Archives for July 9th, 2007

Call this hotline to finally rid yourself of your pesky cash!

The above is a screenshot from a popular gameshow-type scam that seems to have infected a lot of European television stations. Before it arrived in Slovenia, I’d seen it in the UK and on the notorious German channel DSF. Although the Germans seem to be the only ones that incorporate nudity (nsfw) the general idea is always the same: there is a stupid puzzle or question, and a female host begs people to call in and solve it.

They never solve it, of course. At least, I’ve never seen it happen. You can flip around for a while and when you come back, they’re usually still where you left them.

I’m not sure how the Slovenian version works, but the British versions have revealed themselves to be particularly crooked and evil. One of them, Quiz Call, awarded prizes to its own employees while letting people dangle on the line with no hope of winning. And of course the answers are as obscure as humanly possible when finally revealed. For example: “Films Beginning with M.” listed Mulan 2 as a correct answer. Not “Mulan” — which someone guessed, but got wrong — but the goddamn direct-to-video sequel “Mulan 2.”

According to this story in the Guardian, just the odds of getting through at one show on ITV were about 8,500 to one. You’d have a better chance picking up a golf club and shooting a hole-in-one.

The Slovenian version is called Srečna Linija, comes out of Malta, and airs on the privately owned television station Kanal A. Kudos to Kanal A for acting like scumbag three-card-Monte dealers hanging out behind the train station. Still: I admit that I’m looking forward to their next big show: “Hey man, wanna buy a watch?” I hope the hosts will be a bit more naked next time around.