Netflix are at it again! If you want to travel to Dagenham on the 14th July they’re filming What’s In The Box? with Neil Patrick Harris, tickets via Applause Store. It is described thusly:

Would you like to join us LIVE in the studio for this edge-of-your-seat guessing game where every decision could lead to life-changing rewards? You’re in luck, because Netflix’s newest game show checks all those boxes and more, and YOU are invited!

In What’s in the Box, giant boxes conceal astonishing prizes, wild surprises, and unexpected reveals, and Emmy- and Tony-winning performer will host Neil Patrick Harris leads pairs of contestants through rounds of fast-paced trivia as they race to guess what’s inside each box. But unpacking the prize is only the beginning. As the high-stakes game unfolds, competitors’ smarts, strategy, and stamina will be really tested to the limit. 

Shifting alliances and unexpected twists mean only those with sharp instincts — and a little luck — will hold onto their winnings and claim victory!

It sounds basically like Quizzy White Elephant, something I don’t think we’ve seen since Howie Mandel’s Take It All a few years ago, which is not in itself a bad idea. Whether this will escape the Streaming Shiny Floor Curse will remain to be seen. It’s being made by Rollercoaster, also responsible for the recent You Bet! revival, so you probably won’t be able to follow it very well but you will get to look at people’s shocked faces every few seconds.

Neil Patrick Harris is no stranger to boxes, famously hosting a US pilot for The Cube, and more recently board game puzzle adventure things Box One and Box Two.

This week’s other “excitement”, if you can call it that, is House of Streams on Netflix on Wednesday, a reality competition to find the? a? successful influencer which almost certainly won’t be as good as Netflix’s own Korean version of the idea, The Influencer. I would do a Show Discussion post for it, but I don’t think it’s likely to attract much comment.

Shall we have a look at how DestyX (Destination X) is doing in the US? Mediocrely! Live numbers it appears to be on the slide, coming out of America’s Got Talent which seems to be increasing week on week, it’s done 2.1m 0.3/4 demo, 2.1m 0.3/5, 1.8m 0.2/3 thus far, the sneak ep 1 preview currently doing the best numbers 2.5m 0.4/6, although they’ve put out a release which suggests it’s actually doing very well actually, premiere numbers doubling after a fortnight which might be fair enough, we’ll see.

In other news, whilst we wait for the new series of Fort Boyard to start in July (it’s apparently subtitled “The Origins”, which unfortunately doesn’t mean a return to about 60-ish minute episodes and live tigers, but does involve Pere Fouras relocating back up the watchtower – poor Passe-Muraille, so many stairs) you can buy FB apparel from the official Boutique, I’m quite tempted by a beach towel but they are €70. The same company do a lot of official TV merch, so why not buy a La Carte Aux Tresors snow globe whilst you’re there.

Yes we know it could have basically just been a FAST channel, but nobody actually watches those, so Channel 28 on Freeview today taking over ITV Be is ITV Quiz, now it can be daytime (and some night time) all the time with shows like The Chase, Tipping Point, Lingo, Celeb Catchphrase etc. whenever you want them. Edit: Except it hasn’t got The Chase in its initial line-up, or indeed Celeb Catchphrase – thanks to several people alerting me to that. It does have Wheel of Fortune and Millionaire and Tenable though.

Fascinated to see what sort of figures they pull, although as an archive channel it’s basically free money for them. Still, it would be nice if they put something a bit different and interesting on occasionally.

There’s currently an orgy of archivery going on on Youtube and Buzzerblog’s Christian Carrion has been uploading lots of interesting things (I can’t keep up) – it’s their 24 Hour Gameshow Marathon for Child’s Play this weekend from 5pm UK Saturday incidentally – including this, the pilot for a US show called Make Your Move. It’s both pretty interesting, as in it’s another example of an unusual concept you probably wouldn’t expect from a 1960s US gameshow but still wrapped in all the traditional pageantry, but it’s also a very dull watch and the idea that you’d watch such a thing for 30 minutes a day seems absolutely crazy.

In it, four contestants attempt to move across a grid sight unseen, collect money and escape the other corner, but there are barriers in the way and they have to figure it all out in their heads. There’s a comedy element in the “we know things they don’t” mould, but really it’s an extremely dry game.

Edit: Oh it looks like the channel has been taken down, which is annoying. I’ll try and describe it for you: four people on swivel chairs labelled A-D at front of set, behind them a 7×7 grid, each player’s lettered counter starting in each corner. also light barriers form a sort of maze, with symmetry. In the middle a circle counter representing the cash. In turn, with their backs to the grid at all times, players call out a direction, if they can move in that direction they do, if not the host says you can’t move and the next person plays. If they get to the money in the middle, their counter starts flashing and the corner they need to escape from lights up. If you end a move next to an opposing counter you get another go, and if you move on to that player’s space they get eliminated, if you eliminate the person with money you inherit the money. It’s basically ten minutes of being being confused as to where they are, not understanding they can’t move because a barrier is in the way, then repeated twice with different starting players and barrier configs. Winning a game earns $200, although being first to the money wins $50.

You might be thinking “there could be quite a good Genius Game death match in this” – well you’re right! And there was, in the original at least, a game called Memory Maze – two contestants had to cross a 7×7 grid moving up to three squares at a time, but if they crossed one of the “invisible walls” an alarm would go off and they’d have to start again. Fair to suggest it was a much more successful version of the idea.

Edit: it’s from the mid-60s apparently, not 50s as I originally thought.