Connections (game show)
Connections, A television game show, which was produced by Granada Television and was aired on the ITV Network from 1985 - 1990.
Hosts
The Show was originally presented by Sue Robbie, with Richard Madeley taking over in 1988 & Simon Potter presented the final two series in 1989 & 1990. During the Richard Madeley period, a year after becoming the first female Krypton Factor champion, Marian Chanter co-hosted in a segment in which she would appear somewhere in the UK and viewers had to phone in and guess the person connected with that particular area based on clues given.
Gameplay
The game involved two contestants (Three in the final series in 1990) trying to make connections by virtue of clues given by the host.
Connect the Clues
Contestants were asked questions, and they can answer by buzzing-in. Correct answers earned points, revealed picture, and try and spot connections to win bonus points.
Find the Figure
The "Find the Figure" round was where a correct answer revealed either a number or a mathematical symbol. The sum went in a clockwise direction around the board, ending with an equals (=) sign. The sum was hidden behind the centre square. The contestants job was to buzz-in to give the answer to that sum to score.
The Bonus Game
The series had two bonus games.
Link the Letters
The winner played the Link the Letters end game. He/she got 50 seconds to answer eight questions. Each correct answer revealed a letter behind one of the screens (the first letter of the answer). After the eight questions, the winning player used whatever time he/she had left to identify the 8-letter word, arranged clockwise. It became hard to win if some of the letters were missing and without knowing where the word started. This changed in a later version of the show by having the eight letters arranged in circular form, but still without revealing where it actually started. Solving the 8-letter word won a grand prize.
Note: When Richard Madeley & Simon Potter took over, this bonus became the final round of the main game.
The Final Connection
Later in the series, Link the Letters was dumped in favor of The Final Connection game. Now the winning player was given the first & last pictures on the board. The object was to connect the first picture to the last (with the help of three clues on each).
Consolation Prizes
During the Sue Robbie era the losing contestants went away with a Connections camera and the points that they scored was turned into cash and donated to charity, when Richard Madeley became the host the losers left with a 'goody bag' and in the last 2 series with Simon Potter the losers left with a pocket TV.
External links
- Connections at UKGameshows.com