Show Discussion: The Crystal Maze (Celebs)

By | June 22, 2017
276 Comments

Fridays, 9pm,
Channel 4

Episodes available to watch  from Wednesday night on Thanks 4.

It’s the show that has repeatedly come top of “shows they ought to bring back” lists, well 22 years since it was last properly on it’s now a reality as new Mazemaster Richard Ayoade leads a group of five adventurers around the Maze, testing their skills in a bid to win crystals, each one worth time in the Crystal Dome.

The remake begins with a run of celebrity specials.

Hoo boy, I think it’s likely you will have an opinion on this so do add yours in the comments below.

Hot hot hot

By | June 21, 2017
12 Comments

We have linked to this before but it seemed appropriate to combine Very Much The Sort Of Thing We Like Week with the ongoing heatwave narrative, here’s an episode of Desert Forges in German, because there doesn’t seem to be any in English or French or Quebecois on Youtube. The British version rather famously and sarcastically said in quotes “bravely” replaced word riddles with algebra.

Still, we enjoyed it even if there are things we’d probably have done differently.

 

The Palace of the Forges built for this still stands in Jordan (it was re-used a few years ago for a kids show called Power Struggle) and was even briefly mentioned in a tourist guide I read recently. So.

Doogy Rev

By | June 19, 2017
7 Comments

This actually passed me by, but you may be interested to note a 6-DVD box set of The Adventure Game came out last Monday, featuring almost all episodes of the show, currently priced £21.99 at Amazon. It features 20 of the 22 broadcast episodes across the four series – one episode from series one and two is missing believed lost.

That should go some way to making up losing them from the BBC Store.

With The Crystal Maze and Fort Boyard starting this weekend, June 2017 will forever be known as The Month Of Very Much The Sort Of Thing We Like.

House of Games

By | June 19, 2017
1 Comment

Thanks to Callum for the spot, Richard Osman’s House of Games coming to BBC2, presumably disrupting Eggheads as Osman is wont to do.

Sounds like fun, celebrities take part in a variety of quizzes, each episode ends in a quickfire quiz, weekly winner found on Friday, Osman gently mocks throughout. Snarky comment about being too busy for Two Tribes.

Not to be confused with the Challenge show with the same title, this sounds a bit like Wacky QD (Oh-ho Brig, you and your clever references – Everyone).

Show Discussion: Blind Date

By | June 17, 2017
23 Comments

Saturdays, 7pm,
Five

It looks like Episode one is being repeated Friday at 8pm.

It’s-a Blind-er Date with new host Paul O’ Grady. And Our Graham is now Our Melanie Sykes.

This is a really interesting one – if anyone’s going to be able to make it work in 2017 it’s the warm but acidic tongue of O’ Grady and pitching it as an early evening family friendly affair like the original when all signs previously were it likely being very downmarket is quite brave in a world where there’s a reasonable chance it will be outrated by the steamy Love Island.

Is there much call for Blind Date in a world of Take Me Out and Tinder where people tend to be more direct? We look forward to finding out. Obvious differences is the set seems a bit darker and there will be LGBT+ episodes.

Watched it? Let us know what you thought in the comments.

Show Discussion: CelebAbility

By | June 15, 2017
15 Comments

Thursday, 10pm,
ITV2

Frankly it’s a bit of a mouthful to pronounce but this might be quite good fun. Scottish comic Iain Sterling, fresh from narrating the extraordinarily performing Love Island just an hour previous, invites a team of five members of the public to battle five celebrities in tasks the celebs reckon they’re good at. Winning challenges increases the pot and eliminates wrong answers from the big important endgame.

It sounds a bit like Schlag den Star by way of Celebrity Juice style mini-games which might be quite good fun. The celebs are mainly ITV2-style celebs (episode one is Vicky Pattison, Olivia Buckland, Pete Wicks, Mikey North and Rickie Haywood Williams) but don’t let that put you off.

Let us know what you think in the comments.