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I have been thinking about this for a while when I watch quiz shows on TV - when they have a timed Question round on a show of, let's say, a minute, 90 seconds or whatever, and at the end of the round, the buzzer goes and the host is in the middle of reading the question. Does the host finish the question, and allow the contestant to answer, or does he say "time's up, you cannot answer" or words to that effect?
Mastermind famously allows the contestant to answer if the host is beaten by the buzzer, hence the "I've started so I'll Finish" catchphrase, and I think that is the fair thing to do because it allows the points total to get to its maximum possibility. The anniversary quiz Today's the Day also adopted that approach with host Martyn Lewis often saying something very similar to: "I've started so I'll Finish".
On the other hand, the majority of quiz shows don't allow that - if the buzzer goes and the host is reading a question then hard luck it seems. Cue Anne Robinson on the Weakest Link saying: "I cannot complete the question", or Gordon Burns on the Krypton Factor, responding: "no need to answer that". As far as I remember, very few quiz shows use the Mastermind approach of allowing a contestant to answer after the buzzer has gone which I think is the fairest of the two options. At least with Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? one only gets a timed aspect on the Phone a Friend lifeline.
I wonder why some quiz shows allow it and others don't? - why the difference between the shows, and did Mastermind actually invent this allowance to benefit a contestant's scoring? Or could it be something to do with the genre of show, the type of viewers who watch or even what channel they are on?
Mastermind famously allows the contestant to answer if the host is beaten by the buzzer, hence the "I've started so I'll Finish" catchphrase, and I think that is the fair thing to do because it allows the points total to get to its maximum possibility. The anniversary quiz Today's the Day also adopted that approach with host Martyn Lewis often saying something very similar to: "I've started so I'll Finish".
On the other hand, the majority of quiz shows don't allow that - if the buzzer goes and the host is reading a question then hard luck it seems. Cue Anne Robinson on the Weakest Link saying: "I cannot complete the question", or Gordon Burns on the Krypton Factor, responding: "no need to answer that". As far as I remember, very few quiz shows use the Mastermind approach of allowing a contestant to answer after the buzzer has gone which I think is the fairest of the two options. At least with Who Wants to Be a Millionaire? one only gets a timed aspect on the Phone a Friend lifeline.
I wonder why some quiz shows allow it and others don't? - why the difference between the shows, and did Mastermind actually invent this allowance to benefit a contestant's scoring? Or could it be something to do with the genre of show, the type of viewers who watch or even what channel they are on?
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