Yo.
You can continue to talk about Million Pound Drop in the previous post, but as I’m out of the loop, please have a chat here about things that people (i.e. me) might have missed. Ta.
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Yo.
You can continue to talk about Million Pound Drop in the previous post, but as I’m out of the loop, please have a chat here about things that people (i.e. me) might have missed. Ta.
I haven’t seen anyone mention it so quick rundown on series 4 changes with old Bar CBBC favourite Trapped.
Basically the show is now based around fairy tale tropes, stuff like the child eating witch from Hansel and Gretel and Princess and the Pea have been used as games. The titles have now fully kicked the rhyme stuff in the head and now run the Caretaker’s explaination of the rules. Wily Sneak’s also had a bit of a haircut, which I’m not too keen on. The only real game change is with the Fight for Freedom, which is now a first to 4 point game, get question right for point, get it wrong point goes to opponent. The questions have gotten way more evil with smaller and smaller details as well. Asking who was second to leave the cage at the beginning of the show is a standout one. Still fun to watch really, given that pretty much everything is a style change. The tower’s gotten a bit overgrown as well.
Canada’s Worst Driver is back for season numero six, and yet again; 8 drivers outed by their relatives for potentially being one of the country’s worst. They picked a good batch of contestants this time around; Diane is afraid of driving even short distances, Jamie became afraid of driving after hitting some elderly and puts blame on his parents, Brad keeps wrecking, Lance is a horrible driver whose nominator is ironically a parking enforcer, Dale keeps wrecking, Scott keeps speeding, Dean is from Zimbabwe and doesn’t quite get the rules yet, and motorcycler Paul has a desire to face his fear of four-wheeled driving.
Hilarity ensued on the first challenge, where they used a NEW CARRRRR~ (a new Chevy Camaro) on the initial “reversing curves and 50km/h slalom” challenge. You wouldn’t believe how wrecked up it was by the end
Ahh! You referred to CWD in a previous thread and made me feel even more behind on my acronyms than usual. All is revealed.
Link-o-rama: Metro lists somequiz show egg-heads. Nothing here you won’t already know, but flagging it up anyway, lest anyone should need something to read to fill 45 seconds.
Tried to post a comment on that, but to no avail.
What is it with newspapers and how they go about as regards the posting of comments on their sites?!? >:(
If you want to know, my comment would have stated a few other achievements by Gail the Great and Amazing Alex, all to do with starters. It would have also pointed out that Corpus Christi accumulated 1,510 points, not 1,200 as the article states.
It is the unofficial Connecting Wall app!
Million Pound Ratings up to 2.3 million yesterday. Viewers loving what they are seeing. Yesterday’s episode was much better due to the contestants.
Pointless board game mini-review:
Basically, it’s based on the series 2 format.
– In Round 1, each team/player names an answer blind (I think only one pass, though). Each player/team takes a turn on being Richard.
– Round 2 – pick one of seven from the board. At least one Pointless, at least one wrong answer. This time everyone plays every question, since you use a plastic wallet to cover the scores on the card, and then you look up your own score.
– Round 3 – head to head. Not sure how this differs from Round 1, since I think everyone still plays this one (see below).
– Round 4 – end game. Instead of getting a pointless, each team just has to score the lowest they can.
Good points:
– Nice “bits”, including a cardboard Pointless trophy.
– Each round has been quite cleverly rejigged so that instead of people being knocked out after each round, they stay in until the end. The benefit of being good in rounds 1 to 3 is that you get the chance to suggest more possible answers in the end game.
– 334 topics is quite a lot of questions.
Bad points:
– No electronic device to reveal the score, which is possibly a missed USP opportunity.
– Surprisingly complex rules, for what should be a very simple game. You also need to keep track of the scores on a scorepad.
– Ugh, they’re all old questions from past series. This doesn’t hurt quite as much as you’d think because, flicking through the cards, you might only remember a few of the topics and then you probably wouldn’t remember the good answers. Where it really does disappoint is in the Round 2 questions, when some of the Pointless and wrong answers do stick in your head. I think they really could have gone the extra mile here and suggested some new topics even if it meant doing a few new surveys.
– No black ‘media’ glasses to wear while you’re question master.
If you’re a fan of the show, 7/10. Everyday punters would rate it 8/10.
Hmm, sounds like quite a decent tie-in, especially for someone who didn’t watch much of the first couple of series
OK, to clarify, the round 1 is two passes, in the same style done on the show, whereas round 3 is just one guess each.
In other news, the Krypton Factor board game thinks that there’s a tennis player called Raphael Nedal and thinks that Henry VIII had six wives *sounds alarum*.
But Henry VIII did have six wives… didn’t he?
Divorced, beheaded, died, divorced, beheaded, survived…
Except several weren’t technically valid marriages, so it was more like annulled, beheaded, died, abducted by aliens, turned out to be two dwarves in a long overcoat, survived.
He married six times, but since an annulment means that the marriage was never valid in the first place, he didn’t have six wives. I think QI said the answer was 3 or 4, depending on your point of view.
Million Pound Drop has got this wrong too.
Now 101 Ways To Leave a Gameshow SENSATIONALLY not-actually-axed:
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/tv/news/a284582/bbc-denies-101-ways-to-leave-axe.html
This is almost as thrilling as the show itself.
Too early to announce a second series of “100 Ways”?!
I’ve seen it referred to as 99 Ways… elsewhere.
I don’t know, you have a title based around a conceit…
Well I told you yesterday that it is Endemol who have decided not to continue making the show, hence why all the articles which previously said “BBC axed the show” were incorrect.
It’s certainly taking as long to resolve the question
Linkmania: A first-time quiz contestant on her Pointless experience from York Uni’s online student newspaper.
http://www.joystiq.com/2010/10/28/you-dont-know-jack-coming-january-25/
Yep, You Don’t Know Jack coming out on all the main consoles (US only) in January. HELL YES.
This week’s extras from The Apprentice: You’re Fired The Late Night Redux…
* Melissa’s performance in the bread task is revisited. Melissa admits she was no good at delegating.
* Stuart Baggs The Brand is “the one that got away”.
* Dara points out the size of Melissa’s shoulderpads in the boardroom scene. Despite his mockery, the panelists like her 1980s fashion style.
* Discussion of Chris, leader of this week’s winning team. Grace Dent observes that in a previous task, Chris persuaded Stella to don a bikini to model the Cüüli, but this week he declined to wear the elasticated vest himself.
http://www.justin.tv/hmt26
Schalg den Star starts at 7.15pm BST.
Have they changed the name of the show?
Nope. This is the spin-off to Schlag den Raab. This is basically Beat the Star, based on the UK version.
– €50,000 jackpot across nine games, jackpot rollsover if the star wins.
– Stefan Raab can be used as a joker for one of the games.
Interesting. I need to watch this version one day if I can find it on YouTube.
Are you fluent in Germany by the way? I notice many people on here watch Internation versions of TV shows. Do you understand what is going on, especially in quizshows?
My knowledge of the German language is sod all but shows like Schlag den Star, Schlag den Raab and The Perfect Minute (Minute to Win It) you can follow what is happening on screen. It doesn’t take a genius to work out what is happening. Obvivously with SdR & SdS the quiz elements are hard to follow.
Never been fluent in German, Joe but I can follow what is going on – which for me has always been a good marker of a gameshow, which is if you can follow what’s going on when you can’t understand it – then it has to be good (which is why TF1’s Cresus floored me the three times I saw it)
Sclag Den Star is a good show – but that’s only because I watched Beat The Star, so I can follow what’s going on. There are scant clips of it on You Tube though (you fair better with Schalg Den Rabb) but if you are on-line between 7.15 – 9.15pm Fridays for the next four weeks – go here.. http://justin.tv/xstreamx24
Thank you very much for the link. I shall try and catch it when I can.
I agree with you that if you can understand a show in another language, it tends to be a good sign. This is precisely the reason why Wipeout is such a hit all around the world.
I will remember to bill this on Sunday, thanks.
I think I have some sort of innate ability to work out what’s going on, my foreign chums never fail to ask how I’ve worked something out even though I don’t know the language for the various show features I’ve produced for the Bar.
Looking shows up in Wikipedia *in the native language* then Google translation is often very helpful to fill in the gaps.
This is precisely the reason why Wipeout is such a hit all around the world.
&_&
Not doing well with the emoticons today…
Any ideas as to how you can bring up the Mad/Angry and Roll Eyes ones on here, if at all?
I think it’s this.
👿 🙄
colon evil colon
colon roll colon
There shouldn’t be any spaces between the colon and the word.
Cheers Travis.
😉
(That one’s easy…)
[i]This is precisely the reason why [b]Wipeout[/b] is such a hit all around the world.[/i]
👿
🙄
It might be a hit in USA, UK and Holland but how many countries are still comissioning the show after their first series? When I last looked both Germany and Australia axed the show after one series.
Yes this is true. Endemol are very good at *selling* shows, but not an awful lot of them can be classed as bona fide hits.
Wipeout is a hit in over a dozen countries and the number is growing, with versions in Canada, Italy and Slovenia starting very soon.
How are you defining ‘hit’ here by the way? This isn’t an attack but we should be on the same page. I’d want at least two series.
I define a ‘hit’ as a programme which rates better than the channel slot average and does well among viewers aged 18-49.
If it doesn’t return, it is not a hit.
Of course, returning for a second series cements a show’s title as a “hit”. But sometimes even programmes which don’t return for a second series, I would call a “hit” because some broadcasters may axe the show due to “creative” reasons.
Would you call For The Rest Of Your Life a hit? It certainly sold.
Actually I think I might put up my old features on that and Tutto x Tutto at some point at the weekend.
No I wouldn’t. It flopped in the big markets and was sold to fewer than a dozen territories.
Can you list Endemol formats that are actually *hits* that have been made since Deal or no Deal? I’ll accept Wipeout.
Joe wrote,
I define a ‘hit’ as a programme which rates better than the channel slot average and does well among viewers aged 18-49.
Hmm. I’ve previously suggested that a Flop is a show that is a failure with the critics and with the audience, and that isn’t recommissioned – often, it’ll be taken off-air early or shunted to a less obvious slot.
Working backwards from that, I suggest a hit is a show that is popular with the audience, and not totally slagged off by the critics, and that is at least considered for another run. So Million Pound Drop is a hit in the UK, so is Total Wipeout in this country.
To add points raised lower down the thread but before this comment in time:
Endemol hits since “Miljoenenjacht” debuted in 2000? Even without considering whether it’s a hit or not, “Eén tegen 100” is too old to count, being a 1999 debut. “Star Academy” qualifies, “De Gemene Deler” appears to be a common-denominator hit. “Beat The Nation” seems to have gone everywhere at least once.
As for leading exporters, are we overlooking ITV Studios? They’ve had “Come Dine With Me”, and “Dating in the Dark” seems to have sold well. Was “Cash Cab” one of theirs? (checks) No, indie Lion TV.
Woah, De Gemene Deler (Divided) sold to a few places, but the only place it’s actually been successful is in the UK, and even then it doesn’t look like it’s coming back any time soon. Done and dusted in seven episodes in its native Netherlands!
When my Dutch contact mentioned about De Gemene Deler he classed it as totally boring.
Unless Joe can prove us wrong but I cannot see the show returning in 2011. The last series performed around 1 million viewers and many teams who were eliminated early didn’t make the final edit. In other words, nobody on the show failed at either round 1 or round 2. Which explains why the second series ran for 23 episodes and not for 30.
On another note, ITV’s The Chase continues to perform better but on a much smaller budget. The next series will be aired in the new year with a potential fourth series in the pipeline.
If you mean International hits since DOND: 1 vs. 100
With Money Drop a potential hit, as well as 101 Ways to Leave a Gameshow.
There may be others but I can’t remember off the top of my head!
1 vs 100 is interesting, because it’s actually flopped in loads of places – mainly the territories that tried to ape the US show which was always broken anyway. I’ll give you half a point for it though.
I think it’s too early to tell for Money Drop, although I accept it’s sold and I accept it gets good audiences *for Channel 4*. And ZDF.
I don’t think 101 Ways… has actually been shown anywhere other than the UK, and I don’t think anyone other than you would call it a hit! Although I accept that territories have bought it.
That’s not *brilliant* is it?
Is Don’t Scare the HARE going to be an international success story?
International deals for 101 Ways are currently being negotiated.
As for Don’t Scare the Hare, probably not 😉
If you can name another production company which has had more than 3 International hit formats in the last 5 years, please name them. As far as I’m aware, Endemol leads the way.
When they see how it was received in the Uk, how well do you think it will sell?
Saying this, I’ve got no answer to the second question off the top of my head, so fair play. Fremantle, probably.
I actually haven’t heard anything about ‘Hare’ since about a year ago. So it’s very unlikely to sell well.
Freemantle haven’t done much better. They’ve sold Got Talent and X Factor well, although both are co-owned by Syco (Simon Cowell’s company). Take Me Out has done well in the Asian market and had relative success here, so half point for that.
Their record is not any better.
Also technically X Factor is pre-2005 (2004). So only one show has really sold well: Got Talent.
If you’re having 101 Ways… Then I’m having Hole in the Wall, frankly.
I wasn’t going to count X Factor, but certainly was going to count Got Talent.
Apparently there was a one-off 101 Ways in Germany. Two hours long, or so I read.
I will tell you right now that there is one brand new 2010 format which has been getting massive interest from International broadcasters. It’s not an Endemol format per se, but from a company owned by John de Mol.
It is a talent competition called ‘The Voice of…’ and it’s a twist on the traditional talent show. It’s a singing competition like X Factor but during the auditions phase, the judges are sitting look away from the contestant. They have to judge purely on the contestant’s voice. If they like the contestant, they press a button on their chair, and their chair swivels around so that they can see the contestant. Once the contestant finishes their song, if there are judges who have turned around facnig them, the contestant gets to choose which judge they want to mentor them during the rest of the competition.
It might sound like the same old singing format to you but let me assure you, it’s not. It’s debuted in one country so far, Holland, and the ratings have been sensational. It debuted with 1.7 million (which is good anyway) but ratings have risen every single week and the 7th episode is now up to a whopping 3.9m – practically unheard of in Holland apart from national and sporting events.
This is a massive format for Talpa and there has been keen interest from broadcasters in the UK and other countries such as France and Spain. This is the NEXT BIG THING.
Also I am not over-exaggerating when I say this is the next big thing. This genuinely is the one of the most exciting formats I’ve seen in years and I’m very confident in saying that it’ll be one of the world’s top 5 most successful new formats of this decade.
It’s not even an ‘Endemol’ show so I have no reason to say what I am saying. But I thought I’d share this information with you so in a year or two years time when this show is in Britain getting big audiences, you can remember that Joe told you about it in October 2010.
Do we really need another talent show format though? Depends who the mentors are.
No, I have heard of The Voice. I predict that it will end up being a big hit in The Netherlands alone, in the same way The X Factor has only reaaaaaally been successful in the UK.
And Denmark, apparently.
Generally speaking I’ve got a lot of time for John De Mol, though.
Is the UK really that lookist? Subo, Mary Byrne, Wagner etc. have proved that you can still get into the finals on these shows without looking like Adonis or Aphrodite.
Or The X Factor could just do this one year whenever they felt like mixing it up a bit.
I wish you TV types would learn that existing format + one tiny amendment does not equate to “the next big thing”.
(And I’ll save the rant about how some of us ordinary folk have genuinely decent well-thought-through paper formats up our sleeve but the incestuous nature of the industry stamps all over any hope for us to ever see those ideas manifested for another day.)
The X Factor wouldn’t be able to copy The Voice because it would be a breach of copyright.
You say that an existing format + tiny amendment isn’t the next big thing, but YOU’re WRONG. The X Factor was a small change from Pop Idol but look how massive it is. The Voice is The Next Big Thing.
And you don’t have decent well-though through paper formats. Production companies listen to all sorts of ideas and clearly your format isn’t as good as you think it is otherwise there would be development. Typical – you’re blaming other people instead of yourself for your failure.
I can’t help but feel that that last paragraph was amazingly bitchy.
Well I’m sorry if it comes across like that. But I’ve heard people say the same sort of thing plenty of times. “Oh, I’ve got a great format but the companies won’t listen to my ideas and won’t give me a chance”
It’s a load of nonsense. Production companies DO listen to people’s ideas and if something is worth developing, it WILL be developed.
Can you do me a favour and answer my two questions on MDP and 1 Vs 100 posted on the Fun Thing Found on Youtube thread please?
“The X Factor wouldn’t be able to copy The Voice because it would be a breach of copyright.”
And how, might I ask, is The Voice somehow allowed to clone The X Factor with one modification? They very much could put this feature in if it stoked up enough interest in the programme, and this kind of back-and-forth ‘borrowing’ (kind) is generally how this particular genre has come to evolve.
“You say that an existing format + tiny amendment isn’t the next big thing, but YOU’re WRONG. The X Factor was a small change from Pop Idol but look how massive it is. The Voice is The Next Big Thing.”
What you forget is that Pop Idol was already massive, and there aren’t an awful lot of people who consider X Factor to be anything but its spiritual successor. You don’t think I could make one small alteration to In the Grid and generate 20 million viewers out of nowhere, do you?
“And you don’t have decent well-though through paper formats.”
Ah jeez, not even the one with the goldfish bowl? I’m disappointed, I really thought that was going to be THE NEXT BIG THING 🙁
“Production companies listen to all sorts of ideas and clearly your format isn’t as good as you think it is otherwise there would be development. Typical – you’re blaming other people instead of yourself for your failure.”
Production companies don’t listen to anybody they don’t know. I appeared on one of your subsidiary’s quiz shows a couple of years back and when asked about how one might put one’s ideas forward – nay, how one might get involved in any aspect of production – music, graphics, programming etc. – they couldn’t have seemed less interested. I understand it is a very cut-throat sector to work in, so I can’t honestly blame you for being so spiteful about it.
My question to you is: at point will you give up coming on here and refusing to leave until we all worship Endemol? You’ve not done yourself a terribly good piece of PR, if I have to be honest.
Tim – free offer to you. Send me a copy of your best one or two formats (not hard to find my email address) and I’ll do my best to either point out the error of your ways or try to introduce you to some people who would listen.
It’s certainly true that several TV indies who used to listen to independant devisors have closed their doors on outside submissions. A sad part of this is because unexperienced devisors have sued said companies when a similar-ish idea was in production at the same time as their format arrived. And often it’s cheaper to settle than fight your case in court.
It is not true to say that production companies or TV channels do not listen. What is true to say is that up to 20 formats a DAY land on their desks – many of them terribly spelt, illogical, poorly worked-out, unoriginal car crashes – so you need to find ways to stand out. Also, sending in formats on paper can be the death knell for the entertainment factor in an idea; there are more creative things you can do.
It’s not necessarily true that all good ideas are spotted first time around. Walt Disney was turned down for funding of Disneyland 1009 times. That’s not a misprint.
Ah, David B, the voice of reason I’d hoped would turn up!
Of course, I concede it’s a piping hot generalisation to say no production company would ever listen to an outsider, although times have certainly changed since I read the first edition of your book (over and over, I should add) and I feel somewhat of a dark cloud of pessimism over the whole matter.
That said, connections are very valuable things (learned this one composing in the States!) and I’d be delighted to take you up on your offer. Been quite a few years since I wrote out a complete paper format – the last time I did it mysteriously became Poker Face without it even leaving my hard drive 🙂