Weakest Link hits US screens

Anne Robinson prepares to win over the Americans

American audiences are gearing up for their first taste of Anne Robinson after one of the country's biggest promotional campaigns.

The Weakest Link game show - which spawned the catchphrase "You are the weakest link, goodbye" - gets its first airing on NBC at 8pm (0100 BST) on Monday.

The network has embarked on a huge advertising campaign to promote the show and its presenter, portraying her as a British dominatrix.

This is the first time a quiz show has been sold to the States with the presenter continuing to host.

The Weakest Link proved a success in the UK when it went out on weekly teatime slots on BBC Two, rapidly achieving cult status.

Six year option

While remaining a teatime show, it now also has a primetime BBC One showing, with a larger prize pot.

Robinson is slated to present The Weakest Link in America for up to 16 weeks, but the network has optioned her services for a further six years.

Her reported fee for roughly four months work is £1m.

The Weakest Link has been sold to 18 countries around the world so far.

The former Watchdog presenter said: "In almost every case the country has worked out that it needs a female host because I do not think a guy could be that rude to women.

"So around the world women in the afternoon of their years are hosting a game show for the first time."

Ruthless

NBC will be keeping a close eye on the ratings of the first show.

Network bosses are notoriously ruthless when they see a show is performing badly and will pull the plug after only a few airings.

But early indications show The Weakest Link has already garnered a great deal of interest.

Media pundit Matt Wells of The Guardian told BBC News 24: "According to early reports she has gone down well with audiences at the first recordings."

Britain's other big game show export Who Wants to Be a Millionaire continues to perform well in the ratings with an estimated 10 million viewers.

Mr Wells added: "Big shows like the Price is Right and Wheel of Fortune came from the States.

"It's interesting that we have managed to turn it around.

"With Millionaire and Weakest Link we have hit on a very simple format of questions and answers and have packaged it in a modern way."

The US version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? is the biggest competition to the new quiz show, and audiences have been boosted by two jackpot wins in the last seven days.