Murder in Successville

By | May 7, 2015

successvilleI’m writing this here not having watched the first episode (because of work, mainly), but it’s on my radar and started last night on BBC3 and Tom F suggests:

Thing which may be of interest, whilst it’s not much like Korea’s, we now have our own improvised-crime-investigation-with-celebrities offering:

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b05tv211

Does this really count as a gameshow? It’s primarily a comedy, but for me there’s enough of a game in there.

If there’s a legitimate puzzle then it probably counts, or at least Is Likely Of Interest, so did anyone watch it and if you did, what did you think?

9 thoughts on “Murder in Successville

  1. David

    I used the dark arts to see it- it wasn’t too bad, though it’s mainly comedy; enough of a mystery to rate it slightly of interest..

    Reply
  2. Mart With A Y Not An I

    Technically not really a gameshow, as there is very little detail in the murder ‘backstory’ to play along with at home – and what detail there was, is lost quickly under a tidal wave of jokes and comedy impressions.

    However, I enjoyed it immensely. Really good part scripted-part improve acting, which is just a hook to hang the real point of the show, which is to make the celeb cop laugh at regular intervals. And he does, so much so I had to hit the pause when watching to catch my breath from giggling to much.

    If the remaining 5 shows are as consistently entertaining as the first, it’ll be a great series. It’ll live or die based on how into the show, and to resist the giggles the different celeb each week does.

    Very different. Consistently funny.Highly recommended.

    Reply
  3. Matt Clemson

    The ending does suggest that there is indeed a right answer. However, the clues do look very lightly-laid out; they’re there, but they’re not particularly front-and-centre. So I can see one of two ways they designed it:

    * There really is an intended puzzle. The indication of the clues might have got lost a bit for the viewer because they’re editing more for humour than mystery, but it’s there.

    * There isn’t an intended puzzle; it’s set up in such a way that whatever outcome the celeb chooses can be supported or discredited at the will of the producers to give the desired outcome (I recall Scissor Happy, where the culprit the audience picked was always correct). It’ll be interesting to see if the ultimate outcome is the same each time.

    Reply
    1. David B

      Scissor Happy is the UK version of Shear Madness, one of the longest-running (non-musicals) in the world.

      Reply
  4. Brig Bother Post author

    It took me a while to warm to this, but it basically won me round at the One Direction mob hideout. Some really good performances as well.

    There does seem to be logic and deduction to the outcome so I’d be fine with putting it on a ‘yes it’s technically a gameshow’ list, but am also happy that it’s also not really the point of the exercise, agree it has more in common with Thank God You’re Here.

    Reply
  5. Alex S

    Would have overlooked this had I not seen the post, watched this on my lunch break yesterday and really enjoyed it. Like Brig says, took a while for me to get into it, the opening scene left me a bit cold but once it got into the swing of things there were some very good ideas played out, and I particularly liked that they included some occasions where other members of the cast started to laugh as well. Looking forward to next week.

    Reply
  6. Silent Hunter

    Downloaded this on a recommendation… very odd show and also very crude at times.

    I won’t be watching regularly (enough on my planner as is), but might watch some odd episodes.

    Reply
  7. Chris Brown

    I’ve only just got round to watching it. It’s alright, but it wasn’t clear what it’s trying to be.

    I was hoping it to be more like the Australian show Sleuth 101. It was also an improv crime solving with comedians, but definitely more of a game show as the clues were better and it was funny in a less cruder way

    I’ll probably watch it again, but only if like the guest.

    Reply

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