It’s Song for Europe tonight

By | February 7, 2018

Sorry, Eurovision, You Decide, where Mel Giedroyc and Mans Zimmerlow will present the six acts vying to finish 24th at the Eurovision Song Contest in Lisbon in May. That’s 7:30pm on BBC2.

New series of Tenable and Go 8-Bit start next week (I’m told the first ep for that is on UKTV Play now). Doesn’t seem much point in giving them new discussion posts as a) they were both recorded the same time as the previous series so are unlikely to feel any different and b) certainly with regards to Go 8 Bit the second series didn’t provoke much discussion anyway. Here are the previous discussion posts for Tenable and Go 8 Bit if you want to use them.

Meanwhile it’s been bought to my attention that Youtube Red’s escape room based reality show Escape the Night has been naughtily uploaded to the internet’s naffest streaming site Dailymotion. I hope to watch it across the next week.

Show Discussion: What Would Your Kid Do?

By | February 5, 2018

Tuesdays, 8pm,
ITV1

Jason Manford hosts a new six-part series where parents are challenged to predict what their kids will react in a series of expert-led psychological tests. The parents who know their kids best get a chance to win a prize at the end – selected by their kid of course.

Nobody mention Bet On Your Baby and we’ll all be fine I’m sure. Manford will probably be pretty good at interaction. Let us know what you think in the comments.

Kakegurui

By | February 3, 2018

This may be of interest to some of you (although you’ll need Netflix to watch it), a Japanese anime series called Kakegurui (Compulsive Gambler) which appears to have just joined the service recently. Specifically you’ll probably enjoy it if you have a Liar Game/Genius itch you want to scratch.

I’m just going to quote Wikipedia here, because it’s late Saturday night and I’m increasingly lazy:

Hyakkaou Private Academy houses the most wealthy and privileged students of Japan, with many future leaders and professionals graduating from the school. In this school, the student hierarchy is determined by a series of games in which students bet their fortunes against one-another, and those in debt become slaves to the whims of those who hold their money. One day, a new student appears, one who gambles for the thrill of it, who actively begins to disrupt the hierarchy of the school while the student council tries to find ways to shut her down.

What I would suggest is that it’s pretty aggressively Japanese anime, there’s always time for a lingering set of schoolgirl bosoms, apparently (its 15 rating is fair). But the stories and characters are quite entertaining, as are the games (and indeed the explanations for all the cheating going on). I wouldn’t suggest it’s as good or as clever as Liar Game, but if you like that sort of thing you will probably find something to enjoy here.

I’ve watched four twenty-four minute episodes so far of twelve, a second season is going to be happening.

Show Discussion: Last Commanders

By | January 30, 2018

Tuesdays, 5:30pm,
CBBC

New adventure show on CBBC heavily inspired by Knightmare by the sounds of it, by way of live action first-person style video game. Teams of kids direct a character from their own living rooms around a space station solving puzzles and escaping monsters.

It’s The Chuckle Brothers play Live Action Hitman writ-large basically, except with kids and new IP. Is it any good? Let us know what you thought in the comments.

Show Discussion: All Together Now

By | January 27, 2018

Saturdays, 7:15pm,
BBC1

New singing show that answers the question “what happened to the 1 vs 100 set?”

Rob Beckett hosts as singers perform songs and if any of the 100 crowd of diverse professional singers, led by Geri Horner from The Spice Girls, think they’re any good they stand up and join in with them. Whoever gets the most people off their seats goes through to the grand final at the end of the series to win £50,000, second and third-place have a sing-off.

It’s mainly up against a Take Me Out in decline rather than fully against The Voice, which would have been brave. Watched it? Let us know what you thought in the comments.