The Whole 19 Yards
The Whole 19 Yards is a British game show that aired on ITV from 17 April to 5 June 2010, hosted by Vernon Kay.
| The Whole 19 Yards | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Genre | Game show |
| Presented by | Vernon Kay |
| Starring | Caroline Flack |
| Voices of | Glenn Hugill |
| Country of origin | United Kingdom |
| Original language | English |
| No. of series | 1 |
| No. of episodes | 8 |
| Production | |
| Running time | 60 minutes (inc. adverts) |
| Production company | Initial |
| Distributor | Endemol Shine Group |
| Release | |
| Original network | ITV |
| Picture format | 16:9 |
| Original release | 17 April – 5 June 2010 |
Format
Four contestants compete through three rounds to answer general knowledge questions and complete physical challenges. In each round, they begin at one end of the stage, while the buzzers they must use to answer the questions are at the other end, 19 yards away. To reach the buzzers, they must traverse a challenge course that has been set up on the stage for that round.
Kay announces a category and begins to ask a series of questions. As soon as a contestant thinks they know the answer to a particular question, they start onto the course. The first contestant to hit their buzzer and answer their question correctly advances to the next round, while a miss passes control to the next contestant who reaches their buzzer. Each contestant may answer only the question on which they started the course. After a correct answer is given or everyone misses a question, the remaining contestants play the round again with a new category. On occasion, one or more complications ("twists") are added to these subsequent runs without the contestants being notified of them.
In each round, the last contestant who fails to answer a question is eliminated from the game and leaves with nothing. After the third round, the last remaining contestant plays for £100,000 in the "Final 19 Yards" challenge.
Games
These are a list of games used so far in the series.
- Key
- First Round - Four Players
- Second Round - Three Players
- Third Round - Head to Head
| Title | Information |
|---|---|
| Contestants must scale two mountain-style peaks using giant blocks; the buzzers are at the top of the second peak. The blocks to scale the first peak are already in place, but on the second, the contestants must place the blocks themselves to reach a black line across the top before climbing up. | |
| The contestants are blindfolded throughout this round and cannot see the course. They must break through a paper wall, then cross three stations and crawl through a small hole in a circular wall at the end of each one. The first station has no obstacles, the second has pressure pads on the floor that trigger bursts of flame or dry-ice smoke, and the third has a slowly rotating turntable on its floor. Once past the final circular wall, they can hit the buzzer. | |
| The buzzers are padlocked shut, and the contestants must find keys in four stations to reach them: a bath of foam, a giant bowl of sawdust, a container of coloured gunge that pours down on the contestants, and a snowglobe-like container of sticky balls that the contestant must crawl into. Each of the first three stations contains the key to unlock the next one, and the fourth has the key for the buzzer. For Episode 3, the first two stations contained a blancmange/spaghetti mixture and confetti, respectively; for episode 5, those stations used blancmange/rice pudding and feathers. | |
| Contestants must climb up a slope under a cargo net before scrambling through a second, circular net full of balloons, some filled with gunge. The buzzer is at the end of the second net. | |
| Wearing Velcro suits, the contestants negotiate a series of Velcro obstacles designed to stick to them and hinder their progress. These include a strip curtain and crawls through a circular hole and tunnel. In addition, the floor is covered with Velcro tiles. | |
| Contestants drive motorized chairs through a road race circuit. They must plug their vehicles into a charging station at the start of the course, drive to the other end, plug into a second station in order to charge the buzzer, then return to the start. A contestant may only hit their buzzer after completing three trips to it. | |
| Wearing harnesses clipped to safety ropes, the contestants must scale two peaks, with the buzzers at the top of the second peak. Along the way, they must untie several pieces of cord that have been knotted around the rope so that it will pass through the harness clip, then unclip themselves from the rope before hitting the buzzer. | |
| The contestants' bodies are wrapped and their ankles are strapped together to prevent free movement of arms and legs. They must negotiate two sets of steps, a tunnel, and a hill before using their heads to hit the buzzer. |
The Final 19 Yards
The buzzer is initially placed next to the contestant, mounted to a motorized platform on which Kay stands. A maximum of five questions are played during this round, each consisting of a category and a series of clues to an item within it. After Kay finishes reading the first clue, he and the buzzer begin to move slowly across the floor; the contestant must run and hit the buzzer as soon as they think they know the answer, stopping the movement. Each correct answer increases the contestant's winnings (£5,000, £10,000, £20,000, £50,000, £100,000). After each correct answer, the contestant may either end the game and keep the accumulated money, or continue and risk it on the next question. Kay and the buzzer do not return to the original starting line after each question, but instead start to move from wherever they stopped, while the contestant must begin from the line. An incorrect answer at any point ends the game and reduces the contestant's winnings two levels below the value of the missed question. If the buzzer moves a total of 19 yards, the game ends and they lose everything.
International versions
- No longer airing
- Non-broadcast pilot
| Country | Name | Host | Network | Date premiered | Prize |
 Austria [1] |
Powerplay - Ganze 17 Meter | Christian Clerici | ORF eins | September 2010 | Voyage |
 Brazil [2] |
Sufoco | Fausto Silva | Rede Globo | April 2010 | New car |
 Germany [3] |
17 Meter | Joko Winterscheidt & Klaas Heufer-Umlauf | ProSieben | June 2011 | €25.000 |
 Spain [4] |
Los últimos 20 metros | Óscar Martínez | Antena 3 | July 2009 | €50.000 |
 United States |
The Whole 19 Yards | Chris Hardwick | CBS | March 2009 (pilot rejected) |
Unknown |