- The Cube: Sorry, this was actually on earlier.
- The X Factor: It looked like Cheryl actually did some singing live this time round. Only 1:45 minutes next week, they’re clearly burning it off to get it over with. (Saturday, 8pm, ITV1)
- Only Connect: Last of the first-round matches Alesmen vs Pool Sharks. Look out for amazing beards. On the pool sharks. (Monday, 8:30pm, BBC4)
- The Million Pound Drop: You should find some sort of post for this pop up sometime tomorrow evening. At least from the trailer, it looks like they’ve made the trapdoors a bit bigger. (All week. 10pm, C4)
- The Apprentice: Something something something, you’re fired. (Wednesday, 9pm, BBC1)
- The Challenge – Cutthroat: Trashy, but genuinely tough. I thought last week’s elimination challenge, involving being on top of a giant die and trying to get it into an area with a specific number showing whilst not touching the ground was quite clever, at least until I saw the size of the goal area which took a lot of the brainteaser element out. (Wednesday, MTV US)
A good week for definite articles, there.
And once again, thank you all for your very kind words, hopefully normal more fun service will resume soon.
Second repechage match on Uni Chal: St Andrews v St John’s Cambridge.
Both teams lost closely-fought matches by five points – St Andrews to Bristol in the season opener, over three months ago, and St John’s to Merton Oxford in the last first-rounder, a mere two weeks ago.
That suggests that this affair could also be tight – unless one team has a hard time with the bonuses, like Cardiff last week. Exeter awaits the winners.
There is also Schlag den Star returning this Friday (7.15pm Pro7) for a second series. The jackpot starts at €50,000.
Canada’s Worst Driver returns tonight for season 6 on Discovery Channel for you canucks. Can’t wait to see how they’ll top themselves this year
Help me out someone – Brain of Britain started again today and I know I’ve seen the name William De Ath on TV in the last year or so but I’m damned if I can work out where! I suspect there may be many correct answers to this one actually. There may even be a “Questions far too esoteric for Only Connect” in it!
William de Ath was a semi-finalist in the last series of Mastermind.
He came through as a high-scoring runner-up after losing the series opener (broadcast 28 August 2009, if you want to know) to Tony Esau, and lost to Mark Grant by a single point.
Knew I could count on you – thanks!
You’re welcome BigBen! 😉
Grazing around the channels earlier, and came across latest format forced onto The Hairy Bikers over on Beeb Two.
This time, it’s studio based (TC4 or TC8 turned into a painful and wholly unconvincing looking American 1950’s Diner) cookery show – with a slight gameshow based element slung over it.
2 families cook over three slightly different rounds during the show. First is something to do with starters, next the families favorite dish, followed by a final bloody last man standing battle using only knives, fists and a electric can opener…
ok – so it was a 7 minute supper dish challenge.
So the 2nd and 3rd rounds formats owe quite a lot to
Britain’s Best Dish and Gordon (F’ing) Ramsay’s Cook Along Live, but it does add something new to the 5.15pm slot if you can’t stand the thought of Titchmarsh and Robinson.
The show is quite watchable – if you ignore the very obvious hamfisted and brutal editing in other sections of the show.
I would like to know what the families are playing for though – all I heard was Dave saying the winners were to come back and play in the quarter finals “in a few weeks”.
And The Hairy ones play judge and jury to declare the winners of each round, as although there is an increasingly bored and tired looking audience in the studio – they don’t get to taste the families cooked food from the rounds played.
Probably something to do with Health and Safety…
I’ll give it a Gas mark 6 out of 10..
Only Connect: my wife pledges her love to the author of the picture question in the second round. Who’s the lucky winner?
*blush*
Oh god, CWD was full of excellence tonight. Well, that kind of Wipeout-esque guilty pleasure excellence.
They bought a nice new green Camaro for the first challenge. By the end, the sides were all scratched up, AND the entire front bumper panel had been torn off.
This one will be a good one to follow.
Exit number 87: Get cancelled and have all tapes thrown into the pool
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a284255/bbc-axes-101-ways-to-leave-a-gameshow.html
W00t! Glad to see they’ve not lost their balls. A decent-enough idea spoiled by style over substance.
Hopefully this kind of rubbish editing will now be binned forever.
It was “style over substance” due to the BBC making some decisions which meant that better aspects of the show had to be dropped.
What a shame. I’d bet Joe the Endemol loving robot will be distraught. No wonder Ratings Bear hasn’t been around lately, he’s probably been chasing Steve Jones and having him for dinner.
Two series of Wipeout for 2011 then.
From what I heard, it was Endemol’s decision to stop making the show due to creative differences with the BBC. The BBC influenced how series 1 was made despite Endemol not wanting to make it like that (Endemol wanted episodes to be 45 minutes like International versions). It’s the BBC’s fault for the show’s cancellation.
You’re trying to tell me that, with all that kit there, you couldn’t find 60 minutes of format to fill?
The BBC has a certain price per minute it can pay. So if the show is too expensive as a 45-minute slot, you need to either make it cheaper or don’t do it at all.
Mildly interesting:
http://www.itnsource.com/shotlist//ITVProgs/0000/00/00/Y21180001/
If Toby Anstis isn’t involved, there’ll clearly be no interest.
Circa 2002-ish?
‘based on the popular board game Scrabble’.
But obviously they didn’t go to the bother of getting the full rights to Scrabble, hence why it is called ‘Mark My Words’ to stay this side of those pesky copyright issues.
I take it this was (if commissioned) going to be a nice little on-the-side project for the Countdown production team?
Could this have become TV Scrabble on Challenge? Toby Anstis hosted that, and the date sound about right.
Edit: Oh, I think this was the point Tom H was making, carry on.