Top Qs
Timeline
Chat
Perspective
Pointless
British TV quiz show (2009–) From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Remove ads
Pointless is a British television quiz show produced by Banijay Entertainment subsidiary Remarkable Entertainment for the BBC and hosted by Alexander Armstrong. In each episode, four teams of two contestants attempt to find correct but obscure answers to four rounds of general knowledge questions, with the winning team eligible to compete for the show's cash jackpot.
Pointless debuted on BBC Two on 24 August 2009. The success of the first three series led the BBC to move it to BBC One from 2011. As of March 2025[update], the programme is airing Series 33[3] and has had peak audience figures of over 7 million viewers.[4] An offshoot of the show entitled Pointless Celebrities was first shown in 2011 and as of April 2022[update] had reached Series 15.[5] The format has been exported internationally.
The first 27 series were co-presented by Richard Osman, who announced on 8 April 2022 that he would step down from the role to focus more on his writing career. Beginning with Series 28, a group of guests took his place. Osman continued to co-present with Armstrong on Pointless Celebrities.[6]
Remove ads
Development
Summarize
Perspective
_(4by3).jpg)
The regular series was presented by the duo of Alexander Armstrong (left) and Richard Osman (right), from its inception until Osman left the show in 2022
The show was originally to be called Obviously and was conceived by Tom Blakeson, Simon Craig, David Flynn, Nick Mather, Richard Osman and Shaun Parry, producers at Endemol UK, in 2009. They envisaged it as a "reverse Family Fortunes....rewarding obscure knowledge, while allowing people to also give obvious answers....a quiz which could be sort of highbrow and populist simultaneously".[7] Osman was not intended to be co-presenter; originally, he filled the role only as part of a demonstration laid on for the BBC. BBC executives asked him to continue when they commissioned the first series.[7] Osman then approached comedian Alexander Armstrong to be the main presenter; the two men had been peers during their university days.[7] Armstrong, who the previous year had been lined up to present Channel 4's Countdown only to back out for fear of being pigeonholed as a presenter,[8] agreed to present what was perceived as a lower-profile show, with the presence of Osman helping to convince him.[7]
In 2016, Osman told the Belfast Telegraph, "It's never been a show that's had posters, or trailers, and it's presented by these two slightly inept guys. Everyone who's ever watched it feels like it's their programme. We've never changed it, but have always done it in the same way, which is slightly shoddy, enjoying ourselves." On the programme's future, he said, "Every programme has a shelf-life, but as long as people are enjoying it, we will stick with it. If Channel 4 wanted to offer three times as much money, we wouldn't take it. We would stay with the BBC. We love the BBC. Pointless is not for sale. We owe the BBC an enormous debt, because they've looked after us."[9]
The jackpot increases by £250 for every pointless answer given in any round other than the Final. If a team reaches the Final but fails to win the jackpot, it is rolled over to the next episode and increased by £1,000. As of October 2025[update] the highest recorded jackpot won on the show was £24,750 on 8 March 2013.[10][11]
After Series 27, Osman resigned from the regular series (remaining as co-presenter on Pointless Celebrities) and for series 28 was replaced by presenters: Sally Lindsay, Stephen Mangan, Lauren Laverne, Konnie Huq, and Alex Brooker.[12] Series 29 added Ed Gamble, Rose Matafeo, Ria Lina, Lucy Porter, and Gyles Brandreth. Series 30 added Nish Kumar, Andi Oliver, Sally Phillips, and Vick Hope. Series 31 added Hugh Dennis, Anita Rani, Gabby Logan, Josh Widdicombe, and Desiree Burch.[13] Series 32 added Chris Ramsey, Gok Wan, Rob Rinder, and Ellie Taylor. Series 33 added Liza Tarbuck, Phil Wang, and Mel Giedroyc.[1] Series 34 added Angela Rippon, Trevor Nelson, Judi Love, Gethin Jones, Tom Allen, and Angela Scanlon.[2]
Remove ads
Pointless Celebrities
Summarize
Perspective
Following the success of Pointless and its transfer to BBC One, the BBC commissioned a celebrity edition of the programme, entitled Pointless Celebrities. Much like the main show, Pointless Celebrities has teams of two celebrities competing against each other to win the jackpot for their chosen charities and has the same gameplay as the regular show.
Unlike the regular version, the jackpot does not roll over and always starts at £2,500 with every pointless answer adding £250 to the jackpot, but this may be doubled on some occasions. £500 is donated to every team who do not win the jackpot and any money won by a team is split equally between the two charities represented by its members.
Pointless Celebrities is broadcast within a prime-time slot on Saturday nights and features some differences in how the game works. Celebrities are allowed to return in more than one episode with the same partner or a different partner and episodes tend to have a theme in regards to the celebrity contestants that took part – for example, a celebrity edition aired in December 2015 consisted of celebrities who were made famous on reality television shows like Big Brother and Made in Chelsea.[14] Some editions of the show end with a guest performance.
Kelvin MacKenzie controversy
Following a news-themed edition of Pointless Celebrities which aired on 27 October 2014, several fans criticised the presence of former The Sun editor Kelvin MacKenzie, who was responsible for the newspaper's infamous front-page report concerning the 1989 Hillsborough disaster. Osman responded to this criticism with at least twenty comments on Twitter, stating that he had not known MacKenzie would appear until "about an hour before" recording, and that he had "strongly argued against it".[15][16][17]
Remove ads
Transmissions
Regular
Co-hosts
Celebrity
Pointless Celebrities: Daytime
Specials
Remove ads
Broadcast and ratings
Summarize
Perspective
Series 1 aired on BBC Two between August and October 2009 with the corporation announcing on the day of the final episode's broadcast that it had commissioned Series 2. The series' audience had peaked at 1.69 million viewers; 17.2% of audience share for the timeslot,[25] while averaging around 1 million viewers per episode.[7] Series 2 saw audiences grow modestly; the format was tweaked prior to the start of Series 3, reducing the number of rounds and giving more time for banter between the hosts which had previously been edited out.[7] The change saw strong viewer growth and the show was moved to the BBC's main channel BBC One in 2011.[7][26] By 2013, the programme was recording four episodes in one day[27] and averaged 3.6 million viewers daily, gaining more viewers than ITV game show The Chase, which airs in roughly the same time slot.[26]
In February 2014, Pointless was extended for another 204 episodes, giving three more series, taking the total commissioned to 13 in February 2014. A further 24 Celebrity Specials were also ordered.[28] For the 1,000th episode, Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman traded host and assistant duties and four previous couples who had distinguished themselves in various ways were invited to compete again. The jackpot for this episode began at £2,500 (the usual starting value for Pointless Celebrities) and every pointless answer during the main game added £1,000 to it. On 23 February 2016, it was announced that the show had been recommissioned by the BBC to make 165 more Regular daytime editions along with 45 prime-time Celebrity Specials taking Pointless to the end of 2017.[29][30] On 4 September 2017, it was announced that the BBC had commissioned a further 204 episodes including 165 Regular and 39 Celebrity Specials.[31]
With the start of Series 11 of Pointless Celebrities, the show's set design was changed with some new graphics and an updated intro replaced the one used since the show's debut; this extended to Series 19 of Regular Pointless.
Remove ads
International broadcast
In Australia, Pointless has aired on both BBC UKTV (series 10 and 11) and ABC (series 9–11).[32][33] As of 28 May 2025, it is aired on the Nine Network at 2pm Weekdays
In South Africa, Pointless airs on BBC BRIT on the African satellite television provider, DStv.
Awards and nominations
Remove ads
International versions
Summarize
Perspective
Legend: Currently airing[37] No longer airing
An American version was set to be developed by GSN in 2017.[48] A pilot episode presented by Alison Sweeney with Doug Mirabello as her assistant was produced by Endemol Shine America but never aired.[49]
Remove ads
Merchandise
App games
On 26 February 2014, Endemol's in-house app-publishing division released the official Pointless app, Pointless Quiz, was released for iOS,[50] with an iPad, Android and an Amazon version released a few months later. The Pointless app features animated versions of Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman, and allows the player to tackle questions in a similar format to the TV show.
In October 2018, Vocala released an Amazon Alexa Skill based on the show.[51]
Books
Five books have been released of the show: The 100 Most Pointless Things in the World, The 100 Most Pointless Arguments in the World, The Very Pointless Quiz Book (not to be mistaken for The Pointless Book), The A-Z of Pointless: A brain-teasing bumper book of questions and trivia and A Pointless History of the World. All five were released by Coronet. In the books, Armstrong and Osman give their insight into pointless matters.
Board games
Three editions of the official board game have been published by University Games, as well as two mini-sized versions, each of which contains updated questions.[52]
Remove ads
In popular culture
Pointless appeared in the BBC sitcom Not Going Out (Series 7, Episode 5); Armstrong and Osman both played themselves.[53] Pointless was also parodied in several sketches of the satirical show Newzoids, in which a caricature of Osman interrupts people in regular situations with phrases used in the game show.[54]
Notes
- Osman retired from co-presenting the main series in 2022, but he still co-presents Pointless Celebrities.
- Regular series only, the role of co-presenter has currently been filled by Sally Lindsay, Stephen Mangan, Lauren Laverne, Konnie Huq, Alex Brooker, Ed Gamble, Rose Matafeo, Ria Lina, Lucy Porter, Gyles Brandreth, Nish Kumar, Andi Oliver, Sally Phillips, Vick Hope, Hugh Dennis, Anita Rani, Gabby Logan, Josh Widdicombe, Desiree Burch, Chris Ramsey, Gok Wan, Rob Rinder, Ellie Taylor, Liza Tarbuck, Phil Wang, Mel Giedroyc, Angela Rippon, Trevor Nelson, Judi Love, Gethin Jones, Tom Allen, and Angela Scanlon.[1][2]
- Known as Remarkable Television prior to 2016.
Remove ads
References
External links
Wikiwand - on
Seamless Wikipedia browsing. On steroids.
Remove ads