Formats

The Pub Quiz Borrowed Its Shape From Television

The rounds, the jokers and the picture sheet all descend from broadcast formats. How the traffic went, and what the pub added back.

The Picture Round

Why almost every quiz has one, what it does for pacing, and the rights problem sitting underneath it.

Why Teams

The social design decision that made the pub quiz durable, and what it does to question difficulty.

The Television Quiz as a Machine

Format, timing and jeopardy engineered around a broadcast slot — and how that constrains the questions themselves.