Greenlit: The Great History Quiz, BBC2

The Great History Quiz (1 x 60′) – Hosted by Kirsty Young, this new quiz show gives viewers the chance to pit their wits against some of the country’s most respected historians. Between them, they’ve racked up 16 university degrees, published 18 books and contributed to more than 200 hours of television. They are author and broadcaster […]

Greenlit: The Quizeum, BBC4

The Quizeum – (8 x 30′) – A quiz series presented by Griff Rhys Jones that celebrates the UK’s unique and fascinating museums. Each week, Griff Rhys Jones will visit a different museum from around the UK with two teams of competing experts. From well-known historians to mathematicians, from art experts to scientists, the competitors […]

Greenlit: Quiz Nights, Sky 1

Quiz Nights (8 x 60′) – Quiz show set in four different pubs rigged with cameras to follow the teams as they attempt to beat their rivals. The audience is encouraged to play along at home. Channel: Sky 1 Producer: Firecracker Films TX: 2015 Source: Geektown

Greenlit: The Million Second Quiz, NBC

 The Million Second Quiz –  A groundbreaking, live competition and the first fully convergent television experience, where viewers will be able to tune in to a 24/7 live stream, play along at home through digital platforms in real time, and sync to the live primetime broadcast. The competition, where time equals money, will air in […]

Greenlit: Quiz Trippers, Channel 4

Quiz Trippers – A daytime series that follows five quiz maestros around the UK as they travel between pub quizzes in a campervan in a bid to win money to buy luxury goods to supplement their basic food rations. Channel: Channel 4 Producer: STV Productions TX: Summer 2011 Source: C21

Channel Branding: A Quiz – Answers

Last week I posted a list of UK and US straplines that should – if they were doing their job properly – tell you which channels they referred to. In case they didn’t, click through to find out the answers. (Photo by bdunnette under CC BY-SA 2.0)

Channel Branding: A Quiz

After the success of the programme logline quiz, I thought I’d challenge you again. This time you have to identify the following channels from their tagline (to make it more difficult there is a mix of UK and US channels). Click through to give it a go. (Photo by bdunnette under CC BY-SA 2.0)

How to Write an Arresting Tagline: Quiz Answers

Last week, we looked at loglines – where you boil your concept down into one succinct, hooky sentence – with a fiendishly difficult quiz. As promised, here are the answers (click on the headline to go to the answers). Remember, the first thing your buyer will look at is the title, so the logline should complement and build upon it, so they get an instant feel for the tone and content of your programme. Give yourself a point for each one (and subtract five if you failed to get no. 6 correct).

If you didn’t do that well, you can console yourself with the thought that the loglines weren’t doing their job properly.

And, as ever, feel free to share, tweet or comment. (Photo by ♠ le max)

How to Write an Arresting Factual TV Tagline: A Quiz

When you are selling factual television show, whether you are sending an email, writing a proposal or pitching in an elevator, you need to capture the attention of a buyer within seconds. The best way of doing that is to boil down your concept into a single succinct sentence that captures the essence of your programme, suggests the content and makes your commissioner want to know more.

A successful logline (aka tagline or strapline) looks deceptively simple and obvious, but they are fiendishly difficult to devise; and you need to have thought your idea through thoroughly in order to do it right. That means a lot of work, but you knew that, right?

The best way to understand loglines is to look at what other people have come up with, so here’s a quiz to get you going.

I’ve given you 20 taglines that have been attributed to factual TV shows – can guess which show each one refers to (I’ve removed the actual name of the shows in a couple of instances)?

(Photo by Nick J Webb)

Greenlit: Katherine Ryan, How Did You Get So Rich, Channel 4

How Did You Get So Rich (6 x 45′) – Comedian Katherine Ryan meets the wealthy, the super-wealthy and the super-duper-wealthy both in the UK and overseas, learning the answer to the burning question: “How did you get so rich?” We’ve seen how ‘the 1%’ spends their hard earned money, but in this quizzical new […]

Greenlit: Meet the Parents, ITV

Meet The Parents – A new dating series hosted by Holly Willoughby. She puts the romantic futures of a group of singletons into the hands of the people who know them best: their parents. In their quest to find love, nothing is off limits, as the picker looking for romance gets to ask their potential […]

Greenlit: Bible Bowl, TLC

Bible Bowl – Hopes are high, but the stakes are even higher as teams of children gather in Cincinnati to compete in America’s toughest Bible competition. This show follows seven extraordinary teams whose families have sacrificed everything for the chance to compete for millions of dollars in scholarships and the pride of their coaches and […]

Greenlit: The Saturday Show, Channel 5

The Saturday Show (Weekly  x 120′) – A live magazine show resented by Matt Barbet and Gaby Roslin. will include topical discussions about the day and week just gone, celebrity panel and guests, a weekly news round-up and items to get your weekend off to a flying start. Matt and Gaby will be joined by three celebrity guests […]

Greenlit: Eureka! RTÉ2

Eureka!(10 x 30′) –  Could Star Trek really happen? How do you pee in zero gravity? Neil Delamere teams some of the sharpest wits in comedy and finest minds in science in the studio quiz show that answers the age old questions about the universe and debates the suitability of the DeLorean for time travel. […]

Greenlit: For What It’s Worth, BBC1

For What It’s Worth (25 x 45’) – A strategic quiz with simple gameplay plus the tantalising play-a-long of guessing the value of really interesting antiques. Fern Britton takes on the role as quiz master and will be joined by a different antiques expert each week. Over three rounds, three pairs of contestants will compete […]

Greenlit: Four Heads, RTÉ One

Four Heads – A smart and entertaining original quiz show that explores how well any of us really know our friends or family. Channel: RTÉ One Producer: Sharp Jack Media / Waka TX: Late 2015 Source: RTÉ press release

Greenlit: Paul Merton’s Secret Stations, More 4

Paul Merton’s Secret Stations (3 x 60′) – Paul will be exploring the weird and wonderful world of request stop railway stations across Britain. Travelling around the country by train to hop on and hop off visiting a variety of different request stops to tell the story of why they’re there and who uses them. […]

Greenlit: Trade Up, Prima TV / Discovery Italia

Trade Up (15 x ) – Family quiz show in which family members have to combine their general knowledge with luck to get the keys to a car, and then decide whether to take the prize or trade up to a better prize. Channel: Prima TV (Romania) / Discovery Italia Producer: Keshet Broadcasting (Israel) TX: […]

Greenlit: BOOM! Fox

BOOM! – Combining high drama and high stakes with high comedy in a fun-filled, trivia-charged, slime-soaked, entertainment explosion hosted by comedian Tom Papa (The Marriage Ref). This is a general knowledge quiz show that challenges teams of three players to defuse a series of ticking slime-bombs, by dramatically cutting the wires relating to the correct […]

Greenlit: The Hive, BBC4

The Hive (13 x 30′ ) –  A smart, play-along quiz where the answer to every question is literally staring contestants in the face. Knowing the right answer isn’t enough because all answers are hidden in a hive, testing players’ general knowledge and mental agility as they race against the clock to find the answer. […]

Greenlit: The Truth About Over-the-Counter Medicine, BBC1

The Truth About Over-The-Counter Medicine w/t (1 x 60′) – Britain spends an astonishing £2.3 billion on over the counter medicines every year to beat common ailments from headaches to colds to indigestion, but do we really understand how these products work? And are they worth the money? Using entertaining stunts and demos involving members of […]

Greenlit: Bad Robots, E4

Bad Robots (6 x 30’) – We interact with machines more and more and take them totally for granted, but now it’s time for them to get their own back. This show features a host of everyday machines, from tanning booths to photo booths, and showcases argumentative vending machines, patently biased pub quiz machines, abusive […]

Greenlit: Geeks Who Drink, Syfy

Geeks Who Drinks  – This game show centers around the geek pub quiz phenomenon, in which three quizmasters challenge teams in a live geek trivia battle. Channel: Syfy Producer:  Kinetic Content / Condé Nast Entertainment TX: 16th July 2015 Source: Syfy press release

Greenlit: Truffle of Tripe, Channel 4

Truffle or Tripe w/t (30 x 30′)  – Simon Rimmer acts host and quizmaster for a culinary quiz that will see two teams of contestants compete against one another to win the best ingredients to enable them to cook potentially winning dishes. The studio based show sees two teams of two competing; one from each […]

Greenlit: Show Me the Telly, ITV

Show Me the Telly –  A television archive-fuelled quiz that pits the wits of a team of everyday TV fans against a trio of famous onscreen ‘know-it-alls’, presented by Richard Bacon. Each day, three time-served TV legends will be looking to display their prowess as they play against a team of friends, family or colleagues […]

In Development: That Music Show, Channel 4

That Music Show w/t (1 x 60′ pilot) – Show hosted by Nick Grimshaw set in an iconic music venue with a vibrant award-style feel and combine a competitive year vs. year pop quiz with a raucous music gig. Rounds will be bookmarked by exclusive live performances from the past, present and future of music. Channel: […]

Greenlit: Street Smart, NGCI

Street Smart w/t (2 x 60′) –  Featuring TV presenter and NGCI’s Car SOS host Tim Shaw, Street Smart uses a series of incredible, mind-bending experiments to quiz our critical thinking – and common sense – and demonstrate how seemingly impossible outcomes are jaw-droppingly possible. Street Smart lets the public guess what is going to happen next […]

Greenlit: North America, Discovery Channel

North America (7 x 60′) – For many of us, North America is our home. We live in this extraordinary continent each and every day, but have we ever truly experienced first-hand the wide scope of incredible dangers challenging our diverse and tenacious continent? If you think you know North America, you can think again. […]

Greenlit: The Common Denominator, Channel 4

The Common Denominator  w/t (40 x 30′) – Phil Spencer fronts a brand new quiz show that tests not what contestants know, but how they think. The questions are unique in that they ask the participants to think associatively, and don’t require participants to know specific facts. Contestants are asked to discover what two seemingly […]

Greenlit: Race the Clock, Channel 4

Race the Clock w/t (30 x 35′) – Rory Bremner hosts a game show that is centred around a simple dilemma: the more time a player is in control of the game, the more money he or she can win – but they also risk time running out and walking away with nothing. Only the […]

In Development: I Love My Country, BBC1

I Love My Country (Non-TX pilot) – A quiz show that sees two celebrity teams answer general knowledge questions about their country. Channel: BBC1 Producer: Avalon Television Scotland TX: Non-TX Source: Broadcast

Greenlit: You and Whose Army? Sky 1

You And Whose Army? (pilot) – A unique and ultra competitive new challenge show that’s all about celebrities and their mates. It’s not what you know, it’s who you know. Two celebrities lead their teams – hand-picked recruits consisting of friends, family, fellow celebs and unlikely experts – as they compete against each other in […]

Greenlit: The Job, CBS

The Job – Every week talented candidates are chosen from across the country for a chance to win their dream job at one of America’s most prestigious companies. Host Lisa Ling guides participants through several rounds of the most intense interviews of their lives, including challenges ranging from an on-the-spot quiz to assess their knowledge […]

Greenlit: 1001 Things You Should Know, Channel 4

1001 Things You Should Know (30 x 30′) – There are some quiz questions that you are really proud of yourself for knowing. And then there are some questions that you should feel embarrassed for NOT knowing. Each episode three contestants go head-to-head to prove they know the things they should know. Answering these basics […]

Greenlit: Pumped! SPEED

Pumped! (20 x 30′) – Quiz show in which motorists are surprised at the gas pump and given the chance to win money by answering questions about motor vehicles and pop culture. Channel: SPEED Producer: Leopard Films USA TX: 17th November 2011 Source: Cynopsis

Greenlit: A Question of Taste, BBC2

A Question of Taste w/t (6 x 30′) – A new quiz show for “foodies” presented by Kirsty Wark. The series will explore gastronomy, cooking techniques, recipes, ingredients, food history and science through a quiz show format that will sort the gastro “nerds” from the “foodie” frauds. Like-minded food lovers will compete to be the […]

Greenlit: Do You Know What You Did Last Night? TBC

Do You Know What You Did Last Night?  – Russian version of an US-originated gameshow format in which people are tricked into thinking they are taking part in a documentary part of which involves going for a big, boozy night out. When they wake up with a massive hangover they have to answer quiz questions […]

In Development: The Mad Bad Ad Show, Channel 4

The Mad Bad Ad Show (1 x 45′ TX pilot) – Comedians Micky Flanagan and Mark Watson are each teamed up with an advertising executive to compete through a series of quiz questions and challenges that explore the world of advertising. The teams will each have to make advertisements and the show features vintage ads. […]

Greenlit: Holding Out for a Hero, ITV1

Holding Out for a Hero –  The studio based gameshow, hosted by Gethin Jones features contestants playing to change somebody else’s life rather than their own. The show combines the very best qualities of a tense quiz show and adds a generous and heart-warming twist; three selfless players will nominate a deserving hero and compete […]

Greenlit: Secret Fortune, CBS

Secret Fortune (pilot) – Quiz show in which duos answer quiz questions related to 24 envelopes that contain different amounts of money. Channel: CBS Producer: Big Red 2 Entertainment / Wild Rover Productions TX: TBC Source: Cynopsis

In Development: Pointless, IFC

Pointless –  Improvisational comedy quiz show in which a panel of three comic compete  to win ridiculous prizes compared by Kurt Braunohler. Channel: IFC TX: TBC Source: Cynopsis

Greenlit: Still Standing, NBC

Still Standing w/t (8 x )-  Israeli-originated quiz series in which eleven people compete in quickfire trivia rounds. Channel: NBC Producer: Universal Media Studios TX: Summer 2011 Source: Cynopsis

Greenlit: Honey Pack the Bags!, France 2

Honey Pack the Bags! (Cheri(e) Fait Les Valises) (40 x ) – Nagui hosts a family game show format in which three people compete across a range of challenges and quiz questions to win a dream holiday. Channel: France 2 Producer: Air Productions TX: 28th March, 2011 Source: Realscreen

Greenlit: Gory Games, CBBC

Gory Games (13 x 26′)  – Gameshow presented by Come Dine With Me‘s Dave Lamb and Horrible Histories‘ whiskery star Rattus Rattus, in which three young horrible historians compete in four rotten rounds to win one putrid prize. Set to disgust and delight CBBC viewers in equal measure, each episode of Gory Games will see […]

Adventures in Sex City

Adventures in Sex City is an online game from The Middlesex-London Health Unit. It features the dastardly Sperminator who is trying to infect everyone with sexually transmitted infections (and fires quiz questions from his penis-shaped hands. I kid you not), and The Sex Squad: Willy the Kid (small but has “massive rock hard strength); Power […]

TV Development and Pitching 101: Do You Have What it Takes?

Not everyone who makes it into a commissioner’s office exhibits the ideal qualities for a successful pitch (and that goes for people on both sides of the desk). I’ve attended countless development meetings and I’ve come to recognize the recurring characters who inhabit Development Hell. Which one are you? Click through and take the quiz to find out. (Photo by DVIDSHUB CC BY 2.0)

Country Focus 101: Sweden

We’ve already taken a brief look at TV channels in Norway, Australia, Canada and The Netherlands. Now it’s time for an at-a-glance guide to the Swedish TV landscape. (Photo By Let Ideas Compete CC BY SA 2.0)

Country Focus 101: Norway

We’ve already taken a brief look at TV channels in Australia, Canada and The Netherlands. Now it’s time for an at-a-glance guide to the Norwegian TV landscape: NRK, TV2 and TVNorge. (Photo by By Dmitry Valberg CC BY 2.0)

Meet the Commissioner: Diana Howie, Commissioning Editor, ITV Daytime and Factual

Diana Howie, Commissioner Daytime and Factual, ITV recently outlined her commissioning needs to attendees of an event run by Women in Film and Television. (Photo by Torres CC BY-SA 2.0)

Ivy Bean, Twitter User, 104 Years Old

Bradford-based Ivy Bean might be the world’s oldest new media networker. She’s got a Facebook account with 5000 friends, but prefers to keep in touch via her Twitter account. Ivy lives in a old people’s home that sounds remarkable. She recently competed in the home’s over-75 Olympics sports day, where she took gold for the […]