The Weakest Link (Australian game show)
| The Weakest Link | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Game show |
| Created by | Fintan Coyle, Cathy Dunning |
| Based on | The Weakest Link |
| Presented by | Cornelia Frances |
| Narrated by | Marcus Irvine |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| Production | |
| Location(s) | South Melbourne, Victoria |
| Running time | 60 minutes |
| Release | |
| Original network | Seven Network |
| Picture format | 576i (SDTV) |
| Audio format | Stereo |
| Original release | 5 February 2001 – 22 April 2002 |
The Weakest Link was an Australian game show based on the successful UK format, which aired from 5 February 2001 until 22 April 2002 and was broadcast on the Seven Network. Presented by Cornelia Frances, the show featured nine contestants competing for a potential prize of $100,000. Airing twice weekly in primetime, on Mondays and Fridays (and later Thursdays), it received modest ratings until its cancellation in 2002.
The Monday edition indirectly competed against the more-popular Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? (which airs at a later time on another network) and the Friday edition served as a lead-in to the AFL telecasts in Victoria, South Australia and Western Australia only. Later on in the year, The Weakest Link was moved to Thursdays at 7:30pm. In 2002, ratings deteriorated to the point that the show aired only once a week, leading to its cancellation in April the same year.
The show was produced in the Seven Network's South Melbourne headquarters.
The format of the Australian series was identical to that of the British version apart from some slight time differences on rounds. The first round lasted for 2 minutes and 30 seconds as opposed to 3 minutes on the British version, and each round thereafter was reduced by 10 seconds (meaning a time limit of 80 seconds for the triple stakes round). As with the British version, any money banked in round eight is trebled (e.g. if the contestants bank $1,000 then $3,000 is added to the final total). The money tree is as follows:
The voice-over was Marcus Irvine, while the adjudicator was Alan Mason, the contestant revealed as The Mole in 2000.
The show also featured several special editions throughout its run.
Other than the celebrity contestants already mentioned above, Brydon Coverdale also appeared on the show once; he has since won $307,000 on Million Dollar Minute and is one of the Chasers on The Chase Australia, where he is nicknamed "The Shark".
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