“Survey says it is 6pm, time for the start of Family Feud” was the intro at the start of primetime on TEN last night. But it wasn’t a regular Sunday.
• Network Ten details pilot week and how audiences will choose
“As it is the final show, we are going to make it extra special,” said host Grant Denyer as he began the last episode of the format produced for TEN by FremantleMedia Australia.
Denyer told his Sunday night audience and the contestants that this was the last episode of this season, indicating that at some time, the game show could return to the TEN schedule. It was 22 minutes of questions and answers without the ads, with the final show, for now, attracting 213,000 viewers. At the end of the show there was no big farewell, just Denyer addressing the camera and saying: “Thank you watching for four years [with hand of heart]. It has been amazing.”
Taking over the 6pm slot from tonight is the new game show Pointless.
See also: Inside Ten’s Pointless Australia – ‘It’s Ninja Warrior for nerds’ by Mediaweek’s Kruti Joshi
Co-hosted by comedian and writer, Mark Humphries, and Dr Andrew Rochford, Pointless sees three teams compete each night in a quiz show unlike any other.
Faced with questions from a wide range of general knowledge topics including sport, music, celebrities and science, players must produce the least obvious answers in order to progress towards the nightly jackpot.
The launch of Pointless marks TEN’s charge into the second half of 2018.
Mark Humphries and Dr Andrew Rochford in Pointless
As MasterChef enters Finals Week, the MasterChef Grand Final is scheduled for early next week to be followed by the launch of Australian Survivor 2018 at 7.30pm on Wednesday August 1.
TEN revealed on the weekend that fitness specialist Steve Willis, better known to Australian television audiences as Commando, will face his biggest challenge when he becomes a castaway on Australian Survivor: Champions Versus Contenders.
Viewers first came to know Steve as a fitness trainer on TEN’s family entertainment show The Biggest Loser. Now the shoe is firmly on the other foot as Steve’s body and mind are pushed to their absolute limits in the tropical climes of Savusavu.
Joining the tribe of Champions, the former special forces officer will have to have to call on his years of experience in the army and as a trainer in order to outwit, outplay and outlast the 23 other competitors.
Steve Willis
On joining Survivor, Steve said: “Survivor is the ultimate. It’s physical, it’s mental and it’s hard because you have to play dirty to win. I’m going to play as honest a game as I can but I know that it won’t be an easy win but it’s one that I want to win.”
Steve joins other champions Brian Lake, Damien Thomlinson, Moana Hope, Mat Rogers, Shane Gould and Samuel Hilton with more to be announced.
Another crucial part of TEN’s second-half schedule is the long-awaited return of All Aussie Adventures, the third season of the series featuring outback legend Russell Coight. It’s a show that first debuted on TEN back in 2001.
Coight said: “Can you believe that it is over 10 years since I was last on TV (unless you count news footage of me leaving court)? So strap yourself in for another sun-drenched series of outback adventures – All Aussie style.”
Network Ten’s executive general manager revenue – client & partnerships Rod Prosser said: “We’re excited to be bringing Australians this fantastic lineup every Sunday night. It’s funny, family-friendly and light-hearted. The return of All Aussie Adventures I’m sure will bring nostalgia for older audiences and enjoyment for new audiences.”