Take It or Leave It (game show)
| Take It or Leave It | |
|---|---|
| Starring | Richard Arnold |
| Country of origin |  United Kingdom |
| No. of series | 2 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60 mins (including adverts) |
| Original release | |
| Network | Challenge |
| Release | 23 October, 2006 – present |
Take It Or Leave It is a 60-minute game show, aired by the UK satellite channel Challenge. The show is unique in the fact that Challenge tends to air repeats of classic game shows that have been commissioned by other broadcasters, very rarely producing original content. It has aired on Challenge since 23 October, 2006 and it is hosted by Richard Arnold, with additional voice-over work by Sarah Cawood.
Format
The game is played by pairs of players. The players have some sort of connection to each other (friends, married, siblings). The first pair of players are welcomed onto the set. They must make their first Take It Or Leave It choice by deciding who they are going to play against. Cawood reads a brief introduction of the first couple as we see them on the screen backstage. The original players then decide if they would like to take the couple they have seen or risk taking another couple of which they don't know anything about. Once the choice has been made, the 2nd team arrive on set and take their place on the seating area to the right of the stage. This area is called the 'Sin Bin'.
Phase One
The aim of the game is simple. There are 10 steps to the final phase and for each step there is a question. In the first phase the players must answer questions and make money to go into the jackpot, which will be played for in the final phase. To win money, they must correctly answer questions. The questions are presented with an answer, which the team can decide to either 'Take It' as their answer or 'Leave It' in the hope that the next answer they are presented with is the correct answer.
If the team gives a right answer, the answer flashes green and the 'Wall Of Safes' is brought up onscreen. The Wall Of Safes has 20 safes with cash values from 1p to £15,000. There are also 2 'Booby Traps', which can knock the team in control out of play by making them go to the Sin Bin, placing their rivals in play. Each member of the team selects a safe to open. The first safe opened can either be banked by the team or (especially if it is a low value safe) can be rejected for the 2nd chosen safe. The risk here is that they might open a lower value safe or even eliminate themselves from play by revealing a Booby Trap or have one of the top amounts in their 2nd choice.
If the team decides to take an answer and it is wrong, the answer flashes red and the team must go to the Sin Bin, allowing the team currently in the Sin Bin to come into play.
Wall Of Safes
The values for the Wall Of Safes are the following:
£15,000> £12,500> £7,500> £5,000> £3,500> £2,000> £1,000> £900> £750> £600> £500> £350> £250> £150> £5> 50p> 10p> 1p
If all the right amounts were discovered this gives the shows top prize of £48,750, which has yet to be won in full.
Before the numbered safes are jumbled up at the start of the show, the 2 Booby Traps appear between the £1,000 and £900 as well as the £500 and £350 on the board. Once the Booby Traps have been discovered/rejected the teams are only relying on giving right answers and discovering the larger amounts of cash still in play.
Final Phase
Once the team has made it to the end of the walk, six coloured safes rise up in front of them, one of which contains the jackpot that was built up in the previous round. The safes' colours are white, red, green, blue, purple and yellow.
There are five final questions, which the team must answer. The only difference here is that they are answered, without it being revealed if they are right or wrong until later. Once all five questions have been answered, the computer brings back the questions that have been answered correctly first.
For each correct answer the team decide to play, an empty safe is eliminated, thus increasing the chances of the team discovering the safe with the jackpot. If the team is worried that they have taken a wrong answer earlier, they can decide not to play that answer and to open a safe at any time.
If the team has answered all questions correctly and play all the answers, then they do not need to guess which safe the jackpot is in, as it will be the only one left. If the team take a wrong answer and decide to play it to try and eliminate an empty safe, they lose immediately, without the chance to open a safe.
Trivia
Each show begins with Arnold, at the safes, saying, "10 steps, 6 safes and the chance to play for up to £50,000. It's all about making the right choice at the right time. Would you have the nerve to Take It Or Leave It?"
The show was originally meant to be fronted by Michael Barrymore, however, Arnold was settled upon.
The show was hailed as the next Deal or No Deal, however, it has not found the same success.
The show was filmed in the famous Pinewood Studios, where the popular James Bond movies have been filmed.
During its original run, the show aired weekday nights at 9.00pm on Challenge. Before each break, Cawood would give the details for a viewer competition, much like Challenge's version of The Pyramid Game. This was during the original run only and did not return for the afternoon repeats.
The show will enter its 3rd series in 2008 with episodes recorded, including 6 celebrity specials as revealed on the Pinewood Studios site.
International
- Hungary: The show started to air in Hungary from December 27, 2007 and it is called 'A Széf' (The Safe). It took the time slot of the very successful first season of Poker Face at weekdays 7.00pm. It aired for 4 weeks and, after that, the new season of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? replaced it. A Széf was very successful as well and will return after 4 weeks of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?. Take It Or Leave It and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? will be changing this timeslot every month to not overexpose eiher show. If the contestants choose the highest possible combination of the safes, they can win 20 Million Ft (€80.000). The highest prise in a safe is 7 Million Ft (€28.000). The show airs on RTL Klub.
External Links
- Take It Or Leave It at Challenge Website
- Take It Or Leave It at pinewoodgroup.com
- Take It Or Leave It at UKgameshows.com