Is The Chase Fixed

PamthehoundPamthehound Posts: 5,333
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Ive noticed that after a few wins by the contestants that their final shoot out questions have become harder and the chasers questions much easier. A Chaser with expert quix knowledge can fly through their questions easily in a minute without having to buzz whereas the Chasers have their buzz ins to contend with.

A show like this must have a budget to stick to my theory is that the budget is in effect regulated by the severity of the contestants questions and therefore fixed.
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  • Mr TeacakeMr Teacake Posts: 6,593
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    Didn't Shaun Wallace answer that the Simpsons were blue on the charity edition?
  • phill363phill363 Posts: 24,311
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    No its not fixed the programme will have insurance which protects them in case they have excessive wins.
  • JustonecornettoJustonecornetto Posts: 19,818
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    The final set of questions are in two sealed envelopes and the team get to pick set 'A' or 'B' so it is not fixed although you are right that the Chaser does not have to buzz giving them an advantage. To counter this of course the team get the points start depending on number through to final chase and get to push back the Chaser if he/she gets one wrong. All in all I think it creates a fair challenge.
  • SamuelWSamuelW Posts: 8,447
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    The Chasers often get questions deliberately wrong on the celebrity version so that the celebs win money for charity. The Beast, who is one of the cleverest people around, blatantly pretended not to know a few answers on one of the recent chase episodes so that the celebs won money.
  • fleetfleet Posts: 11,574
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    Ive always thought that the chaser had a slight unfair advantage, not having to buzz in and wait for their name to be said before answering!
  • PheebShirlPheebShirl Posts: 1,140
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    Personally feel the opposite. I feel that the contestants are given an unfair advantage a lot of the time. They get given extra steps ahead of the chaser for everyone who gets through and they also get to confer their answers if the chaser gets a question wrong and there are more than one in the final. What really annoys me is that when the chaser gets a question wrong the contestants are able to stand there talking about the answer with the clock off, sometimes for up to 30 seconds. I feel when the chaser gets a question wrong it should be like in the earlier contestant round and the contestants should be read the question and have to buzz straight away and give an answer otherwise they don't get the point. Usually when I am watching the show I find many of the contestants so obnoxious that I am rooting for the chaser to catch them.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 3,053
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    Mr Teacake wrote: »
    Didn't Shaun Wallace answer that the Simpsons were blue on the charity edition?

    Yeah I saw that and many people on Twitter agreed that was iffy. I'm sure the celebrity ones are fixed to a degree.
  • rodenboyrodenboy Posts: 572
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    Of course the celebrity ones are going to be fixed!!
  • franchisefranchise Posts: 1,426
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    No. Why would a TV company go to the hassle of fixing a daytime quiz knowing the severity of the fallout? Even with the amounts (potentially) given away, it will still be cheaper than an hour of drama.
  • Brummie Girl Brummie Girl Posts: 22,417
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    What about when there is only one contestant through to the final round or when they have to nominate a contestant if all the contestants were knocked out in the previous round. They don't have to buzz in when they are answering which makes it even.

    As someone said earlier the steps ahead depending on contestants through makes up for the 'having to buzz' 1 or so seconds delay.
  • clm2071clm2071 Posts: 6,637
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    I often find that when more than 1 contestant gets through to the final chase they delay before answering - waiting to see if someone else knows the answer - it often negates the number of steps ahead advantage IMO.

    If I was a contestant I'd want to be in the final chase by myself
  • tommanningtommanning Posts: 104
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    No - but eggheads is
  • grumpyscotgrumpyscot Posts: 11,343
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    Bradley Walsh definitely asks the question to the competitors slower than he does to the Chaser. The difference in speed of his voice is quite noticeable. Given that the team has to wait for their name to be called, the bias is definitely in favour of the Chaser,
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 6,505
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    All quiz shows are not fixed but stage managed.
  • NostalgicNostalgic Posts: 7,156
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    It does seem a little contrived, some of The Chasers questions are ridiculously easy such as yesterday "Traditionally what do you bob for at halloween" the answer of course being apples.
  • jules1000jules1000 Posts: 10,709
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    I feel when they are due for a win and the prize is about the right amount the chasers generally lose and contestants win. Equally works the other way around. So yes I think it is fixed.
  • The GathererThe Gatherer Posts: 2,723
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    jules1000 wrote: »
    I feel when they are due for a win and the prize is about the right amount the chasers generally lose and contestants win. Equally works the other way around. So yes I think it is fixed.

    But they don't necessarily show them in recording order!
  • jules1000jules1000 Posts: 10,709
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    But they don't necessarily show them in recording order!

    What do you mean ?Are you agreeing or disagreeing?
  • The GathererThe Gatherer Posts: 2,723
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    jules1000 wrote: »
    What do you mean ?Are you agreeing or disagreeing?

    I'm disagreeing. They could record 5 shows in a row where the contestants win, but spread the broadcast of those shows over a month or so. The Chase is not like Perfection or Pointless where they have to show them in recorded order because of the jackpot rolling over. I just can't see any reason why they would need to fix the programme and why go to the effort of doing so.
  • jules1000jules1000 Posts: 10,709
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    I'm disagreeing. They could record 5 shows in a row where the contestants win, but spread the broadcast of those shows over a month or so. The Chase is not like Perfection or Pointless where they have to show them in recorded order because of the jackpot rolling over. I just can't see any reason why they would need to fix the programme and why go to the effort of doing so.
    I am not sure of the scheduling just that the chasers get all flustered and panicked over simple questions or are unusually slow on the days when they win the cash. Also it comes at a time when a win is needed.Audience get bored of loosers all the time. Not sure how its done but I feel its fixed to a certain degree.
  • FirespireFirespire Posts: 4,664
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    Nostlagic wrote: »
    It does seem a little contrived, some of The Chasers questions are ridiculously easy such as yesterday "Traditionally what do you bob for at halloween" the answer of course being apples.

    The team set of questions had what animal a rasher comes from? (answer - pig), seams equally easy to me.

    I thinks the Chasers just make their questions seem easy, to me Anne shows just how wide her knowledge is having to quickly throw out Gavrilo Princip as the answer about the assignation of Franz Ferdinand, identify star faced moles and knowing the back catalogue of Tracey Ullman songs.
  • [Deleted User][Deleted User] Posts: 33
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    grumpyscot wrote: »
    Bradley Walsh definitely asks the question to the competitors slower than he does to the Chaser. The difference in speed of his voice is quite noticeable. Given that the team has to wait for their name to be called, the bias is definitely in favour of the Chaser,

    I have seen this being filmed twice and actually on both occasions Bradley re-reads the questions after the show has stopped so what we see isn't always how he read them out at the time.

    In fact he read them so fast the producer asked him to do it again for the benefit of the viewers (presumably thinking it sounded inarticulate)

    Not saying that's always the case and I was only there for celebrity recordings but could explain it somewhat.
  • degsyhufcdegsyhufc Posts: 59,251
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    SamuelW wrote: »
    The Chasers often get questions deliberately wrong on the celebrity version so that the celebs win money for charity. The Beast, who is one of the cleverest people around, blatantly pretended not to know a few answers on one of the recent chase episodes so that the celebs won money.
    I hate things like that. It totally defeats the purpose of the show. If you're going to do that then just cancel the show and give the money to charity.

    People watch to see how good they are at quizzing, celebrity charity edition or not.
    I know things like Celebrity Mastermind and even the charity episodes of Only Connect have easier questions but the celebs still have to answer them, they are not just handed them on a plate.
  • SULLASULLA Posts: 149,789
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    Ive noticed that after a few wins by the contestants that their final shoot out questions have become harder and the chasers questions much easier. A Chaser with expert quix knowledge can fly through their questions easily in a minute without having to buzz whereas the Chasers have their buzz ins to contend with.

    In addition the contestants lose time very time they pass ( after a delay) or get the question wrong as Bradley then takes time to give the correct answer.

    When the chaser passes or gets it wrong, the clock stops immediately, even before Bradley says stop the clock.

    I have noticed that for both contestants and the chasers some questions are quite hard and some are very easy.
  • george.millmangeorge.millman Posts: 8,628
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    I sincerely doubt it is fixed. There have been scandals like that before when it turned out quiz shows were rigged. Does anyone remember the viewer competition scandal a few years ago, which resulted in nearly all viewer competitions on game shows being cancelled? There was such a huge fallout from that, I don't think they'd risk it happening again.

    I imagine that they do shuffle the broadcast order to make it more entertaining for the viewers though. Also, I imagine that they probably don't choose that many people who they think have a good chance of beating the chaser to go on the show - so I suppose that in that way it's fixed in a sense, but that's not really the same as being properly rigged.

    As for what people have said about celebrity editions of quiz shows being dumbed down - have you seen Celebrity Eggheads? They have a ten-episode series every Christmas. That is quite good, because it doesn't appear to be dumbed down at all - the questions are as hard as usual, and the Eggheads are on top of their game like they are on the usual programme. I only watched one series, but I don't think there was ever an episode where the celebrities beat the Eggheads that time.
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