99 to Beat
Put on a t-shirt. Sit on an exercise ball. Guess the weight of a llama. Pop a Champagne cork as far as you can.
And don't be last to finish!
The idea behind 99 to Beat is incredibly simple, and we're allowed to concentrate on our favourite contestants. Cheer for the one most like us / who we empathise with / who is an all-round lovely person. The format - and in particular the presentation - reminds us of The Hunger Games albeit without such extreme stakes.
There are problems: commentary never rises above the banal. A glut of group eliminations mean that some people leave without ever saying hello, and too many leave without earning their loss. We also have concerns about whether the Gamesmakers have filled their duty of care to contestants.
For me, the show is much more "yes" than "no": I'm shouting at the telly because the format is borked, and we want it to be better. Let the contestants earn their loss, for chuff's sake!
Building on some work by @becrystalamazed, I've taken the Task Taxonomy out of my head and put it on paper. It's a work in progress, subject to revision when I look again in a couple of months.
What characteristics will the winner of 99 to Beat show? Further research is needed!
For now, I'll pay tribute to a show that is emotionally engaging, fun to watch. And it looks brilliant on screen - I've a great picture for every single challenge so far.
http://www.ukgameshows.com/ukgs/Weaver%27s_Week_2025-04-20