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Too many words on the new CELEBRITY LETTERS AND NUMBERS

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With the original series only lasting two years, SBS brought back this puzzling gameshow with a new host, extended runtime, and a celebrity twist.

Letters and Numbers was, and still is, my favourite Australian gameshow. You don’t have to know advanced trivia or be an expert in your chosen subject. You just have to put yourself back in high school and strive for those A’s in English and Maths.

So when it was announced the delightfully puzzling series was returning, I was surprised. It certainly wasn’t on my 2021 Bingo card (although, what really has been?). Pretty keen to see it return, I looked forward to the new letter lineups and number configurations. But I also groaned a little upon reading the ‘Celebrity’ prefix. Just why do we have to go and turn a simple, pleasant show into another celebrity-themed series?

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Remaining optimistic, and seeing both original co-hosts Lily Serna and David Astle were joining new host Michael Hing for the series, it was of course worth checking out.

From the start there are some very key differences between the original series that spanned 450 episodes and the new version. Firstly, three contestants as opposed to two. No carry over champion for next week. An adjusted scoring system (now everyone gets points for a word, not the BEST word).

There’s also a new Dictionary Corner segment, complete with its own dictionary guest. And most confusing of all – an extended runtime. The once quick half an hour hit had jumped to a one hour block. Leaving me curious, given only small changes were made, what could the show add to be just so much longer?

I soon learnt why.

Hing introduced the show, and then each celebrity contestant, the Dictionary Corner guest, letters enthusiast Astle, and numbers extraordinaire Serna. Not just a quick, “Hello, this is this person”. Each of the six introduced panelists got to have their own chat and talk joke about whatever they wanted.

Not until 10:57 in the runtime did Hing announce that the first game of the night, the letters round, would be conducted. Of the 50 minutes in its runtime (as 10 minutes are dedicated to ads), we spent over a fifth of it talking to people. Not, you know, solving word scrambles and equations. And that is WAY too long to get to your first round of a gameshow.

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And when you couple this with the fact all three of the celebrity contestants were comedians – Suren Jayemanne, Jennifer Wong and Merrick Watts – it dawned on me. This is Australia’s crack at 8 Out of 10 Cats Does Countdown, the British version of celebrity Letters and Numbers, where the celebrities competing are comedians.

The entire episode put in the banter, jokes (sometimes lame) and interactions its British counterpart has, but it completely detracted from what made the show great – those puzzles.

David Astle, Michael Hing, and Lily Serna feature on CELEBRITY LETTERS AND NUMBERS (image - SBS)
David Astle, Michael Hing, and Lily Serna feature on CELEBRITY LETTERS AND NUMBERS (image – SBS)

Don’t get me wrong, I appreciated the chit-chat. More often than not it was trying a little too hard to be funny. I mean, did we really have to spend so much time laughing at the word ‘penis’ (a possible solution amongst one of the letter mixes)? For the most part, the interactions between all seven people were a good break between rounds, provided it was only momentary.

But it was agonising waiting for that first letters round, the very thing I was excited to launch into upon the series return after nine years, for 10 whole minutes.

The show would have been better served adding in these moments where we get to know our guests and talk to the co-hosts throughout the show. Rather than the 30-second gap in between a letters round and a numbers round, filled with a general joke about the puzzle before it, we could have spent two minutes focusing on one person, and getting the laughs from their BYO personal story there.

Given you need to do this six times, you’d quickly get to the near end of the show with nine games completed and a little takeaway of knowledge from each person on screen, similar to Have You Been Paying Attention?. Maybe people turned off when the show started, simply waiting so long just to get to the game was a terrible decision. I wasn’t waiting in anticipation, I was ready to throw my remote.

And I’m arguing this all while considering the fact the show runs for 50 minutes. I’m trying to help soothe the process of making this show an hour long and survivable before the first ad break. But truthfully, we don’t have to get to know these people, nor need the show to be an hour.

Celebrity Letters and Numbers could have gone back to the good old days with a short, sharp show that made you think. Adding the features ala 8 Out of 10 Cats, done as mediocre as it was, just feels like filler. Extra contestant? Meh. Celebrity comedians? Fine. But none of it feels worth it when the puzzles are better than the comedy.

The one thing I did truly appreciate was the Dictionary Corner segment and guest. For the premiere writer and performer Bridie Connell joined, and I liked what could be offered from her and future guests by talking about something ‘wordy’ that was actually humorous, encourages slight banter, and is of course, interesting.

Overall, the puzzles make this show what it is. Interesting and delightfully entertaining. Throw in some celebrities and another half an hour and it feels like it’s trying too hard to fill the runtime. But if you can bare sitting at the screen listening to other people laugh, and can find your own activity to fill that first 10 minute block, it’s greatly reminiscent of the underrated gameshow that deserves better recognition in Australian television.

I’ll be checking out Episode 2, but no promises I’ll stick around.

Celebrity Letters and Numbers airs Saturday 7:35pm EDST on SBS, or On Demand.

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Matthew Simmonds
Matthew Simmonds
Matthew Simmonds is a journalist and blogger, with a keen interest in the world of Reality TV. He loves exploring both what’s happening in front of the camera but also how the magic comes together behind the scenes. If not glued to the TV bingeing one of the newest obsessions or a timeless series, you’ll find Matthew endlessly scrolling through Twitter (and he may even tweet a time or two). Matthew graduated from a Bachelor Degree in Communication, majoring in Journalism, at the Queensland University of Technology in 2022.
Comments

12 COMMENTS

  1. My thoughts exactly. The show is too long (I only made it halfway through) and tries too hard, missing the pace and mild suspense of the original series. My rating : 4 Out Of 10 Cats.

  2. I can’t say it is the biggest bastardisation in modern television, but it sure is up there in the ranks.

  3. I watched this simulacrum of overseas shows and increasingly wondered just how bad it could get! Trite, cheap and nasty! Nothing worse than people sitting there trying to be witty and funny! Best not mention the host and his tasteless outfit and meaningless banter! Please come back Richard and save this once great show! A simple chaste show that held a high audience for years has now lost it! I wondered if David and Lily were just embarrassed by it! As Bogey opined in the Maltese Falcon. “The cheaper the punk the gaudier the patter” – and this show just swam in gaudy patter!

  4. Terribly disappointed. Switched off after 10mins. When back to the repeats of 8 out of 10 Cats, found it funnier 👍.

  5. The comedic value rests on the same level as watching a bag of orphaned puppies in a 15c woolies bag being lowered into a slow curdling river of hobo phlegm.

  6. Very disappointed a waste of time poor jokes and sad for two seasoned L & N David and lily I felt very sorry for them

  7. Absolutely terrible, barely made it through the first episode. Disappointed that the first maths problem couldn’t even be solved on air. There are multiple ways it could have been solved but none were shown. There was no balance between the useless horrid chatter, numbers and math. Doesn’t come close to the original. 1 out of 10 cats

  8. Not sure which demographic they are targeting, but I feel sorry for that demographic.
    An unknown host, unknown celebrities, so much talk, so much teeth, so much unfunny crap.
    Like others, I feel sorry for Lily and David, intelligent people drowning in grinding triviality.
    Were McQuarie Dictionaries so expensive SBS ran out of funds? Sad sad sad…

  9. What a shocker!
    Are all celebrities comedians?
    So disappointing. I loved the original show but this spin off is CR-P!!

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