Reports this morning suggesting ITV have picked up The Masked Singer, we look forward to seeing what level of celebrity they manage to get for it (who’s behind the lion mask? it’s Christopher Biggins!).
Also reported, there might be a US version of The Crystal Maze in the works. On the one hand, imagine The Crystal Maze but American. On the other hand, imagine The Crystal Maze but American. Little Lion (of live experience fame) were meant to be expanding into the US, weren’t they?
Feels like a Neil Patrick Harris gig.
Not sure who I’d *want* to do it though, Aisha Tyler?
Aisha Tyler would be a decent call, I think, could probably play the tone of not *quite* being on the side of the team fairly well. Another one who I think might fit if they’re going for something vaguely Ayoade-esque rather than the more ‘adventurey’ type: Ben Gleib.
Richard O’Brien era of The Crystal Maze – 14 or 15 games (and a 16 in Season 1)
Ed Tudor-Pole era – 13 games
Richard Ayoade era – 10 games
As we know, the American broadcasters *love* ad breaks and the audience *love* to get to know the personalities – so which zone will the one remaining game be played in?
As for Little Lion – in addition to the recent move to the Trocadero in the West End, they are apparently working on a “immersive theatre experience” in the US. Not able to find any more details at the moment…
A US hour is six acts, I believe, so Act 1: get to know the contestant’s personalities, Act 2: hear contestant’s emotional life-affirming backstory, play a game. Move to next zone. Acts 3-5: See Act 2. Act 6: Emotional life-affirming backstory of final contestant, Crystal Dome.
But it’ll have a budget and look wicked!
I want Gregg Turkington to host, of Neil Hamburger and On Cinema “fame”.
Who it will probably be: David Hasselhoff.
The host of the All-New Star-Studded $50,000 The Crystal Maze would surely be Mike Myers in character as Tommy Maitland, fresh from his glorious success (*) with the The Gong Show revival and looking for somewhere else to take his character act. But the Crystal Dome will have real $100 bills being blown around inside the Dome, and if the all-star team manage to collect $10,000 or more, after deduction of $100 penalty tokens, then the charity donation will be increased to the $50k jackpot!
sigh
I’d be well up for Mike Myers as Mazemaster, tbh.
ABC in the U.S. have announced that, beginning 12 June, their Wednesday nights (in addition to Sundays) will be given over entirely to game shows.
8pm: Press Your Luck
9pm: Card Sharks (aka Play Your Cards Right)
10pm: Match Game (aka Blankety Blank)
https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/here-are-abcs-summer-2019-premiere-dates-1200868
I’m interested to see how Press Your Luck and Card Sharks do as hour long shows (presumably two half hours back to back).
only would work if its for streaming. they games ARE the crystal maze, and that needs to be spread out properly. im sorry, wont work if its broadcast.
In random TV ratings news, Hard Quiz is now the most popular show (728k viewers) on the entire ABC Australia network. Series 4 just ended, but they’re casting for Series 5.
https://tvblackbox.com.au/page/2019/4/14/week-15-ratings-wrap
(The same report also notes the collapse of Sunday Night Takeaway, which wraps up tonight, to just 161k.)
Hard Quiz Series 4 finale: https://southhemitv.com/2019/04/10/hq-4-10/
Has the show ever had foreign adaptations? I guess originally Fort Boyard took precedence.
It’s an obvious format to have one global set and bring in other countries to film but do suspect the US more than anywhere would need zones more tailored to them.
Ironically, the US was one of the first places where the original producers tried to sell the format. But when they came to see the set and how long everything took to film, they concluded it was just to expensive.
Fast forward 30 years and now they spend three times that amount on a motorised chair.