Weakest Link (American game show)
Weakest Link is an American television game show that made its debut in 2001. It is an adaptation of the British television series of the same name.
Weakest Link
- Fintan Coyle
- Cathy Dunning
- Bob Levy
- Lenn Goodside
- Ashley S. Gorman
- Tony McCuin
- John Cramer
- Lisa Friedman
- Debra Wilson
Paul Farrer
United States
English
- 5 (NBC, 2001–02, 2020–)
- 2 (syndication, 2002–03)
- 123 (10 unaired: NBC)
- 324 (syndication)
- Phil Gurin (2001–03)
- Stuart Krasnow
- Ruth Davis
- Colin Jarvis
- Ryan O'Dowd (2020–)
- Jane Lynch (2020–)
Javier Winnik
- Original (2001–03): Studio 1, NBC Studios, Burbank, California
- Revival (2020–): Television City, Los Angeles, California
- 60 minutes (primetime)
- 30 minutes (syndication)
Original:
Laurelwood Entertainment (NBC season 1)
The Gurin Company (NBC seasons 1-2)
Weakest Link Productions Ltd.
BBC Worldwide
NBC Studios
NBC Enterprises
Revival:
BBC Studios Los Angeles
Universal Television Alternative Studio
April 16, 2001 –
July 14, 2002
January 7, 2002 –
May 23, 2003
NBC
September 29, 2020 –
present
The series made its debut on NBC on April 16, 2001, and with the exception of the first 3 episodes which all aired the same week, the series aired once a week for an hour as part of the network's primetime schedule. The network cancelled Weakest Link in 2002 and its final episode aired on July 14, 2002, with ten episodes left unaired. These were eventually shown on PAX and GSN years later.
While the primetime series was still being produced, NBC began developing a daily half-hour edition that would be syndicated to local stations. This version premiered on January 7, 2002, and aired for a season and a half with the last new episode airing on May 23, 2003.
In July 2020, a revival with Jane Lynch as host and executive producer was announced.[1] The revival premiered on NBC on September 29, 2020.[2] A second season of the revival was announced in January 2021 and premiered on March 13, 2022.[3][4][5] A third season of the revival was announced in August 2022, and premiered on April 11, 2023.[6]
Hosts and announcers[edit]
As was the case with the British version, Anne Robinson hosted the original NBC version of Weakest Link. George Gray, whose most notable hosting experience to that point was on Extreme Gong, hosted the syndicated version. Jane Lynch currently hosts the revival and also serves as its executive producer.
The show's voice-over announcers were John Cramer (NBC original), Lisa Friedman (syndicated), and Debra Wilson (NBC revival).
Ratings[edit]
The NBC version of Weakest Link started off well in the ratings, but quickly began to slip. The producers attempted to boost the ratings with large numbers of episodes featuring celebrities as the contestants, as well as others in which the team played on behalf of a selected charity. However, these changes caused the ratings to fall even further and accelerated the show's cancellation.
The syndicated Weakest Link performed well in its abbreviated first season and earned a renewal for a full second season in 2002, but it also experienced a sharp drop in ratings that led to its cancellation at the end of the season. Many stations opted to replace it with other programming, such as a daily syndicated edition of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?, resulting in its being moved to an undesirable time slot or dropped altogether.
International release[edit]
In May 2001, the BBC began to show episodes of the American NBC primetime version.[10] These were billed as 'Weakest Link USA' in programming guides, although the title sequence was not altered to reflect this fact. Break bumpers and references to commercial breaks were removed and alternative credits were used (these credits were used when GSN began reairing the series). Notably, despite the show being produced by the BBC, the famous 'BBC Blocks' were not included (as was a requirement at that time for all BBC produced or funded programming) in the title sequence. The BBC did not air the 30-minute syndicated version.
Specials[edit]
Various specials aired on both the NBC and syndicated versions. Occasionally the contestants on these episodes all had something in common, such as an episode featuring celebrities, family members, contestants with the same occupation or Halloween and Christmas episodes in which all the contestants wore holiday-themed costumes. Other episodes invited back previously-losing contestants, either those who had lost in the final round or those who were eliminated in the first round of voting on their original episode.
Celebrity episodes were common on the NBC version, in which all participants played for charity (as is traditionally the case with most celebrity editions of game shows), and eliminated celebrities still won $10,000–$25,000 for their respective charities; for this reason, the last two words of John Cramer's opening spiel "the rest will leave with nothing" were omitted, while Anne's farewell to the final round loser was changed from "you leave with nothing" to "you will just go away".
Revival[edit]
On July 8, 2020, it was announced that actress Jane Lynch would host a revival of the show on NBC, featuring a few modern twists, such as picture clues on the contestants' podium screens.[11][12] The revival premiered on September 29, 2020.[13][2] On January 25, 2021, the revival series was renewed for a second season of 13 episodes, which premiered on March 13, 2022.[3][4][5] CTV airs the revival in Canada.[14] On August 1, 2022, the revival series was renewed for a third season of 20 episodes, which premiered on April 11, 2023.[6][15][16] The remaining nine episodes of the third season began airing on April 2, 2024.[17] In Australia, the Nine Network, which aired a local revival in 2021, airs the U.S. revival through its digital multi-channel 9Go!.[18]