The Mole
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Mole | |
|---|---|
 The Mole UK Logo |
|
| Genre | Reality, Game Show |
| Presented by | ABC |
| Country of origin |  Belgium |
| Broadcast | |
| Original channel | VRT |
| Original run | 1999 – 2004 |
| External links | |
| IMDb profile | |
| TV.com summary | |
The Mole is a reality television game show. Mensa hailed it as "the smartest show on television."[citation needed] The show was originally created in 1999 by Woestijnvis and broadcast on VRT in Flanders, Belgium, and won the Golden Rose of Montreux in 2000. It was invented by Michiel Devlieger, Bart de Pauw, Tom Lenaerts and others. The format was later licensed in 40 countries.
Players in The Mole must work together to complete various physical and mental challenges to build up a significant cash prize for the winner. One of them, however, is "the Mole," a double agent hired by the producers to sabotage the efforts of the group. The Mole must be careful to avoid drawing suspicion. Using journals, players must track vast amounts of minutiae about the person(s) they suspect of being the Mole, such as seating positions, clothing colors, minor discussion topics, and so on. The quiz at the end of each episode tests players' knowledge of the Mole, and determines by lowest score (or slowest time, in the event of a tie) who is eliminated from the game.
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[edit] Strategy
While success in the challenges is important in order to build up potential winnings, it is also critical to stay in the game by scoring better than opponents on the quiz, usually by attempting to draw their suspicions of the Mole's identity toward oneself. Since the Mole must use subterfuge to misdirect attention from his/her attempts to derail the team, disingenuous attempts to emulate the Mole must be subtle, while still noticeable and suspicious. Players sometimes sabotage themselves so much that the Mole rarely has to tilt the table.
There were also a number of obscure and subtle clues planted by the producers. For example, in one challenge on the second US series, host Anderson Cooper was eating an apple. The apple was the official fruit of Washington, Bill (the Mole)'s home state. Rumour has it that not even Bill himself spotted this clue until it was revealed to him. Another example was in Celebrity Mole Hawaii, where the number on the side of an airplane was VS-CMH03 and was meant to stand for "Victoria's Secret - Celebrity Mole Hawaii 2003" (that season's Mole, Frederique van der Wal, had been a Victoria's Secret model). Also, a couple of episodes featured words quickly displayed in the title sequence which were impossible to view unless hugely slowed down. Similarly, in the UK version, the first word that the presenter said in each episode were linked together at the end, giving the identity of the Mole (1. The 2. First 3. Words 4. reveal 5. The 6. Mole 7. Is 8. David, The first words reveal the mole is David). Some players in later series chose to look for these clues, most often in vain. (Allegedly, this ruined the chances of Corbin Bernsen in Celebrity Mole Hawaii, as he was too distracted by searching for clues that he didn't focus enough attention on the game.) These clues were generally intended for the viewers to catch, rather than the players themselves, although often their cryptic meaning remains hidden to everyone until revealed at the end of the season.
[edit] Challenges
Like other reality shows, The Mole featured challenges in which the players received money that was added to a group pot only one would win. But unlike the other challenges in other reality shows, The Mole's challenges offered ways to disrupt the game, and ways of hiding it. Here are some examples of The Mole challenges over the series.
- Hostage Rescue - The producers would abduct a player at night, then hold them hostage. The remaining players must free the hostage in a certain amount of time. The hostage's whereabouts were generally unknown, and they were usually located in another city a few minutes away in a castle or prison. The remaining players would have been split up, traditionally in separate types of vehicles, and each group would have a key to unlock the door to get to the hostage. (USA - Season 1, UK - Season 1, NL - Season 3, Australia - all seasons)
- Plane Jump - Usually the introductory challenge in opening seasons, as it sounds, each player must jump from an airplane to win the money. If any player refuses, the prize money is forfeited. The fourth season of The Mole in Australia reused the challenge, with the additional task of memorizing number combinations prior to each jump, and having an additional pair attempt to predict who would or wouldn't jump. (USA - Season 1, Australia - Season 1 and 4, UK - Season 1)
- The Library Game - Players must find books that hold tickets to get onto a slow moving horse drawn carriage that is moving through town. Each player must find a ticket and get on the carriage before it stops off at its final location, the library. (USA - Season 1, BEL - Season 2, NL Season 2)
- Ethics Test - The players would be confronted during a rest stop to help an old lady with a chore. If they helped the old lady, they would get money. Then, two attractive women would ask for the same favor a little later. If they helped both the old lady and the younger women, they would gain money. Conversely, if they only helped the attractive women, they would lose money. If they helped neither, no money would be lost or gained. (USA - Season 2)
- GPS Game - In variations of the game, contestants must use a Global Positioning System unit, and simply utilize it to find a final destination. The UK version had the Mole sabotage the other contestants units, and in the US version, the contestants had two options at the final destination: add the prize money to the pot or examine the Mole's dossier. (USA - Season 2, UK - Season 1, BEL - Season 1)
- Riddle Challenge - Logic puzzles have been used extensively across all editions of The Mole, in several variations, usually splitting the players in teams.
- VARIATION ONE: The contestants are split into two groups and taken on a tour, the first group would be led to a room, where they must answer a series of riddles to earn money. They would then be led to another room, and locked inside while the other team tries to solve the same riddles, the only difference being that for each riddle the second team answers, money is removed from the pot. The first team must choose a team member to try and stop the other team from solving the riddles. (USA - Season 1, BEL - Season 2, NL - Season 2)
- VARIATION TWO: The contestants are split into two groups solving the same set of riddles. Both teams must complete their set of riddles within a time limit, and any incorrect answers will be added on both teams final times. (UK - Season 1, Australia - Season 1, BEL - Season 1)
- Language Barrier Challenge - A common theme in The Mole, since players are taken overseas frequently. They are deposited in a town where they do not speak the language, and must find a way to communicate with the locals to gather information needed for the challenge. For example, in one challenge, they are given two watches. One of the watches is priceless, while the other is a worthless fake. They must choose a watch to destroy by taking them to local watchmakers to get them appraised. After a set period of time, they must return to the firing range, where a marksman will fire a bullet through one of the watches. If the replica is destroyed, they win money, but if the real watch is destroyed, they must pay for it with money from the pot. (USA - Cartier Test, Laundry Game: Season 1, USA - Pizza Test: Season 2)
- Three Questions - The "Three Questions" test has become a tradition in the US versions in the finale episode before the reunion because only three people are left, the exact number of people required for this challenge. Before the challenge begins, players fill out identical surveys where each question has two different answers in which one has to be circled based on personal opinion. Later, the host leads one person to hide somewhere and the other two have to find them based on the answers of three random questions from the survey. Because no routes overlap each other, each of the three questions have to be answered correctly in order to win money. This repeats with the other participants. This was considered to be one of the most notorious games on the show. (USA - Season 1, 2, 3, Australia - Season 2)
- Deaf, Dumb, Blind (or Deaf, Mute, Blind, etc.) - One player will be blind and must navigate his or her way with the assistance of two other teams. In the standard variation of the challenge, the deaf team will be able to speak to the blind player, but will hear nothing from the other two teams. Instead, the mute team must pantomime directions to the deaf team via a camera. The mute team will be able to see what the blind player cannot also through a camera.
- The Blueberry Game - A cake will be presented to the players during dinner. All but one piece will have a blueberry topping. The person who eats the slice of cake without the blueberry will be visited in the night by the host, and offered an exemption. Depending on the number of people sharing the room, they must convince an equal number of players to break the rules and visit them during the night. This game tends to hurt people emotionally, as those being tricked are sometimes very trustful of their deceivers.
[edit] Quiz and eliminations
The quiz is the primary device of eliminating contestants across all series. Traditionally between ten and twenty questions, the quiz asks the players to identify the Mole and several pieces of information regarding the Mole, including the Mole's activity in challenges, biographical profile, their fashion and/or culinary choices during the show, etc.. The player scoring lowest on the quiz (and taking the longest time to do so, in the event of tied scores) is eliminated from the game. The US version saw a format change from twenty questions to ten questions from Season 2 on, usually with all questions available to the public. Season 5 of the Australian series had contestants answer five questions about the Mole (not filmed), plus a further five questions for the live eliminations. On two separate occasions, the live elimination computer quiz system malfunctioned and didn't record some contestants' responses. The rules stated that if this were to happen the elimination would be based on the five questions answered before the live show.
Depending on the edition, players have occasionally had the chance to alter their scores, and thus their chances of surviving the elimination. In Season 1 of the UK edition, players were given chips to replace incorrect answers on their quiz in one of the challenges. In the latest editions of The Mole in the Netherlands, players can earn "jokers" to be used at any point in the series to erase incorrect answers.
In most editions of The Mole, however, players are usually given the chance at "exemptions" or "free passes." Should a player earn an exemption, he or she is not required to take the quiz and thus safe from elimination. Traditionally, an exemption must be earned by preventing the team from winning their challenges. Season 2 of The Mole in the US saw the most prevalent use of exemptions, with nearly one every episode, and two on occasion.
A standard elimination checks each of the players' statuses on whether they are continuing to the following episode. In most formats, a computer shows a green screen to signify they are continuing or a red screen to show they have earned the lowest score. Poland used red and green feathers, and some versions have used an eye instead. Many editions had special eliminations. A player, for example, may be given a second chance in the game, should they redeem themselves in a challenge. In one edition, the remaining players had a chance to stop the elimination, if they surrendered their prize money up to that point. There have been several editions where either no players or multiple players were eliminated.
[edit] The Mole in different countries
[edit] Australia
The Australian version of the program that aired on Seven -- hosted by former Blue Heelers star Grant Bowler -- began in 2000 and has since been followed by four more seasons.
The producers offered to tell Bowler who the Mole was, but he declined the invitation, believing that he could better host the show and play around with the contestants if he didn't know. Some reports, however, claimed that he was told the identity of the Mole in the fourth season.
Like the UK version, the first Australian season included a 'special episode' which revealed all the clues as to the identity of the Mole and how close each player had been to finding them. Unfortunately, it wasn't particularly popular with audiences and so, in subsequent seasons, it was replaced by a five-minute segment at the end of the final episode in which all of the clues were briefly revealed.
In the second season it was decided to alter the structure of the beginning of the game by bringing in 16 (4 from Brisbane, 4 from Sydney, 4 from Hobart and 4 from Canberra) contestants with an early challenge deciding which 10 of them got to continue playing. This elimination process was not continued in later seasons. The second season was replayed during the day in December 2006.
In the third season, the contestants were spontaneously sent on a trip during the play of the game, but not knowing why. They were blindfolded for the entire trip back, and all was revealed when they found themselves at Seven Studios on the set of Weakest Link. They had to play a game, as well as endure host Cornelia Frances, for a shot at $100,000 added to their kitty. In the end, they achieved $14,100, which was touted as the lowest amount ever won on the Weakest Link. However, as all amounts have been rounded off to the highest thousand, $15,000 was added to the kitty instead.
The program's fourth season, in 2003, was set on the Pacific island nation of New Caledonia and entitled The Mole: in Paradise. In an attempt to steer any suspicion from her being the Mole, Petrina was eliminated in one episode but returned on the next episode after accepting an offer from the host to buy her way back into the game. While this worked for a short time, it was not as successful as had been hoped, with some of the other contestants even more convinced that she was the Mole. This series was replayed during the day in April 2007.
Poor ratings resulted in there being no 2004 season but in July 2005 The Mole returned to Australian TV for its fifth season, subtitled as The Amazing Game. Tom Williams (co-host of The Great Outdoors and winner of the Australian edition of Dancing with the Stars) was chosen to take over as host from Bowler, as he was not available for the project due to family commitments. This was met with mixed reaction from fans. This season also introduced a new concept to the show - live eliminations. The contestants spent the weekend in New Zealand working on various challenges, and then their actions were broadcast on TV the following Thursday night, with a live elimination following directly after.
| Season | Year | Mole | Winner | Runner-up | Destination |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 2000 | Alan | Jan | Abby |  Australia (Tasmania) |
| 2 | 2001 | Michael | Brooke | Hal | Australia (Victoria) |
| 3 | 2002 | Alaina | Crystal-Rose | Marc | Australia (Gold Coast) |
| 4 | 2003 | Petrina | Shaun | Nathan |  New Caledonia |
| 5 | 2005 | John | Liz | Craig |  New Zealand |
Despite strong rumours that a sixth series (which would be an All Stars series) had been given the go ahead and filmed, there has still been no announcement as to when, or even if, it will be forthcoming.
However on an episode of Good as Gold there was a segment on The Mole, whilst playing clips from the show, 2000-2005 was written next to the title, this would suggest that there will be no more seasons of The Mole in Australia.
[edit] Belgium
Three series, all hosted by Michiel Devlieger. The show was extremely popular with the Belgian audience. The original plans were to only make 2 series, in order to avoid milking and stretching out the format too much. In 2003 the producers caved in under huge popular demand and made one final series, which once again had very high ratings.
| Year | Mole | Winner | Runner-up | International destination |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Magda | Hugo | Mon | France |
| 2000 | Hugo | Marianne | Niki |  Spain |
| 2003 | Marc | Stijn | Sandra/Inge |  Italy |
[edit] Catalonia
In Catalonia, the programme was called El talp. The season was recorded in September, 2003 and watched the following autumn by TV3, the television of Catalonia. Pol Izquierdo was the showman. Players could win a maximum quantity of €90.000, but they only managed to retain 44,500 of the potential pot. Gemma was revealed as the Mole and Nùria won. Manél was the runner-up although he was the first one who correctly identified the Mole.
[edit] Germany
The German version of The Mole, called Der Maulwurf: Die Abenteuershow aired on ProSieben. It ran two seasons: the first season in 2000 was hosted by former professional tennis player Michael Stich, and the second season in 2001 was hosted by Steven Gatjen.
| Year | Mole | Winner | Runner-up | International destination |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Sabine | Edeltraud | Edgar | France |
| 2001 | Jens | Sven | Esther |  Canary Islands |
[edit] Italy
Italy took a very original approach to the game, modifying lots of the elements of the normal versions of The Mole. First of all, the Italian version of the show wasn't recorded: it was broadcast live. Contestants were celebrities who had to live together for about 60 days in a home, called "Hacienda" in the first series in Mexico, and "Shamba" in the second series in Kenya: every day a 20-25 minutes recap of what happened the day before in the home was broadcast on TV. Then, once a week, there was a prime-time live show with the contestants linked from the location of the game.
Every week, contestants had to participate in various extreme challenges, where the Mole could act against the rest of the team to add money to her Loot: different types of games were classified in this way:
- Missione Settimanale - Weekly Mission: usually a physically-based challenge recorded during the week
- Notte della Talpa - Night of the Mole: a special long-resistance challenge recorded in a casual night of the week (generally contestants had to resist for some hours in a very particular and tiring position/situation)
- Cerimonia speciale - Special Ceremony (in the 1st series): a prime-time challenge where the contestants had to undergo a particular ceremony, traditional of the place hosting the game (for example eating a particular food or drink typical of the local tradition). If the Team passed a challenge of these, then some money were decanted from the Mole Loot to the Team Pot.
- Prova d'accesso - Access-Challenge (in the 2nd series): the corresponding of the "Special Ceremony" used in the first series of the game: the main difference between the two challenges is that in the first series this particular game was only proposed to the contestants, by a production crew decision, when the Mole Loot was reaching the same level of money of the Team Pot, while in the second series this was instead a fixed moment of the prime-time live show. Besides, in the second series this challenge didn't have a money value, but it was used to give an extra penalty to the Team in the Weekly Live Challenge, in case the Team didn't pass it, making the Live Challenge more difficult.
- Prova settimanale - Weekly Live Challenge: this was the main moment of the prime-time live show, and was usually the biggest and hardest challenge the contestants had to face every week. It generally was a physical extreme challenge, studied by the production crew to put to the test the limits and the fears of every member of the Team.
Prime-time shows usually presented an half-an-hour talk moment, where contestants discussed about the topics of the week (also for example friendships/love stories developed into the home). Then it was time for the main moment of the show, the Live Challenge (preceded, only in the 2nd series, by the Access-Challenge). Then there were some extra-minutes of talk about the challenge, so it was time for the Execution: the Talpa Execution mechanism presented another big variation from the classic Mole system. First of all, a list of the most audience-suspected contestants was shown: in fact, people watching the show could vote by telephone or SMS which was their suspected Mole; so, the most suspected contestant became the first executable member of the Team. Next, it was time for the Team nominations: each of the participants had to nominate his suspected Mole, with secret votes: the contestant receiving most of the votes became the second executable Team member; in case of draw between some contestants, the one of them who received most of the votes by the audience was declared the Team suspected contestant. So, the 2 suspects had to answer a 10 questions questionnaire about the Mole identity: the contestant who got most of the answers wrong had to leave the game. In case of draw, in the first series the contestant spending more time answering the questions was eliminated from the game; in the second series, during the questionnaire contestants heartbeat was controlled by a "cardio-frequencemeter", so the contestant having the fastest average heartbeat was executed: that made the Mole executable too! In this eventuality (never happened), a new Mole had to be selected by the production crew. Another little special nature of the Italian Mole was that the Mole didn't know his role unless the real start of the game: in fact, the Mole was only informed of his identity in the first prime-time show, with a particular ceremony: each contestant had to open a folder containing a secret paper with a "No" or "Yes" inscription: so, the contestant receiving the "Yes" paper could know to be the Mole. Then, contestants had to burn in a brazier that paper (Typical of the show the tag "Apri, leggi, e brucia!" - "Open, Read, then Burn!").
Both the series were presented by Paola Perego (the first one on the second Italian state network, RaiDue, the second on the private tv-channel Italia 1). The first series tag for the show was "La Talpa... altro che gioco!" (""La Talpa"... not simply a game!"); the second series tag was instead "A La Talpa niente è come sembra!" ("In "La Talpa" nothing is like it seems!"). The 2 correspondents for the show linked from the location of the game were Guido Bagatta (1st series) and Stefano Bettarini (2nd series). Both the series of the show were followed by an average 4/5 million people audience: that made the Mole format a big success also in Italy.
Talking about the "construction" of the show, we could say that in the first series the main characteristic element was the action-factor (challenges were really harder and more spectacular in first series than in the second), while in the second edition the key element was the plot of finding the Mole, giving the show a more thriller-like look. Famous, from the first series, became a challenge where 3 contestants had to release 3 other Team members buried into 3 very small "graves" under a thick layer of sand before they could finish their breathable air (you can find a video of this challenge following this link: http://tabe2010.altervista.org/puntata_7.htm). The first series was broadcasted in 2004 from January, 30th to April, 2nd (10 prime-time shows, every Friday); the second one in 2005 from September, 20th to November, 22nd (10 prime-time shows, every Tuesday).
| Year | Mole | Winner | Runner-up | International destination |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Marco Predolin (tv presenter) | Angela Melillo (showgirl) | Karim Capuano (model/actor) |  Mexico |
| 2005 | Paolo Vallesi (singer) | Gianni Sperti (dancer) | Roberto Ciufoli (actor) |  Kenya |
[edit] Netherlands
The show has had four standard editions, and is now in its eighth season and fourth celebrity edition. In The Netherlands, the show is called Wie is .. de Mol? (Who is .. the Mole?). The first five series were presented by Angela Groothuizen, the sixth and the seventh by Karel van de Graaf. Groothuizen always used to know from the beginning who the Mole was, but in her last series, which was the first celebrity edition, she wasn't told who the Mole was. Van de Graaf has always chosen not to know himself. Before the final episode of the 2006 edition, in which Fréderique Huydts was revealed as the winner, she died of cancer. Huydts chose to donate her money to Kika, a fund for children with cancer. She also expressed her wish for the show to be continued. The 2008 edition of Wie is .. de Mol? is being hosted by Pieter Jan Hagens.
| Season | The Mole | Winner | Runner-up | International destination |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Deborah | Petra | Robin | Australia |
| 2001 | Nico | Sigrid | Yvonne |  Scotland |
| 2002 | George | John | Jantien |  Portugal |
| 2003 | Elise | Ron | Chandrika |  Canada |
| 2005 | Yvon | Marc-Marie | Lottie | Australia, Indonesia |
| 2006 | Milouska | Frédérique | Roderick |  Argentina |
| 2007 | Inge | Paul | Renate, Eva |  Thailand |
| 2008 | Still on air | Mexico |
[edit] Poland
In Poland The Mole was called "Agent". It aired on TVN. All three seasons were hosted by Marcin Meller.
| Year | Mole | Winner | Runner-up | International destination |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Agnieszka Królak | Liwia Kwiecień | Jerzy | France |
| 2001 | Mirosław Pasek | Bartosz Arłukowicz | Hanna | Spain |
| 2002 | Mirosław Grześkowiak | Małgorzata Goździkowska | Wojciech | Portugal |
[edit] Sweden
In Sweden, The Mole is called "Mullvaden" and airs on Kanal 5. It was originally hosted by Pontus Gårdinger. After a six year break, the show is back on Swedish television, but now with Hans Fahlén as the host.
| Year | Mole | Winner | Runner-up | International destination |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring 2000 | Christian Rosengren | Hans Buxfeldt | Thomas Mätzsch | France |
| Autumn 2000 | Joakim Antelius | Wilhelm Lundborg | Susanne Grundström | Spain |
| Autumn 2001 | Christine Borkman | Lena Winterros | Fabian Vreede | Canada |
| Spring 2007 | Anna Lundberg | Alexandra Öfverman | Emanuel Roosvald | Portugal |
| 2008 | Thailand |
[edit] United Kingdom
The show had two series in the United Kingdom, hosted by Glenn Hugill on Channel 5. Despite its cult following, and despite adverts to appear in the next series appearing at the end of the second, a third series was not commissioned. Both series had a special episode at the end detailing the various clues about the Mole's identity, and general details on the production of the show.
| Year | Mole | Winner | Runner-up | International destination |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring 2001 | David Buxton | Zi Khan | Jennifer Waller |  Jersey |
| Autumn 2001 | Tanya Buck | Chris Lintern | Paul Tregear (Trigster) | Canada |
[edit] United States
The premier season of The Mole on ABC in the United States debuted in January 2001. The second season, Mole 2: The Next Betrayal, debuted in September 2001, but was put on hiatus after only three episodes following disappointing ratings in the wake of 9/11, and the poor Friday time slot. In June 2002, the second season returned, restarting from the beginning, running as a summer replacement series.
In early 2003, a spinoff version, Celebrity Mole debuted. Two seasons were created (Hawaii, and Yucatan). In late 2007, Stone and Co. Entertainment secured the rights to bring back the show, and it will air its fifth season on ABC in the summer of 2008.[1]
[edit] Other countries
The Mole series have also been made in other countries such as Austria, Norway (Muldvarpen), Israel, Spain, Portugal ("O Sabotador") and New Zealand.
[edit] See also
- Celebrity Mole
- List of US television series
- List of UK television series
- List of Australian television series
[edit] External links
- The Mole at the Open Directory Project
- Mullvaden(Swedish Mole)
- UK Gameshows Page: The Mole
- The Mole (Belgium) at the Internet Movie Database
- The Mole (The Netherlands) at the Internet Movie Database
- The Mole (US) at the Internet Movie Database
- Celebrity Mole: Hawaii (US) at the Internet Movie Database
- Celebrity Mole: Yucatan (US) at the Internet Movie Database
- The Mole (UK) at the Internet Movie Database
- The Mole (Australia) at the Internet Movie Database
- The Mole (Norway) at the Internet Movie Database
- The Mole (Israel) at the Internet Movie Database
- "The Mole" Returning to ABC"
- The Mole at the National Film and Sound Archive
