Richard Osman on poor game shows.

TV TV gameshow Pointless has been slightly ruined across series because rather than simply plucking pointless answers from contestant's brains, a general knowledge element has been introduced and although this adds soome strategy, as in "Which of these correct answers will have the lowest number?", it means there's less of the cherishably mad randomness which also marked Family Fortunes.

Nevertheless it remains watchable thanks to the central relationship between Alexander Armstrong and Richard Osman, who now and then are clearly showing signs of Dunkirk spirit as they're forced to be chipper during what must be the tenth episode recorded that day, Armstrong almost always managing to sound sincere when he commiserates losers by saying how wonderful it was to have them there.

In today's The Guardian, Richard Osman lists some of the gameshow misses. You can tell he really wanted to let rip on Don't Scare The Hare, but for some reason he's not written a full entry about that. Instead he's admitted to one of his own failures:

"24 Hour Quiz was a shortlived ITV teatime show wherein I attempted to marry the reality fireworks of Big Brother with the high-octane jeopardy of Who Wants To Be A Millionaire. What I actually did was marry the mind-numbing tedium of a second-rate reality show, with the plodding boredom of a sub-standard pub quiz. Presented by Barry from EastEnders."

Amazingly, the article's already already attracted nearly three hundred comments. People really hate gameshows. I wish Chain Letters would be revived.