Weakest Link (U.S. game show)
| The Weakest Link | |
|---|---|
| Created by | Fintan Coyle Cathy Dunning |
| Directed by | Bob Levy Lenn Goodside |
| Presented by |
Anne Robinson (NBC) George Gray (syndication) |
| Narrated by |
John Cramer (NBC) Lisa Friedman (syndication) |
| Theme music composer | Paul Farrer |
| Country of origin | United States |
| Original language(s) | English |
| No. of seasons | 3 (NBC) 2 (syndication) |
| No. of episodes | 83 (10 unaired: NBC) 324 (syndication) |
| Production | |
| Executive producer(s) | Phil Gurin Stuart Krasnow Ruth Davis Colin Jarvis |
| Producer(s) | Javier Winnik |
| Location(s) | NBC Studios, Burbank, California |
| Running time | 60 minutes (NBC) 30 minutes (syndication) |
| Production company(s) | The Gurin Company BBC |
| Release | |
| Original network |
NBC (2001–2) Syndicated (2002–3) |
| Picture format | 4:3 |
| Original release | April 16, 2001 – May 20, 2003 |
| Chronology | |
| Related shows | The Weakest Link |
The American game show Weakest Link was an adaptation of a British series of the same name that made its debut on American television in 2001.
The series made its debut on NBC on April 16, 2001, and aired once a week for sixty minutes as part of the network's prime time schedule. The network cancelled Weakest Link in 2002 and its final episode aired on July 14, 2002, with ten episodes left unaired. These were eventually shown on PAX and GSN years later.
While the primetime series was still being produced, NBC began developing a daily thirty-minute edition for local stations. This series launched in syndication on January 7, 2002, and aired for a season and a half with the last new episode airing on May 20, 2003.
As was the case with the British version, Anne Robinson served as host for the NBC Weakest Link. George Gray, whose most notable hosting experience to that point was on Extreme Gong, hosted the syndicated version.
The show's voice-over announcers were John Cramer (NBC) and Lisa Friedman (syndicated).
For the entire American run, the game was conducted the same as the British version, with a team of players trying to reach and bank a set target within a time limit by compiling a chain of correct answers that would be broken with an incorrect answer or if a player decided to bank the money that was already in the chain. On NBC, the team was composed of eight people looking to win up to $1,000,000. In the syndicated series, the team size was reduced to six players and the potential top prize was significantly reduced. The first season offered a potential top prize of $75,000, and the second season saw that figure increased to $100,000.
The game started with the winner of a backstage draw before the show began. The first round was played for 2:30 on the NBC series and 1:45 on the syndicated series, and any money that the team managed to bank over the course of the round was saved. Reaching the target and banking it immediately ended the round.
Regardless of the outcome, at the conclusion of the round the team was prompted to vote to eliminate one of their teammates that they felt underperformed in the previous round (the so-called "weakest link" in the chain). Once voting concluded, each player revealed their votes one at a time and the one with the most votes was eliminated from further play and dismissed from the stage with the host telling him/her "you are the weakest link, goodbye." In the event of a tied vote, the player who was that round's "strongest link" was revealed and called upon to break the tie, with his/her choice then being eliminated.
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