"Think Tank" - ABC

[LordLucifer]

Who came up with the format and also thought it would be a good idea to put to air ??

My wife and I have watched the first 4-5 episodes and she has to constantly quiet me down from yelling at the TV screen.

"get on with it" is quite a common phrase whilst its on.

And could the wardrobe department have a word to Paul McDermott ?? The Roy Orbison coke-bottles/undertakers coat look just doesn't cut it.

Unfortunately the show goes for an hour and lacks vitality & punch, there is no studio audience to add some atmosphere either.

Was quite funny watching Gogglebox last night, the vast majority of their comments were what I have been saying too.

 

[Vader]

You gave it 4-5 episodes? I watched the first episode, and that was enough for me. I wanted to like it, given my previous experience with ABC quiz shows, but this show was just completely unlikable.

Not a bad concept, but horribly, horribly, executed. So painfully slow and amateurish in the production values.

 

[BlakeyNoFlakey]

We've watched a couple of eps as it's in that time where dinner is being prepared. It's not great. I wonder if it's trying to emulate Pointless in its pace and attempts at banter. The ABC can get away with shows like this though.

 

[AcuteWhistle]

Watched the first one but the host is a complete tosser & haven't revisited.

 

[estibador]

Caught a bit of this the other day and it spun me out when I found out the host was Paul McDermott.

I knew the voice sounded familiar but other than that he was completely unrecognisable to how I remember him.

 

[Munga]

Funny thing, I've never been a McDermott fan, but I piss myself laughing at this show! The whole family loves it.

 

[Neese]

It's harmless, not Paul's best look

 

[CURVE]

It needs a studio audience. Desperately. The banter between McDermott, the contestants and the Think Tankers is pretty good and has some genuinely funny moments, but without the audience it falls flat.
Question Impossible is generally really difficult, I've only got six correct so far.

 

[Roobs321]

The ABC seems fairly hopeless at this sort of thing. Eggheads and Pointless reruns into eternity will do the trick thanks, or whatever new addictive the BBC has cooked up, even Channel 7 likes of Million Dollar Minute and The Chase are more watchable.

 

[FIGJAM]

They've upped the ante by putting in an excrutiatingly fake laugh track.

 

[Richard Pryor]

Reckon they have too many "Think Tankers", should streamline it down to like five and rotate them.

 

[CURVE]

Reckon they have too many "Think Tankers", should streamline it down to like five and rotate them.

Eight “Think Tankers” is a good mix and they do rotate them. I think there have been another five “Think Tankers” used besides the original eight.

 

[CURVE]

They've upped the ante by putting in an excrutiatingly fake laugh track.

I’ve heard the think tankers laugh at various times but I haven’t heard a laughing track.

 

[imadodgyumpire]

I'm watching this right now, and I cannot believe that's Paul McDermott.

 

[JackOutback]

Holy shit, when did Paul McDermott become the Unabomber?

 

[worbod]

They've upped the ante by putting in an excruciatingly fake laugh track.

Surely the surrounding laughter is coming from genuine people. It is hard to fathom the ABC would have somebody sitting around ready to press a laughter track button every time something humorous is spoken.

 

[drd23]

Why does Paul pretend to press a button every time they "light the fuse? even though everyone can see there is nothing there"

 

[worbod]

In today's episode we learned that Uranus is a gaseous planet. Seems fitting.

 

[drd23]

Some of the think tankers make me wonder how on earth they ended up on the panel as a couple of them rarely seem to get even half the questions right

 

[worbod]

They've upped the ante by putting in an excrutiatingly fake laugh track.

I must now admit that the audience laughter does sound very much canned. The laughs seem to come for any corny old one liner made by Paul or the think tankers. But why would anyone in this day and age bother with a laugh track?

 

[Vader]

The ratings numbers for this show have gone up in the last 2 weeks. It was regularly pulling around 190k viewers 2 weeks ago, then it jumped to 220k, 240k, and it's now getting around 260k.

I watched it last Friday, to see if these numbers reflected any improvement in the show (having previously given up after just the 1st episode). It wasn't quite as amateurish as that 1st episode, which was expected. They've ironed out some of the kinks, but it's still horribly slow.

Any idea why the audience numbers have increased by around 40%?

 

[FIGJAM]

I must now admit that the audience laughter does sound very much canned. The laughs seem to come for any corny old one liner made by Paul or the think tankers. But why would anyone in this day and age bother with a laugh track?

If I'm working from home in the morning it's sometimes on in the background and it's defo a track with some human reactions.

Designed to remind us that it's more a vehicle for lulz than a serious quiz show, as it is boring / easy AF otherwise. Trouble is its not really funny either!

 

[drd23]

that it's more a vehicle for lulz than a serious quiz show, as it is boring / easy AF otherwise. Trouble is its not really funny either!

I don't think it's designed to be humourous. I think they are trying to hit a similar balance to Pointless - fewer responses mixed in with humourous comments rather than a fast-paced quiz show like Sale of the Century or Million Dollar Minute were

 

[FIGJAM]

I don't think it's designed to be humourous. I think they are trying to hit a similar balance to Pointless - fewer responses mixed in with humourous comments rather than a fast-paced quiz show like Sale of the Century or Million Dollar Minute were

Maybe so, but Pointless asks like 6 questions at once about the unobvious.

Think Tank asks like 1 question every 6 minutes on painfully obvious.

 

[BlakeyNoFlakey]

Maybe so, but Pointless asks like 6 questions at once about the unobvious.

Think Tank asks like 1 question every 6 minutes on painfully obvious.

And Pointless is actually a good show, while Think Tank is crap.