The Weakest Link (2020) - General Discussion

[iMonrey]

They voted off strong players too soon. You want to keep them around until you get down to three. Even so, they managed to build an impressive bank - for this show. That's one of the higher numbers I've seen. Too bad they actually got two chains of eight correct answers but banked prematurely. I wish just once, they would all talk together and say "hey, let's just try this once, don't bank until we get eight in a row, and if we don't manage to make eight in a row, so what we go onto the next round."

[ams1001]

Don't blame New Jersey for being a jerk, Emanuel.

Player: Dog sledding
Jane: More specific..
Player: Sledding
Me: Um...do you know what "more" means? Or "specific"?

 

Edited April 5, 2022 by ams1001

[TheGreenKnight]

^ That part made me laugh, too. The woman beside him reacted the same way I did.

I can't believe Emanuel wasn't eliminated in the second or third round, they let him win, ugh. I mean, a few funny jokes did come out of him sticking around, but still. When it came down to him and the other dumb guy from the right side, I was just--of course. It's what I expect whenever female contestants end up being the first couple of boots. In the second half, if there are more guys than women, seems like the men almost always pick off the women one after another.

[iMonrey]

Quote

I can't believe Emanuel wasn't eliminated in the second or third round, they let him win, ugh.

They made the fatal mistake of not voting him off when they were down to the final three. They should have known he would beat either of them. They really don't get a lot of people who understand how this game works, do they?

[Enigma X]

The fear of Emanuel winning made me turn the episode off halfway through.

[Josh371982]

On 3/14/2022 at 12:17 AM, ByaNose said:

I was glad see this return and also that I had it on permanent recording. I was glad Adaam won. $71,000 is a nice piece of change. He seemed like a nice guy and nicely dressed. Quite dapper. The rilvary between the bartender and lawyer was funny. Of course, the one liners were hysterical, well written and delivered perfectly by Jane Lynch. I’m looking forward to more episodes. I do well on the questions but I know I couldn’t deliver them on the spot with the lights and attention on me. I’m better sitting in my barca lounger and giving the answers. LOL!!!!!

Adaam won in part cause the ladies were too busy going after each other Like Bitchy morons instead of cutting the guy who was the strongest link for 4 rounds. When he wasn't cut at F3 I was rooting for him to win cause the ladies were being so dumb and Catty

On 4/4/2022 at 11:44 AM, iMonrey said:

They voted off strong players too soon. You want to keep them around until you get down to three. Even so, they managed to build an impressive bank - for this show. That's one of the higher numbers I've seen. Too bad they actually got two chains of eight correct answers but banked prematurely. I wish just once, they would all talk together and say "hey, let's just try this once, don't bank until we get eight in a row, and if we don't manage to make eight in a row, so what we go onto the next round."

Nah you get rid of strong players as soon as possible 

[Josh371982]

On 3/14/2022 at 5:41 PM, helpmerhonda said:

Wasn't the choice in the Downton Abbey question between the castle and the White House? Good lord.

 

Yes! And when Lexi was like "I dont watch Downton Abbey" I was like THATS THE WHITE HOUSE on the left You fool"

[iMonrey]

Quote

Nah you get rid of strong players as soon as possible 

Only if you don't care about banking any money. Which, given the way the players constantly bank prematurely, might be the case with the majority of them. But if you want a shot at building a long enough chain to bank real $$$ you want the strongest players, not the weakest. That's why it's called The Weakest Link. It's what makes the game so challenging. You want to be smart enough so everyone doesn't vote you out but not so smart you are an insurmountable threat to win.

Edited April 8, 2022 by iMonrey

[ams1001]

On 4/6/2022 at 1:53 PM, Enigma X said:

The fear of Emanuel winning made me turn the episode off halfway through.

See, I would have liked him if he hadn't made that stupid comment about stay-at-home moms. (And then blamed his jerkery on being from New Jersey. But he's from North Jersey so what can you expect? 😜)

(I'm kidding. Don't come at me.)

[iMonrey]

Wow, this was a colossally bad team. That one lady seemed to think she was on The Bachelor the way she kept hitting on the guy standing next to her. 

I've said this before but it seems like the show is more driven by having a diverse group of people they think are "interesting" rather than people who are good at trivia. Everyone from a Harvard student to a truck driver, you know? Imagine what a team of Jeopardy champions could bank. They'd be able to get eight in a row every time. 

[853fisher]

2 hours ago, iMonrey said:

I've said this before but it seems like the show is more driven by having a diverse group of people they think are "interesting" rather than people who are good at trivia. Everyone from a Harvard student to a truck driver, you know?

I'm sure you're right.  I also suspect it's not quite the cross-section of society it seems to be, because many of the personalities on display seem quite a lot more like "a truck driver...with a SAG card" (assumption) and "a Harvard student with 580K TikTok followers" (true, per her Instagram) than just "a truck driver and a Harvard student."

I'd definitely prefer to see a straight-up quiz (for less money, if necessary) than an exercise in central casting, but based on Jane's opening monologue this week, the producers seem to think pointing and laughing at the idiots is part of the appeal.  I'd bet, with the time pressure, they'd still get some choice wacky responses in between actually banking some money.

[TheGreenKnight]

Two more people who messed up questions that were mostly basic math. I'm referring to Rodney missing the question about who ran for president again 32 years after they previously ran in 1988 and then the old guy having some question dividing 150 million by 30 million (he said 20 million...). The latter really cracked me up because even after she told him the answer, he still looked mystified.

[853fisher]

3 hours ago, TheGreenKnight said:

the old guy having some question dividing 150 million by 30 million (he said 20 million...)

I don't remember the question and wrong answer exactly, but IIRC the amount they banked in that round was exactly 1/20th what was available to them.  I would've been so impressed if that had been one of Jane's putdowns!  "Speaking of multiplying things by 20..."

[ams1001]

8 hours ago, iMonrey said:

Wow, this was a colossally bad team. That one lady seemed to think she was on The Bachelor the way she kept hitting on the guy standing next to her. 

I would have voted her off just for that. 

I also would have voted Michaela off a lot earlier.

 

Edited April 12, 2022 by ams1001

[lynxfx]

5 hours ago, TheGreenKnight said:

old guy having some question dividing 150 million by 30 million (he said 20 million...).

It was even worse than that. It was a 150 divided by 3 question. 

That was a bad group.

I'm surprised Jane doesn't get more flack here for how slow she reads the questions. She even squeezes in a quip between answers sometimes. In The Chase forum the question reading speed gets brought up a lot and Sara Haines reads quite fast including rushing to get that last question out in time. Maybe that is the purpose though, since Jane is meant to insult (playfully) the contestants while Sara is rooting for them.

Has anyone answered before she finished the question? I can't recall a time. Maybe that's too risky with how some questions are worded. Probably would get voted off quickly if you missed.

With celebrity editions being all the craze, I wouldn't mind an episode of this. All I could find was a 2001 special for the US version. Just bring in the regular comedian/actors that show up on panels for every game show these days. Could be fun. Or like mentioned above, get some jeopardy champs and run the chain.

[iMonrey]

Quote

It was even worse than that. It was a 150 divided by 3 question. 

Yes! Now, I'm no math whiz, and I admit I would probably freeze up trying to do fast math under that kind of pressure. But . . . 150 divided by 3?? C'MON!

[LADreamr]

On 4/11/2022 at 10:05 AM, iMonrey said:

Wow, this was a colossally bad team. That one lady seemed to think she was on The Bachelor the way she kept hitting on the guy standing next to her. 

 

That was so gross.  I couldn't wait for her to leave.  

[dmeets]

She seemed equal opportunity horny: after the first contestant got booted she made some comment like "awwww she's so gorgeous though." I felt bad for him; he handled it about the only way he could without looking like a jerk, which was be gracious and play along with the flirtation. She likely screwed him over though, since the extra attention put him on everyone else's radar and sure enough, one bad round and he was booted ahead of Michaela even though the paleontologist seemed to be just as much a threat (until he choked the final round).

[DB in CMH]

On 4/11/2022 at 11:05 AM, iMonrey said:

Wow, this was a colossally bad team. That one lady seemed to think she was on The Bachelor the way she kept hitting on the guy standing next to her. 

I've said this before but it seems like the show is more driven by having a diverse group of people they think are "interesting" rather than people who are good at trivia. Everyone from a Harvard student to a truck driver, you know? Imagine what a team of Jeopardy champions could bank. They'd be able to get eight in a row every time. 

Ratings are pretty marginal - they're probably winning what the store can afford to pay out.

 

That was... awful. Were they this bad on the original iteration?

[ams1001]

As soon as he introduced himself I was waiting for Jane to bid Adu adieu. I'm sure she was just itching to be able to use that line.

I thought Haidar was obnoxious in his intro but I'll admit he grew on me. I initially rooted for Alex just because of her pet snake named Reese Slitherspoon (I love a good punny pet name), but I also liked her better than Apple.

At least the banter between contestants this week was a lot more fun than last week's mild sexual harassment. As a group, they weren't quite as dumb, either.

 

[iMonrey]

OK that girl Alex. Now, I don't mean to disparage anyone who has face piercings, or likes them. But I have never seen anyone who had the very top of their nose pierced that way. Not only does that seem like it would be extremely painful, going through the bone, but it also seems like it would eventually make you cross-eyed, having little beads at the inner corners of both eyes.

[ams1001]

8 hours ago, iMonrey said:

OK that girl Alex. Now, I don't mean to disparage anyone who has face piercings, or likes them. But I have never seen anyone who had the very top of their nose pierced that way. Not only does that seem like it would be extremely painful, going through the bone, but it also seems like it would eventually make you cross-eyed, having little beads at the inner corners of both eyes.

Okay, I was trying not to think too much about how they might do that particular piercing, but now I just had to go look it up. 

Quote

Q. Does a bridge piercing go through the bone?
A. Although it may look like it, a bridge piercing does not penetrate bone. A bridge piercing goes through the skin directly above the bridge of your nose.

 

[ByaNose]

On 4/18/2022 at 8:30 PM, ams1001 said:

Okay, I was trying not to think too much about how they might do that particular piercing, but now I just had to go look it up. 

 

I could not unsee it through the whole episode. What makes someone do this? Heck! I don’t even like the current champion on Jeopardy who has a nose ring thing at her nostrils. Why do people think this is a good look? Especially woman. Rant over. 

[ams1001]

Seth made me laugh...six daughters, even the dog is a girl, and he works at a women's hospital.

I liked Daelynn and her nails, too. I was kinda rooting for them to go against each other in the end.

Then I rooted for Zeke because he had great hair.

"They put the dumb in Dumbledore."

[iMonrey]

It's just so depressing they have a chance to win up to a million dollars and they almost never bank even six figures. A lot of them must come into this knowing there's not much money to be won and just want to win for the bragging rights. That would explain the strategy of voting off stronger players too soon.

[Taeolas]

To be fair, most game shows/competition shows only have prizes in the 10,000$ range anyways, so as long as you get into 5 digits, you're doing well. Weakest Link is probably one of the higher paying shows, up there with Jeopardy in some ways. The "Million dollar" jackpot is a carrot that no one realistically expects to get. (You have less chances to get it than you do getting the million on "Who wants to be a Millionaire" IMO). 

[TheGreenKnight]

I think the proper top 2 should've been Daelynn and Seth, but since Daelynn got taken out because of one bad round, I didn't mind seeing the same happen to Seth. Zeke seemed like a nice guy, so I didn't mind him winning.

[ByaNose]

I hated Daelynn because she never banked. There were several times the bank could have been bigger if she had banked. I wanted Seth to win. It’s funny how it was a 3 way tie at the end. 

[Diana Berry]

On 4/24/2022 at 10:00 PM, ams1001 said:

Seth made me laugh...six daughters, even the dog is a girl, and he works at a women's hospital.

I liked Daelynn and her nails, too. I was kinda rooting for them to go against each other in the end.

Then I rooted for Zeke because he had great hair.

"They put the dumb in Dumbledore."

Yes, he did have gorgeous hair.  

[iMonrey]

Quote

Zeke seemed like a nice guy, so I didn't mind him winning.

'Cept he didn't. Marissa won.

[TheGreenKnight]

Um, I'm pretty sure you have that one wrong....? He got three questions right, Marissa needed to get her last one just to tie him--he didn't even get asked his last question because she did so bad.

[ams1001]

I was rooting for Eric. Wanted to see if he could keep his perfect game all the way to the end.

 

[Frisky Wig]

The Weakest Link: the show where you can think a yard is 20 inches and still win! Lol! Congrats to her though. 
 

Anyone else think Mikayla (sp?) was pretty rude to the guy who missed ‘ampersand?’ 

[ams1001]

4 hours ago, Frisky Wig said:

Anyone else think Mikayla (sp?) was pretty rude to the guy who missed ‘ampersand?’ 

I was wondering if the fact that English is presumably not his first language was a factor there. (He was the guy from Mexico; he didn't seem to have a super strong accent but it was there.)

[iMonrey]

At least they banked a semi-decent amount this game, comparatively. The way the camera kept cutting to the guy on the far left for reaction shots made me think he'd end up being the winner. Goes to show, they are really just interested in having "characters" as players rather than gamers.

[Enigma X]

I felt like many contestants in the last bunch got questions with either easy or well-known answers, while a few got questions where if that were not something you are interested in, you would not necessarily know the answer.

[Phishbulb]

1 hour ago, iMonrey said:

At least they banked a semi-decent amount this game, comparatively.

Yeah, Brianna (who did bank a lot of money) ended up winning $95,000 for a game where she didn't really play all that well throughout the game!

But she's cute, maybe it'll help her in her acting career 😀

[ByaNose]

I felt bad for the guy who got all the questions right but he never banked either. The Final 3 is rough sometimes. This is where they usually cut the strong person to even have a chance of winning. The $95,000 was a great haul. I keep saying I’m going to keep track of the winning pot but I never do. I do know this was one of the lager pots though. 

[CrystalBlue]

18 hours ago, Frisky Wig said:

The Weakest Link: the show where you can think a yard is 20 inches and still win! Lol! Congrats to her though. 
 

Anyone else think Mikayla (sp?) was pretty rude to the guy who missed ‘ampersand?’ 

Yes, she was rude.

I was hoping either Eric or Kari would have won.

[Meedis]

23 hours ago, ams1001 said:

I was rooting for Eric. Wanted to see if he could keep his perfect game all the way to the end.

 

Was rooting for Eric as well especially since we share a first name.   I knew he was toast in the final 3 though.  But Brianna wasn't the worst winner ever...she did answer a few questions.   And that total was the highest I've seen.

[Trey]

Is this show done for the season? Or possibly done for good?

[opus]

17 minutes ago, Trey said:

Is this show done for the season? Or possibly done for good?

According to this, moving to Mondays at 10pm soon and running till August 
 

http://thefutoncritic.com/showatch/weakest-link-reboot-series/listings/

[Trey]

Cool! Thanks!

[opus]

Quick reminder. New eps begin tonight in the new time slot (Mondays, 10pm ET)

[ams1001]

Aw, I was rooting for Spoon. Jane made me laugh with the way she kept saying Spoon! I was waiting for her to ask about his name...

Izzy's ring was only halfway on his finger at the end of his magic trick. Not impressed.

Anyone catch the note on the screen on the Spring federal holiday question? Something about Juneteenth but it was gone before I was able to read it all.

I liked JD. Happy for him.

Edited June 7, 2022 by ams1001

[SHD]

Did anyone’s broadcast have very tinny sound quality and also a narrator describing visual aspects, as if it was an audio track for the seeing impaired?

[ams1001]

8 hours ago, SHD said:

Did anyone’s broadcast have very tinny sound quality and also a narrator describing visual aspects, as if it was an audio track for the seeing impaired?

I didn't get that last night but I've had it happen once or twice in the past. Don't know how it gets turned on...the sound seemed fine.

[Taeolas]

I haven't watched last night's ep yet (and I'm in Canada so I get the canadian station simulcasts anyways), but I have noticed the other voice describing situation before. 

It's called "Described Video" and is something to support visually impaired watchers; it shouldn't be on normally but should be controlled like Closed Captioning is. Still, sometimes signals get crossed and the DV stream goes out instead of the normal one I think. 

[iMonrey]

The last woman standing (can't remember her name) was screwed either way; both Kelly and JD were strong players and most likely she would have lost to either one of them. Altogether this was a fairly strong team, and it looked like they could have banked higher amounts if they hadn't played it so safe.

[opus]

14 hours ago, ams1001 said:

Anyone catch the note on the screen on the Spring federal holiday question? Something about Juneteenth but it was gone before I was able to read it all.

That this episode was recorded before Juneteenth became a federal holiday.