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UK, Why do you make such good game shows?

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  • #1

    UK, Why do you make such good game shows?

    One of the channels over here in Aussieland is airing The Crystal Maze at the moment (the one with Richard Ayoade hosting) and naturally, I started watching.

    That prompted me to look back at the older series - I absolutely LOVE it. Richard O'Brien is a hoot . Some of the contestant attempts - hoo boy.

    That's not the only one I've watched - I've found a few others which are done so damn well (The Chase I've commented on before) that if they weren't already re-done in Australia, I'm wondering why they haven't been done in Australia (I can see The Crystal Maze popping up in Australia - Micallef would make an excellent host^)

    Anyone else found a fondness for these?

    ^ - comedian and best known for hosting "Talkin 'Bout your Generation" (panel show of sorts) but has also hosted other shows. He has a good mix of O'Brien's wit and snark with Ayoade's intensity.
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  • #2
    I was raised on and still love game shows. The Crystal Maze used to drive me nuts when the contestants were complete and utter morons; after all, if your entire team are screaming at you to do one particular thing (which is right) and you are completely ignoring them and doing something else (which is wrong), then again ignore them when they're yelling at you to get out before you're locked in and you ignore them yet again and get locked in, then they should just leave you there to stew.

    I often finished episodes with a sore throat from yelling at the screen.
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    • #3
      Quoth greek_jester View Post
      I was raised on and still love game shows. The Crystal Maze used to drive me nuts when the contestants were complete and utter morons; after all, if your entire team are screaming at you to do one particular thing (which is right) and you are completely ignoring them and doing something else (which is wrong), then again ignore them when they're yelling at you to get out before you're locked in and you ignore them yet again and get locked in, then they should just leave you there to stew.

      I often finished episodes with a sore throat from yelling at the screen.
      From what I saw, the technical crew did that too.

      My personal favourites are a toss-up between these two:

      Intended challenge: Open a door by securing a rope onto a cleat, then on the other side, roll a heavy chest on dowels (by moving the dowels) back into the first room, then shut the door, get the key and get the crystal.
      What the contestant did: Open the door, waste time playing around with a skeleton which served absolutely NO purpose other than atmosphere, misinterpret the host yelling "Look in the chest" as "Look in the skeleton's chest," then eventually drag the treasure chest back into the first room and do the challenge as intended.

      Intended challenge: This was a two-part challenge. The first part was simple enough - solve a giant puzzle, which would give them the starting point for the second part, which looked something like the safety-code logic puzzle shown here. They had to push a button on the panel that corresponded to the answer on the first part, which would light up, then had to follow the directions to the crystal. (So in this instance, he had to push U3, then count up 3, push D4, then go down 4, push L2, then count left 2 and so on)
      What the contestant did: Did the first part with no problem. Spent the rest of the time staring at the wall and despite EVERYONE (including Richard AND the production team via the computer in the foyer area) yelling at him to push "U3," the contestant had no idea what to do. He bailed out before time was up, at which point Richard literally pulls him BACK into the room and solves the damn puzzle for him! (at least the first 3 steps)

      ETA: And if you think it's just the 90's, one girl on the more recent version got stuck on a riddle puzzle (She had to answer 2/3 riddles correctly to get the crystal - the fact that it involved a creepy-as-shit head in a jar didn't help) and literally spent the entire time going "I can't do riddles!" despite the fact that the riddles were REALLY simple when you actually thought about them (She also had no time limit!). Example "I come before corn and wall, but if the sun is involved, I come after it instead." (Answer: flower)
      Last edited by LadyofArc; 04-03-2018, 08:53 AM.

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      • #4
        Example "I come before corn and wall, but if the sun is involved, I come after it instead." (Answer: flower)
        Wait...flowercorn & flowerwall? o_O Ye might have yer before & after switched, there (tho it makes snese for the last one)
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        • #5
          Quoth EricKei View Post
          Wait...flowercorn & flowerwall? o_O Ye might have yer before & after switched, there (tho it makes snese for the last one)
          I couldn't quite remember the entire riddle, so that's why. That and also being sort of tired & wired when I wrote that.

          These are the riddles btw.

          Having also watched an ad for My Kitchen Rules before watching The Crystal Maze tonight, I was also reminded of why I like (most) UK game shows so much - they don't rely so much on the contestants fighting as "entertainment." The drama comes from the actual "skill" (or lack thereof in some cases)

          The ad for My Kitchen Rules wound up playing up some drama that wouldn't be out of place on America's Next Top Model, between two teams waiting for their meal fighting each other. As opposed to, oh I dunno, focusing on the meals that the contestants who were actually cooking had to prepare.

          Crystal Maze tonight had a contestant who had a panic attack within about 30 seconds of her starting the challenge (for completely justifiable reasons too). How does the show handle it? She gets pulled from the room immediately, the host apologizes to her for any distress caused, lets her swap in a team-mate and then starts the timer over from the beginning (as opposed to him picking up where she left off).

          The challenge in question involved her having to navigate a maze (of sorts) without getting caught by two knights, grabbing a crystal and then coming back through said maze. Given that it was dark and foggy as hell in the room, she'd been only provided a lantern as a source of light and one of the rules being that if the knights touched you, you were automatically locked in the room, her panic was understandable. The fact that the knights were faceless also really didn't help!
          Last edited by LadyofArc; 04-04-2018, 12:06 PM.

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          • #6
            Quoth LadyofArc View Post
            Richard O'Brien is a hoot .
            Hey, I just checked, and he's THAT Richard O'Brien!!!

            "Faster, Riff, faster! Put your hump into it!!"




            I think you could remove the "Game" from the original title of this post and have a valid statement! I'm happy that so many American TV shows are blatant rip-offs of British shows. And that we get a fair number of Brit shows directly on PBS now!!
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            • #7
              Used to race home from school on Friday nights for Knightmare. Terrifying monsters and puzzles to give your brain a good workout,and if you were gormless,you died horribly. Wonderful graphics for the 1980s too...
              The Copyright Monster has made me tell you that my avatar is courtesy of the wonderful Alice XZ.And you don't want to annoy the Copyright Monster.

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              • #8
                Quoth Kit-Ginevra View Post
                Used to race home from school on Friday nights for Knightmare.
                I loved that too! It was one of my favourite shows. I used to love mocking the idiots (for crying out loud he said side step right! Your other right!), and the rare occasions that someone won I'd bounce around the living room.
                "It is traditional when asking for help or advice to listen to the answers you receive" - RealUnimportant

                Rev that Engine Louder, I Can't Hear How Small Your Dick Is - Jay 2K Winger

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                • #9
                  Quoth Nunavut Pants View Post
                  I think you could remove the "Game" from the original title of this post and have a valid statement! I'm happy that so many American TV shows are blatant rip-offs of British shows. And that we get a fair number of Brit shows directly on PBS now!!
                  I specified game shows as their reality shows and some of their other shows can be a bit hit-or-miss for me. Weirdly enough, the UK version of The Apprentice is far more tolerable than President Cheeto's version, but their Big Brother is actually far worse than either the US or Australian ones.

                  Australia also does the "rip-off of British show" thing, mostly with the panel shows. Spicks n Specks and Good News Week (sort of) were derived from Never Mind The Buzzocks (IIRC) and Have I Got News For You.

                  That said, I do love The IT Crowd.

                  Quoth Kit-Ginevra View Post
                  Used to race home from school on Friday nights for Knightmare. Terrifying monsters and puzzles to give your brain a good workout,and if you were gormless,you died horribly. Wonderful graphics for the 1980s too...
                  I watched a few episodes of that. Good god was that show hard as hell. I can see the appeal though.

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                  • #10
                    Ahh, British quiz/comedy shows. I watch Taskmaster, Q.I, Duck's Quacks Don't Echo, Would I Lie To You and occasionally 8 out of 10 Cats.

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                    • #11
                      You can also find tapes from the crew gallery for Knightmare on youtube.
                      ludo ergo sum

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                      • #12
                        Check out the Geek Week episode of Knightmare....
                        it's hilarious ��
                        The Copyright Monster has made me tell you that my avatar is courtesy of the wonderful Alice XZ.And you don't want to annoy the Copyright Monster.

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                        • #13
                          Quoth Kit-Ginevra View Post
                          Check out the Geek Week episode of Knightmare...
                          Any chance of a link? That sounds fun!
                          "It is traditional when asking for help or advice to listen to the answers you receive" - RealUnimportant

                          Rev that Engine Louder, I Can't Hear How Small Your Dick Is - Jay 2K Winger

                          The Darwin Awards The best site to visit to restore your faith in instant karma.

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                          • #14
                            Spellcasting...G..E..E..K..L..I..N..K
                            The Copyright Monster has made me tell you that my avatar is courtesy of the wonderful Alice XZ.And you don't want to annoy the Copyright Monster.

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