New Foreign Game Shows
NATPE has died down over here in America and not a lot of big news is coming in. However, there are quite a few foreign game shows in development or casting or coming soon. Some look interesting, and I thought I’d share some in an effort to be international and friendly. America isn’t the only country that visits here, you know. Most of which is taken from Bother’s Bar.
*The one I’m probably most looking forward to for some reason is a new BBC One game show 100 Ways to Leave a Game Show. What you can imagine happens does. If you lose a round you get ejected from the show in some physical manner. It’s not just drop zones like on Russian Roulette. TVScoop says some ways to leave the show are, “cannons, rockets, catapults and bungees, freezing water, glutinous mud, dread and humiliation.” It sounds awesome to me. The basic format has a question and a series of answers, all of which are correct except one. You just have to avoid the wrong answer or you get thrown out of the game in a physical and highly amusing style. The gimmick may die away quickly, but I thought the same thing about Russian Roulette and I never tired of that. Count me as excited.
*Remember when we discussed CBS shooting a pilot for the stunt/quiz show The Whole 19 Yards. Didn’t go through (which is for the best or we may not have gotten The Cube), but ITV will be shooting the show. It’s already airing in Spain. The format, again, is pretty simple. They list some items and you just have to figure out the category in which it fits in. The catch is the buzzer is a long distance away from you and you have to go through an obstacle course to go through. As a relatively low budget, comedy game it sounds fun. However, the Spanish version takes a bit too seriously for my liking. Not really sure why. It has potential to be hysterical and wise-cracking. Not sure how ITV will do it.
*Finally let’s discuss one more show just brought up by Bother’s Bar today that also brings in more “physical” motion to a game show, but not really in a great way. Endemol has a new show called The Drop. Contestants are given £1,000,000 but have to answer 10 questions correctly or see the prize money go away through a series of trap doors. Watching money drop through a door isn’t exactly the most dramatic thing on earth since it’s not really their money. You’re watching paper drop. I can put some printer paper on a trap door and write £1,000,000 on it, and let it go. It would have the same effect. The game shows with physical penalties are exciting and potentially scary because the contestant is in actual danger. That will be 100 Ways to Leave a Game Show‘s greatest asset. There’s no danger to watching a stack of money go away.
I still think that The Whole 19 Yards should still be in America. Maybe in return for dropping The Cube for OLG, FOX could pick it up as a pair-on for Genius or ABC could take it on their summer lineup
I find it kind of disappointing that "The whole 19 yards" won't be coming to America, but for "The Cube", I guess its a good trade off.
Looking at the clip from the Spanish version, I really liked the concept, but like Alex said ",Too Serious".
I find it kind of disappointing that "The whole 19 yards" won't be coming to America, but for "The Cube", I guess its a good trade off.
Looking at the clip from the Spanish version, I really liked the concept, but like Alex said ",Too Serious".
The Spanish show isn't actually all that serious, but it is surprisingly dull considering.
The Spanish show isn't actually all that serious, but it is surprisingly dull considering.
i should note, the spanish show dind´t last for too long. a couple of weeks on prime time and then was left to die on late night because of bad ratings. at least they finished it with a final with the best contestants.