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The Weakest Link: Difference between revisions
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# When there are only two contestants left, they compete to win the banked money in an elimination round. They are asked questions alternately and if no winner is decided after the sets of questions, a "sudden death" round is played, and the first player to correctly answer a question when their opponent does not is declared the victor.
Made Anne Robinson very famous and gave her a [[The Mean Brit|reputation for nastiness]] as she took her tough, no-nonsense style (previously seen on consumer-affairs show ''[[
There have been numerous celebrity versions, where contestants compete to win money for charity.
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=== [[Game Show]] Tropes in use: ===
* [[All or Nothing]]
* [[Celebrity Edition]]: Several, including a ''[[Doctor Who]]''-themed episode in 2007, a puppet-edition later that year, and a [[Professional Wrestling|WWE]] episode and a hip-hop musicians episodes in the U.S. They're playing for Charity.
** One episode also parodied this with a B-list celebrity edition.
* [[Double the Dollars]]: The final banking round is played for triple stakes (double in the US).
* Personnel:
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* [[Catch Phrase]]/[[Title Drop]]: "You ''are'' the weakest link. Goodbye!"
* [[Deadpan Snarker]]: Anne and George alike.
* [[Flanderization]]: At the time the series made its debut in the UK, Anne Robinson had been a long-time presenter on ''[[
* [[The Mean Brit]]: Anne.
* [[Popcultural Osmosis]]: People who have never watched the show are familiar with the catchphrase.
* [[Running Gag]]: People seem to like trying to make Anne Robinson laugh by cracking jokes or doing something weird.
* [[Statistically Speaking]]: During the voting, the announcer says that [[Statistically Speaking]], so and so is the weakest link and so-and-so is the strongest link and asks if the voting will reflect that. It's interesting to note that a few things alter whether or not someone is the strongest or weakest link, such as a round where everyone got their questions right, but the person who banked was the strongest link. Or where the weakest link actually got all their questions correctly but was merely only asked two questions when everyone else was asked three. (For example)
* [[Unwinnable by Design]]: The time limit that shrinks with every round, the unpredictability of the question material, and the strategy to not appear too threatening to keep in later rounds makes it essentially impossible that any team would ever reach the maximum prize offered on the show. It's generally considered an impressive accomplishment just to reach the target ''once.''
* [[Xanatos Gambit]]: The whole "voting off" aspect. Early votes typically throw out weak players, but about halfway through contestants begin to vote defensively, voting for players they feel threaten their chance at the prize. It is not unusual for the third-place finisher to be (statistically) the strongest link.
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