I was in the audience of Countdown during the 1996 Supreme Championship I am uploading the shows I went to see including a controversial episode from 12 November 1996.
Yes they tweaked the format slightly in March this year, because it was felt that only letting the challenger have 2 numbers rounds it was unfair on the champion. So now it goes (using letter abbreviations for rounds):
L, L, N, TTT, L, L, N, CELEB, L, L, N, TTT, L, L, SUSIE, L, L, N, C
Each person now has 5 letters and 2 numbers, with a conundrum making 15 rounds. Now I've got used to it (and I hate change normally) I actually quite like the new format.
1) I can't stand Nick Newer, I really can't. What made Countdown successful in Whiteley's time as host is the banter he had with Vorderman - audiences loved it (didn't they?) Stelling and Riley had something similar in my opinion, shown by Riley's reaction on Stellng's last episode as host. They just weren't on screen together for anywhere as near as long as Whiteley and Vorderman were. Unfortunately, Hewer and Riley just don't have this. They have zero chemistry. The Countdown hosts are meant to provide the audience with some laughs, but there is no connection between the two. Also I find that Hewer is rude to the returning winners if their finishing score isn't as high as it was previously. He says something rude or sarcastic, which I don't appreciate. And he favours some contestants over others, which must be off-putting to the opponent to know that the host prefers the other person. Also, at the end when the host gives their 'Goodbye, see you tomorrow!' bit at the end of each episode, the host is meant to smile, right? I don't think he does. He doesn't seem like the kind of person you'd want to spend 50 minutes of your afternoon watching. I think Channel 4 should look for a new host and Hewer should stick to being the cold, glum-looking aide of Lord Sugar, a role which he's more suited to.
2) Susie Dent's orgins of words. :yawn::yawn::sleep::sleep: pretty much sums up how I feel when this segment comes up. Do I really want to know about the history of the words 'freezer' or 'corridor'? Not really. Also she should liven up a bit! I thinks she should interact more with Hewer and RIley and have a bit more of a laugh!
3) Has the format changed? From memory, the format used to be:
This format has been jiggled about recently, hasn't it? I think they should revert it to how it was.
4) The timeslot. Countdown is one of, if not Channel 4's most iconic show, which deserves a timeslot where more people will be at home to watch. God knows what they were thinking showing it at 2:45PM! And I think 3:10PM is still too early. I reckon they should scrap Come Dine With Me and Four Rooms/Coach Trip and put Countdown in its place. My ideal Channel 4 late afternoon/early evening line up would look like this:
4:00PM - What's Cooking?
4:30PM - Deal or No Deal
5:15PM - Countdown
6:00PM - The Simpsons
6:30PM - Hollyoaks
That way, more people would be at home, available to watch. I suppose Channel 4 don't want this as it'd be in competition with both the Chase and Pointless, but I just don't think 3:10PM is a fitting timeslot for a show with such prominence to Channel 4.
All I can say is "OK, those are YOUR problems". Personally, I don't share them, and probably neither do many others. Apart from the timeslot, I think the show is funnier, more informative and more entertaining now than it ever has been. And I've watched it since the beginning. If you can't understand Nick hewer's throw-away humour and witty asides, that is your own affair. Go away and watch something else.
I like Nick. He's much better now than he was in the first few weeks, took time for him to settle into the job. Personally, for me in order of preference re: presenters it would go:
Richard Whiteley
Jeff Stelling
Nick Hewer
Des O'Connor
Des Lynam a very distant last.
Sometimes I skip Susie, depends on how I feel that day. Some days I just watch to see the contestants, then skip to the end if I don't particularly like either of them.
I have always liked Nick in the Apprentice but, like many, I find his interplay with the contestants, Suzie and Rachel very awkward, sometimes even embarrasing. It is clear that he Rachel have not hit it off in the way that Rachel and Jeff did.
I find myself skipping through vast chunks of the program these days. Occasionally the guests are quite interesting but not many.
As a mathematician, I have quite liked the extra numbers round.
There's a bit more of Susie these days since she's had children, and she doesn't seem to mind showing them off, which she would never have done in her... er... flatter days.
All I can say is "OK, those are YOUR problems". Personally, I don't share them, and probably neither do many others. Apart from the timeslot, I think the show is funnier, more informative and more entertaining now than it ever has been. And I've watched it since the beginning. If you can't understand Nick hewer's throw-away humour and witty asides, that is your own affair. Go away and watch something else.
I know that they're 'my problems' and I know that not everyone will feel the same way.
BIB: Bit unnecessary, isn't it? The programme is still watchable to me, there's just certain things I don't like. No need to be so patronising, is there?
All I can say is "OK, those are YOUR problems". Personally, I don't share them, and probably neither do many others. Apart from the timeslot, I think the show is funnier, more informative and more entertaining now than it ever has been. And I've watched it since the beginning. If you can't understand Nick hewer's throw-away humour and witty asides, that is your own affair. Go away and watch something else.
Ridiculous post. I don't like Nick either. I've been watching for 20 years (I wasn't alive when it began ) and I don't see why I should turn off because they've hired a presenter who doesn't do a very good job.
Yes they tweaked the format slightly in March this year, because it was felt that only letting the challenger have 2 numbers rounds it was unfair on the champion. So now it goes (using letter abbreviations for rounds):
L, L, N, TTT, L, L, N, CELEB, L, L, N, TTT, L, L, SUSIE, L, L, N, C
Each person now has 5 letters and 2 numbers, with a conundrum making 15 rounds. Now I've got used to it (and I hate change normally) I actually quite like the new format.
And thank you for this confirmation. I suppose I can retract grievance #3 from my list as I now understand the reason for the change.
Susie Dent is so overly PC.I was never aware the word 'orientals' was offensive.
Seriously?! It's tagged as "Offensive" when used as a noun in all the latest editions of popular dictionaries of current English as far as I'm aware. It's hardly her personal opinion.
I'm watching Countdown on channel 4 + 1 and noticed Rachel had a wardrobe malfunction. Nothing exciting, but something was sticking out under the side of her dress, she held her hand over it while the contestant chose his numbers, but after the break it had disappeared. Wonder what it was.
And isn`t the guest in the dictionary corner (Helen someone or other) lovely?
I don't think so, I think she is strange looking, her eyes are too far apart and her voice is grating. As for Nick he seems to have had a complete charisma bypass and his inane comments pass for humour. He is totally unsuitable for television.
I don't watch much Countdown these days. Nick is dreadful - very awkward as a presenter, seems to say inappropriate or odd comments regularly, and just doesn't seem to fit in. Also, he doesn't seem to follow the usual game procedures - for example, if the contestants both solve the numbers game but one of them hasn't written it down, sometimes he will ask the player who did write it down, to run through it first. And often when it's a crucial Conundrum, he seems oblivious to the fact and just announces the conundrum round normally.
I'd get rid of Rachel too. Despite doing the job for well over four years, she's quite awkward and still comes across as rather stilted and uncomfortable. She needs to get out of her "and the numbers for the first game of the week/last game of the week are" habit - it drives me mad and she seems to come out with it on practically every Monday or Friday show I've seen. She just doesn't come across as a natural or capable tv presenter at all.
Also, some of the guest choices are poor. A few of them seem to have little interest in the games and use the show as a chance for self-promotion or to bore the audience to tears. I liked it better when it was guests who had a genuine interest in the game.
I'd get rid of Rachel too. Despite doing the job for well over four years, she's quite awkward and still comes across as rather stilted and uncomfortable. She needs to get out of her "and the numbers for the first game of the week/last game of the week are" habit - it drives me mad and she seems to come out with it on practically every Monday or Friday show I've seen. She just doesn't come across as a natural or capable tv presenter at all.
I don't mind awkward. She seems quite genuine.
Someone slicker may not give a crap about the show, and just have their eye on their career....I'd rather awkward.
If you want things changed, maybe you could email the program. I think that sometimes emails get taken notice of.
Comments
Countdown fans enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqJoJYD3UTg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBVNtmpSMxE
L, L, N, TTT, L, L, N, CELEB, L, L, N, TTT, L, L, SUSIE, L, L, N, C
Each person now has 5 letters and 2 numbers, with a conundrum making 15 rounds. Now I've got used to it (and I hate change normally) I actually quite like the new format.
All I can say is "OK, those are YOUR problems". Personally, I don't share them, and probably neither do many others. Apart from the timeslot, I think the show is funnier, more informative and more entertaining now than it ever has been. And I've watched it since the beginning. If you can't understand Nick hewer's throw-away humour and witty asides, that is your own affair. Go away and watch something else.
Richard Whiteley
Jeff Stelling
Nick Hewer
Des O'Connor
Des Lynam a very distant last.
Sometimes I skip Susie, depends on how I feel that day. Some days I just watch to see the contestants, then skip to the end if I don't particularly like either of them.
I find myself skipping through vast chunks of the program these days. Occasionally the guests are quite interesting but not many.
As a mathematician, I have quite liked the extra numbers round.
I know that they're 'my problems' and I know that not everyone will feel the same way.
BIB: Bit unnecessary, isn't it? The programme is still watchable to me, there's just certain things I don't like. No need to be so patronising, is there?
Ridiculous post. I don't like Nick either. I've been watching for 20 years (I wasn't alive when it began
Susie's origin of words bores me as well.
And I like Nick's dry sense of humour.
I would rather Nick's non-smiling end of show sign-off than some mickey mouse smiling pseudo.
And thank you for this confirmation. I suppose I can retract grievance #3 from my list as I now understand the reason for the change.
Seriously?! It's tagged as "Offensive" when used as a noun in all the latest editions of popular dictionaries of current English as far as I'm aware. It's hardly her personal opinion.
I don't think so, I think she is strange looking, her eyes are too far apart and her voice is grating. As for Nick he seems to have had a complete charisma bypass and his inane comments pass for humour. He is totally unsuitable for television.
I recall Helen displaying her very friendly personality during the Olympic Parade... can only dream of receiving such a warm welcome from Rachel
Helen Skelton's Dress Blows Up At London 2012 Parade - YouTube
She`s lovely - and a rather nice white top today suggests a few nice curves too.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-c55jseQNa8#t=200
I'd get rid of Rachel too. Despite doing the job for well over four years, she's quite awkward and still comes across as rather stilted and uncomfortable. She needs to get out of her "and the numbers for the first game of the week/last game of the week are" habit - it drives me mad and she seems to come out with it on practically every Monday or Friday show I've seen. She just doesn't come across as a natural or capable tv presenter at all.
Also, some of the guest choices are poor. A few of them seem to have little interest in the games and use the show as a chance for self-promotion or to bore the audience to tears. I liked it better when it was guests who had a genuine interest in the game.
"Countdown - so much worse these days"
I don't mind awkward. She seems quite genuine.
Someone slicker may not give a crap about the show, and just have their eye on their career....I'd rather awkward.
If you want things changed, maybe you could email the program. I think that sometimes emails get taken notice of.
I've emailed them in the past...