Viewers divided over new BBC game show The Button

New BBC1 game show The Button has provoked a strong reaction from viewers, with many taking to social media to express feelings of deep hatred or love for the series opener, which aired on Friday night.

• The Button review: a simple, silly yet surprisingly good new game show on BBC1

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7QwxNL72SdA&list=PLbs-Pk9dtKb98p2NCn2P-uSPQ0CnSjXnd

The show, which is billed as a cross between Gogglebox and Taskmaster, sees five families sit around a box called The Button in their own living rooms (Gogglebox) as they are given instructions to go head-to-head in very silly games, attempting to outsmart their opponents and win money (Taskmaster).

Sounds like nice light entertainment, right? Not as far as Twitter user @MVernon_21 is concerned.

"Just when you thought BBC light-entertainment couldn't descend any further into the depths of crapness. #TheButton," he tweeted.

He wasn't alone in detesting the new show.

"Drawn out. A poor man's taskmaster with annoying families," wrote @JS_Murdoch, while @Jikster2009 added: "It’s awful sadly. Worst since Don’t Scare the Hare. Have used #TheButton to turn it off."

Check out some of the criticism below.

https://twitter.com/MVernon_21/status/987419791467143168

https://twitter.com/Jikster2009/status/987416899763032064

https://twitter.com/JS_Murdoch/status/987420320041721857

https://twitter.com/Johnboy_Cook/status/987413451994730496

However, there was also a strong response from viewers who enjoyed the new series, which seemed to go down well with younger viewers.

"I enjoyed #TheButton, it lit up our family’s Friday night," @PaulGregory wrote. "Half an hour is just right. 6yo wants to know if they got to keep the inflatables."

User @EggheadNurse added: "Loved @BBCOne's #TheButton - a fun and fast paced gameshow. #TheButton obviously steals the show. Much better than the trailer led us to believe."

Check out some praise for the series below.

https://twitter.com/annamarielouise/status/987420840064094208

https://twitter.com/EggheadNurse/status/987423437416255493

https://twitter.com/PaulGregory/status/987439684602224640