Recording Monday evening in London. I expect someone will write a recording review later.
Stephen Mulhern hosts the revival of the classic, and an all-new exciting endgame is promised.
OK, I’m back. Here’s what you want to know:
- The theme is a rather jolly remix of the original 80s Walker era theme. I think it’s better than what it mutated into actually. Although I’m second guessing myself a little actually but I’m wondering if it might actually have been the later Walker era theme now. Argh. Anyway, it was jolly. EDIT: no definitely the original, I can hear it in my head now.
- Set is kind of a mixture of how the show looked when it was updated, but with the moodier blacks and purples of the original Walker era show. Quite nice actually, but no moving parts. The stage is a effectively a giant speech bubble. You’ll be pleased to hear that coloured lights lead from the buzzers across the floor and up to the screen, the surround of which turns the colour of the player that buzzed.
- The graphics. Hoo boy, they’re going to take some getting used to, I think they’re a bit charmless myself. They’re all 3D rendered and it all falls rather uncomfortably into the uncanny valley for me especially…
- …Mr Chips, who is back and I think I will be having nightmares about this evening. He looks faintly psychopathic in his new rendered form. It’s his grin and gait. I now think I understand people’s fear of clowns.
- Stephen Mulhern is the very definition of perfectly competent.
- OK, the big changes – this is apprently a 45 minute show as there are two ad-breaks throughout. THREE contestants begin round one, and two will go through to the main game proper, so there will be a Bit Of A Wasted Journey qualifier. Simply, the first two to get three right move on to the next bit, the loser leaves. You will be pleased to hear the Catchphrase buzzer sound has returned. You can buzz in once for each puzzle, get it wrong and you’re locked out, there’s no bell for anything in the show.
- Part two and the two remaining contestants play three rounds of “proper” Catchphrase. No money chase (boo!). In round one, contestants earn £100 for a correct answer and the Bonus Catchphrase (trad. arr.) is worth a straight £500. £200 and £1,000 in round two and in round two all the catchphrases are themed (although you’re not told what the theme is, it’s something to use to your advantage if you’ve worked it out, although it was not a particularly outre theme this evening.). There’s no “X, you’re back in play” at any point. There are occasional spot prizes.
- Round three is effectively the Ready Money Round, you can keep pressing and guessing and this time all puzzles are worth £500. And there’s no bonus, so it’s effectively a lengthier lightning round.
- Losers get to keep the money. The spirit of Catchphrase, everyone has a fun time and takes home decent amounts of cash for solving fairly simple puzzles, is alive and well here.
- The Super Catchphrase has £50,000 riding on it. On the board a pyramid of numbers 1-15 – five squares on the bottom, one on the top. The idea is to climb the pyramid in 60 seconds – you don’t need to have a continuous route, just one correct answer to move on to the next level. The higher you get, the more money you win – £2,500, £5k, £10k, £25k and finally £50k. This is entirely risk free. You can also pass and come back, and the puzzles get a bit more cryptic the higher up you go.
- Behind the very central room on level three is a star. And if you solve that one you win a car, and why you wouldn’t choose it given a free pick of squares I don’t know. I think it’s a bit of a lousy throw back to the M Square, to be honest.
- However the rendered catchphrases take so much time building a scene before getting to the actual meat of the puzzle winning the £50k is going to be a very big ask I think. But you also get to keep your money from the front game, so you should still get to leave with a pretty decent amount of cash.
- That’s it really. The spirit of the show is there but I think people are going to find the graphics offputting. Any questions?
TV Forum member JasonB has been to a recording. Here’s what he said:
“I have to say that Stephen did a good job this evening, there were some tweaks but the game we know and love was still there. For those wondering yes, Mr Chips is alive and well!
The only thing that annoyed me was that two of the Catchphrases were a blatant plug for two of their “biggest” shows and I use that term loosely.”
http://tvforum.co.uk/forums/post839528#post-839528
Other details…
Bangin drum beat on the new intro music. Don’t think it’s a version I’ve heard before, to answer Brig’s worries.
The puzzle board is in widescreen now, obviously just to keep up with the times and fullscreen the puzzles at home in widescreen too.
They asked us to do a huge round of applause for Mr Chips when he first appeared in all his creepy glory. If you thought previous 3D rendered Mr Chips was bad, you ain’t seen nothing yet.
Aside from the graphics awfulness (seriously why go into 3D like this with big camera sweeps when an updated 2D version would work fine and not take forever to get to the actual puzzle)… the puzzles were fine, the usual standard. One or two overly tricky ones.
There’s a spot prize in each of the first two rounds proper. A spa break for 2 in Paris and a spanking new laptop.
A bit of a flubbed line/puzzle intro in the theme round meant the same one came up 3 times, even after it was stated that a new one would be appearing. The contestants seemed a little hesitant to answer it, given they were just told they’d be getting a new one, but whatever.
There’s a viewer break prize of 10k with a catchphrase to solve (interestingly, one I couldn’t get, but I imagine the ABC options will make it blindingly obvious). That and the 50k star prize make me imagine that the show would be a weekly affair rather than a 5pm daily Chase slot replacement, if the current structure is kept.
Yeah, I thought the viewers puzzle was really hard. Broken circle of friends?
Also actually interestingly, he called it a ‘simple puzzle’ then stopped himself and did a pick up, saying words along the lines of ‘oops, I’m not meant to call it simple’.
45 minutes would rather imply that too, it’s not a Chase slot – more a Family Fortunes replacement if anything. Which makes sense if you think about it.
If it is intended to replace All-Star Family Fortunes, then HOORAY. 😈 😈
That said, if the monkeys really are getting rid of ASFF, then it might only be because they’ve just about run out of celebs… 🙄 😉
Do they play the during-the-catchphrases music in the studio or dub it on later? If the former, was it the trad. arr. – or, at least, was it any good?
Yes they do. It was OK although not as good as the classics.
“Stephen Mulhern is the very definition of perfectly competent.” – not sure if that’s meant as a complement or not.
A £50k top prize seems to suggest primetime, and a heftier prize than I’d have expected too. £25k for 4/5 isn’t bad too.
I have generously left that to reader interpretation.
I should just add that I have no real issue with Mulhern, he just doesn’t make me feel… anything.
I bet there will be celebrity editions!
Inevitably!
Slightly off topic, but I think to prolong the run of All Star Family Fortunes, they should just use celebrities to come on with different non-celeb families not their own. It would be similar to how Caroline Flack and Joe Swash operate on Minute to Win It. It would keep the celebrity aspect ITV like, but then you cast some real characters rather than having to rely on the ‘stars’ having interesting family members and you could keep reusing people.
If they gave it a chance Family Fortunes would be fine with normal families – it worked for 30 years after all.
I really don’t understand why ITV aren’t bulk filming load of regular editions to slot them into the schedules as and when required.
UKNova went Boink! today, incidentally.
I swear I read something about this on here a while back, but why didn’t they just rehire Roy Walker? You’d think it’d be the obvious choice.
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Can I ask if there’s a new theme clock sound for the super catchphrase round?
Yes there is.
Ok, cool! Does it sound creepy? and what does it sound like. It’s sounds like a stupid question lol
Sorry, can’t really remember, increasing ambient sound I think.