University Challenge
University Challenge is a British quiz show produced by Granada (now an ITV subsidiary) that has been televised with one break since 1962, currently on BBC 2 . There are similar programs of the same name in several Commonwealth countries.
Beginnings in America
In the 1940s, while watching a college basketball game, the Canadian Don Reid had the idea of organizing quizzes between university teams. He called the format "College Bowl" and went on the air in 1953 on NBC Radio. In 1959 the show made its television debut on CBS ; In 1963 she returned to NBC (now on TV) and ran here until 1970 ( prime time for the last two years ).
The "Bowl" format is a naturally difficult team quiz for teams of four people with two types of questions:
- “Starters” that are read out in the so-called “pyramid style”; The text moves from more exotic solutions to ever clearer, simpler questions. Every single player can buzz himself , but then has to answer immediately and without the help of his team. If the answer is wrong, points will be deducted, and the other team can then listen to them all the way through.
- "Bonus questions": if a team answers correctly, it receives three bonus questions. The teams are allowed to briefly discuss this, incorrect answers do not mean a point deduction.
The company "College Bowl" existed until 2008, also gave sporadic comebacks on radio and television (in the 1970s), but played no role in the university scene from the 1990s due to declining quality. Two strong competitors formed with the ACF (Academic Competition Federation) founded in 1990 and the somewhat larger NAQT (National Academic Quiz Tournaments) founded in 1996, which is supported by Ken Jennings , among others . The relationship between these two associations is rather friendly, but both never made it onto US television.
British University Challenge
1962 to 1987
In 1962 the company "Granada" bought the international rights to this format and created an independent competition in Great Britain with slightly changed rules. Each college may have its own team from Oxford and Cambridge. For 25 years, programs were filmed with the quiz master Bamber Gascoigne on the commercial channel ITV 913, then the end came.
From 1994
After a seven-year hiatus, the show was successfully revived in 1994 on the BBC in the advertising-free environment of BBC 2. Quizmaster is Jeremy Paxman to this day. At the moment, 28 teams can be seen on television that have already been pre-selected. 14 qualify directly; the losers with the highest points can play for the remaining places. Then it continues in the knockout system. The winners of a series only get a trophy, no money. In a poll of the best British television programs of all time, the show was ranked 34th in 2000.
Books
- Peter Gwynn: 40 Years University Challenge . Granada Media, 2002, ISBN 0-233-05082-5 .
- University Challenge Quiz Book . BBC Books, 2010, ISBN 978-1-84607-856-9 .
Well-known former candidates
David Lidington , Secretary of State for European Affairs for David Cameron's British Foreign Office , won the title of Captain of Sidney Sussex College , Cambridge in 1978 . Other well-known participants were Stephen Fry , Clive James , Sebastian Faulks , Tim Boswell , Christopher Hitchens and Mary Robinson .
Individual evidence
- ↑ List of NAQT operators ( memento of the original from June 3, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
Web links
- BBC 2: University Challenge