During week 5’s group discussion about what sets “Hard Quiz” apart from the rest of the shows, our table talked about how every game show follows the standard format that has been successful and tried elsewhere but adapts it to make it different from the rest. We identified that “Hard Quiz’s” unique point is their concept of testing their contestants’ knowledge on their own chosen topic. Holmes (2008) mentions that formats are popular for broadcasters as they’ve been tried and adopted globally and have seen potential in adapting and incorporating national and local cultures. By creating this unique concept, they have set themselves apart from the other shows and created a more personalised and new but familiar experience for contestants and viewers. Furthermore, when we compiled back into our groups, we thought of relying on the standard game show format as it’s been successful, but adding our own unique twist to it. We concluded through several ideas by creating a funny prank narrative within the game show by ‘punking’ one of the contestants to get every answer incorrect. Creating this odd and entertaining narrative that the audience would know, but the contestant wouldn’t, will separate our show from the rest in the same genre.
Holmes, Su. “Genre and the Quiz Show” in The Quiz Show, Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2008, pp. 11-31.