It’s a serious question.
The reason I ask was from reading Mike’s blog about this ghastly sounding new gameshow on Channel 5 that looks more like a giant advertising tool for Nintendo and its DS than a proper show itself (yes, the DS is good, but for crying out loud just stick to crappy TV advertising where Girls Aloud are playing Professor Layton – I mean, really, do you really think they play that game on their tourbus?). It’s also an hour long. An hour of your time watching people go through a range of emotions to win a prize.
My feeling is that gameshows should only be half an hour long. Half an hour is enough time for a winner to be decided and it also allows a format that can be kept as simplistic as possible. For the complete polar opposite of this, watch Golden Balls when it returns in the autumn on ITV1. It operates as a never-ending borefest where you all you do is watch people say things with their mouths – some true, some not true – and pick golden balls. That’s it. The only good bit is the end where it can deliver a real kick in the teeth and getting to the end feels like doing more work than the contestants themselves.
Of course, there are notable exceptions. The best one hour gameshow extravaganza has been and always be The Crystal Maze, a show so ambitious at the time with one of the most charismatic hosts in Richard O’Brien. There are some clips on YouTube and, hopefully, the recent announcement by Channel 4 that will allow you to watch its archive on demand means that you’ll be able to revisit the glory days easily. At that time, no one could match the brilliance of that show. Well, until O’Brien left the show to be replaced by Edward Tudor-Pole…dark days.
What gameshows on TV are even good nowadays? I’d like to hear some suggestions.
