There are a lot of interesting shows new and returning in August, so here’s a kind of signpost as to where you can put some thoughts down.
- Destination X – Continuing Wednesday and Thursdays on BBC1 – we’ve got a discussion post for it here.
- The Fortune Hotel 2 – Wednesdays and Thursdays on ITV – The big summer reality clash. Looks like they’re making a bit more of the location this year, which is good because last year could have been filmed in a Travelodge in Croydon. It will be interesting to see if there’s growth, we’d expect Desty X to beat it initially but it might get much closer as both series progress. The Show Discussion thread for series one is here, you might as well keep it together.
- Final Draft – August 12th on Netflix – it seems a bit odd for Netflix which does Physical 100 to do a show that looks similar to Physical 100 but for retired Japanese sportspeople but here we are. Luckily we like Physical 100, so we’ll give this a watch, and they’ll be a show discussion post set up for it in due course.
- The Answer Run -August 18th on BBC One – Prepare to swipe both left and right. I hope they haven’t front-loaded all the winners this time. Original Show Discussion post.
- 007: Road To A Million – August 22nd on Amazon Prime – It wasn’t universally popular but actually I enjoyed the first series of this, or at least other than episode one spent spectacularly in a Scottish bog and the last episode which was a bit disappointing, overall it was quite entertaining – and spectacularly shot and edited. Series two is promising some format developments – doing worst in the challenge means having to answer a question to stay in the competition. First series discussed (lightly) here, may as well reuse it.
Don’t forget the Bother’s Bar Cinematic Universe is bigger than the website which is a bit of a loss-leader these days, more-up-to-the-second discussions can be found on the Discord and I’m still on X.
Something came up yesterday, an advert for contestants for what is going to be The Floor – and probably about time as well – I’m 95% confident that it’s got ITV written all over it, but £50,000 feels like a crap prize for an arc-ed Saturday night show on the same channel and night as Limitless Win, The 1% Club and Millionaire (albeit on Sunday). Possibly it’s destined for 99 To Beat‘s slot but the show feels more premium than that. So I’m also pondering – could Sky be using it as something to lead into their planned domestic version of Saturday Night Live? Are we looking at Rob Beckett’s The Floor on Sky Max and NowTV? Or are ITV just being a bit cheap. We’ll find out in due course.
Edit: Gary Lineker revealed as the host of ITV’s upcoming import The Box which feels like… a choice. Not least because I was under the impression that it was mainly done in voiceover. Anyway I’ve seen a sizzle reel and it looks quite fun, celebrities are transported in striking yellow boxes, are released and have to figure out what the challenge is and then get on with it (could be the middle of an ice hockey match, could be 10m above the sea, that sort of thing), although they’re already suggesting it’s “like I’m a Celebrity meets SAS: Who Dares Wins” and anything that compares itself to I’m a Celeb has invariably just come across as a crap version of I’m a Celeb, so be careful. Lineker had already presented two series of Sitting On A Fortune for ITV.
I seem to recall it was about this time last year that The Answer Run started its brief turn as non-repeat midsummer afternoon filler.
Thought I read a while back that it’d been recommissioned for a second go-round but perhaps not after all?
Mid-August last year. It was definitely recommissioned and I’m fairly confident it’s been filmed – maybe it’s being saved for a slightly better useful time of year than late Summer.
Here you go, back on the 18th apparently.
Cheers! I see you’ve added it to your August list now.
Agree with you in theory that the format perhaps isn’t best suited to late summer, but that’s when they chose to launch it so that’s the time of year my mind has ended up associating it with.
Pardon my ignorance but what is a sizzle reel and what does it show?
A sizzle reel is another name for a showreel. It’s essentially a short video that’s used to show off work in its best possible light, in order to attract attention.
For example, an actor, film-maker, set designer or other such talent may create a video consisting of footage from different projects they’ve had a hand in to demonstrate their talent or range, as a supplement to their CV.
However, sizzle reels can also be used for formats. These typically use clips of pilot or previously-filmed episodes along with brief explanations, and are designed both to demonstrate a format and show off what makes it “sizzle” (i.e. why it’s interesting and/or compulsive) in a quick, snappy manner. These are often used as marketing tools to send to networks for a hopeful commission; or sent to international format meetings to try to licence the show to other countries.
I used to use the term ‘pitch tape’ because I couldn’t remember the term ‘sizzle reel’ when it came to writing about it and I quite like it.