We’re halfway through the series (original Show Discussion post here) and doubtless you have discovered by now that “The” Genius Game has not been the hit we were hoping for, and that is a shame as I think production have broadly got the format right and the mistakes its made I think are understandable. I think even with ITV’s fairly generous “sod it, give it another go” standards of late a recommission for this might be challenging. But, to be fair, ITV should be applauded for having the guts to say yes to this – really not an easy and obvious commission – in the first place, and I would hope in time people come to appreciate it.
I don’t blame anyone for playing up having David Tennant on board at all – if you’re going to have talent involved having one of the biggest names in TV across the last twenty years would certainly be seen as a draw. I don’t think anyone was expecting the idea that the way he was used – effectively playing the same role as a anonymous man covered in bandages in the original – was going to end up being a detraction. He only has to do a day of filming and rake in the money, but the public wanted him to interact with the players which would have been far too expensive for two weeks of filming I’d have thought. In the end you *could* have just had had someone anonymous doing the briefings, or you could have got someone far cheaper act as a wise-cracking authority in the studio, but this is something I think you could only know in retrospect. The Dealers carry authority but they lack the charm of their Korean counterparts.
I think by and large the games have leant a bit too hard into the alliances and betrayal aspect of the show in an attempt to appease The Traitors fans and this feels a bit of a shame. The game selection has been pretty good by and large, but I think its forgotten a little bit about the puzzle aspect of the format, how a lot of the bits that leave people open mouthed watching the original were people finding ingenious solutions and that’s been lacking a bit. Did Codebreakers require an Undercover Agent element, especially with the knowledge that in playtesting they never won? In that case you’re just giving someone a random chance of going to the Death Match by picking a card – it’s no wonder it ended up playing out as it did, as a viewer it was quite annoying not seeing the puzzle being solved, probably with people lying about the hints and someone eventually having a breakthrough, episode three of series one is too early for the sort of “ignore the game” meta to play out. I thought Lights Out on episode four (that’s just gone) was a good original game, a bit of memory, a bit of tactics, a bit of negotiation, a bit of lying, chunky props, it was quite fun. Death Match selection I’m broadly positive on although I don’t think I’d have used Gyul Hap/Same or Different for episode one, give viewers a chance to get attuned to the sort of mental agility required to understand it first, and Tactical Rock Paper Scissors was always a bit crap (basically a reversioning of, I want to say, Winning Streak from the original?), there are far better social deathmatches where the underdog still has a chance even if they don’t have the approval of their peers.
I think the casting might have been a bit off. There’s an elephant in the room in that one member is quite loud and direct (and I should add has been and is perfectly nice and informative off camera) and nine people who are a bit more… reserved (and one who could have probably have been a bit of a character and has come across well on podcasts since, but got kicked out early). I like many of them but I wonder if the edit is making them all seem a bit… serious. Genius Game is drama drama drama, The Genius is drama drama laughs and I don’t think that laughs should be understated, if anything a British reality audience loves a funny offhand comment, bit of silliness or downtime chat and I think more should have been included. The benefits of this are twofold, it breaks up the game a bit, and it allows us more of a glimpse of people’s relationships with each other which help explain choices down the line. I daresay Celebrity Genius Game with people more used to being on camera would find these moments a bit easier to include, and why shouldn’t it? The original Genius was largely a celebrity show anyway.
It’s a shame the theme and editing have been a bit conservative – you’ve come this far you might as well go for it, the theme tune could have been any ITV daytime post 4pm quiz from the last decade, the background music largely irrelevant, compare and contrast to the original where the music was a big part of the show’s identity. It was a nice surprise hearing the Extreme Ways strings (#mobymoment) strike up this week, a strange choice to wait until episode four for it, looks like a recent edit – I always remember it ending every episode as a “checkmate” moment – sometimes as a surprise – rather than when someone does anything particularly genius-like per se as people are suggesting but maybe I’m misremembering. I think their use of flashbacks is fine, I think they’ve missed out on some good potential flashforward moments – spoilers as intrigue! – Ben’s Zombie Game “…but this will only work if we all stick together!” *30 minutes later* “Bex! Don’t talk to them Bex!” “I WILL TREAT THIS AS TREACHERY OF THE HIGHEST ORDER!” *30 minutes earlier* felt like an open goal.
Four episodes in I do like it and think it is good but I’ve had to caveat with a lot of “buuuuuutt….”s. I’ll be pleased if the second half finds an audience and I daresay it’s getting juicier but if not, look, it stings a bit more because we really believe in the format but everyone will have forgotten about it by week three of Destination X, probably, and it’s just another glorious failure – a beautiful defeat if you like – in the great pantheon of gameshow flops.
And I also daresay that if you’re even vaguely interested in this sort of thing you ought to be watching The Devil’s Plan on Netflix, the second series of which is currently going out, and is a huge amount of fun – it’s basically The Genius II, the legally distinct sequel made by largely the same people as the original, but a bit more “reality” and heavy on the side mysteries around the complex its set in and resulting intrigue. I’m afraid there are rules dumps, some of them lengthy, and the occasional duff game, but it has engaging characters, brilliant reveals, banger of a soundtrack and some really great strategy.
