Beat the Star (Australian game show)
| Company type | Television series |
|---|---|
| Industry | Television entertainment |
| Founded | 2010 |
| Founder | Seven Media Group |
| Headquarters | Australia |
Area served | Australia |
Key people | Daniel MacPherson (host), Brad Lyons (Head of Production) |
| Products | Television game show |
| Parent | Seven Network |
Beat the Star is an Australian game show adapted from the British format, which itself originates from the German program Schlag den Raab (Beat Raab). The series, hosted by Daniel MacPherson and produced by Seven Media Group for the Seven Network, showcases a competition where a family member challenges a celebrity across multiple mini-games to claim a jackpot beginning at $50,000.
Following the broadcast of just two episodes, Beat the Star was pulled from the Seven Network lineup on 10 September 2010. The final two episodes were eventually aired in January 2011.
Format
In each installment, a family representative faces off against a well-known personality in eight diverse contests. These include athletic events such as climbing and ice hockey, alongside puzzles and other distinctive challenges. The points allocated escalate from one to eight for each successive game. Achieving victory in all rounds awards the contestant $50,000; if the celebrity prevails, the prize money accumulates for future episodes.
Episodes
- Denotes a celebrity victory
- Denotes a challenger victory
- Denotes an undecided outcome
Series 1
| Episode | Contestant | Celebrity | Air Date | Games Played | Scores | Winner | Prize Amount | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | The Mort Family | Manu Feildel | 7 September 2010 |
Pea in a Bottle, The Squeeze, Where in the World, The Firing Line, The Chop, Panic Plank & The Toaster | 10 | 26 | The Mort Family | $50,000 |
| 2 | The Carter Family | Andrew Gaze | 14 September 2010 |
Blow up the Host, Whisky Business, Hit the Wall, Shootout, Body Blizzard, Vertical Limit & The Toaster | 13 | 23 | The Carter Family | $50,000 |
| 3 | The Williams Family | Layne Beachley | 6 January 2011 |
TBA | 22 | 14 | Layne Beachley | $50,000 |
| 4 | The Gissing Family | Daniel MacPherson | 13 January 2011 |
The Gissing Family | $50,000 | |||
Production
The series was developed by Seven Media Group, with promotional efforts encouraging viewer and participant engagement via Network Seven and its digital outlet 7Two during early 2010. Brad Lyons, Head of Production, emphasized the show's concept of families competing against celebrities including Manu Feildel, Ada Nicodemou, Danny Green, Andrew Gaze, Jennifer Hawkins, and Layne Beachley. Despite this notable roster, disappointing ratings caused the program's removal after two episodes aired on Seven. The remaining installments were broadcast across December and January.
Ratings
The debut episode attracted an audience of 955,000 viewers, placing twelfth for the night and lagging behind rivals such as Top Gear and Talkin' 'Bout Your Generation. It did not match the performance of other Seven Network game shows like Minute to Win It, which premiered with an audience of 1.13 million. Viewership further declined to 862,000 for the second episode, continuing to lose ground in its timeslot.
| Episode | Air Date | Timeslot | Viewership | Nightly Ranking | Weekly Ranking |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.01 | 7 September 2010 | Tuesday 7:30pm | 955,000 | 12 | 42 |
| 1.02 | 14 September 2010 | Tuesday 7:30pm | 862,000 | 14 | 54 |