The nominations for the world’s foremost TV entertainment prize actually came out last week but The Crystal Maze was more important, frankly.
Nonetheless I think it’s time for my annual round-up of the game show category. Last couple of years I’ve been pretty confident of the winners, this year I’m not sure I’d bet my house on it. Here then are the runners and riders, bearing in mind that these are apparently the best shows of those that paid to enter:
Babushka: A really, really nicely produced unbelievably terrible format. The good news is that the judges in the end are normally pretty good at picking the right winner and will probably see through the shiny. Estimated chances? 5%.
Só Pra Parodiar: A Brazilian show and a bit of an unknown quantity, only that it involves lots of Youtubers making parody music videos. Clips on Youtube are quite stylish and well done but difficult to judge as a TV show. Estimated chances: 20%.
The Wall: This is the best show here (although to be clear it’s a solid 7/10 than a 9/10 humdinger) based around it’s fantastic set piece. Does it really do much original though? It’s Plinko Millionaire. Estimated chance: 30%
Bigheads: Neither the best nor most successful of the four shows on offer, however what it does have going for it is that it does leave an impression on first viewing (just not subsequent ones) and you only need one good episode to win the Rose d’Or. It’s also, with its costumes and physicality and “satirical intent”, precisely the sort of thing Rose d’Or judges tend to go for, for better or worse. It might be too soon after Wild Things and not be as good as Wild Things but if there’s a show on the list precision engineered to win a Rose d’Or and nothing else it’s probably Bigheads. Estimated chances: 45%.
In other news, with Virtual Reality almost as big as 3DTV now, keep an eye out for TV Norge’s Lost in Time in the VR category which has been briefly discussed here.
I don’t get Babuska. Haven’t seen The Wall (because I’m bad at French). Bigheads is a horrible show.
My money is on Só Pra Parodiar.
Watch The Wall in American!
Okay… it’s American too? Didn’t know that.
By the way, did you know this year’s X-Factor starts on the second of September? I won’t be watching, I hate that show.
No Xtra Factor this year, so expect viewing figures to sink still further…
…Good. I hate X-Factor and what it has become. Can’t wait for I’m a Celebrity though.
The Not-so-Great British Fake-Off starts Tuesday. Without Mel, Sue and Mary, I don’t see a reason to watch it.
Whilst I miss Mel and Sue as much as anyone, I do think it’s worth giving GBBO another chance. The controversy was always a little overblown, I suspect the show won’t feel all that different in the end.
Okay, I might try it now. Keyword might, I miss Mel and Sue.
Jang Dongmin is competing on Society Game 2.
In other news TV’s Michael Harmstone (@mjharmstone) was telling me about French channel C8’s Cash Island earlier:
http://www.vivendientertainment.com/format/cash-island/
On the one hand I think it sounds quite interesting. On the other hand I find French Survivor (Koh-Lanta) quite a difficult watch with too much politicking and not enough challenges so I fear there won’t be enough worthwhile to make it worth sitting through two hours with the language barrier.
If anyone has seen it and has any thoughts let me know.
As TV’s Michael Harmstone, I suppose I should give a rundown.
Ten French-speakers (I say that as about half the cast have their hometowns listed as different countries – Belgium, England & Israel all feature) are on the islands of El Nido, where a 100,000 Euro prize is hidden.
In the first challenge, they have to initially work as a team to raise a cage of jerry cans filled with water that they can individually use in the second part. Then they have to use the jerry cans to raise a tool from a pipe (think Garage on Fort Boyard). The order that they finish this in determines the next stage.
In the order they finished the previous bit, they now have to pick a number from 1-10 which corresponds with a map of the island. Nine of these lead to a dead end, one of these will reveal the location of the cash – making its owner the Master of the Game. As winner of the challenge, the first person also gets to steal a map.
Once the Master is revealed, much lols ensue. They get to set the duos for the next challenge and what challenges they will face secretly.
The duos complete their challenges – the slowest two pairs get nothing. The third-place pair wins a spot in the next challenge. The second-place pair gets a spot in the next challenge and a clue to the identity (but not actions) of the Master. The winning pair gets two clues and a spot in the immunity challenge. The clues are chosen from eighteen locked boxes.
The six immunity players play their challenge. Very Survivor. Each stage of the challenge allows the frontrunner at the time to eliminate someone from the rest of the challenge. The winner gets immunity and the power to eliminate someone completely later.
After all this two-hours-long-typical-French-TV-faff, we get to the final bit of the episode. First, the immunity holder gets to say who they think the Master is. If they’re right, they win 10,000 and the 100,000 goes back into play next episode. Regardless of if they’re right or not though, the person they choose is out.
Then, the remaining players choose who they think on Tablets. If the Master is in this stage, they don’t vote – they get to see who everyone else picks so they can bluff their way through.
Once the two eliminees are next to the frankly scary-looking host, they reveal if they’re the Master or not and piss off.
Wait, WAIT WAIT WAIT
They have 2 hour long gameshows in France!?
Not just France…
When The Wall aired in Germany this summer the episodes were two hours long! And that’s a short one…
QELT and French TAR were also both two hours. Fort Boyard fluctuates between about 1h40 and 2h20 depending on the year, although the past few have all been over 2 hours long per ep.
If the French ever decide on picking up the crystal Maze format, how long do you think their version would be?
Two hours. So let’s add in a segment where the team plays for how long each crystal is worth. And then a segment where they search the moat around the dome to find a box they might be able to open that might contain some additional tokens.
/onlypartiallysarcastic
Either that or they’d play fourteen games in fifty minutes for crystals, then play to release prisoners, then play six games (probably based on your fears) to win extra tokens.
Les Mondes Fantastiques was practically Kids Crystal Maze anyway. The boardgames were apparently the same!
Sounds like a weird combination of Survivor and The Mole…
It really is. It’s a bit weird. I’m not sure what the advantage of being the maitre de jeu would be, other than I’d assume that in the finale if they go unmasked they win the 100k immediately.
We might remember the history: the last three game show Roses d’or have gone to Pick Me!, to Wild Things, and to Pointless.
From that, I think we can say that the panel is after uplifting entertainment, a good time, something light and undemanding.
Agree that Babushka is unlikely to win, and Bigheads is more likely than The Wall to hit the jackpot.
A full episode of Só Pra Parodiar would be interesting. I can see it being as unruly and good-natured as Pick Me!, and I have a gut feeling that it’s the most likely to win the award.
Given the problems Lost in Time has had, I think the fully-working museum piece The Enemy might be my VR favourite.
watching Italian Guess My Age right now, Papi is doing a good job http://tv8.it/streaming.html
http://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2017/08/28/37747/rob_beckett_to_host_bbc_one_singing_show
Rob Beckett (an interesting choice) will be hosting a new singing show ‘All Together Now’ for BBC One.
although to be clear it’s a solid 7/10 than a 9/10 humdinger
<misinterpretation type=”deliberate”>In no way, shape or form was Humdingers a 9/10 show, Jono Coleman or no Jono.</misinterpretation”>
The results are Tuesday night, in case you were wondering.