CBS's "Survivor" may have overtaken ABC's "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" as America's most popular TV program, but don't give up on game shows just yet.
    Savvy NBC will determine if there's any life left in the genre with "The Weakest Link" (beginning tonight), which has blockbuster potential.
     As the first game show of the post-"Survivor" era, "Weakest" certainly bears its influence: A team of contestants "votes off" one of their own after each round of trivia questions.
      But "Weakest" is every bit "Millionaire" as it is "Survivor," from the slick studio to the seven-figure jackpot.
    As programming hybrids go, fusing "Millionaire" and "Survivor" is so dastardly brilliant that American viewers will have no choice but to succumb to it. Since NBC will broadcast three episodes of "Weakest" this week (also Tuesday at 9:30 p.m. and Wednesday at 10 p.m.), resistance is truly futile.
    However, there is one wild card: In addition to importing the format of "Weakest" from England's BBC television network, NBC will also borrow its haughty host, Anne Robinson. 
    This woman has made a name for herself in the UK for brutalizing contestants with her brusque manner and put-downs (Sample: "You're quite honestly the most stupid person I have ever met").
      Each round she dismisses a departing contestant with a curt catchphrase that will inevitably sweep America with the speed of the Ebola virus: "You are the weakest link. Goodbye."
     Here's the million-dollar question: Will American viewers warm to a cold taskmaster after decades of absorbing the schmoozy glad-handing of Regis Philbin, Chuck Woolery, et al.?
    My guess is a hearty yes. The contrast alone between Robinson and the blowhards of yesteryear is the real draw.
     Curious viewers will keep coming back to hear what inventive methods of verbal abuse she will use each episode. Decked head to toe in black with a British accent the average American will find snooty, she does cut a forbidding figure.
    Interestingly, Robinson was a distinguished BBC journalist before "Weakest." To imagine the kind of brouhaha that would have begun had the same thing happened in America (and Robinson does bear a passing resemblance to Leslie Stahl of "60 Minutes"), think back to when CBS "Early Show" news reader Julie Chen was picked to host "Big Brother." 
   Apparently England hasn't erected the same sacred wall American networks have wedged between news and entertainment programming.
    Kudos to NBC for sticking with Robinson, although its alternate choice of host for a possible daytime version of "Weakest" is equally inspired: the former Dark Prince of Primetime, Richard Hatch of "Survivor."
    U.S. viewers aren't exactly new to overbearing hosts. "Weakest" may seem the spawn of a "Millionaire"-"Survivor" marriage, but its truest ancestor is John McLaughlin, who was infamous for the imperious style with which he conducted roundtable discussions on his Sunday morning news program.
   As for masochistic contestants, look no further than Fox's "Boot Camp" for proof of that trend's appeal.  If "Weakest" becomes a monster hit, it will be interesting to see if civility becomes an endangered commodity on TV shows of all kinds.
     Surprisingly, NBC isn't shy about drawing a comparison between "Weakest" and "Survivor." You'd think after CBS sued Fox for copyright infringement because the new series "Boot Camp" resembles "Survivor," other networks would hesitate to point out any parallels.
    But NBC probably rightfully realizes this has got to be one of the most frivolous lawsuits of all time. If networks  sued each other every time a competitor copied a hit program, their legal costs would outweigh their programming budgets.
    Let's face it: In the TV industry, imitation is the sincerest form of creativity.

April 16, 2001 © 2001 Media Life

-Andrew Wallenstein is the television critic for Media Life.-

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