I’m back staring at screens for money tomorrow so Bother’s Bar JUMPS back into (in)action.

In the meantime, it’s the Race Across the World finally tonight and we’ve thoroughly enjoyed it as an entertaining race and as a documentary and we’re glad they’re looking for applicants for a second series (London to Singapore again but with different checkpoints? Or somewhere else?).

So here’s a few minutes of CITV’s World Wise with David “Kid” Jensen who I thought was legitimately the coolest man in the world when I was about five because he a) had a cool accent and b) had a cool moving chair 30 years before Mental Samurai and c) hosted a show that felt TECHNOCOOL.

So I saw a link to this earlier: an entire episode of The Krypton Factor from its first series in 1977. You’ll need to excuse the quality, and it’s broken up into parts, but it’s fascinating, sort of a bit crap but still good. Of note: the rubbish assault course – I believe that was changed to something closer to what we know and love soon after (although the reasoning behind the headstarts is quite interesting), the Personality round as voted for by the public, and Gordon Burns being a hip young gunslinger.

There’s another episode on the guy’s channel as well.

In other news, I’m afraid there will be no episode of Ben Justice’s Top 100 UK Game Shows Of All Time this Friday as he’s not had time, but hopes to resume next week.

And auditions are happening NOW! Go go go!

This will be the show’s first series made by independent production companies and filming in Northern Ireland, but John Humphrys is staying on.

In State of the Bar news, I’m off work this week so posts will likely be sparse this week unless something very exciting comes up although I’ll be around, obviously. There is no Bother’s Bar April Fool joke this year, sorry.

Snoozed, lost.

Getting close to the top half now, this week Actual Real TV developer Ben Justice counts down places 70-61, this week with a very special guest. Some more interesting choices here.

Where will he find the room to put six more props up and what will they be?

You can find discussion on parts one, two and three at the relevant links.

Well this is a bumper lot of stuff. As ever, I can’t vouch for the veracity of any of the claims, only the writer and people involved with the things know the truth, but there’s usually grains of truth somewhere. Let’s open the box and dive in…

• Ninja Warrior UK will begin its new tournament on 13th April at 6 PM. (Well, it is news to me I suppose.)
• The upcoming season of The Crystal Maze will be containing a Xmas special which will be recorded on 12th Apr. This upcoming season will apparently be its last but will be spread out throughout 2019 & first half of 2020. Still no news when Season 1 final 3 eps will get its UK premier. (In many ways this represents the exciting dynamic daring Channel 4 of the 1980s where ratings and viewer enjoyment be damned, we’re just going to do it anyway and in some ways it’s to be applauded.)
• Don’t know if it’s common knowledge yet, but have it on good authority that Eggheads won’t be recommissioned after the current run. (Ooooh.)
• There are behind the scenes discussions occurring currently with Sony Pictures Television & ITV to try to bring Wheel Of Fortunes back to the UK. As it is in the early stages the facts are limited but will be done inhouse and not by a third party company.
• Greg Davies was attached for an ITV version of Ellen’s Game of Games. (Right channel if true, wrong host.)
• We Need Answers revival. I’m making this up but I really want it to be true. (Thanks for your contribution. Sarcasm aside, there was suggestion this might be happening a little while ago although not much seems to have come of it.)
• Channel 4 are rather keen on picking up the rights to Mental Samurai for an evening slot. (Now this is something I could get behind, mainly because I want a go in the whizzy chair. I hope they’d have the budget to do it justice, otherwise it’s basically just Child Genius isn’t it?)
• The wrong money tree font in Jeremy’s first series of Millionaire was caused by a simple ‘font not installed on correct machine’ issue that – somehow – no-one spotted. (Mwa-ha-ha!)
• Keith Lemon is being pitched to do a bowling show. (If I don’t see you through the week I’ll see you through the pin fall?)
• Apparently the ubiquity of Paddy McGuinness of late is some sort of attempt by his agency to play the BBC and ITV off one another to get some sort of Golden Handcuffs deal. Already known as ‘TLC’ due to the belief he’s The Luckiest C*** in the industry, there is a suggestion that he’s being positioned to take the Ant and Dec position within the ITV Saturday night framework. The thought goes, however, that if he’d been that essential to their plans, he would have been locked in some time earlier. (Paddy McGuinness is I’m fairly sure a lovely guy but the idea he’s some sort of shiny floor titan is hilarious.)
• What’s the origin of the name stool pigeon anyway? (Slang for police informer, innit?)