Of likely interest, the BBC have launched a quiz one on iPlayer, amongst others (including a Louis Theroux one, an arts one and a history one). It seems to include recent offerings, so don’t go expecting anything historical.

Knock yourselves out.

According to Broadcast. Eight episodes.

Please don’t start episode one with something requiring a five minute rule explanation. Please.

All the media commentators are super-excited and we are just a day away from discovering if actual members of the public are actually going to give a toss. In my head I’m still trying to work out the format – 16 people going in on night one, six weeks later they’ll be a winner, so how’s that going to work? Twice-weekly evictions? Weekly evictions to be Big Brother but then nightly ones going into the final week I’m A Celeb style? Will they be enforcing “no nominations” talk? How long before we get annoyed at people using the phrase “up for nomination” because they’ve not stopped to think about the meanings of words?

Anyway here’s the theme tune you can buy on iTunes or whatever if you want:

The live pre-recorded launch show is tomorrow (Sunday) night 9-10:30 on ITV AND ITV2, followed by Big Brother Late and Live on ITV2 until 11:35pm. The show continues nightly on ITV2 nightly at 9pm followed by L&L at 10pm and nightly live streaming on ITVX, hopefully the housemates haven’t just gone to bed by then.

It was originally announced 18 months ago, which suggests making shows for streaming services is just as slow if not actually slower than famously the-zeitgeist-has-moved-on-by-the-time-it-comes-out broadcast TV (Squid Game: The Challenge).

Looks good though. Teams Do A Bondy Thing then answer a question to win some cash, and if they Do Enough Bondy Things and answer enough questions they win a million. Fail and their adventure ends.

A new show that started CBS in the US last night, which everyone seemed to be suggesting would be ABSOLUTELY CRAZY!!! but is basically felt like a safe, corporate version of Latino-ism really, it’s literally just bingo with a sexier accent. Pick a number off the board, if the symbol behind it is on your card mark it off and earn some cash, the first to get two lines of three goes through to the million dollar endgame. Occasionally there’s a bonus game with some quite easy questions with an element of music and dancing, but there’s not enough brass and not enough dancing throughout really.

The endgame is mildly interesting, at least mathematically – now you’ve got a 4×4 board, you pick numbers off a board of twenty. Behind 16 of the numbers is a symbol on your card and some cash, behind the other four are red skulls. Every time you complete a line you win $25k to add to your stash and have to decide there and then whether to take your money or play on, the risk is that if you hit a skull your bank is halved and if you uncover all four skulls you leave with nothing. However if you get all 16 symbols and fill your card you win a million. If you’re willing to risk, your chances of winning the million are actually very reasonable, my gut says it’s at least 20%, maybe a bit higher (if you choose a number at the beginning, avoid picking it, and there is a skull there you can’t fail). If you’re not willing to risk, getting out as soon as you’re able after $100,000 feels like the optimum play, you’d need to fill two more lines to get the money back up if you hit a skull, the rewards don’t really outweigh the risk unless you’re intent on going all the way to the end. Also there’s a weird bit where a challenge came up but they’d only add the money if the symbol was on your card, and unless they were going to waste an entire segment by putting a challenge on a skull space wasn’t worth the tension build, because otherwise the task would be unwinnable.

I didn’t hate it, Jamie Camil is good, but there’s not much to it.