Six different formats for the questions have been used during the programme's run for the elimination rounds in each game: For round two, the Question Master places the card into the respective plastic sleeve and reads the questions and list of answers. Graham, Alison (10 June 2013). "Pointless star Richard Osman on the show that made him a TV heart-throb". Radio Times. Archived from the original on 19 September 2018 . Retrieved 24 January 2014.

Episode 50 was a celebrity special. Series 3 took breaks on: 4–14 October and 22 November–21 December 2010.Part Identification - Introduced in Series 24, contestants are shown seven items and four groups into which they must be sorted (e.g. given a list of seven parts of the human head, decide whether each is found in the brain, ear, eye, or mouth). Each contestant selects one item and must identify the group to which it belongs. As in "Clues and Answers," a new board is played on each pass, and an incorrect guess leaves that item available to opponents. After both passes are complete, the team with the highest score for the round is eliminated from the game. In the event of a tie for high score, the affected teams are allowed to confer and offer one more answer to the question as a tiebreaker. If the scores remain tied after this pass, the question is thrown out and a new one is played. All scores are reset to zero at the beginning of Round 2.

Five books have been released of the show: The 100 Most Pointless Things in the World, The 100 Most Pointless Arguments in the World, The Very Pointless Quiz Book (not to be mistaken for The Pointless Book), The A-Z of Pointless: A brain-teasing bumper book of questions and trivia and "A Pointless History of the World". All five were released by Coronet. In the books, Armstrong and Osman give their insight into pointless matters. Clarke, Donald (26 October 2014). "PointlessGate isn't really a scandal". The Irish Times. Archived from the original on 28 January 2015 . Retrieved 24 January 2015. a b TV and Radio (6 June 2013). "Pointless it may be, but Alexander Armstrong's gameshow is certainly addictive". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on 6 June 2013 . Retrieved 6 June 2013. Teams of two contestants attempt to provide answers that are not only correct, but also as obscure as possible. The programme initially featured five teams per episode, but the field was later reduced to four. On each episode, contestants answer a series of questions that were put to 100 members of the general public in a previously conducted online survey, which had a time limit of 100 seconds. Once a question is asked at the start of a round, the contestants are given details as to what constitutes a valid answer. If a team's answer is correct, they score one point for each participant who gave it during the survey; an answer given by none of the participants is termed "pointless" and adds nothing to the team's score. Incorrect answers add a penalty of 100 points. Once a question or pass is complete, depending on the specific format of the round, any remaining pointless answers are stated along with the high-scoring answers given in the survey, usually the top three.

Richard Osman reveals the secrets of Pointless". Radio Times. 16 January 2017. Archived from the original on 21 October 2020 . Retrieved 12 October 2020. Tomasz Kammel i Radosław Kotarski poprowadza teleturniej "Tylko ty" w TVP2". wirtualnemedia.pl. 21 January 2014. Archived from the original on 2 February 2014 . Retrieved 31 January 2014. Pointless debuted on BBC Two on 24 August 2009. The success of its first three series led the BBC to move it to BBC One from 2011. From late June to mid-July, the programme usually takes a two-week break to make way for the Wimbledon Tennis Championships. On occasions when BBC1 carries live broadcasts of major news or sport events, the programme is transferred to BBC2, for example during the pandemic of 2020. As of April2023 [update], the programme is airing its 29th series [1] and has had peak audience figures of over 7 million viewers. [2] An offshoot of the show entitled Pointless Celebrities was first shown in 2011 and as of April2022 [update] had reached series 15. [3] The format has been exported internationally.

For round three, it is a head to head challenge, the Question Master again places the card into the respective plastic sleeve and reads the questions and list of answers. The game is played until one player/team wins two of the questions. For example, the topic is TV & Radio, any actor who is credited in seven or more episodes of Little Britain. If you answered David Tennant, then you would be incorrect! But if you said Stephen Aintree, then you are correct and awarded just one point. If you selected David Walliams, you will get 56 points which is not the idea at all.

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On Saturdays at selected times. First series recorded without the dividers between celebrities after COVID restrictions. Series 16 took breaks on: 21 November–9 December, 15–28 December 2016 and 24 January–23 February 2017. We started Pointless thinking it would be a bit of fun... 1,200 shows later, we're still here' ". Belfast Telegraph. 10 December 2016. Archived from the original on 26 June 2022 . Retrieved 9 March 2021. The two remaining teams compete against each other, answering questions with the intention of finding the lowest scores possible. Both teams can now confer and the winning team of this round moves on to the Final. The format of this round has differed, as listed below: Vildbjerg-lærere var tæt på tv-gevinst". Herning Folkeblad (in Danish). 16 February 2021. Archived from the original on 11 April 2021 . Retrieved 11 April 2021.