To be honest, we don't watch a great deal of live telly these days, but there's this one long-running tea-time quiz show that we always try to catch together. The premise is really clever: instead of looking for the most popular answers to general knowledge questions, contestants have to guess the most obscure ones, the ones that almost nobody in a surveyed group could think of. It covers everything from geography and world cinema to pop music and history.
We usually watch it on Saturday early evenings in our living room, right before we sit down for dinner. It's become a bit of a weekend ritual for my parents, my younger sister, and me. We all gather around the sofa, with a cup of tea, and end up shouting our guesses at the screen before the contestants even have a chance to answer.
What makes it so brilliant for us as a family is that it levels the playing field completely. Because the questions cover such a wide spectrum, everyone gets a moment to shine. My dad is fantastic with retro music, my mum knows an awful lot about classic literature, and I'm usually the one who chips in with geography or sports trivia. It sparks a healthy dose of lighthearted rivalry between us.
Above all, in an age where everyone's usually glued to their own mobile phone or tablet, this show genuinely brings us together in the same room. We have a good laugh when someone gives an utterly ridiculous answer, and there's a real sense of shared triumph if one of us manages to find a top-scoring obscure answer. It's just simple, wholesome entertainment.