What's the deal with those crazy call in shows in the UK?

[Unspeaked]

I've been wondering this for a while but: what's the deal with those crazy call in shows that are obviously rigged that run all night in the UK and why the heck haven't they been duplicated in the US?

(Also: do they exist anywhere else? Canada? South America?? Asia???)

 

[0098386]

Not sure what you mean by call-in shows... radio, TV? I don't watch much TV anyways so for all I know you could mean Strictly, I'm a Celebrity etc.

 

[remmy]

Think you mean the sort of caller phone in guessing shows that are on the commercial channels such as Five and ITV.

Yes they are completely rigged, and I'm surprised anyone bothers.

You really want them in the U.S. ? Probably to do with stricter gambling laws in the US, I really don't know.

 

[xUKHCx]

Not sure what you mean by call-in shows... radio, TV? I don't watch much TV anyways so for all I know you could mean Strictly, I'm a Celebrity etc.

I believe they mean the late night call in shows mainly on ITV related channels.

I've been wondering this for a while but: what's the deal with those crazy call in shows that are obviously rigged that run all night in the UK and why the heck haven't they been duplicated in the US?

There was a big who har last year when certain big tickets shows were found to be conning people into calling when in fact the lines had been closed. This lead to tightening of the rules for such programs and has affected all sorts of competitions where users have to call in. If the programs were fixed they would be found out.

They aren't fixed, it is just the likelyhood of winning is very low.

Why they are prevalent I have no idea. Obviously they make money and it is a useful way for certain channels to fill otherwise disused airtime.

 

[Unspeaked]

Not sure what you mean by call-in shows... radio, TV? I don't watch much TV anyways so for all I know you could mean Strictly, I'm a Celebrity etc.

I mean TV.

Specifically, I think it's iTV and maybe another network that carries them.

They consist of hours and hours of someone talking while a graphic similar to "_______ Jack" appears on screen, and people call in for upwards of two hours trying to guess.

"Union?"

"Cracker?"

"You Don't Know?"

"Happy?"

And they're always wrong.

Then finally, when they've fleeced enough folks for £2.99 a minute, they reveal some equally obvious answer and move into a crossword or something...

 

[drichards]

We used to have the Gorgeous George show here, it was a call in show from Virginia, on public access, but it gained a cult following through 4chan and something awful... anyway, its a back in the day joint, and I found some videos on the google and on gbs.tv if you'd like to partake in the epic glory that is The Gorgeous George Show.

 

[Jaffa Cake]

They're cheap to produce and rake in lots of money. It's a bit of a no-brainer, which strangely enough is a good description of those people daft enough to phone in.

 

[Unspeaked]

You really want them in the U.S. ? Probably to do with stricter gambling laws in the US, I really don't know.

I don't want them in the US, I'm just a little surprised that they haven't found their way here yet (if they make money, as nearly everyone posting thinks they do).

We used to have the Gorgeous George show here, it was a call in show from Virginia, on public access, but it gained a cult following through 4chan and something awful... anyway, its a back in the day joint, and I found some videos on the google and on gbs.tv if you'd like to partake in the epic glory that is The Gorgeous George Show.

What I'm talking about is a little bit different; it follows a game show format. I know we have "call-in shows" in the US, just not idiotic game show themed ones.

 

[anjinha]

We have those in Portugal too. They're really annoying.

 

[drichards]

Oh oh.. call in gameshows. In New York we have those on channel 9 (my9tv.com) pretty much all afternoon long. You text a number, they charge you a dollar, then call you and put you on hold. They play various games, word games and math games usually. Prizes are usually a few thousand dollars, but I've rarely seen a win. I used to keep it on in my studio for a laugh.

 

[abijnk]

There used to be something like that on The Game Show Network (US) at night. Some scantily clad girl would take calls for different games. I have no idea if its still on or what it was called...

 

[Unspeaked]

There used to be something like that on The Game Show Network (US) at night. Some scantily clad girl would take calls for different games. I have no idea if its still on or what it was called...

I remember that, but I don't think it was quite as dodgy as the UK counterparts.

I seem to recall the Game Show version being more or less a real game show, only with "play from home" contestants.

 

[woolyback]

The worst one was on a satellite channel I think - you had to ring in (obviously) but there was no guarantee you'd even be allowed to join the queue of willing/gullible participants, but you still got charged for the call and an offer to try again

Worst thing though, was that they didn't even give out the correct answer when that particular show finished and no-one won. I think they may have done an hour later (to make you sit through the next show).

Not sure if it's even still going - will ask the old dear or check when I'm back in the UK for Christmas.