History Series / TheWeakestLink

!! "Who's just [[GameShowTropes yet another cliche thing to happen on a game show?]]"

* GameShowWinningsCap: The maximum value that could be won on the UK version show was £10,000 (£20,000 in the tournaments of champions, £50,000 in the primetime/celebrity versions) if in all rounds the target value is met. On both NBC primetime versions in the U.S., the max value was $1,000,000, and the syndicated version cut this down to $75,000 and then $100,000. As with a large number of game shows, this is never done, as the rules encourage the contestants to bank and the full jackpot requires a completed chain in every round; it's a noteworthy accomplishment if a team ever does it ''once''.

* JokeCharacter: K9 was a contestant in the Doctor Who special. [[LethalJokeCharacter He answered all his questions correctly]], but was unanimously voted off first because the prop was so unreliable they couldn't guarantee how long it would stay working.

* OfficiallyShortenedTitle: Dropped the "The" after about a year, and the US version never had it at all. Hardly anyone seems to have noticed.

** At the start of every round: "Let's play... ''The Weakest Link''!" (First question is worth <amount>.) Start the clock."

** At the start of every round: "Let's play... ''The Weakest Link''!" ''[dramatic music, lights dim]'' "(First question is worth <amount>.) Start the clock."

* ColdOpen: The revivals would typically open each episode with this.

** The show in 2002 was on the receiving end of this trope from the late game show host Tom Kennedy, who called ''Weakest Link'' "a reflection of how selfish and cynical society today is at large, and [[TakeThat I'm not a fan of it at all." ]]

There have been numerous celebrity versions, where contestants compete to win money for charity.

The show ended in 2012 as Anne Robinson decided to step down and was not replaced; the final new episodes were quietly demoted to an early afternoon slot on Creator/{{BBC}}2, with ''Series/{{Pointless}}'' taking over the prime teatime [=BBC1=] slot. In 2017, it was announced that the show would be resurrected, first with a charity special in November with the intention of a full run in 2018, with Anne Robinson returning as host, although these plans were stalled for some time, with Anne taking over as host for ''Series/{{Countdown}}'' instead. The show finally made its return to British TV in 2021 with planned celebrity editions and comedian Creator/RomeshRanganathan taking over as host.

* {{Flanderization}}: At the time the series made its debut in the UK, Anne Robinson had been a long-time presenter on ''Series/{{Watchdog}}'', the BBC's consumer affairs programme. After this series became established however, the BBC took her off ''Watchdog'' because they wanted her to be known solely for her ''Weakest Link'' personality (rather than the much more caring persona she displayed on ''Watchdog''). This was eventually reversed in 2009, when Robinson returned to ''Watchdog'' and displayed the same personality she had always done on that show.

* StatisticallySpeaking: During the voting, the announcer says that statistically, who is the weakest link and who is the strongest link, and asks if the voting will reflect that. It's interesting to note that a few things alter whether or not someone is the strongest or weakest link, such as a round where everyone got their questions right, but the person who banked was the strongest link(and thus banking effects the rankings for strongest and weakest link). Also
where the weakest link actually got all their questions correctly but was merely only asked one or two questions when everyone else was asked two or three.

# When there are only two contestants left, they compete to win the banked money in an elimination round. They are asked questions alternately, typically a best-of-5, and if no winner is decided after the sets of questions, a "SuddenDeath" round is played, and the first player to correctly answer a question when their opponent does not is declared the victor.

# A "team" of 6-9 (depending on the version) contestants are each asked trivia questions in turn in a timed round.[[note]]The UK version started with three minutes and each successive round removed ten seconds until the final timed round, which shaved 30 seconds off for a 90-second round. The original American version and the revival starts round one with 150 seconds. Other international versions start as high as five minutes.[[/note]]

# A "team" of 6-9 (depending on the version) contestants are each asked trivia questions in turn in a timed round.[[note]]The UK version started with three minutes and each successive round removed ten seconds until the final timed round, which shaved 30 seconds off for a 90-second round. The original American version followed the same format, while the revival starts round one with 150 seconds. Other international versions start as high as five minutes.[[/note]]

* UnwinnableByDesign: The time limit that shrinks with every round, the unpredictability of the question material(usually becomes harder as time goes on due to the "weakest link" having been voted off), and the strategy to not appear too threatening to keep in later rounds makes it essentially impossible that any team would ever reach the maximum prize offered on the show. It's generally considered an impressive accomplishment just to reach the target ''once.'' The highest prize awarded on any version of the show was $189,500 of the possible $1,000,000, on a "Tournament of Losers" special edition of the US series. (The UK version once managed to give away £7,750 out of a possible £10,000 in one of the last daytime episodes before the show's cancellation, although that episode was made up of former quiz show champions and hence probably one of the brightest, most GenreSavvy selection of contestants.)

* HomeGame: Board games (normal and electronic), along with computer and DVD versions in many different languages.

** At the start of every round: "Let's play... ''The Weakest Link''!" ''[dramatic music, lights dim]'' (First question is worth <amount>.) "Start the clock."

** At the start of every round: "Let's play... ''The Weakest Link''!" ''[dramatic music, lights dim]'' (First question is worth... ) "Start the clock."

** At the start of every round: "Let's play...''The Weakest Link''!" ''[dramatic music, lights dim]'' "Start the clock."

* StatisticallySpeaking: During the voting, the announcer says that statistically, who is the weakest link and who is the strongest link, and asks if the voting will reflect that. It's interesting to note that a few things alter whether or not someone is the strongest or weakest link, such as a round where everyone got their questions right, but the person who banked was the strongest link. Or where the weakest link actually got all their questions correctly but was merely only asked one or two questions when everyone else was asked two or three.

* UnwinnableByDesign: The time limit that shrinks with every round, the unpredictability of the question material, and the strategy to not appear too threatening to keep in later rounds makes it essentially impossible that any team would ever reach the maximum prize offered on the show. It's generally considered an impressive accomplishment just to reach the target ''once.'' The highest prize awarded on any version of the show was $189,500 of the possible $1,000,000, on a "Tournament of Losers" special edition of the US series. (The UK version once managed to give away £7,750 out of a possible £10,000 in one of the last daytime episodes before the show's cancellation, although that episode was made up of former quiz show champions and hence probably one of the brightest, most GenreSavvy selection of contestants.)

* RightForTheWrongReasons: A few random/lucky guesses have turned out to be correct, such as Denise Crosby on the ''Franchise/StarTrek'' celebrity edition saying " ... Oh ... Canada?" for the Canadian National Anthem.

* EliminationHoudini:[[invoked]] A non-subjective example, and part of the strategy. Usually, the "Weakest link" is sometimes kept as an opponent for the final round(s). However, it is worth noting that sometimes, StatisticallySpeaking, the "Weakest Link" may have a correct answer rate of 100%, but because they were asked fewer questions is "the weakest link" that round.

* StatisticallySpeaking: During the voting, the announcer says that StatisticallySpeaking, so and so is the weakest link and so-and-so is the strongest link and asks if the voting will reflect that. It's interesting to note that a few things alter whether or not someone is the strongest or weakest link, such as a round where everyone got their questions right, but the person who banked was the strongest link. Or where the weakest link actually got all their questions correctly but was merely only asked one or two questions when everyone else was asked two or three.

* PressXToDie: The players must periodically shout "Bank!" throughout the rounds in order to preserve their winnings. Occasionally, they [[WhatAnIdiot accidentally shout "Pass!"]] [[EpicFail instead]]. The host will accept their pass and move on to the next player, causing the team to lose any unbanked money in the process.

** One memorable first round featured a contestent who spent a good twenty seconds figuring out [[WhatAnIdiot which days of the week began with the letter T.]] As he went first, he ended up being the only contestant who answered two questions correctly and was technically the strongest link. It didn't stop him being voted off.

* PressXToDie: The players must periodically shout "Bank!" throughout the rounds in order to preserve their winnings. Occasionally, they [[WhatAnIdiot accidentally shout "Pass!"]] [[EpicFail instead]]. The hostess will accept their pass and move on to the next player, causing the team to lose any unbanked money in the process.

** TheAnnouncer