…because of lack of ticket sales.
Although goodness knows why, playing to empty crowds would just be another more real and credible way it would differentiate itself from The X Factor.
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…because of lack of ticket sales.
Although goodness knows why, playing to empty crowds would just be another more real and credible way it would differentiate itself from The X Factor.
A format for the doormat. Premise: everyone loved the Torch Relay, and Torch Relay is a generic term rather than a trademark.
QUIZ TORCH RELAY
One-sentence pitch: a handicapped buzzer quiz that rolls around the country like a Torch Relay, picking up and dropping off contestants at any point on its way.
Short pitch: three contestants answer a series of questions on the buzzer. Each contestant has a graphical disc of ten sums of money, initially each of which is £1, and each of the ten is illuminated in sequence for a fifth of a second at a time (effectively, it’s a two-second clock face). Buzzing in and answering wrongly loses a life. Buzzing in and answering correctly gains the sum of money illuminated at the time of buzzing; the other sums on the disc increase by £1, but the buzzed sum turns into a cross. Buzzing in on a cross loses a life. Accordingly, a particularly successful contestant has to not only buzz in and be first but time their buzz correctly and may even be able not to buzz in despite knowing the correct answer first because they have to wait for a safe point at which to buzz in. Any other contestant answering a question correctly will reduce other contestants’ disc values by £1, to a limit of £1, and will also return one cross per contestant to a value. Lost lives can be bought back at some appropriate price after answering three questions in a row correctly.
The quiz takes place on a coach which drives through the country on a published route at low speeds (i.e. avoiding motorways, fast major roads etc.) Any contestant who loses three lives is removed from the coach and must make their way home using their prize money – alternatively, any contestant can choose to leave the coach at any point between questions, collect their prize money and have their return home paid for by staff. The nearest willing participant at that point who has not played before is recruited to be a new contestant. Ideally people will await the coach coming near them, but if someone wants to follow the coach at their expense then that’s cool too.
The quiz continues 24/7; people can take breaks as they see fit, but as long as one person wants to be asked questions then the quiz continues. Every three hours each contestant is asked a question, not on the buzzer, that they must answer correctly or lose a life; accordingly, if a player sleeps for six hours then they will miss two of these and restart with two lives lost, which can be bought back so long as they can answer three in a row before losing their third life.
There can be other fun stuff to break up the buzzer quiz from time to time as well, people have to buy their own amenities using prize money and so on. Basically it’s the 24 hour quiz, but better, with a handicapped buzz-in gimmick and a Torch Relay gimmick.
Mmm, it’s an interesting idea but it feels a bit complicated, and the producers will still have a duty of care towards the contestants re: getting home – potentially that’s a show in itself.
I also can’t help but feel that with each question being +£1/-£1/£-1 the cash isn’t going to build up very fast. It’s a bit Bid or Break.
Er, I haven’t explained it so well in that case. Not buzzing in at all causes no change, so most of the time I reckon one contestant will be playing for something like £3/£4 per question and another for something like £2/£3 per question. Of course if someone goes on a streak then the distribution could be £10/£1/£1 but it’ll probably give two people with more than a pound to play for almost all the time. It should give mid-four-digits away per day, which is pretty respectable.
So, basically, , except that the Quiz Pod is on a coach. And wasn’t even two-thirds as good as it pretended to be.
Ignoring the complexity of the buzzer system, I’m still getting a high-quantity quiz, going on and on and on for no obvious reason. Allowing people to drive in convoy behind the coach risks the show being filled by people with lots of money and time, counteracting the democratic-accessible vibe. For technical reasons, it would be difficult to get a reliable picture so live streaming would be shaky at best, and I really can’t see it working well as a catch-up show.
However! I do like the idea of a quiz travelling the country, and of grabbing contestants pretty much at random. What they could do is something akin to the Radio 1 Roadshow of yore: tour the UK stopping at pre-determined locations, selected for crowd control, accessibility, and a good satellite signal. Have a quiz session, either live or (preferably) on a short delay. Contestants are out on their third wrong answer and replaced by someone selected from the crowd. Whoever’s in the hot seats when the klaxon goes has the option to come back tomorrow. Hitch around another travelling event (as this summer’s roadshow is doing), and there’s a definitive start and finish.
I guess that’s it, then. The Voice UK won’t be getting a second series. 🙁
Well it probably will, they paid for two series.
Well, what if the BBC decide that it’s just not worth doing this second series?
Given the fairly big drop in viewing figures, the frequent bullshitting by the tabloids, and now the cancellation of this tour, this decision can’t be beyond possibility… 🙁
And if the Beeb do make it, is it possible for them to terminate the contract they have with Talpa, and get back the money that they paid for this second series?
Or will it just be a repeat of the situation that C4 encountered with Big Brother in the late 2000s, i.e. no matter how much they want to back out, they simply can’t do so until the contract expires?
Not convinced either way here. A peak rating of 11 million is going to make one of BBC1’s biggest shows of the year, 7 million average isn’t bad. As far as the BBC is concerned, their responsibility ends with the broadcast of the final: everything after that is the sponsoring record company (Universal’s) problem.
There was a lot of room for improvement in the broadcast format, and it’s in the interests of both BBC and Universal to sort those problems out. Quite how one makes those improvements is much more difficult: personally, I think the “team” motif didn’t work at all, but without that the show is indistinguishable from Pop Idle.
If Universal want out, I don’t see the BBC making a big effort to find a replacement label. If they want in, I suspect the Beeb will make a second series.
My understanding of is that Channel 4 was committed to paying for the programme in 2010 whether they made it or not, and couldn’t afford to not make BB and air something in its place.
So, basically, whether or not the Beeb go ahead with this second series depends on Universal’s feelings? Hmm.
The fact that the format shows consistent ratings patterns of peaking in the initial rounds before fading for the live shows does suggest that something different would be useful. The battle round ought to go, because it serves as a filter whereby certain types of singer are effectively screened out, reducing the interest in the live shows. Obviously, the flamboyant high belters will usually dominate the later stages anyway – and certainly it was flamboyant high belting that won the final – but over a long, heavily padded live show, having the same type of singer over and over and over again, especially when said type of singer is loud and piercing, viewer interest will fade.
now will this be a success or another dont scare the hare, has the ability to go wither way http://www.broadcastnow.co.uk/news/commissioning/celebrities-to-compete-in-muppet-style-show-for-bbc1/5043475.article
Well the Hensons are attached to the project, so it certainly has credibility.
It’s been developed by some of my old chums from the Beeb – mostly the same team behind Epic Win.
Oh, wasn’t this originally going to be a chat show? Or is that something else?
Yes, I believe it was originally more of a chat / panel show format, but has evolved over time.
I have basically no knowledge of the format, but the people I know who’ve been involved with it are all very excited about it (and not just in the usual way whereby they’re obliged to be excited about stuff they’re working on).
Well I basically liked Epic Win so I will look forward to this, I think. Ta, Paul.
Its sounds like it could be a bit like Late Night Liars from the USA which was quite a fun enjoyable show
RE: “Stars Earn Stripes”
It’s got a good pedigree at least- one of the executive producers by Mark Burnett, who did Combat Missions about 10 years ago- he’s very respectful with the military. (The other two executive producers are Dick Wolf- who created the series Law and Order- and David Hurwitz- who produced both versions of Fear Factor). I don’t think some as respected as General Wesley Clark would have agreed to host the show otherwise.