It was originally announced 18 months ago, which suggests making shows for streaming services is just as slow if not actually slower than famously the-zeitgeist-has-moved-on-by-the-time-it-comes-out broadcast TV (Squid Game: The Challenge).
Looks good though. Teams Do A Bondy Thing then answer a question to win some cash, and if they Do Enough Bondy Things and answer enough questions they win a million. Fail and their adventure ends.
A rundown of RTÉ’s The Money List, which began last Sunday:
* Baz Ashmawy is the host; it can’t be a coincidence that he also presents RTÉ’s version of DIY SOS.
* The music, set, and most of the graphics are all the same as on Who Dares Wins. (The credits, however, are not in Handel Gothic like everything else, and have that annoying effect of slowing to a stop at the end as if they’re on an actual roller – an effect RTÉ seem to have liked for the last ten years or so.)
* The format is the same, too, though unsurprisingly there’s less money to be won on each money list – €1,000 for giving three answers; €3,000 for six; €5,000 for nine; €8,000 for twelve; and €15,000 for fifteen. (One might note that the multipliers here are 3, 1.6666…, 1.6, and 1.875, compared to WDW’s 2, 1.5, 1.6666…, and 2.)
* WDW had a film list and a music list in every episode, and usually a sport list too – it looks like The Money List will be following the same formula, with Tom Hanks films, Queen songs, and Irish Olympic medallists all among the lists in the first episode. Naturally, there’ll be a few Irish-flavoured lists – as well as the Olympic medallists, contestants on Dancing with the Stars also featured in the first episode. (One expects lists like Taoisigh and Tánaistí, the 25 longest rivers in Ireland, and All-Ireland Senior Football Championship winning counties to come up at some point.)
* The biggest difference from WDW, aside from the title, is of course the ad breaks. In the first episode, the first break was immediately after the second list in the first game, and the second break was immediately after the first list in the second game. I assume that this’ll be the case for most episodes, if indeed not *every* episode. (In addition to tiebreak lists and long rounds of bidding, there’s bound to be lists with big targets, lists with small targets, and lists given away after five answers or less – all of which might have an effect on when the breaks take place. Unless, of course, RTÉ are strict and so they cut out or fill accordingly.)
Four years after WDW ended, it’s good to see the format popping up again – so I’ll be staying tuned for the rest of the series.
Also coming soon on Amazon is “The Greatest Show Never Made” – about a fake reality show set up in 2002 which I’ve vague memories of reading about. Essentially promised people £100k for a C4 show then turned up and found out the format was basically earn the money in a year and no broadcaster was attached.
https://metro.co.uk/2023/10/07/the-greatest-show-never-made-tells-story-of-wild-unheard-of-tv-scandal-19620774/