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Weakest Link is a television game show which first appeared in the United Kingdom on BBC Two on 14 August 2000 and ended on 31 March 2012 when its host Anne Robinson ended her contract. The original British version of the show is still aired around the world on BBC Entertainment.

History

The format was devised by Fintan Coyle and Cathy Dunning, and developed for television by the BBC Entertainment department. It has been licensed across the world, with many countries producing their own series of The Weakest Link. As with the original British version, all of the hosts wear black clothing (or sometimes dark colours with black). Most versions also have disciplinarian female hosts, again similar to the British original—with exceptions being Fausto Silva (Brazil), Julien Courbet (2014 France), Eamon Dunphy (Ireland), Edu Manzano, Allan K. (both Philippines), Shiro Ito (Japan), Pedro Granger (Portugal), Enrico Papi (Italy), Tseng Yang Qing (Taiwan),Baybars Altuntaş (Turkey) and George Gray (United States). Gray (2002-03) and Courbet (2014-2015) are comedians, and those versions were designed to play off comedy. Recordings of the show commenced from BBC's Elstree facility, but were switched in 2009 to Glasgow and the BBC Pacific Quay studio centre.

Not all the international versions share the title The Weakest Link. The format is distributed by BBC Worldwide, the commercial arm of the BBC. Australia was the first country to adapt the BBC show, and versions have also been produced in Argentina, Australia, Azerbaijan, Belgium, Brazil, Chile, China, Colombia, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hong Kong, Hungary, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Macedonia, Malaysia, Mexico, The Netherlands, New Zealand, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Philippines, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russia, Serbia, Singapore, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Taiwan, Thailand, Turkey, Udmurtia and the United States.

In Croatia, in May 2010 the quiz reached its 1008th episode, and with the British original, is the only version to have reached as many episodes.

The Weakest Link franchise is the second most popular international franchise, behind only the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? franchise, which also originated in the United Kingdom.^[1]

Format

A group of 9 (or ranging from 5 to 10, varying among versions) contestants work as a team to try and win as much money as possible. If a person answers the question correctly, the next stage in the chain is reached. If a person answers the question wrong, the money is lost and the chain starts again. A player can "bank" before their question to save the money, but the chain must be started again. If there are 9 correct answers in a row without anyone banking, the maximum money amount is added to the jackpot and the round stops. The time allowed for each round decreases as the game goes on. In some versions, if the contestant takes too long to think, the host may give the answer, and it will be considered incorrect. At the end of each round, the contestants must vote for who they thought was the "Weakest Link" in the round that just occurred, and the person with the most votes is eliminated. If the vote comes to a tie, the Strongest Link can decide which of the tied players should leave. The Strongest Link is the person who had the most correct answers or banked the most money. The host, Anne Robinson in the original UK version, says "(name), you are the Weakest Link, goodbye". The contestant is then interviewed outside the game. The person who was the strongest link in the last round goes first. If the strongest link got voted off, the second strongest player starts. In the UK version, the final round has a 90-second triple stake round with no voting but money is still to be earned. After the final round, a head-to-head contest is played, with 5 questions asked to each player in turn. If there is a tie, the game continues to sudden death. The loser goes home with nothing.

Game rule variations

In the second syndicated version of the American version, after the second last round, the last two contestants do not face the clock and the money tree. Instead, the remaining two contestants go straight into the head-to-head round. Similarly, the French version (2014 to 2015) also does not use the clock and money tree for the final round, and in the penultimate round is the three-player triple stake round for €15,000 and lasts 90 seconds.

Strategy for banking money

In a New Scientist blog article, Erica Klarreich argues that there are only two sensible strategies in The Weakest Link (the U.S. edition) when it comes to banking money. Either players should choose to bank after every correct answer, or after six straight correct answers to maximize the pot. The correct strategy to take will depend upon the skill at answering questions of the members of the team. For all but the weakest teams, the optimal strategy is to raise the pot six straight times without banking. But since this happens so seldom on the show, Klarreich argues, the dominant strategy will usually be instead to bank after every question. The common practice of banking after just three questions would only outperform the strategy of banking after every question if a team maintained a success rate of over 67%.^[2]

International versions

Countries which have produced their own version

Legend: Currently airing No longer airing Future version

Country	Name	Host	TV station	Top prize	Premiere	Finale
Arab World	الحلقة الأضعف Elhalka Eladaaf	Rita Khoury	Future Television	US$16,000	2002	2003
Australia	Weakest Link	Cornelia Frances	Seven Network	A$100,000	February 2001	April 2002
Azerbaijan	Zəif Bənd	Kamila Babayeva	Lider TV	AZN9,000 (Formerly AZN 45,000,000)	2004	2006
Azerbaijan	Zəif Bənd	Solmaz Süleymanlı	Lider TV	AZN9,000 (Formerly AZN 45,000,000)	2012	2014
Belgium Template:Nl	De Zwakste Schakel	Goedele Liekens	VTM	2,000,000BEF	2001	2002
Brazil	Ponto Fraco	Fausto Silva	TV Globo	R$1,000,000	2001 (Pilots rejected by BBC)
Chile	El Rival Más Débil	Catalina Pulido	Canal 13	CL$40,000,000	2004
China	汰弱留强·智者为王 Tài ruò liú qiáng·zhìzhě wéi wáng	Chen Luyu	Nanjing TV	CN¥200,000	2002	2004
	智者为王 Zhìzhě wéi wáng	Shen Bing
	智者为王 Zhìzhě wéi wáng	Xia Qing
Czech Republic	Nejslabší! Máte padáka!	Zuzana Slaviková	TV Nova	Kč1,000,000	2002	2004
Croatia	Najslabija karika	Nina Violić	HRT1	kn 90,000	2004	2010
		Daniela Trbović
		Mirko Fodor^[3]
Denmark	Det Svageste Led	Trine Gregorius	DR1	KR200,000	2001	2002
Estonia	Nõrgim lüli	Tuuli Roosma	Kanal 2	500,000 kr	2004
Finland	Heikoin lenkki	Kirsi Salo	MTV3	€15,000	2002	2005
				€16,000
				€18,000
France	Le Maillon Faible	Laurence Boccolini	TF1	150,000F €20,000 €50,000	9 July 2001	12 August 2007
France	Le Maillon Faible	Julien Courbet	D8	€45,000	8 September 2014	22 July 2015
Georgia	სუსტი რგოლი Susti Rgoli	Nino Burduli	Rustavi 2	ლ10,000	2005
Germany	Der Schwächste fliegt!	Sonja Zietlow	RTL Television	DM50,000	19 March 2001	March 2002
Germany	Der Schwächste fliegt!	Sonja Zietlow	RTL Television	€50,000	19 March 2001	March 2002
Greece	Ο Πιο Αδύναμος Κρίκος O Pio Adynamos Krikos	Elena Akrita	MEGA	₯5,000,000	2001	2003
Greece	Ο Πιο Αδύναμος Κρίκος O Pio Adynamos Krikos	Elena Akrita	MEGA	€15,000	2001	2003
Hong Kong	一筆OUT消 Jat1 bat1 OUT siu1	Carol Cheng	TVB Jade	HK$3,000,000	20 August 2001	18 January 2002
Hungary	A Leggyengébb Láncszem	Krisztina Máté	TV2	3,000,000 Ft	2001	2004
Hungary	Nincs Kegyelem	Krisztina Máté	TV2	6,000,000 Ft	2001	2004
India	Kamzor Kadii Kaun	Neena Gupta	Star Plus	Rs.2,500,000	2002	2003
Ireland	Weakest Link	Eamon Dunphy	TV3	€10,000	2001	2002
Israel	החוליה החלשה HaChulia HaChalasha	Pnina Dvorin	Channel 10	₪100,000	2002	2004
Israel	החוליה החלשה HaChulia HaChalasha	Hana Laszlo	Channel 10	₪90,000	2002	2004
Italy	Anello Debole	Enrico Papi	Italia 1	€15,000	29 October 2001	17 November 2001
Japan	Weakest Link ウィーケストリンク☆一人勝ちの法則 Uikesutorinku hitori-gachi no hosoku	Shiro Ito	Fuji Television	JP¥16,000,000	2002
Macedonia	Најслаба алка Najslaba Alka	Zivkica Gjurcinovska	Alfa TV	MKD ден 420,000	2010	2011
Malaysia	Weakest Link	Sekilara Kiramila	RTM	RM80,000	2003	2009
Mexico	El Rival Más Debil	Montserrat Ontiveros	Azteca Trece	MX$200,000	2003	2008
		Lolita Cortés			27 July 2013	7 September 2013
		Lolita Cortés			26 May 2014	present
Moldova	Veriga Slaba	Andrei Gheorghe	Kanal 1	1,000,000 MDL	2002	2009
Netherlands	De Zwakste Schakel	Chazia Mourali	RTL 4	€10,000	2001	2004
New Zealand	The Weakest Link	Louise Wallace	TV One	NZ$20,000	July 2001	March 2002
Norway	Det Svakeste Ledd	Anne Grosvold	NRK	KR200,000	2004
Philippines	Weakest Link	Edu Manzano	IBC	PHP1,000,000	2001	2002
Philippines	Weakest Link	Allan K.	IBC	PHP1,000,000	2001	2002
Poland	Najsłabsze Ogniwo	Kazimiera Szczuka	TVN	27,000 zł	2004	2006
Portugal	O Elo Mais Fraco	Julia Pinheiro	RTP1	€10,000	2002	2003
		Luisa Castel-Branco			2002	2003
		Pedro Granger			2011	2012
Romania	Lanţul Slăbiciunilor	Andrei Gheorghe	Pro TV	lei500.000.000	2001
Russia	Слабое Звено Slaboe zveno	Mariya Kiselyova Leonid Yakubovich (December 25, 2002) ^[4]	ORT	₽300,000 ₽400,000 ₽350,000 ₽1,000,000(celebrity editions)	2001	2005
Russia	Слабое Звено Slaboe zveno	Nikolai Fomenko	Channel 5	₽350,000	2007	2008
Serbia	Najslabija Karika	Sandra Lalatović	BKTV	RSD5,000,000	2002	2006
Singapore	智者生存 Zhizhe shengcun	Yvette Cui (Cui Lixin)	Mediacorp TV Channel 8	S$100,000	2002	2003
Singapore	Weakest Link	Asha Gill	Mediacorp TV Channel 5	S$1,000,000	2002	2003
Slovenia	Najšibkejši Člen	Violeta Tomič	SLO 1	2,400,000 SIT (€10,000)	2003	2005
South Africa	Weakest Link	Fiona Coyne	SABC3	R50,000	2003	2008
South Africa	Weakest Link	Fiona Coyne	SABC3	R100,000	2003	2008
Spain	El Rival Más Débil	Nuria González	TVE1	€7,200	2002	2004
Spain	El Rival Más Débil	Karmele Aranburu	TVE2	€7,200	2002	2004
Sweden	Svagaste Länken	Kajsa Ingemarsson	TV4	100,000 kr	2011	2013
Taiwan	Weakest Link 智者生存 Weakest Link zhizhe shengcun	Belle Yu	STAR Chinese Channel	NT$400,000	2001	2003
Taiwan	Weakest Link 智者生存 Weakest Link zhizhe shengcun	Tseng Yang Qing	STAR Chinese Channel	NT$400,000	2001	2003
Thailand	Weakest Link กำจัดจุดอ่อน Weakest Link Kacad cudxxn	Krittika Kongsompong	ThaiTV 3	฿1,000,000	2002	2003
Turkey	En Zayıf Halka	Hülya Uğur Tanrıöver	Show TV	TL100 billion	2001	2002
Turkey	En Zayıf Halka	Baybars Altuntaş	TV8^[5]	₺ 54,000	21 September 2015
United Kingdom	The Weakest Link	Anne Robinson	BBC	£10,000 (Daytime)	14 August 2000	31 March 2012
United Kingdom	The Weakest Link	Anne Robinson	BBC	£50,000 (Primetime)	14 August 2000	31 March 2012
United States	Weakest Link	Anne Robinson	NBC	US$1,000,000	16 April 2001	14 July 2002
		George Gray	Syndicated	US$75,000	7 January 2002	20 May 2003
		George Gray	Syndicated	US$100,000	7 January 2002	20 May 2003

References

^ "Millionaire dominates global TV". BBC News. 12 April 2005. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
^ Klarreich, Erica (16 January 2002). "Strongest strategy for The Weakest Link revealed". New Scientist. Retrieved 5 October 2013.
^ Due to Daniela having a surgery at 2010,HRT Ask Mirko to temporary host the show until Daniela recover.
^ A special Christmas and New Year celebrity edition.
^ Original production was Kanal D,but later they decide to reject and TV8 was takeover.

External links

[1] "Millionaire dominates global TV". BBC News. 12 April 2005. Retrieved 5 October 2013.

[2] Klarreich, Erica (16 January 2002). "Strongest strategy for The Weakest Link revealed". New Scientist. Retrieved 5 October 2013.

[3] Due to Daniela having a surgery at 2010,HRT Ask Mirko to temporary host the show until Daniela recover.

[4] A special Christmas and New Year celebrity edition.

[5] Original production was Kanal D,but later they decide to reject and TV8 was takeover.

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@@ Line 17: / Line 17: @@
 ===Game rule variations===
-In the second syndicated version of the American version, after the second last round, the last two contestants do not face the clock and the money tree, instead, the remaining two contestants go straight into the head-to-head round. Similarly, the French version (2014 to 2015) also does not use the clock and money tree for the final round, and in the penultimate round is the three-player triple stake round for [[Euro|€]]15,000 and lasts 90 seconds.
+In the second syndicated version of the American version, after the second last round, the last two contestants do not face the clock and the money tree. Instead, the remaining two contestants go straight into the head-to-head round. Similarly, the French version (2014 to 2015) also does not use the clock and money tree for the final round, and in the penultimate round is the three-player triple stake round for [[Euro|€]]15,000 and lasts 90 seconds.
 ===Strategy for banking money===

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