Probably not worth an entire show discussion post but I thought I’d bring it to your attention, a new series of of low-key Bother’s Bar favourite Buy It Now returns for a christmas run in primetime with Rylan Clark-Neal hosting. 8pm, Channel 4.
If you didn’t see the daytime run with Brian Conley last year, it’s pitching a range of new products to an audience, and if any of the audience would still buy the product after they’ve revealed the price then it goes over to three retailers who may or may not make an order. We discussed it here. It’s very much more about odd and good inventions and whether there’s a market for them than it is about business, although everyone turning their lights on at an idea only for everyone to turn them off again when they hear the price is quite amusing.
Hopefully what was a tight thirty minutes won’t feel too bloated at sixty.
Wasn’t all this VO in the Brian Conley run, was there?
Nope, I have only watched the first several minutes but am already very annoyed about how slow they’ve made the intro and how they seem to have axed the rather catchy theme tune jingles from the daytime version 🙁
I haven’t watched this yet (I shall watch it when I go and visit my Mum’s tomorrow) but is the suggestion it’s basically turned a bit into Dragon’s Den, VO wise?
Basically, they’ve dragged out the show by doing some behind-the-scenes shots; a slowed-down introduction explaining the show; and giving each of the pitchers an extended VT about who they are and what their idea is (generally in a basic way, so that the pitch can still deliver the main detail). The action when it gets going is generally what you’d expect from the original daytime show and just as snappy.
(Minor presentational change: The lights are now amber instead of green when people press their buttons, at least to begin with. After time runs out and the buyers are locked in, the lights turn green to signify those who definitely are buying it now. The counter graphic on screen also uses these colours, and doesn’t appear to have any trace of an on-screen timer.)
If you want to show someone a neat little snapshot of what TV was like in 2019, show them this. Rylan, and an overlong intro, if Romesh turns up at some point for no apparent reason then I will be laughing my head off.
The core of it hasn’t really changed and thus I still enjoyed it. However the intro is a bit of an endurance test, and I’m not sure what the Dragon’s Den style voiceover (“I’m afraid it’s a no from me.” “Ken has declined to put an order in, but what about the lady from Amazon?”) is adding to the proceedings. I’m also not sure about the intro films, for me it’s about the products and the pitches rather than the background stories (but I guess that’s a thing for some people) – it’s not The X Factor. However I did quite enjoy the production rawness on show, and Rylan’s good with the pitchers and audience.
Basically: it’s not too bad at an hour, but it has added some of the less good things about modern TV to fill up the timeslot.