When we watched ABCs Whodunnit? all those years ago, the format wasn’t frankly all that (having one rather large hole) but the world building was quite fun. There were two tie-novels released – Murder in Mystery Manor and Murder on Mystery Island, both written by Anthony E Zuiker, better known for creating the CSI franchise. The books were never available outside the US rather frustratingly, physically or (bafflingly) digitally. Effectively, from what I gather, it’s the show in fiction form, featuring Giles the Butler and everything.
Inspired by Escape the Night, I wondered if there was any way of reading them in the UK now – legally or otherwise.
And there is! And whatsmore there’s a way to do it legally and for free. Both books can be found on the Kobo store (Mystery Manor, Mystery Island). If you download the Kobo app to your device of choice you get £3 credit, and if you add both books to your shopping cart (online annoyingly) you get a £6 discount, each book is otherwise £3.27. Each book seems quite short – about 200 pages, but if you’ve ever wanted to read them – well knock yourselves out.
Better late than never (it’s already had four seasons), recently I took out a four month free trial of Youtube Premium (after buying a Samsung tablet) and have started watching Escape the Night with it.
In it, Youtube Personality Joey Graceffa invites twelve other Youtube Personalities to his newly bequeathed estate for a period costume dinner party. But oh no! The house is supernatural and evil! And to escape they must work together to solve escape room style puzzles and challenges, each episode (usually) ending with one of them, voted into a head-to-head challenge, dying in a ghastly fashion.
I’m eight episodes in. As a format it’s no great shakes (although with some tweaks it could be). Each episode is based around effectively a monster-of-the-week scenario. The first two-thirds of each 24 minute episode is Youtube Personalities emoting their way through some puzzles which ultimately have little consequence other than pushing the narrative along. The final bit of each episode usually consists of a vote for two people to go into a head to head challenge, again of the puzzly variety, only for one to return (with an artifact, or freeing a spirit or whatever). Vote mechanism is mildly interesting – everyone votes for someone then two bits of paper are drawn at random to determine the losers.
Taken as a straight gameshow it’s a bit disappointing. However viewed as a Korean-style variety show (Bother’s Bar’s favourite comparison guide) it’s rather more successful – it doesn’t really matter who wins, it’s mainly about your favourite Youtube Personalities emoting through challenges written with slightly too many instructions (and, in a slightly ridiculous manner, real life confessional cutaways based on effectively fictional situations). As a yarn, it works – the house is a bit of a star with many mysteries and secrets to uncover and so seeing what happens next is compelling. The host’s campness does quite a good job of cutting through some of the pomposity of the writing and (variable) acting. Basically if you quite enjoyed Whodunnit? despite its rather glaring format flaws, or you quite like Busted on Netflix but wishes it wasn’t 90 minutes an episode, this is worth a look.
And it seems like seasons 1-3 are free to watch at time of writing, so fill your boots.
Probably not worth an entire show discussion post but I thought I’d bring it to your attention, a new series of of low-key Bother’s Bar favourite Buy It Now returns for a christmas run in primetime with Rylan Clark-Neal hosting. 8pm, Channel 4.
If you didn’t see the daytime run with Brian Conley last year, it’s pitching a range of new products to an audience, and if any of the audience would still buy the product after they’ve revealed the price then it goes over to three retailers who may or may not make an order. We discussed it here. It’s very much more about odd and good inventions and whether there’s a market for them than it is about business, although everyone turning their lights on at an idea only for everyone to turn them off again when they hear the price is quite amusing.
Hopefully what was a tight thirty minutes won’t feel too bloated at sixty.
Hearing from our chums Reality TV Warriors that Wie is De Mol? has been to China for its 2020 series, and that the cast list will be out soon.
WIDM has become a bit of an appetizer to Belgian De Mol‘s main course over the last few years, but at its best it’s a like a Michelin starred one. We shall look forward to covering it in the New Year when it goes out.
#hostholdingaquestioncard. Surely those arrows should be the other way round.
Weekdays, 3pm, ITV
“It’s easy to get rich if you survive The Switch!” Thank goodness the words “rich” and “switch” rhyme, because “it’s easy to become moderately well off if you survive Whooping Cough” probably wouldn’t sell in quite the same way.
Comic and actor Sanjeev Bhaskar hosts four contestants trying to win a large amount of money. In each round, each contestant gets 45 seconds to build their bank by answering quickfire questions. However at the end of the round, everyone must face The Switch – three multiple choice questions each with one wrong answer. Pick a wrong ‘un and you get switched out of the game, unless someone else picks a different wrong answer to take your place by the end of the round. In the end, one person gets to play the Final Switch where they can win half of their bank, their bank, or DOUBLE their bank against the clock.
20 episodes to come. Might be fun. Might feel a bit dragged out at 60 minutes. It’s fun to see a new gameshow face though. Let us know what you think in the comments.
Hello! Taskmaster is moving. To Channel 4. I promise the show won't change & there'll be the same amount of personal and professional humiliation. Thank you to everyone at UKTV for looking after us so brilliantly for 9 series. V excited. But now I have to go and clean the house.
