On the homegrown version of Perfect Match, the humiliation of participants seems to hold a special appeal. The dating duos return to give candid appraisals of each other. Said one young cad as his date looked on: "I am not really turned on when girls have pimples on their backs." Except for the US (where the audiences apparently don't like to have to think too hard), industrialised countries all around the world have popular quiz shows in which contestants give subtle answers to impossible questions - from the British Mastermind to the French Des Chiffres et des Lettres and the Soviet Chto, Gde, Kogda (What, Where, When).
On the last, Soviet contestants correctly named Ravel's inspiration in writing Bolero - his visit to a steel mill.
When it begins in Britain, Going For The Gold could well have some of the flavor of the long-running Sale Of The Century which has just celebrated its seventh year on Australian television.
"But we never wanted to get into a Mastermind situation with a lot of obscure questions that many people couldn't answer," Mr Greer says.
"Sale Of The Century is based on the formula that one out of four people watching must be capable of answering the question." Mr Greer said Sale Of The Century is constantly being rejuvenated and pepped up to maintain audience interest. For instance, a student championship series kicks off tonight, with Year 12 students from around the country competing over three weeks for a place in the grand final.
The company has also devised a games show called Scrabble for NBC in the US, based on the enduringly popular board game. It features "expensive hardware" in the form of a huge visual cube that turns and has illuminated letters, but has yet to be sold to Australian television.
But if Sale Of The Century is carefully honed general knowledge, and gards it as a breakthrough for Australian television.
"I'm always a little surprised at how the producers get people to say the things they do," she said.
Indeed, there are insights to be gleaned (even if no bonus points) from a comparative study of quiz shows. For, whether serious or silly, they mirror the ideals and values of a culture.
In Saudi Arabia, where knowledge of the Koran confers status, pre-adolescent boys (and boys only) recite passages by heart on the long-running In the Shadow of the Koran, with cash prizes provided by the Saudi army.
Malaysia pursued its development goals years ago with a game show in which competitors addressed a given topic - such as the need for family planning or good nutrition - by creating quick-witted rhymes, a traditional Malaysian folk form.
Only in Japan could there be the Ultra Quiz - made infamous by Clive James - which requires losers to show bravery in the face of defeat.
Upon missing a round of questions, they are bombarded with 25 pounds of bees, or left atop a 600-foot butte in the Utah desert, or forced to wash dishes in the galley of a cruise ship as a taskmaster barks: "Faster!Not good enough!" The Soviet Union reveals the ideal of Russian womanhood in A Nu-ka Devushki! (Let's Go Girls!): some two dozen lovelies must identify pieces of classical music and theatre, and also compete in vacuum-cleaning skills, milking a cow and cooking.(Who can roll the thinnest dough in 60 seconds?)
France confirms its racy reputation with Sexy Folies. There's also game show KVN (an acronym for The Club of the Gay and Clever), which recently returned to the air after 12 years.
Two teams match wits, weaving in sophisticated allusions to Soviet history and literature as they lampoon the vices and inconveniences of everyday Soviet life.
In the Philippines, post-Marcos freedom can get raucous. On one show, an ageing acress, insulted by the proceedings, smashed someone over the head with her microphone.
"This is a scandalous development!" said Norma Japitana, a Philippine entertainment writer. "Our freedom is getting out of hand." And yet the game shows will continue to proliferate. As the number of TV channels expands around the globe, so does the need for popular - and cheap - programming.
The US, which had a multiplicity of channels before other countries, became the leader in the field.
Even ahead of the Australian games show people, the American producers, sensing a jackpot, are now rushing in to fill the need internationally.
European viewers will soon see Blockbusters in Bavaria, Super Password in Sweden. And France, which just increased its channels from four to six, is a promising market.
Says French journalist Bruno Silvestre, who could be speaking for much of the world: "We don't have quite the idiocy of American game shows, but we're catching up fast." Additional material supplied by TV Guide.
END OF STORY
GRAPHIC: Games shows are still the rage around the world. Joanmarie Kalter and Wendy Milsom report.
LOAD-DATE: September 19, 2003
