So, there have been some comments recently suggesting that All Star Family Fortunes is fixed or something because the top answers in Big Money add up to a higher number then they typically would have done in the eighties.
But how do our transatlantic cousins deal with this sort of thing? Here’s a clip from the Ray Combs’ fronted version in 1989:
Alright, another Thing I Was Sent in the previous batch of things sent, a rather curious show by the name of Wild West Showdown from 1994.
It’s from the same people as American Gladiators and to all intents and purproses it is American Gladiators except, and it’s a big except, it’s set in a town in the wild west and as such they’ve done some quite neat things. Instead of Gladiators there are ‘Outlaws’ (the people terrorizing the town of Broken Neck where the show is set, so winning events earn reward money (“up to five thousand union dollars!”) from the townsfolk), and the post game interviews are conducted by the local journalist getting her story (rather neatly each event is summed up with a simulated newspaper with headline). Commentating the whole thing is an old cowboy named West. Clearly quite a lot of imagination has gone into this.
The games involve lots of horseback riding (including one game where the contestants must attempt to stop a runaway stagecoach by leaping from their horse onto it), shooting with paint guns and a game set in a bar room brawl where they have to try and force the outlaw out through the double saloon doors.
Regrettably there is absolutely none of it on Youtube as far as I can see and that’s a real shame as it’s quite the curio – it could be a lot slicker as a production really, but they’ve taken the idea and run with it. So here’s a screengrab of a game where the contestants have to climb a water tower and stop a fuse before dynamite blows up the town’s water supply. Both genders play against each other with the one on one physical elements played against outlaws of the same gender, the reward money going to the cowboy or cowgirl winning the game in the fastest time.
The final game is a race across the rooftops, picking up a cash bag and hopefully getting on your horse and riding off into the sunset within a time limit – and all whilst not getting shot. The early games pay $100-300, successful completion of the final wins $5k.
Not quite good or interesting enough for a full on feature, but definitely interesting enough to at least warrant a mention.
Ok, occasionally I find stuff, occasionally I get sent stuff. This weekend I got sent some stuff – this will explain why you’re likely to get some posts getting excited about new shows this week. One of the things I love doing at the Bar is introducing shows you might not have been aware of, and I’m going to do that again now.
Basically it’s a show called One Man Army and it’s on the Discovery channel in America. In it, four people from the armed forces, law enforcement, that sort of thing compete against each other in challenges designed to discover which of them is a “one man army”, and they get to take home $10,000. They do this by taking part in three challenges – a speed challenge, a strength challenge and an intelligence challenge, the worst person in each challenge falling by the wayside.
It is quite the most properly macho thing I’ve seen in television for quite a while no doubt helped by the host, former Green Beret and survivalist Mykel Hawke, who absolutely has the authority and crucially the voice to do the thing justice. The challenges aren’t really anything you haven’t seen before on other adventure-based shows, but there’s some thought put into them here and Mykel is good at explaining the correct tactics for smashing through walls, for example.
It’s highly enjoyable, but it’s also the sort of thing that feels right on US television that sadly I don’t think would work in quite the same way over here.
Fun fact: Mykel Hawke is married to ex-Channel 5 newsreader and Jailbreak co-host Ruth England, and they’ve done survival shows together on Discovery. Who knew?
Do you remember ITV1 non-hit Grudge Match on ITV1? In it, two people with a grudge battle it out over three arena-style games to determine who is right. It was hosted by Nick Weir, Lisa Rogers and Barry McGuigian.
Well I was sent an episode from the original US version from the early nineties this week. It’s very, uh, different. Each match is three rounds in a wrestling ring, with weapons determined by the players from trhe “gallery of weapons”, the audience decide the victor after round three. It’s hosted by wrestler and politician Jesse “The Body” Ventura and Steve Alpert.
I’d love to stay and chat but I’ve actually got some sort of drinking invitational to go this evening – you know how it is, I’m sure. However in better news, my VPN supplier has now opened up a French VPN, so expect lots of write-ups of French shows you’d have to pay to watch over the next few weeks (sneak preview: they’ve changed the set for Des Chiffres et Des Lettres, and it’s so good the furniture obscures the score monitors).
Onwards with tonight then:
Feel free to have a chat about any of those here. I know Schlag den Raab usually gets a show discussion post, but my gut feeling suggests they should probably be saved for the first episodes of new and returning shows. We’ll see how it turns out.