I am, as it turns out, immensely busy for much of this week 🙁
So because I’m not sure I’m going to be able to keep up, here’s a place to have a chat. About things.
Oh that’s interesting, just did some research on 71 Degrees North, a) it’s been running in Norway since 1999 (71 Grader Nord), and b) there was a US version called No Boundaries, seemingly in 2002, except they went through Canada rarher than Norway. Anyone?
Ricky Gervais is apparently a fan of USBB….look a little ways down on his blog…
http://www.rickygervais.com/thissideofthetruth.php
Beat the Star is back. Well, I mean the German version of Beat the Star (Schlag den Star). Pro7 will be airing their second four part mini series from Friday 29th October, 7.15pm-9.15pm.
To clarify with the spin-off show, the format is the same as the UK version. A civillian takes on a celebrity/sportsman for €50,000 across nine games. There are some changes for the second series, Matthias Opdenhövel will now be host but Stefan Raab will act as a joker. Meaning the challenger can choose Stefan for one game, not sure whether he will take part in the chosen game or act as the challenger’s advice. As with the first series of Beat the Star, if the challenger fails then the prize money would be rolled over to the next show.
Couple of shards of clarificaion, please Travis.
1 – The time quoted, is that UK or German time (I.e in the UK it’s 6.15 – 8.15pm)
2 – I take it that its on over the 4 consecutive Friday evenings – which I guess mean there is a regular SdR on the Saturday before (24th Ocr) then they keep the set up for SdS before another SdR on Sat 26th Nov?
I watched bits of No Boundaries. I don’t remember very much about it except for the fact that it was very very dull.
If I recall there was a person elected as leader for the week and they made the sole decision who was voted out at the end of each episode. In between there were lots of quite boring challenges focusing on teamwork, etc. I do remember that hardly any of the cast played strategically and a few got very offended when an alliance emerged.
Thanks for that, some research on the Norwegian version suggests their methods for voting out changed from season to season.
Not played poker since the BSOP but finished 4th out of 42 in a $350 freeroll tonight (thanks mainly to a mid-tourney low stack all in and busting AA with KJ off suit)
I am finding your version of Wipeout to be somewhat bland to me. Am I just too used to how ridiculous the U.S. version has gotten?
Nope – our version is rubbish. The commentary really doesn’t help.
Although I’m a bit bored of the US version. I don’t think the new obstacles this year have been all that. Perhaps something like this has a limited shelf life?
New New Look Millionaire:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mUaMpSIiVo0
The basic consensus is that it’s pretty good and better than the last year (possibly two) when no one could get close to the 2nd milestone at all, but the confusion about the lack of Hot Seat was mentioned a lot.
And then you have the disturbed people who freak out about any changes who went all Dog Day Afternoon on it. No, it’s not as good as old Millionaire but it’s still better than the US clock format. You did the clock format right. We messed it up. And then we got rid of it. Sorry.
We got the clock format right?! I don’t know how you got that impression. Having it for just seven of the twelve questions feels like a total cop-out and Tarrant clearly can’t get his head around the fact he doesn’t need to blurt out all the answers in 0.00000058375 microseconds.
Hello Alex,
I’ve applied for tickets for a taping of Millionaire next month, when I’m over in New York for a short break.
Couple of questions (should they not spot I’ve provided an international contact phone number rather than an American one)and send me the tickets (via a relative who lives over there)
One – to make sure I get in, what time do I need to be hanging around ABC on 67th St? – (I’ve gone for the 3.30 recording), and..
..two – how long does the average recording take?
I thank you for your help.
I’d show up at around 2:30 at the latest, in the area. If nothing else if you walk to the Starbucks on Columbus and 67th. It’s literally about 45 seconds away. Chill there for a bit, but I’d be sure to get there early just in case. There are fewer audience seats this season because of the new set and they do auditions during the taping, so be ready. I can’t imagine it taking much longer than two hours. Be prepared for it to run a bit late, though, especially the first taping. No clock anymore so people think a bit more. It’s not painful, but it’s not live-to-tape of last season.
Hi Marty
Apologies for jumping in, but as a non-American who saw Millionaire last year, I believe I might be of some assistance.
I applied for tickets last year in June for an early September recording. I did not receive the tickets but figured that they got lost in the mail.
I showed up at 10.30 am (approx) for a 12 noonish taping to find out that (a) I didn’t in fact have tickets and (b) there was already a line up for the standby line. I was however able to grab a priority number for the afternoon taping (approx 3.30 pm). I made sure to be back about 90 minutes before, just in case.
I saw two episodes being filmed and it took the better part of about 2-2:30 to be filmed. I’m not sure if they’re still doing auditions with the audiences (although I believe they are) so that would most likely mean that the process is auditions-taping in the morning, taping-auditions in the afternoon.
All in all it’s an excellent experience although it would appear on this page: http://www.dadt.com/millionaire/tickets/ they have a direct phone number to book tickets, and I would strongly suggest that, as you have to put a state as the address for the tickets – and I suspect that’s why I never got a set.
If there’s anything else I can help with, please let me know – leave your email and I’ll drop you a line.
Hey Alex and Ryan,
Thanks for your help and pointers.
I’ve submitted the ticket request using my the mailing address of a relative who lives on 30th St in NYC (and as luck doesnt have it, they are coming over here for two weeks from the middle of next week!).
The only pot hole I face on the road to the ABC, is the contact phone numbers, so I’ve just provided my work phone with the UK international 0044 code in front.
Fingers crossed, however the full New York address keeps them happy, and I get the tickets.
I take it if the auditions are after the recording of the show, then there is a opportunity to grab coats and make a dash for a downtown 1 train during the break after taping has finished – or are the doors bolted until everything is done and dusted?
Marty – this is indeed true. When the afternoon taping wrapped up (around 6 pm for me) those of us who didn’t stay for the audtions (in my case – wasn’t allowed!) were escorted out.
If memory serves I pretty much couldn’t bring anything into the studio. They are particularly picky to make sure a camera doesn’t slip in – you’ll get the usual US game show metal detector to go through.
Even if you don’t get tickets confirmed, I’d show up anyway.
About a year ago, I discovered British Game Shows–quite by accident, but there you are!
When I take a liking to something, I like to tell others about it, or, even better, show them. I’ve shown my good friend Chuckles Gardner some of what I’ve discovered. Some of it he has liked, and some of it he has not.
Like me, he likes “The Crystal Maze” and “The Cube” (in any language!). Unlike me, he is not fond of either “Countdown” or “Mastermind”. He does, however, like “The Chase” considering that format to have real suspense to it. However, he has only seen the Final Chases that are on YT. He has not seen a complete episode.
I wonder how he’ll react to “Only Connect”.
I look forward to showing others of my friends some of these discoveries. So far, my only question is: which episode of “The Crystal Maze” do I start someone out with?
No particular episodes spring to mind (for instance, if you end up with an episode where a team ends up with, say, six crystals and scores a slightly disappointing 55, then that’s OK because it’s probably about average in practice) but I’d try to go for something from seasons 3 or 4 if possible. (Or 2. And it’s not as if the Ed series, or series 1, were actually bad, just identifiably a little less good…)
Broadly, I agree with Chris: the third and fourth series of The Crystal Maze were amongst the best all-round entertainment of the decade. Strictly in terms of games, I’ll put in a kind word for series 5, but the purists tut because that was hosted by (the merely great) Ed Tudor-Pole. And do remember that it’s an early 90s show, some of the direction and camerawork in the early series is not what we’d see now.
I have to get this off my chest: The title “71 Degrees North” implies a much warmer show if you’re not paying attention. Or at least, that’s the mental image I get every time I glance at the title. I think it’s because I’m used to Fahrenheit, and 71 degrees is extremly habitable (room temperature, really).
Right, I’ve asked my Norwegian friend about 71 Grader Nord. He doesn’t watch it that much, but here’s some of his impressions on the differences.
It seems the Norwegian version focuses less on the ‘it’s so cold’ factor of it all. For a start, the original premise was “The hard journey frm Lindesnes to Nordkapp”, Lindesnes being right on the south coast of Norway. So obviously it would get colder and snowier as they went north, but at the beginning particularly is more ‘normal’ terrain, and it would change as they came on and off mountains – I assume the British version is staying further inland, where it’s more likely to always be snowy.
The tasks would often result in a reward like the one we saw, with the log cabin, but the focus would tend to be more ‘oo, a shower and a good meal’ rather than ‘it’s not cold in here’.
I also get the impression from him that the tasks on the Norwegian version also focus less on the typical ‘cold’ themes, and are more based on outdoor activities – ‘hiking, climbing, hanging on wires over cliffs’. I assume we’re also going to see more of this too as it goes on, from the previews.
The other impression I got from him is that it’s seen as more credible in Norway than Robinson (Survivor) is. I’m not sure why this is, possibly the style of the tasks done, or perhaps a lack of gameplay – or maybe just a lack of bikinis!
Thanks Sam, very intresting!
IIRC, No Boundaries had a unique way of picking the leader- all the contestants ranked each other from the person they most wanted to be the leader to the least, and the person with the best overall ranking from everyone became the leader (using a points system- from 1 pt for last to N-1 for 1st, where N is the number of players left)- with the caveat that no one could be leader twice in a row, and no single person could be leader more than (I think) three times).
Canada’s closer.
I just thought I’d take a moment to share my joy with you all at today’s Pointless, for US States with a Coastline, some of the answers were Mexico, Orlando (same couple!) and Detroit! I’d love to have Richard Osman’s job sometimes…
First episode, first question. Countries on the Meditteranean. Some answers given were Bulgaria, Dominican Republic and Mykonos.
The Jeopardy! 1 day winnings record was broken last night. Roger Craig won $77,000. He had $47,000 going into Final Jeopardy, and he successfully wagered $30,000 to beat the $75,000 set by none other than Ken Jennings.
I can’t form an opinion on the new US Millionaire format as I can’t quite get over how brilliant the host is…
Aussie Beat the Star bombed again in the ratings last night. Seven has decided to axe the show from the timeslot. No word when future episodes will be shown, probably in December.
Oh dear, 71DN didn’t do very well in the ratings last night.
I’m getting the impression that it’s not well marketed.
I wonder if the swap from Saturday to Tuesday didn’t help.
No it won’t have, it was commented on that putting it on Tuesdays suggested it was a sign they weren’t all that happy with it. But if you do that, why give the first one an X Factor lead-in?
Shame really.
Maybe not as serious as Nadia being rushed to the hospital, but USBB contestant Britney’s house burned down last night- and she doesn’t know it yet (the USBB finale is tonight)…
http://www.arkansasonline.com/news/2010/sep/15/hillcrest-house-destroyed-morning-fire/?latest
Not only has Challenge escaped the axe but it is set to get a huge boost in joining freeview in place of Virgin/channel 1
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/sep/15/bravo-channel-one-bdkyb
I wouldn’t be surprised if Challenge on Freeview ends up being either Challenge Jackpot of Sky Bet.