Whenever you want,
Netflix
We’re very excited to see more Korean variety programming come to Netflix (COME ON, THE GENIUS), this one sounds a little bit like Whodunnit? and looks like it might be great fun.
The Netflix blurb:
Tackling different mysteries in each episode of this game show, seven sleuths get closer to solving the biggest one of all: What happened to Project D?
Episodes run to about 90 minutes. The first two are up right now.
(Just to get this out of the way, the creator of escape the night (http://www.dailymotion.com/playlist/x57mpp) accuses this of plagiarism. No really, look it up.) after watching the first episode… I’m kinda disappointed. I wanted a actual win/fail “game” for the first episode, but hopefully it gets resolved in the next one. I do like how the murder was pulled off, although it was kinda stupid in who the killer was considering the tattoo they had…. well everyone had that. And they still got away with it with him killing c also…. why? I get that this was the first episode, and a fail state was sorta impossible considering the entire episode was K’s “test” to see if they were the real thing (with the exception of the actual murder, of course. Still, it was pulled off without a hitch…. maybe that was the intention? I dunno…) i still wonder what would of happens had the time ran out in the compass and water puzzles in the “house.” Decent start to the series as a whole, but as a game show? THERE IS NO GAME!
Also, The premise of Project D is “Really” horrifying if you think about it. (you are told that you willingly signed up for a (possibly) highly unethical experiment that has you implanted with a unstable microchip that seemingly allows you to use the intellect and cunning of the great detectives, you are told that thanks to a “glitch” is the reason that you don’t remember having said implant (and it existing within you) the entire time, and you might go insane and murdery thanks to said “glitch….”) does that sound a bit…. “Date &^%$” with science? if you really think about it, it pretty much can go black mirror levels of “oh god”. imagine someone hacking said chips for you to do horrifying shit without you consent… or, thanks to error’s, you pretty much randomly die due to technical difficulties…. or, your entire personality was programmed into you by the government ala Manchurian agent….. all without your knowledge (combined with the fact GAVE CONSENT FOR IT in the first place and YOU FORGOT.) Jesus Christ, this IS a black mirror/zero escape Concept! the show will probably not deconstruct this idea. (it’s a comedy, so i don’t really expect it to….) but you never know….
Finished episode 2.
I’m going to put this out front. Explaining what was project D at the start of the episode the 2nd was a REALLY bad move for the shows arc as a whole. It feels like a twist. It should been revealed say, midseason or something. It should have been left in the dark and have k as a “mysterious benefactor” (Aka Charlie from Charlies angles) and have him communicate via notes or something. Let the detectives figure out this stuff and have the burning questions of the show be (what is project d? what are our missing memories, why are we so special to m and c’s murders… why is the treasure owner a “sponsor” what is the true purpose of this Project. Why have we become detectives and are solving these mysteries in the first place ETC ETC)
Otherwise, the case was fine. Definitely better than the first one, as a standalone “story”. Although most of the of puzzles are Korean language based. does whole”game” boil down to proving the prime suspect as the murderer at the end? That’s a bit weak…. I still enjoyed it. Gave me Murder in small town x vibes. Still preferred the first in terms of puzzles.
Im enjoying it so far. Its a weird mixture of genres though. It has a touch of murder in small town x, fort boyard and running man. But its great to watch. I think as the show goes on it will get much better.
Busted is the closest thing to “filmed immersive theatre” we will EVER get. Are the participants(I don’t like to say contestants because I don’t feel their not truly playing a traditional win/lose game) acting? I think, compared to etn’s their more… genuine. I don’t know why though… maybe it’s because of the longer runtime (witch is the “standard”) and the editing feels it’s… one continuous go for the participants, (its clear their are breaks between filming, but it also feels like the game is on downtime (not solving puzzles/murders, but still running) or it just in another language, or running man has caused the participants from that to have MASTER improve skills. I dunno…. I also think that, compared to etn’s frantic tonal and budgetary “identity crisis” , busted is more… concrete on what it wants to be. Tonal wise, it’s kinda like ace attorney. Despite the show being about murder , it’s pretty lite with jokes a plenty light hearted moments, helped by the fact, compared to other shows, there’s no sense of “urgency” of “solve this or die” saw/zero escape/danganronpa/whodunnit ETC. as their not in a closed circle. That makes it more aprrovit for jokes by its cast. It knows it’s a comedy, and doesn’t try to frame it with a death game. (Zero escape solves the problem by playing it completely straight with only having humor occasionally (mostly in the escape rooms), and danganronpa solves it by going over the top in the black comedy route with monokuma and the bizzare and horrible situation’s the contestants face reminiscent of stuff like Lemony Snicket or Jojo’s bizzare adventure.)
There are urgent moments, but those are spaced out enough with the characters just chilling out with npc’s and solving puzzles at their own pace And they don’t just overproduce it with cgi special effect overload, overly dramatic lighting, large coreographed stunts that make whodunnit blush, actors in makeup that make face/off contestants jealous, and constantly showcasing out of place fantasy elements on the whims of its main creator and host. (Seriously joey, please get a competent writer and or show runner that will not bend over to your whims without any questions. I know you can write, it’s that you basically create scenarios for the show using a game of telephone. What your using right now isint working. Go back to the drawing board.)
I also think that having no elimination elements was the right move. All it ever did in ETN was to create boundless vapid artificial drama between the contestants that boiled down to…( I don’t like X he must die!) it was so shallow, depth wise. the drama must come though the gameplay, not shallow pettiness and random voting. Why have it at all? DRAMA!
“This brings up the major problem with the format. In the real world, the police work together, and don’t allow themselves to be sidetracked by taunts from someone pretending to be the culprit. Professional detectives don’t allow their personal feelings to come to the surface so much that they would vote someone off the case. This device feels like it’s roughly tacked on, and spoils an otherwise overwhelming sense that this is a genuine Reality Show. If we must lose someone each week, perhaps a quiz – based on the facts the teams should have learned from each other – amongst those detectives from failing teams would be less unrealistic. Lowest score goes home. Hmm. Sounds familiar. “(He’s Talking about the Mole) – Ian weaver on the murder game(UK MISTX) for his ukgameshows.co.uk weavers week collum.
Just watched the first ep – thought it was great fun in the main, although second half which was a bit more Crystal Maze more entertaining than Murder in Small Town X first half. As pointed out, quite an odd mish-mash of genres (I guess that’s why it’s called variety programming) I found myself laughing quite hard at the pole dancing lessons and the water bomb corridor.
Not quite sure what the point if it all is, but if the rest of the season is similar then I can’t wait to catch-up.
Also, as an aside, really enjoyed the English korean-style captions.
Behind the scenes thing, basically the overarching story is drama, but containing typical variety games:
https://youtu.be/7yK1qF6Groo