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10 confirms Grant Denyer back to 6pm

Celebrity Name Game at 6pm will signal the end for Pointless.

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As tipped by TV Tonight, 10 has now confirmed Grant Denyer’s return to the 6pm timeslot with new game show Celebrity Name Game.

The announcement will signal the end of Pointless after months of disappointing numbers.

The Fremantle format sees both celebrities and punters tested on pop culture and parlour games, including mixing up teams. It aired in the US for three seasons from 2014, hosted by Craig Ferguson and produced by Courteney Cox & David Arquette.

Aussie celebs confirmed thus far include Yvie Jones and Angie Kent, Beau Ryan and Courtney Act but the show will feature many more.

10 is counting on the show to get a boost from broad, family appeal that Pointless does not enjoy.

An airdate is yet to be announced.

Celebrity Name Game is a new, fast-paced game show that will leave you on the edge of your seat, with the biggest names in pop culture on the tip of your tongue. True to Family Feud form, you’ll be left screaming the answers at the television and playing along from the comfort of your couch.

The most unpredictable game show on television, two teams of two contestants – think mum and son, best friends – call upon their favourite celebrity to help them win a supercharged game of charades in the hope of winning the $10,000 prize.

But, these teams need to be proficient in all things popular culture. You know, everything from movies, sports stars, politicians, pop stars and fictional characters.

From the Kardashians to KRudd, Conor McGregor to Cinderella and Juno to Julia Roberts, these teams will really need to know their stuff, with each correct answer adding to the teams’ cash prize kitty, with the last team standing in a 60 second all-or-nothing final round.

With the whole family playing along, teams also get help from some of Australia’s favourite celebrities including Jungle buddies Yvie Jones and Angie Kent, Chris & Julia’s Sunday Night Takeaway’s Beau Ryan and Dancing With The Stars’ Courtney Act.

So if you know your Kardashian’s from your Jenners, your Thorpe from your Turnbull, then this is the game for you!

54 Responses

  1. I don’t know if this will work. I think it is too American for Australian audiences. I am really hoping that one day a network revives The Weakest Link. I think it would work really well. But since Cornelia Frances has passed away, finding a host would be very hard – big shoes to fill.

  2. The British version of Pointless is hard to replicate, due to the on air chemistry between Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman(and will the ABC ever bring it back to air?).
    Channel 10 tried hard, and Mark Humphries/Andrew Rochford have made a good fist of it, but the format has been butchered, in my opinion, by truncating it into 30 minutes a night including ads.
    Add me to the list of those totally sick of Grant Denyer being on almost every Ten program.

  5. I would Suggest that Channel 10 Change Their Schedule to:
    10 News First 4.00- 5.00
    Celebrity Name Game- 5.00- 6.00 ( 2 eps )
    The Project 6.00- 7.00
    Then A New Affairs Show from 7.00 – 7.30
    Then they Can have the Project in a more competitive position.

    1. great idea but as david keeps pointing out to us that we are not network programmers and it’s a very hard job to do…i thin you did it perfectly….channel 10 employ this person asap

  6. I was thinking that Pointless must have been saved when Mark Humphries posted on his Instagram a couple of weeks ago that he was off to do some recordings of the show. I hope they just change the time.

  8. Disappointing to see Denyer has yet another show. How many is that now?
    I wish they would give someone else a go, just like they did with Mark and the Doc on Pointless. Sure, the numbers were disappointing but they have actually done a great job with the show.
    Denyer is too over exposed and a little overrated. Thinks he’s funny when he’s really just a bit of a wannabe comedian.

    But then again, it could’ve been worse….hopefully Chris & Julia don’t appear as guests.

  9. Pointless was very stiff at the start but in 2019 the two host have bought some personality and fun to the show. Would like to see it tried in another timeslot…just don’t know where cause of their crazy 5pm news slot. Surely 10 news has to move to 5.30 or 6pm in 2020.

  10. Aren’t all Ten’s numbers disappointing? Was Pointless actually pretty good in the grand scheme of things, just first in the lower run of numbers for the channel across the board? I watched it, really enjoyed it. Thought the hosts were great, it was good to see some new faces on TV rather than Grant Denyer again. Although too be fair I like him too, but he can’t present everything!

    1. They tried it at 6 but every night the numbers so low it undermines the rest of primetime. Might it work elsewhere? Yes perhaps. Seems everybody has a scheduling suggestion for 10’s early evening. I wish I had $1 for every comment I have ever approved on the topic.

      1. David, people that visit this site because they are passionate about TV. They’re only trying to suggest improvements. I think most people on this site would be better than the current programmers at Ten.

  11. Mark would have been a great host for Celebrity Nane Game. His comedic tendencies are far-more suited to game shows than quiz shows. Such a shame that Ten really botched this up. Pointless was never going to work on Ten, especially given the UK version is so low-key and watchable. Last night Ten ran a promo for Pointless that made it look like a comedy show. Oh dear. That was pointless!

  12. Well no more 6.00 pm 10 for me. I am getting sick of the same people, such as Grant and the annoying Julia plus the irritating Joel Creasey. I love Pointless, a really good show and Mark and Andrew are terrific. Let us know if Pointless is to be moved or just scrapped. In Tassie it is on Peach, maybe move if to Bold. But I think that 10 need to look at the whole evening thing. As clear as day it is not working. The numbers for Grant in the later days were not much better than Pointless.

  13. Disappointed to see it go as I like quiz shows to test my own knowledge. But I have to say I record this and play it later as 6pm is, and always will be, news time in our house.

  14. I am disappointed, I like Pointless (not as much as the British version though) and I really don’t like Grant Denyer…why does he have to host everything on TEN ? It’s enough putting up with him on DWTS ( and I am not the only one who thinks like this ). TEN really need to get more ‘celebrities’ and hosts it’s getting very monotonous .

    1. Agreed. I think Pointless has really hit its stride, the hosts are relaxed and the banter is excellent. I was predisposed to like it having enjoyed the British version. It’s an all round excellent package.

  16. Boo. I am so tired of seeing Grant Denyer on my screen. Nothing against him personally, he’a a great host, but Mark Humphries has been a breath of fresh air and Pointless has really improved.

    Mark and Andrew Rochfors were a good team and provided some good conic relief.

    Now it’s back to Grant’s inane banter. Ugh.

    Bad decision, Ten.

  20. Hopefully it won’t be the same celebrities we always see on 10 shows (Project, HYBPA, Hughsey, SNL, IACGMOOH), or Melbourne radio hosts who nobody knows outside of Victoria.
    I would have simply done Bold at 5pm, Neighbours at 5.30pm, News at 6pm, Project at 6:30pm, then 7pm is their franchises like Batch, MasterChef, Survior, Celeb, etc..

  21. Why do 10 not bring back Neighbours to 10 in these troubled times. Given it is mainly produced for overseas markets would 10 have to pay more for it if they air it on a primary channel…..hence it is a budget decision? Does anybody know?

    1. They don’t have a spot for it. They want The Project as an hour long program and it has to end before 7:30. If you move The Project back half an hour and put Neighbours at 7pm it competes with Home and Away. At 6pm Neighbours would be competing the news bulletins. As long as The Project stays with an hour long format they can’t slot Neighbours in.

    3. Plus 10 negotiated a lower price for Neighbours when they moved it to 11 because it was on a secondary channel. They would probably have to pay more if they moved it back to the main channel.

        1. Yeah it’s an odd one, perhaps when the deal was done to run Neighbours 52 weeks a year it all loosened up a bit, after all CBS own Channel 5 UK that Neighbours (and Home and Away) are shown on. Was one of the reasons I though the Neighbours replay at 2:30pm would be better severed at 5pm after The Bold and The Beautiful if the News went to 5:30 – 6:30pm to catch those just getting home from work.

          1. Actually, Channel 5 in the UK is owned by Viacom, not CBS Corporation (which owns 10 here in Australia). However, there are strong connections between CBS Corporation and Viacom as both have common ownership through National Amusements, and I think a merger between the two was proposed by National Amusements a couple of years ago.

  23. This is very disappointing l as I loved Pointless. They really broke into their stride towards the middle of the series and it was good to see a game show that didn’t cater just to the lowest common denominator.

  25. Grant Denyer + 6pm + game show. Have 10/CBS learnt nothing? They would get better figures bringing Neighbours back to that time slot. Or better still bring it to 5pm paired with Bold & Beautiful then news at 5.30 leading into The Project

    1. Neighbours on the primary channel could do 10 some good at this point, though they will likely need to renegotiate the terms with the producers as they will seek more of a cut if moved to the primary channel.

      And the promise of “and many more” doesn’t exactly bode well for the calibre of “celebrities” as press releases would generally publicise the most famous members of a cast, and 10 must be strapped for cash by constantly claiming that the Gogglebox girls qualify for “celebrity” status.

      What were 10 thinking? Towards the end of its run, the “Celebrity” Family Feud specials at 7.30pm were pulling less than 200k. We’re talking Pointless numbers here. If the word “celebrity” meant anything to 10’s audience, The Graham Norton Show ought to be rating substantially higher as it actually features celebrities.

    2. Here’s another one for you to approve David, where do I send the $1 😉

      Yeah I think it would be better for the News to be 5:30pm to 6:30pm gets that jump on the others plus yeah no ad break straight into The Project, even keeping Neighbours on Peach and having that nights repeated at 5pm the next day could work (Fridays would be on Monday though). Unless of course CBS could pull some strings and get The Young And The Restless on at 5pm as CBS air it in the US. Pity the in the UK the CBS owned Channel 5 doesn’t have any UK Soaps on as some of them would likely work, but getting something like Coronation Street, Emmerdale (ITV) or Eastenders (BBC One) may be a bridge too far given it’s on the competition over there.

      1. Foxtel airs all those shows mentioned. And within days / hours of the original airing. Doubtful they will let them go. The UK soaps tend to have an M rating so would need a later slot or br watered down

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