Pointless is a British quiz show broadcast on the BBC since 2009. Hosted by Alexander Armstrong, the show pits four teams of two against each other in a general knowledge quiz, the aim of which is to find obscure answers to Armstrong’s questions.
Pointless is played over three knockout rounds and a final for the surviving team. In the first two rounds, two questions are asked, to be asked by one member each of every team, without the option for conferring.
The questions take various formats - they may be open ended questions (i.e US presidents with six letter surnames); a picture round in which images of a theme must be identified; words or sentences with missing letters; a board of possible answers (and some incorrect ones); and straightforward questions and answers.
In each instance, the contestant must choose the most obscure answer to the question. A poll of the British public is taken, and contestants must identify the answers which fewest respondents would know.
The third round has a head to head Best Of Three format, in which the teams can confer. In general this round will have a board of options to choose from.
The winning team goes to the final, at which point they win the Pointless trophy. They are then able to play for the prize pot, which increases every episode provided it is not won, and is topped up by any pointless answers given (i.e an answer no member of the polled public provided).
The final team are given three fairly wide categories to choose from. They are then given three categories connected to this (e.g “The Academy Awards” may yield “Posthumous Oscar winners”).
The contestants can submit three guesses for any of the categories, and only take home the prize fund if they are able to find a pointless answer.
Personnel
Alexander Armstrong (host)
Richard Osman (assistant)
Celebrity Episodes
Season 11