Some final thoughts on University Challenge and Only Connect

So, it's been two weeks since UC finished up for the Spring, and one week since OC's finale. So, time for those final thoughts I promised you. This won't take too long I hope, as they're mostly the same points I've made before, but still...

Well, overall, both were excellent series. UC started a bit slowly in the first round, but hit its stride in the second, and remained enthralling for the rest of the series, not evenly the slightly disappointing final souring the series at all.

OC also had a somewhat difficult start, with its new format not at all clear, and it took us a while to work out what exactly was going on. And I think we all like the format idea that means no team goes out after a win and a single defeat, something a lot of us feel quite strongly about in terms of UC's format. The fact that the eventual winners came as far as they did after losing their first match, and one of the semi-finalist teams also lost en route and came through the extended round, just shows that the format is justified.

There was one issue with the format though: the quarter-final process did drag a bit after all the earlier play-offs and so on. It would've worked a bit better, IMO, if they'd just done straight knockout in the quarter-finals.

I mean, look, I have nothing wrong with the extended quarter-final phase, it worked very well for OC in the five series it was used entirely in, as it meant all teams got at least two matches. And that was, I thought, the reason it was introduced in the first place, to stop really good teams only getting one game due to a very unlucky first round draw.

I was, therefore, somewhat surprised when, last series, the show decided to no longer do it like that. I know the extension to 37 shows was designed so it could run alongside UC all series, but, to be quite honest, whereas 37 shows just about makes it with UC, it is a bit long for OC IMO. Half the time, especially in the later stages, I had to swot back on previous reviews to write my recap of a team's prior progress.

As for UC, well, it's been nearly a decade since the extended quarter-final stage was introduced. I'm still not an enormous fan of it being used following a sudden death second round; as Aethelstan points out, a lot of the teams that fell in the second round, this year in particular, can consider themselves unlucky not to reach the group stage.

I suspect both these formats will be around for both shows' next series, and I'm fine with that. The only real issue with OC's format is the number of teams that only get one game; the issue about the group stage dragging after it is only a minor complaint, though I still think sudden death QFs would fit better with the format.

Now, the future of this blog.

As you may be aware, these reviews have become increasingly harder for me to write these last couple of years, due to a lack of imagination, I keep saying the same things most weeks. And while some of them are habits I have been unable to break out of, some I just cannot think of a different way of phrasing.

Now I mention it, I do think the extended formats might have something to do with this fatigue. Keeping a blog series running for 37 weeks does wear one out somewhat. Usually, at the start of the series, I am a lot keener to do the reviews than I am by the time the series ends.

On the other hand, I have been running this blog in the same format for six years now, and maybe now is the time for change. Next series, I will either carry on the way things are at the moment, or I may decide to change things up a bit.

So, yes, I am going to do another series of write-ups on here, but maybe, just maybe, in a new style. Nothing set in stone yet; if I do decide to change formats, I will probably only decide to do so nearer the time.

For now, though, this blog is being put on its now usual hibernation until Quizzy Mondays return in July. Thanks once again to all who have commented on the blog or on Twitter over the past ten months, been great correspondence as always!

So, until we next meet, whenever that is, and in whatever form, good night, and stay safe!