Mock Game Show: Pointless

Especially in the years since COVID-19 lockdowns, I've found myself gravitating to British game shows that are available to me despite living in the United States. One such show, Pointless, has been running for over a decade now, despite being all-but unknown here. 

The premise is that, before the show, 100 people are surveyed with questions. Unlike Family Feud, they're not looking for opinions, but rather how many of those 100 respondents can give correct answers. The contestants on the show are then asked the same questions, and seek to respond with answers that the fewest survey respondents could get right. Points are awarded for each respondent who got it right. For example, if asked to name a capital city in Europe, you might answer "Paris" (the capital of France). In the case of this survey (conducted in the UK), 98 people in the survey said "Paris," meaning you'd score 98 points, which really isn't very helpful, since that's practically everyone. But if the contestant instead tried something more obscure like "Stockholm" (the capital of Sweden), the score would be a much more attractive 30 points, since only 30 people in the survey could come up with the more obscure answer. What you really want is an answer like "Sarajevo" (the capital of Bosnia and Herzegovina), because that answer is both correct and one that no one in the survey group could come up with, rending it "Pointless," not only scoring zero points, but adding money to a jackpot that can be claimed by the winners.

But beware! If a contestant gives a wrong answer, they're hit with the full 100 points representing the entire surveyed group. Lowest scores win.

If you'd like to see the actual show, you can find an assortment of episodes at either YouTube (free) or BritBox (if you have a subscription). (I'm assuming a US audience. If you're lucky enough to live in the UK, you can get everything for free with iPlayer!)

When I was asked to help close out the college year with a game the faculty might play along with, I had to adapt the game play of Pointless a bit to accommodate an auditorium of potential players, but the basic rules are the same. You can watch the video below. The first several questions even come from books published for UK Pointless fans, while the last couple come from surveys we conducted at the college. I hope you enjoy the game!