El Tirón
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El Tirón was a Spanish short-format game show produced by Xanela for Telecinco and hosted by Christian Gálvez between 2019 and 2020. It aired as the final segment of the channel's afternoon show Sálvame, on the timeslot left empty by the loss of the rights to Pasapalabra (which would later return on Antena 3) resulting of a legal dispute between Telecinco and ITV Global Entertainment.
Premise
Two contestants face off trying to get a run of twelve consecutive correct answers to win a big cash prize.
Why It Sucks
- The format was devised in a hurry to fill quickly the void left by Pasapalabra on Telecinco's schedule (in fact it premiered two weeks after Pasapalabra's last episode on Telecinco aired), and it was a transparent attempt to cash in on the other show's legacy, right down to having the same host and bringing in a roster of Pasapalabra alumni as contestants, but with none of its charm.
- Abysmal production values, with the show using the same set as Sálvame with no additional dressing, just adding two lecterns for the contestants to stand behind, that made it look extremely cheap. Even the theme song was just a remixed version of Pasapalabra's.
- The sheer fact that Telecinco's legal team was enlisted during the creation of the format, to ensure they got as close as they could to Pasapalabra while working around the court sentence that prevented them from airing Pasapalabra.
- The gameplay tried to capture the electric feel of the final round of Pasapalabra, but failed miserably. Unlike in the previous show, here contestants had always the same allotted time, and they received a new round of questions on each turn.
- No new contestants who had not been Pasapalabra winners were ever cast, as the alumni who were not playing would stay in the 'bench' until one of the two current players was eliminated.
The Only Redeeming Quality
- It did allow viewers to continue watching Pasapalabra rivals Orestes and Rafa battle it out, as their duel on the previous show had been cut short.
Reception
El Tirón was panned by viewers for its cheap look, boring gameplay and having been blatantly rushed to air. It had acceptable rating figures at first, even if much lower than those Pasapalabra did, but as months went by, they started falling, to the point that Telecinco shut down the show in March 2020 under the pretense of providing more time for news coverage of the COVID-19 pandemic.