Sarcastic Voiceover

By | June 1, 2010

I’ve just watched Four Weddings for the first time aka Come Wedding With Me and I thought it was quite entertaining. Except for the ironically nicknamed Steve “Sparky” Parker’s whose sarcastic voiceover really lacks any kind of the spark that Dave Lamb manages.

This led me to the following wacky thoughts:

  • Surely it’s about time there was a one-off show where sarcastic voiceovers get to sit in and judge other sarcastic voiceovers, whilst a sarcastic voiceover voicesover sarcastically.
  • I think this subgenre of gameshow needs to have its own name. Criteria is that it involves people judging each other at a certain thing whilst a voiceover makes sarcastic comments in the background and purporting to be about one thing but actually being about, you know, people. This includes Come Dine With Me and Four Weddings, but does not include shows like Coach Trip which lacks the responsibility element. What should this subgenre be called?
  • They’re making special US editions of Come Dine With Me for BBC America. Is this going to work?
  • Where else can the genre go? I notice they’ve done Four 21st Birthday Parties (clever title, that), House Guest (dinner parties AND staying over), that thing with the B and Bs, what next?

16 thoughts on “Sarcastic Voiceover

  1. sphil

    I’m fairly sure Harry Hill has covered an interior (and exterior) design version of the format.
    Surely the logical step for the format is to have the guests take it in turns to cook the meal, at one of the other guests homes. You then have bitch fighting as to who’s to blame its all gone wrong (as it inevitably will when cooking in someone elses home), the host or the chef!

    I call it ” Go Dine With Them.”

    Reply
  2. CMD on a different browser

    *giggles at your La Juste Prix Tweet*

    I suppose they would be mutual judgment shows, though it’s not a terribly snappy sort of title, as the emphasis is on the judgment – even if not entirely on the scored part of judgment. If you prefer something snappier and only barely less accurate then they could be bitchfest shows.

    Reply
    1. Jellybean

      I believe that was actually pitched at one point by Endemol under the title ‘A Funeral to Die For’. This is not a joke.

      Reply
  3. Alex

    I have an idea in which four employees of four different tuna canneries work a 9-5 shift at each cannery, giving ratings out of 10. I think I’ll call it Come Brine With Me.

    OH HA HA BLOODY HA.

    Reply
  4. NJ

    In Canada right now reporting that the new Wipeout stuff is decent but not astounding. Howie Mendel works well for America’s Got Talent though.

    Reply
  5. David

    Two somewhat related items…

    The Cube can be beaten…at least in Portugal..

    http://www.rtp.pt/blogs/programas/ocubo/

    and speaking of which, if you look up a Cube-based place, you might get to Ask The Family a question (about the late ’90s, not the ill-fated D&D game)

    Reply
    1. Andrew Warren

      That guy needs to be tested to determine whether or not he has X-ray vision!

      Reply
  6. Gizensha

    Would a logical, if presumably bland in comparison, take on the format be ‘these five people are in various creative writing groups…’

    Reply
  7. Greg

    Has anybody seen Wipeout yet? I thought it was great some very good new games there, really wish we would use the US set instead.

    Reply

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