“The Exit List” Debuts Tonight at 8:00PM UK on ITV
Tonight on ITV is the debut of a brand new, original game show. ITV will debut The Exit List at 8:00PM UK (3:00PM ET US). The show puts a pair of contestants in the Memory Maze. The further they go, the more money they win, but the longer the Exit List to leave the maze with big cash, is. There’s over £100,000 to be won by each pair depending on how far they go. A few surprises along the way will test a contestant’s knowledge, memory, and calmness under pressure.
The Exit List is undeniably one of the most stylish and well produced games to come since The Cube, if not the most. From what I already watched it’s got incredibly slick production values, great music, and one of the best sets we’ve ever seen. The game actually demands you know things and the memory aspect is intriguing. It’s got a lot of play-along value. My only fear is that it’s a bit too hard for anyone to win once that list grows to about 15 or so items, and something tells me there’s a reason ITV is putting this on Tuesdays and they, specifically, aren’t doing a lot of promotion. Regardless, though, it looks like fun and it’s always great when we get unique quiz concepts, so I’m crossing my fingers for its success.
If you’re watching tonight with us be sure to let us know what you think. In the meantime, here’s another preview courtesy of the show.
I cant wait to see this, I just have to wait for a youtube upload :(
it’s already on youtube.
Brilliant brilliant brilliant brilliant brilliant. I think that about covers how I feel about this show, now that I’ve watched it. ABC, you know what you must do.
Oh, they know what to do with this brilliant show: Put it in a Sunday afternoon timeslot, of course! Isn’t that what you do with all brilliant shows?
Remember, this is ABC we’re talking about. They’re not content with just screwing over brilliant shows, they have to outdo themselves and do progressively worse each time. Which means they’ll probably put this show at Saturdays at 4:00 AM.
In any case, I’m hoping this at least sticks around in Britain, because it’s definitely a brilliant show. I absolutely adore the set, too. And hopefully, if and when this airs in the US, it’ll show the network executives that viewers can in fact remember stuff that happened more than 10 seconds ago, contrary to what NBC seems to think.
On a side note, I think the early stages of the game could be made a bit more interesting with the addition of one room in every row, starting with the 2nd or 3rd row, that holds a significantly larger sum of money than the rest of the rooms in the same row. Right now, there’s basically no incentive to go sideways when you’re not blocked until the penultimate row, so that might make the decisions a little more interesting in the earlier rows.
Also, as far as I can tell, the optimal strategy is to move straight forward until the penultimate row, moving towards the closer edge every time you’re blocked. In the penultimate row, move to the closest edge, then go to the back corner and sweep across the back row until you find the 100K. And if you get the 100K, take it and run.
I agree. Perhaps have variations of money amounts, or a range of amounts for each row which denote what money could possibly be in a vault, increasing.
That would be interesting, but I think that if you had a bunch of different amounts they’d be derided as copying Deal or No Deal. I think having just one bigger amount (say, 10x the base amount on the rest of the row) would make think interesting.
Just watched the premiere today and it’s actually quite amazing. Endemol is behind producing it, which explains the added “Deal or No Deal” part at the end of the show.
I can see why ABC already picked up a pilot for this game show. However, keep in mind that primetime networks here in the States like to prolong game shows these days to fill up an hour slot with just one team of contestants. If it does come here later this year, and I have a strong feeling that it will, I think ABC will unfortunately drag it out through the course of the entire hour. Also, this feels more like a Winter game show than a Summer game show, so we might see ABC start airing it around September or October…
As well, I think we already have an early but strong contender for the best game show of 2012.
I had a heart attack watching this! Please, oh please some network look at this, do it right and put it on at a reasonable time slot!
This is one of the best game shows I’ve seen in a long time. lt’s exciting from beginning to end, the show is visually appealing, and it keeps you on the edge of your seat. The end round reminds me of the bonus round of the old Alex Trebek show Pitfall, just with a lot more on the line. Thank you Bankers Nephew for uploading all these British game shows for Americans to watch.
…but with fewer elevators.
*Really* liked this.
Surprisingly good, and visually very much a child of “The Cube aesthetic.” I can only imagine how ABC will ruin this for American consumption.
Well, in all fairness, ABC did to wonders to 101 Ways to Leave a Game Show. Calling the UK version ‘boring’ would be putting it nicely.
ABC can make good game shows when they want to, and IF they want to.
All I can say is WOW!
…wow. I’m still trembling. What an awesome show. Difficult, but freakin’ awesome.
First of all, thank you, The Banker’s Nephew, for uploading this show on YT, your work is greatly appreciated. I’ve already made playlists of The Bank Job and The Chase Series 5, and now I gotta start a playlist for The Exit List.
I wasn’t sure about this show when I heard of its concept, but now that I’ve seen it in action, it’s gonna be one of my favorite game shows of this year. The set is great, the game itself is great, and that final round is heart-pounding to say the least. Even though only one player is responsible for reciting the list, both players contribute to the outcome of the final round.
The whole production made me feel like I was watching a life-sized video game being played, and it immerses you into the maze with the contestants. The camera angles are also great, nothing was missed. Can’t wait to see more.
As everyone said, the set is friggin’ cool.
The show feels a bit slow, especially after the team locks in its answer and the host goes through the whole spiel over and over again about putting answers on the exit list. It definitely picks up during the panic rooms.
It’s natural for the contestants to keep going over the list they need to memorize after they answer a question, and I found myself getting annoyed at the host for interrupting them while they did this. I almost wish they didn’t have that cash vault gimmick.
The idea that the team could sacrifice its cash to continue playing through the maze seemed a bit lame to me, especially when “the maze” offered a deal that exceeded the amount the team made before it was forced to give it up. If a team reaches a dead end, it seems like they should just be forced to turn back.
I really do like the deal aspect at the end of the game, but I wish the contestant who makes the deal wasn’t forced to keep a poker face while watching their partner go through the maze.
The end of the game really is exhilarating, though. And the twist that only one of the team members can give the memorized list is really neat, especially the way it was executed with the “short stick” mechanic.
Loved the set. loved the game. Here’s hoping it gets to the states and the networks don’t screw it up.
Unique and compelling format bolstered by *fantastic* execution/production value: best music on a quiz show in quite a while, solid hosting, and good contestants. The “offer” to the non-maze contestant was a brilliant twist to an already extraordinary end game.
One thing I’ll be very interested to see: will contestants blindly continue on in a pursuit to find the £100,000 room? The fact that you can’t be eliminated (if you get a question wrong, you only lose the pittance you’ve collected so far, and if you have £0, even better!) makes me think that contestants will never leave the maze until they’ve found the £100K. This might make for some tedious television.
A few other areas for improvement: varied dollar values on each row (nothing extreme, just a little more variation to make the reveal a tad bit interesting), and the writing could be a little punchier.
I can see some contestants going for the 100k, but I can see most contestants, after getting a couple questions wrong, panicking and doubting their short-term memory, causing them to leave.
Now every room they visit gains 10 seconds on the clock, and every time it was 1 item to a room, that took less than the 10 seconds, but you’ll notice it took the contestant longer to go through the 4-clump items and the panic code. It also ended up taking longer than 10 seconds to go from room to room when a route error was made.
The back row questions are damn hard, and if they keep trying them, they’ll probably get swarmed with an overwhelming Exit List after the inevitable screw-ups, what if they get the £100K question wrong, also?
The set reminds me of “The Money Maze”
EXACTLY!
I posted this five days ago when pics of the show first posted on this site…
The set looks like a modernized version of ABC’s The Moneymaze from 1975. That show was produced by Don Lipp, who sadly passed away about a year ago. Before his passing I had a long, ongoing email relationship with Don. Some of his last correspondences said he was trying to revive the show overseas and even has some mock-ups done of possible sets. That’s as much info as I got before his passing. After his passing his son Matt shared with me that the remake was still “hopeful” but no deals had been completed. I wonder if this show has anything to do with Don Lipp’s attempt to remake The Moneymaze.
It isn’t a remake at all. This show is created by a dutch TV director and ITV is the first to air this.
Saw somewhere that Endemol is involved in production but that isn’t the fact.
The director is one of the nices i’ve ever met. And quite good at making a show this big :)
I was on the edge of my seat the entire time and I don’t wanna give the ending away but what an amazing way to start such a strong series.