Sundays, 7pm,
ITV
Well look, we saw an episode being recorded, this is very much the sort of family entertainment show that everyone on the internet says there should be more of on television only for nobody to actually watch it. Except this time they might! Except this one is up against the Strictly results show.
The nation’s sweetheart Bradley Walsh leads as two families of three generations battle it out over a series of games. According to the blurb the kids are making all the decisions, but really that bit is overstated. Expect action! Grandmothers! Giant costumes! Celebrities on trapdoors! 3-2-1! It certainly throws a lot against the wall and much of it sticks, but it does feel a little bit like it peaks too soon (or I thought so at the recording at any rate). Still you can’t suggest this isn’t a show that doesn’t try.
Do let us know what you think in the comments.
It’s the Emmerdale episode this evening which is the one I went to see, so interested to see how it turns out.
The fire act that opens the show was spectacular live.
Yes, I don’t think this quite comes across as well in the edit as I was expecting to watching it live – the fire act was still the best bit (but I don’t think the cameras do it justice), the grannies describing things became interminable by the end (so the edit has improved that somewhat).
It works as an old-school light-entertainment show and Bradley holds it together well. But for me it’s not must-watch television – the criticisms I had of it after the recording still stand if not more so.
Given that, IMHO, there’s not normally anything worth watching at 7pm on Sunday, this wasn’t too bad for a filler.
Since Brig’s review, I had been eager to give it a try (Personally a bit of a sucker for anything with the potential for someone falling through a trap door).
I didn’t think it was that bad (But clearly the editing has helped!) and the Nannas bit was worth a chuckle as were the oversized costumes (Even if it did feel like an idea stolen from “It’s a knockout”)
But what DID annoy me was that it finished about 7 mins early, leaving plenty of time for an over-long “coming up next week” preview of the next show. All surprises from the coming episode with McBusted were quickly ruined (Even showing some of the drops from the end game and the prizes that were dropped!)and now, my interest in tuning in waned after that.
And daly, after a belly laugh in the opener, it looks like Nanna Alice on her mobility scooter is going to get tiresome, VERY quickly.
If I DO watch again next week, I’ll make sure I switch over before the “in next week’s episode” bit ruins the next ep.
Yes I was slightly baffled about that, it was a four hour recording so there’s no way they should be running short, and now they’ve ruined all the potential funny bits in next week’s episode there seems little point in watching.
They cut quite a bit from the endgame, mainly the celebs standing on the safe door re-reading their clue when asked. Which might have useful to keep actually.
Maybe that could be a new thing for the bar –
“How to ruin a gameshow”
#1 – Lose audience numbers by showing all the best parts of the up coming episode
#2 – Get Ed Tudor Pole to take over hosting duties
;o)
I actually really liked Ed Tudor Pole as host of The Crystal Maze – sure, he wasn’t as good at hamming it up as Richard O’Brain (who remains my favourite game show host ever) and his way of describing the process of moving between zones using made up words did start to grate after some time (I must say the moment where he seemed noticeably caught on the hop when a contestant asked what “Osmolification” involved was a highlight of the series though); but when it came to character traits such as being described as the “Guardian of the Maze” and supposedly coming from Medieval times, I felt his style fit the role better due to his unusual turn of phrase, flamboyant presenting style, the commanding tone he was able to give in his voice sometimes and not to mention his attire. I also thought he was more eager to try to get the Captains involved in games, something that many teams were noticeably hesistant to do.
I will say though, Ed did lose a TON of respect in my books when he revealed in a later interview that he has no love at all for the format and considers it one of the worst things he’s done…
Someone said it, and I’m standing by them. I liked Ed, never had a problem with his presenting style at all. I uphold the only issue anyone every genuinely had with him, was that he wasn’t Richard. Indeed, he was probably a bit too similar to Richard to ever get a decent fan base in the role.
Another Tudor Pole fan here! I thought he did a brilliant job.
I often wonder who else might have been in the running. At the time, I rather wanted Dominik Diamond – IIRC the transition in host came as he left GamesMaster, too. I still reckon he’d have been very good; for sure, he’d have been totally different to Richard.
3.46m (14.9%).
The single most predictable rating for a new prime time series in years.
2.79m (11.7%) including +1 for TX2.
Oof, I think it deserves better than that. Although I didn’t watch it myself.