TV ADDICT?MY GAMESHOWBy Sophia Charalambous

THE RULES

Contestants must be of 18 years of age and have interest in television and Hollywood. There will be 8 contestants which, eventually will be eliminated down to 2 final contestants. The 6 contestants are split into 4 pairs which will go head to head in individual sets of rounds

where there is a multiple choice quiz (about a genre out of a selection which the contestants will vote for) which each will have to buzz their ways through the round to qualify for the semi final then the final. The first person to get 3 correct answers will qualify to the next round and the person they were against is sent home with nothing.

After one person out of each pair has won the multiple choice round. The four people left are split into 2 teams, both teams will fight to get to the final where the two participants of the team face off to see who is the “Real TV Addict”. To win the round the teams will have to answer a series of questions from a genre of TV or Film, there will be 15 questions and by the end whoever has the most will win.

After they finish that round, the victorious team will face each other in a deal-breaker final where there is 5 questions and whoever gets the most points (by answering the most questions correctly) will take home a cash prize of £1,000 and a lifetime Netflix subscription courtesy of ITV.

Torodov – Narrative Theory

Gameshows don’t really have what is called a “narrative” this is because the content is explained, and relies on contestant or audience interaction and observation. However they can have a “linear structure” Start – Middle – End, This applies to a TV game show, as the programme is linear, in that it starts and ends.

An example of a gameshow which has a “non linear structure” would be “Celebrity Juice” which never has a set structure, things always change.

You can apply the endings of gameshows to the narrative theory as there is always the part where for the winner everything is resolved, they complete the tasks and have all come through.

You could say the narrative of my gameshow is that the questions and tasks are explained then they complete them just like equilibrium – where nothing happens, being faced with the questions (disruption) and then an attempt to resolve the disruption (questions) then finally a return to the equilibrium, end of the show.

Barthes – Narrative Codes

ACTION ENIGMAA question is asked or an activity commences. This helps to build audience interest, as they may know the answer or might feel suspense as a contestant completes an activity.

This applies to more visual gameshows than mine but it is, where the answer may not be immediately obvious and both the contestants and audience may be intrigued to know the answer. Or the audience may see the answer on the screen, and the contestants have no knowledge of this. However you can apply this to my gameshow as if the audience and the contestant do not know the answer the suspense factor of guessing may be appealing to them as entertainment until they find out the answers.

Strauss - Binary Opposites

These are the different types of weights on a subject or within an event, these are essentially two different opposites.

In my gameshow you will find the binary opposites of Right and Wrong (Answers), Knowledgeable and Intellectual vs guessing and ignorance, you will also find Win vs Lose, Team A vs Team B or Contestant vs Host as well.

Here are some general examples: Contestant vs Host Strong vs Weak Team A vs Team B Elation vs Sorrow Win vs Lose Knowledge vs Ignorance

Exposition

Setting up the game, the game will open with a 30 second intro and title sequence which will feature a lot of film scrolls, question marks and confused silhouettes running towards different parts of the film scrolls all jumping in until the final scene of the sequence appears with the title of the show and all the silhouettes standing confused.

Then the host will walk in, all the audience will clap and then he will introduce the contestants. He will then explain the instructions, ask if they understand and then proceed with the game.

Conflict and Build-Up

The conflict and build-up will be towards the end as we edge towards the final and resolution (who wins).

The question rounds will get longer and longer which will make the audience long for the final solution even more, it will make it more suspenseful as there is much more of a chance for the audience to get to know how well the contestants know their knowledge.

Jeopardy and Resolution

Jeopardy is where there is something at stake for the contestants during the show, in the case of my show it is a Netflix subscription and £1,000 (a fairly large sum of money) also their reputation as a TV addict. This makes it more stressful for the contestants in the show, or more determined depending on what affects their performance. The resolution would be whoever wins the game and whomever this is will have become somebody that the audience identify with and they can express whether they are happy with the winner or not. Essentially whether they deserve to win or not.