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The Mint (game show)

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The Mint is a live, late night, interactive quiz show with celebrity guests and live studio contestants filmed in a large extravagant set designed to look like the inside of a mansion. The program, which has been dogged by criticism that its questions are ambigious and arbitrary, airs on ITV1 on Monday-Thursday, and on ITV2 every night, having originally been on ITV1 every night, in the slot previously occupied by Quizmania (which was moved to ITV2).

The quiz show is also one of the main programmes showing nightly on the recently launched ITV Play. Viewers are encouraged to phone a premium-rate number in order to provide answers to various quiz questions in an attempt to win money. One of the criticisms levelled against the show's makers ITV, is that the presenters create an illusion that the lines are "open" for calls when in fact the show continues to take vast numbers of calls from so-called contestestatns.

Cash prizes on offer are bigger than other current British phone-in quiz shows and considering the answers don't usually reach the level of obscurity as the ones on most other interactive quizzes, The Min occassionaly gives away large sums of money.

The programme was first shown early in the morning on Saturday 1st April 2006 (Late Friday night). The show typically lasts anything from 2 hours to 4 hours, depending on ITV scheduling. In order to win money, viewers must either call in at a cost of 60p (from a BT landline), text the word 'MINT' to a special number or enter through the ITV website, and if selected, will be issued a freephone number and PIN valid for one entry. If they are successful they will be placed on hold, then if the computer selects them (at random), they will be transferred live to The Mint mansion, where they go on to give their answer to the current question.

Contents

The Mint

The titular 'Mint' is a large vault situated at the back of the themed set and inside is a £100,000 prize. £1 is added to the £100,000 jackpot for every minute the show is on air without finding a winner. The chance at the jackpot is given to winners of the regular games whenever a correct answer is given and the jackpot prize is rewarded if players can guess the 4-digit code that opens 'The Mint'. This code is locked in the computer and only changes when someone has won the prize. No-one in the studio or on the production team knows what the code is. After a number of wrong guesses the producers will reveal the first number and later, the second, leaving viewers having to guess the remaining digits.

On 12th of May 2006, the last two numbers were guessed and over £108,000 was won. The Mint's first jackpot winning player was Diane Baylis and she guessed the correct code of '8648'.

The Mint Mansion

The Mint Mansion isn't referred to as a 'set' and the presenters play along with the fact that they are all friends who live in The Mint mansion. The other presenters who aren't working on a particular night are said to be "upstairs sleeping". Some of the presenters occasionally slip up and call the mansion a set or mention that a certain other presenter isn't in that day; where they normally correct themselves and try to maintain the illusion.

When the presenters need to refer to the producer/director (and other people who normally reside in the gallery of such TV shows) they call them "people in the Utility Room". The camera men are referred to as 'the window cleaner' (due to them looking in on the precedings).

When celebrity guests are about to appear, a doorbell sound effect is played and when their time on the show is up, a distant car horn sound effect is played (this is supposed to be the guest's cab home).

Segments are linked by canned footage of (supposedly) the mansion and its grounds with Securicor style security guards standing outside the front door.

Presenters

The Mint promotional image with Kat Shoob (left) and Brian Dowling (right)
Enlarge
The Mint promotional image with Kat Shoob (left) and Brian Dowling (right)

Unlike most other phone-in quiz shows, The Mint is presented by two presenters at a time. The presenters get time alone for certain games and segments but the second presenter is always around and may be called on for 'Speed Rounds'. When each night's celebrity guest has left the two presenters share much of the remaining screen-time, normally sitting on sofas in the seating area, and chatting with one another about various topics amidst talking about the game and taking calls.

On one occasion, The Mint was presented by three people simultaneously. Brian Dowling, Kat Shoob and Craig Stevens were on hand to make sure the jackpot of over £108,000 was won on the night of 12th May 2006.

Former Presenters

Guests

The Mint features a different celebrity guest each night (sometimes more than one). The guests sit across from the presenter in the mansion's living room area and discuss their career, tell stories and interact with the current game (normally during the 'Famous Sevens' game). They also answer calls from time to time.

List of guests so far

Previous big winners (phone-in callers) are also occasionally invited to the studio where they collect a novelty cheque, chat with the presenters and have a chance at opening The Mint.

Every so often, there is a special event in the studio that determines when calls are taken. These often involve the special guests. Some examples have been Britain's champion plate spinner Andrew Van Buren (http://www.vanburen.co.uk) (calls are taken when one of his plates drops) and a game where comedian Mick Miller played 'keepy uppy' with a football (calls were taken every time he dropped the ball).

Games

5 Rings

The first game played each night on The Mint features 5 red phones (props) on a desk in front of The Mint (vault). Viewers must answer a simple question (duplicate answers do not count as correct answers). If a viewer answers the current question correctly, they will win a guaranteed sum of money (usually £500) and get a chance at unlocking The Mint by guessing a 4-digit pin code. Questions involve on-screen words that fit into a particular category (often celebrities' names) with the vowels missing. The answers are made even easier to find due to the presenters also giving out clues as to who or what the question refers. After 5 calls have been taken, the game ends.

Famous Sevens/Famous Sixes/Famous Fives

These are similar to other phone-in quiz shows' ladder/tower games where viewers must come up with answers to fit into a specific category, for example, 'Name sitcoms' or 'Name famous blond(e)s'. The game is made much more difficult as viewers tuning in later often give duplicate answers. If the games go on too long, the presenters have to give out clues to try and finish off the game. The ladder games usually happen during the time that a special guest is being interviewed on the sofa. These games usually have some relevance to the guest. For example, naming children's TV shows when Geoffrey from 'Rainbow' was on. The presenter interviews the guest between talking to callers and taking their answers. The guest occasionally answers calls. The cash values on 'Famous Sevens' normally start at £500 or £1000 and the top answer is worth £10,000.

Treasure Island

In this game viewers first have to answer a simple question that has numerous possible answers. An example of one of these questions would be "Name a US State" (duplicate answers are disallowed). Contestants giving correct answers will have a go at picking a number on the Treasure Island board. The board has a photograph of an island printed on it and has 36 square panels. Behind each panel hides a sum of money. There are 10 lots of £100, 10 lots of £200, 10 £250s, 4 lots of £500, one £1000 and one £2000 square to be uncovered. The highest sums of money (£500, £1000 and £2000) also give the winner a chance at unlocking The Mint. This game also involves a group of 5 live contestants that differ each night (for example, 5 male lifeguards or 5 hairdressers). After a few phone contestants have had a go at the Treasure Island board, the contestants in the studio have to answer the same question and guess a number from 1-36 on the board. These live guests can win money and also have the chance of unlocking The Mint if they win one of the higher amounts. Clues are also given in this game after a while, such as "Think South" meaning to pick numbers on the lower half of the board. Once the £2000 has been uncovered the game ends. If this doesn't happen for a set-time, the game ends after a certain number of calls have been taken (normally between 10-14 calls).

Wordsearch

A six by six square word search is displayed on the LCD TV screen facing the viewers and words that fit into a specific category (such as 'Snow White's Dwarves' or 'Human Emotions') must be found. There are usually four to six words to find (worth £100 each). During The Wicked Wordsearch on Extra Mint, the last word to be found became the 'Golden Word' and was worth more money.

Retail Therapy

Either the guest or presenter has supposedly been out shopping and viewers have to guess what they have in their shopping bag. The viewers can ask the guest/presenter a simple question where they must answer with either 'yes' or 'no'. After the contestant has asked one question, they get the chance to guess what the item is. This game is very different from anything else seen on a phone-in quiz show, but the presenters sometimes have trouble with the callers who find it difficult to speak in sentences (in every other game, viewers only have to give their name and their answer). Due to the problem this caused, the presenters give out clues at specified intervals and contestants are now only asked guess what they think the item is.

Chinese Takeaway

This is essentially a matching pairs game. A board is displayed (similar to the one used in 'Treasure Island') with numbered panels marked '1' to '25'. Behind each of these panels are different pictures of either a roast duck, a bowl of rice or a golden version of each of these. Contestants calling the show don't answer a question but give the presenter two numbers. The aim of this is to reveal a picture and then match it with the opposite dish. A 'duck' and a 'rice' makes a meal and awards the contestant with £250. When contestants make a mismatch the two panels are turned back around; future callers must memorise their positions. Whenever a golden panel is found this is also turned back around (even if it was successfully matched with an opposite dish). If the contestant manages to reveal the 2 golden pictures, they win the top prize of £2000 (and a chance at opening The Mint) and the game ends.

Instant Cash (alternate jackpot game)

At a determined interval in the show, a winning contestant will be given the choice between attempting to guess the 4-digit code that unlocks The Mint, or playing 'Instant Cash'. In this alternate jackpot game the player chooses from 8 tea pot lids (changed from bowler hats and pan lids after the first couple of episodes) which are labelled from numbers 1 to 8. Under each lid is a letter that form the word 'The Mint'. The aim is to choose tea pot lids that spell out 'The Mint' in order to win the prize amount of £5000. However, if the player is unsuccessful, they may still win amounts of money if they are able to spell another word that is in the dictionary (for example the word 'hint' can be spelled using the letters that spell The Mint). A variation of this game has 5 large bottles filled with different amounts of green liquid. The contestant must choose 3 bottles to use to fill an over-sized cocktail glass. The glass has marked levels on the side and depending on how high up the liquid comes, the contestant wins varying sums of money. The maximum win on this game is £1000.

Champagne bottle

In addition to the clock that all other phone-in game shows use to spur callers on (and get them waiting on the phone lines), The Mint also uses a large animated graphic of a champagne bottle in the lower portion of the screen. This will pop (accompanied by a sound effect and relevant animation) at a random moment signifying when a caller will be plucked from the lines and come through to the studio. Some of the presenters make gags about this bottle "popping its cork" and they often pretend to interact with it, in a variety of ways, this is especially true of Brian Dowling.

Added incentives to play

Caller selection

When a caller has been successfully selected (which occurs at random through computer selection), a message is played out to them over the phone saying that the computer will try to connect the call through to the studio. However, not everyone goes immediately through to the studio, with some contestants having to wait around 5 minutes (still only charged one flat rate of 60p). Due to this, some may hang up the phone believing they were unsuccessful. When the computer eventually selects them, viewers and the presenter(s) may hear a dead tone, to which the presenter either immediately tries for another caller, or counts down from 3 to enable anyone on another line to respond.

Trivia

An excerpt from Celebration by Kool & The Gang is played whenever a contestant wins money.

An excerpt from 'Yeh Yeh' by Georgie Fame is played whenever a contestant wins money.

Associated catchphrases

Extra Mint

An early evening version of The Mint was developed and was shown on ITV's newly launched ITV Play channel (Freeview channel 35). Extra Mint was presented by one presenter and gave away much smaller sums of money to winners. It featured very different games than the late-night edition. Understandably, there was no 'Mint' to be opened in this version of the show and the vault was covered up by a false wall with a painting hung on it.

At a defined point in 'Extra Mint' players had have a chance to win a 'VIP pass'. This VIP pass was used to get a free chance at opening the mint when the 'proper' version of the show aired later that evening. This basically meant they get a call from the show and are put straight though to the studio where they were to give the presenters their code.

One of the presenters from 'The Mint' hosted 'Extra Mint' for the full three hours without the assistance of a second presenter. They work on a rota and their schedule normally correlated with the days that their late-night shifts fell on.

On the 14th of May 2006 that last show of the Extra Mint was shown, and has now been replaced by, Friends Reunited: The School Run.

Extra Mint games

Wicked Wordsearch

see games section above.

'Mint Tea Jackpot'

With there being no vault to open a different jackpot game is played which offers viewers the chance to win the show's top prize of £5000. This is an alternate version of the late-night Mint's Instant Cash game (see above for full details). In this version there are seven teapot lids to be overturned. The player turns them over and tries to spell as long a word as possible, with the ultimate aim being to spell the words 'Mint Tea'. The player receives £50 for every letter they use to spell a legitimate word (of which there are 64 possible combinations with these particular letters). If the player can't spell a word from the initial letters they have chosen, the game is over.

Criticisms

Criticisms about The Mint and other, similar phone-in quiz shows and television channels have been levelled by various groups of people.

See also

External links

 

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