The great general knowledge quiz (Sat.1), 2011 with Johannes B. Kerner
- The smartest German (ARD), 2011–2012 with Kai Pflaume
- Pilawa's big Christmas quiz (ZDF), 2011 with Jörg Pilawa
- Off through the middle - the fastest quiz in the world (Sat.1), 2012 with Daniel Boschmann
- Asked - Gejagt (NDR), with Alexander Bommes since 2012
- Master of everyday life ( SWR ), since 2012 with Florian Weber
- Smart as the tagesschau (ARD), 2012 with Frank Plasberg
- The quiz show with Jörg Pilawa (ZDF), 2012 with Jörg Pilawa
- Der Quiz-Champion (ZDF), original title: Der Super-Champion , 2012 with Jörg Pilawa and since 2013 with Johannes B. Kerner
- Die 2 - Gottschalk & Jauch gegen alle (RTL), 2013–2017 with Barbara Schöneberger
- This is how Germany votes - Pilawa's Generations Quiz (ZDF), 2013 with Jörg Pilawa
- The big time travel show (ZDF), 2013 with Johannes B. Kerner
- Quizonkel.TV (ARD), 2014 with Jörg Pilawa
- What do I know?! (Sat.1), 2014 with Stefan Gödde
- Quizduell (ARD), since 2014 with Jörg Pilawa
- Who knows? (ARD), since 2015 with Kai Pflaume
- Animals like us (Sat.1), 2015 with Jürgen von der Lippe
- Nobody deceives me! (ZDF), 2015–2017 with Dirk Steffens
- The smartest North German (NDR), since 2015 with Jörg Pilawa
- Paarduell (ARD), 2016–2017 with Jörg Pilawa
- Die Superpauker (NDR), since 2016 with Elton
- 500 - The Quiz Arena (RTL), 2016–2017 with Günther Jauch
- The Big Music Quiz (RTL), 2016–2017 with Oliver Geissen
- Hatch! Die Schule und I (Sat.1), since 2017 with Luke Mockridge
- Clever dusted ( ZDFneo ), 2017 with Steven Gätjen
- You never think of it! (ZDF), since 2017 with Johannes B. Kerner
- Fly with Me! (ARD), 2017 with Guido Cantz
- The Wall (RTL), 2017–2018 with Frank Buschmann
- Ingeniously next to it - The Quiz (Sat.1), since 2018 with Hugo Egon Balder
Children's program
- The six Siebeng'scheiten (ARD), 1957–96 with Jürgen Graf , Elmar Hörig , Ingrid Peters , Markus Brock
- 1, 2 or 3 (ZDF), 1977–1985 with Michael Schanze , 1985–1995 with Birgit Lechtermann , 1995–2005 with Gregor Steinbrenner , 2005–2010 with Daniel Fischer and since 2010 with Elton
- Q-Boot - Das Quiz ( Super RTL ), 2001-2003 with David Wilms
- Willis Quiz Quark Club ( BR / KiKA ), since 2004 with Willi Weitzel
- The best class in Germany (KiKA / ARD), since 2008 with Malte Arkona
Austria
- Twenty-one ( ORF ), 1958–74 with Rudolf Hornegg . Remakes with Elmar Gunsch and Karin Resetarits . In Germany 2000-2 with Hans Meiser (RTL)
- Quiz in red-white-red (ORF), 1978-88 with Gerhard Tötschinger
- Made in Austria (ORF), 1980–92 with Günter Tolar
- Die Millionenshow (ORF), 2000 with Rainhard Fendrich , 2000–2002 with Barbara Stöckl and since 2002 with Armin Assinger
- Quizmaster ( ServusTV ), 2015–2016 with Clemens Haipl , 2016 with Andreas Jäger , 2016–2017 with Florian Rudig , since 2017 with Andreas Moravec
- Really now?! ( ORF eins ), 2017 with Andi Knoll and Mirjam Weichselbraun
Switzerland
- Dopplet oder nüt ( SRG ), 1956–59, 1973–70 with Mäni Weber
- Tell-Star (SRG), 1980–91 with Beni Thurnheer
- 1 against 100 ( SRF 1 ), 2008–2019 with Susanne Kunz and since 2020 with Angélique Beldner
- We times four (SRF 1), 2016–2018 with Sven Epiney
DA-CH (Eurovision broadcast)
- Game for your country - Europe's biggest quiz (ARD / ORF / SRF), 2015–2017 with Jörg Pilawa
- I know everything! (ARD / ORF / SRF), since 2018 with Jörg Pilawa
criticism
“For me, the clearest barometer of the state of a society is the quiz show itself. In a Sat.1 show with Matthias Opdenhövel , every clumsy person was helped so that he could go home with a lot of money. After asking the moderator several times, a geography teacher insisted that Rostock is in the Ore Mountains. Such people are entitled to give marks to our offspring! I want to run amok there . "
See also
literature
- Daniel Boos: The secret winning tricks. Win millions in the TV quiz Heyne, Munich 2003, ISBN 3-453-86178-7 .
Web links
- Official site for Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?
- Current overview of quiz programs on television
- Quiz - geography, countries, flags, birds, wildflowers and Mozart
- Link catalog on the subject of quizzes at curlie.org (formerly DMOZ )
Individual evidence
- ↑ Olaf Neumann: Heinz Rudolf Kunze: "Nobody knows anymore what is true". Neue Presse (Coburg) , interview, online portal, April 6, 2020. Accessed April 10, 2020 .