25 Words or Less (game show)

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25 Words or Less is an American television game show based on the board game of the same name. Hosted by Meredith Vieira, this show is produced by Dino Bones Productions, Is or Isn't Entertainment, Regular Brand, and distributed by Fox First Run. It first aired in summer 2018 as a three-week summer trial run on nine Fox Television Stations and premiered as a regular series on September 16, 2019.^[1][2]

History[]

The show premiered on September 16, 2019.^[3]

On November 13, 2019, Fox renewed the show for a second season, which launched on September 14, 2020.^[4] The second season featured some staging differences to accommodate for the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States, with the two competing teams separated into pods and Vieira hosting remotely from her personal basement studio at her home in New York City.^[5] On November 18, 2020, the series was renewed for two additional seasons, through the 2022–23 season.^[6]

Gameplay[]

Two three-member teams, consisting of a contestant and two celebrities (two contestants and one celebrity in season 3), compete in the game.

First Round[]

In the first round, team members are called up to the host's podium, one on one, with the contestants going second in the play order. At the podium, they are shown a list of five words to convey to their teammates in 45 seconds. In the second season, instead of coming up, the list is shown on the tablet of the two players.

Starting with a varying number of clue words set by the host as the opening bid, the face-off contestants bid against each other as to how few clue words they can use to complete the round. The bidding continues until one of the contestants concedes to the other contestant's bid. The contestant who wins the bid then plays the game using the number of words they bid. The contestant can pass on a word if it is too difficult, returning to any passed words if time remains on the clock.

The clue givers cannot use the word itself as a clue, or any part of the word, nor can they use any derivative form of the word in the clue, as doing so will instantly end the round and award their opponent the points. The round also ends if the clue giver goes over the set clue word limit in each round.

As it is a word game, contestants giving the clues cannot use their hands and must keep them on their handheld tablet. Contestants score 250 points if they are successful in getting all five words within the 45-second time limit. The other team receives the points if the playing team fails to complete the round.

Contestants and celebrities have an individual tablet and compete in separate studios in Seasons 2 & 3 due to social distancing guidelines resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic in the United States. Only the players active in each round see the clues on their tablet.

Round 2[]

Round 2 begins with the contestants at the podium while the celebrities are in a soundproof room offstage. In the second season of the show, the celebrities are told to put on a pair of noise-cancelling headphones with music playing in them. In the third season of the show, the contestants are told to put on a pair of noise-cancelling headphones with music playing in them.

Contestants are shown a series of five sets of three words which have been determined by the producers to be of distinct levels of difficulty (in season three the celebrities see the sets of words). Green words are easy to give clues for and are worth 250 points, yellow words are more difficult and are worth 500 points, and red words are the most difficult and are worth 1,000 points.

The contestants/celebrites alternate first choice of the three words to place in their own five-word stack, with the trailing team choosing first in the first, third and fifth word sets. The leading team who chooses second picks from the remaining two words in the set. The unchosen third word in each set is discarded. Once the process is done, the contestant/celebrity plays their five words.

The trailing team goes first. The teams have 45 seconds and a set limitation of 20 words. Contestants score the points for each successful word and gains an additional 1,000 point bonus for successfully getting all five. If the clue giver gives an illegal clue in this round, the word in play is thrown out and the team forfeits the shot at the 1,000 point bonus, but the round continues.

The round will end early if:

• The clue giver goes over the 20 word limitation.
• The team that goes second earns more points than the first team before all five words are guessed.
• The clue giver on the second team gives an illegal clue on a word that would make it mathematically impossible to catch up to the first team.

The team who has the most points is the champion and moves on to the Money Round to play for $10,000. The losing contestant/team from the main game receives consolation prizes.

In the event of a tie, both civilian contestants face off at the podium with buzzers. The host will begin giving clues to one final word. The first contestant to buzz gives their answer. If correct, they are declared the winner and advance to the Money Round; if incorrect, their opponent wins.

Bonus Round: The Money Round[]

In the Money Round, the champion must convey 10 words to their celebrity partners (or in Season 3 one civilian partner and the celebrity) in one minute with the maximum of 25 clue words available to them. If the contestant can get the two partners to solve all 10 words, the champion wins the grand prize of $10,000.

If they do not succeed, the champion/civilian partners in season 3 receive consolation prizes. If the champion/designated clue giver from season 3 on goes over the 25 clue word limit or gives an illegal clue at any time, the Money Round automatically ends.

For the second season of the show, a new rule was introduced in which the contestants are also playing for a "SuperFan" who registered via the show's website or on social media accounts. The losing contestant in the main game gets a consolation prize, and the losing SuperFan that they played for receives a $100 gift card. If the champion in the Money Round wins the $10,000, the chosen SuperFan receives $1,000 as well. If the champion fails to win the Money Round (via running out of time/going over the 25 clue word limit/giving an illegal clue), the chosen SuperFan will receive the gift card.

In Season 3 the SuperFan rule returns and a new rule is in play where the team that wins and advances to the Money Round will return for the next episode and can continue to do so until they are defeated, regardless of the outcome.

References[]

External links[]

• 25 Words or Less at IMDb