As a simple rule of thumb, if Ant & Dec are hosting your show, and you're giving away £1m every night, and people still won't watch, then your format doesn't work; and in gameshows, format is everything. You need a mechanic: a set of rules which create jeopardy and reward skill. In that respect, a successful format is like a sport. The first series of Red Or Black, however, rested on the central conceit of blind chance. A chimp or a plank of wood would have exactly the same chance of winning as a sentient human being. They might as well have called it Lucky Chimp, or Planks Win Prizes. The producers of Red Or Black are all smart and talented people, and introduced skill into series two, but by then the ship had sunk. You can see where the mistake came from. Red Or Black attempted – as did Channel 5's Heads Or Tails and ITV's The Colour Of Money – to rip off the magic formula of Deal Or No Deal. But Deal Or No Deal is not really about luck. It's about knowing when to quit. It is essentially "stick or twist" in the same way as any job or relationship you've ever had is. What man, when his mind turns to marriage, hasn't thought: "It's a lovely offer, but perhaps I should just open three more boxes?" Even the guy behind Deal Or No Deal couldn't rip off Deal Or No Deal. After Deal … had been such a worldwide success, its creator Dick de Rijk found it easy to sell any new idea. This led to Show Me The Money, the UK pilot of which is the single worst piece of television I have ever seen. And I am including Don't Scare The Hare.
