Show Discussion: Flockstars

By | July 30, 2015
3 Comments

flockstarsThursday, 8:30pm
ITV1

I mean I’m not really expecting much discussion of this to be honest, and you do rather get the impression it’s been designed to a) fail and b) get people talking about (the current state of) ITV.

But saying this shepherding is a proper skill so there’s no real reason why you couldn’t make a celebrity reality thing out of sheepdog trials (Which have and indeed still do have an audience) and if it goes badly it might end up being quite funny which I expect will be the appeal. Whatsmore it’s only half an hour a week so it’s not an ordeal. It sounds like a straightforward knockout competition with two celebs battling it out each week, tonight Brendan Cole and Amanda Lamb.

Other celebs are Lesley Joseph, Lee Pearson, Wendi Peters, Richard Rawson (i.e. Fazer from N-Dubz), Kelle Bryan (from Eternal) and of course Tony Blackburn. Gabby Logan hosts.

I Am Smarter Than…

By | July 29, 2015
2 Comments

Here’s some fun, take on celebrities in quizzes on the BBC Taster site. They’re best of five.

There’s a slightly annoying thing where if you take your cursor of the screen the player buttons stop you from hitting the C option. Still though.

Was there, or was there not, an MSN webseries a bit like this where you took celebrities on in a general knowledge quiz?

In other news, episode five of The Genius is now up.

Show Discussion: Taskmaster

By | July 28, 2015
25 Comments

taskmasterTuesdays, 10pm,
Dave

Greg Davies sets absurd tasks and challenges to five comedians whilst Alex Horne assists and keeps score. They’re playing for each other’s prized possessions.

Likely to err more on the side of comedy than game, but it also sounds like The Sort Of Thing We Might Like so what frankly are you going to do about it? It sounds likely to appeal to the sorts of you who may remember We Need Answers on BBC4 a while back, and Horne has suggested in interviews that The Crystal Maze and The Cube are inspirations – if it’s an hour’s worth of Shooting Stars-esque endgames, I think I can get along with that (tasks suggested to have come up so far include “eating a watermelon as fast as possible” and “painting a horse whilst riding a horse”).

Similarly to We Need Answers it was borne out of one of Horne’s Edinburgh Fringe shows, and it’s becoming increasingly apparent he seems to understand the genre pretty well.

Monday entertainments

By | July 27, 2015
23 Comments

There are a few things on today which may be of interest, but probably not interesting enough for full blown show discussion posts so…:

  • guessthishouseGuess This House – 12:30, ITV. Well someone was determined to pun the title (they were asking for contestants under the name Game of Homes), it’s a 12 Yard Production so I predict it’ll be completely workmanlike and basically fine and their self-aggrandizing Twitter feed will suggest it was 10 years in development or something. Two couples go round houses and try to value them and everything in it, the better they do the more time they get in the final property where one could walk away with £2,000. Saira Khan hosts. Edit: Respect for the holding-a-question-card promo shot!
  • Hello Campers – 4pm, ITV. ITV muscle in on C4 territory with a show that’s a bit Coach Trip and a bit Come Dine With Me (two shows that do well for C4). Each week sees five couples set up camp and perform tasks and challenges based on local customs and keeping the camp running to earn points, the winning couple win £1,000 at the end of the week. It’s a 12 Yard Production so I predict it’ll be completely workmanlike and basically fine and their self-aggrandizing Twitter feed will suggest it was 10 years in development or something. Actually this might be decent fun. Fingers crossed for a sarcastic voiceover!
  • You Can’t Beat A Bit Of Bully – 9pm on Challenge tonight, but repeated on Sky One AND SKY ONE HD tomorrow at 8pm – A documentary celebrating Britain’s love of Bullseye.
  • Pointless starts in The Netherlands tonight! Best of luck to all involved. Hopefully you might be able to watch it on catch-up here.

Race to Escape

By | July 25, 2015
74 Comments

racetoescapeOK, I’m out this evening so I’m not going to get to watch until tomorrow, but it looks like the first ep of Science Channel in the US’ Race to Escape is online. Although I’m just getting a black screen at the moment, regardless of using dark magic or not.

I’m hoping it will eventually start working because it’s Very Much The Sort Of Thing We Like – two teams trapped in two identical puzzle rooms and have to solve puzzles to unlock the doors and escape winning up to $25,000 in the process. It’s the sort of thing people thought would make for a good TV show for a while, so I’m excited to see if the reality of the thought matches the fantasy.

You should probably expect spoilers in the discussion in the comments, I would advise posting the “can I get it to work” questions in this post here.

And if this is the sort of thing you’d like to do in real life (without the $25,000 top prize normally), you should give the Exit Games UK blog a look.