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Bank Balance

Gordon Ramsay's gameshow in the tardis (February 2021)

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SP
Steve in Pudsey
Jon posted:
Jonwo posted:
Jon posted:
They obviously didn’t even do a basic assessment of their general knowledge levels. It’s so bad tonight it’s quite amusing.


If I was being cynical, people who do too well on general knowledge in the audition phase won't make the cut.

Probably, the thing is you don’t need geniuses of the Kevin Ashman or Paul Sinha level filling every slot but you at least need to have people of a basic level, otherwise it becomes farcical and not really fair on the contestants themselves.

That was the problem with the Dave Spikey Bullseye reboot. Too many contestants on who neither had any general knowledge or could play darts.
DE88 and London Lite gave kudos
JO
Johnr
Jon posted:
They obviously didn’t even do a basic assessment of their general knowledge levels. It’s so bad tonight it’s quite amusing.


This is a problem but I can't actually blame the contestants too much...the categories are far too generic / broad and they have to answer all 12 of them in some capacity too

"Classic TV" = asking a couple in their 20s to name characters from Fawlty Towers who have probably never watched it in their life! Resulting in 60 seconds of non tension as they haven't got a clue other than 'Mr Fawlty' and 'there's that Mexican guy!'

Million Pound Drop had the same broad categories except they at least had a multiple choice so always had the drama there in that they could have a complete stab in the dark
DE88, itvblocks and AJB39 gave kudos
DW
DavidWhitfield
Jonwo posted:
It's a tricky balancing act , producers select contestants based on whether they think will make good TV or not...


Not sure if this was intentional, but I enjoy the aptness of this term when discussing a programme whose entire premise revolves around carefully stacking objects on an unstable platform in the hope they don't fall off.
RL
Running Late
The only thing that keeps falling off is the ratings.
DE88, Soupnzi and Tv2333 gave kudos
SE
Square Eyes Founding member
10 episodes (including the Comic Relief Special) is a lengthy commission for a brand new primetime gameshow. I read there was a 'fierce' BBC / ITV bidding war for the show so there must have been a lot of confidence in it from the start.
JO
Jonwo
10 episodes (including the Comic Relief Special) is a lengthy commission for a brand new primetime gameshow. I read there was a 'fierce' BBC / ITV bidding war for the show so there must have been a lot of confidence in it from the start.

I wonder if it's more effective to order in high volume as The Wheel also got 10 episodes and both Family Fortunes and Catchphrase got big episode orders as well.
UB
UBox
10 episodes (including the Comic Relief Special) is a lengthy commission for a brand new primetime gameshow. I read there was a 'fierce' BBC / ITV bidding war for the show so there must have been a lot of confidence in it from the start.

Surprised to hear that, both must have had confidence in it so maybe something went wrong between commission and recording. I think there is an argument though (as has been mentioned) that this would be better as a 45 minute format / hour with ad breaks since it's quite repetitive.

Jonwo posted:
10 episodes (including the Comic Relief Special) is a lengthy commission for a brand new primetime gameshow. I read there was a 'fierce' BBC / ITV bidding war for the show so there must have been a lot of confidence in it from the start.

I wonder if it's more effective to order in high volume as The Wheel also got 10 episodes and both Family Fortunes and Catchphrase got big episode orders as well.

Just basic economies of scale I think. Shooting 10 episodes of one production is always going to be more efficient and cheaper than shooting 5 episodes of two productions.
AJ
AJB39
I see Gordon Ramsay is the guest announcer on Saturday Night Takeaway tonight presumably to promote the show.
JO
Jonwo
UBox posted:

Surprised to hear that, both must have had confidence in it so maybe something went wrong between commission and recording. I think there is an argument though (as has been mentioned) that this would be better as a 45 minute format / hour with ad breaks since it's quite repetitive.

Something that sounded good when pitched but then doesn't turn out well isn't that uncommon.

I find the best formats are the ones which have a simple concept. If you overcomplicate things, it doesn't work.
HC
Hatton Cross
The 'KISS' principle - Keep It Simple Stupid.

The key to a good gameshow format is, when in an overseas hotel room (remember those?!) with hardly any working grasp of the local language, you find yourself watching a show that isn't a localised version of a uk gameshow, and you can follow what is happening from what is going on.

In a way, Bank Balance in this way would work. Try watching it with no sound, and it has a structure and an end goal for the contestants.
The balancing part is very televisual and would draw you in. It's when you can understand the language, and can analyse the show and see the flaws that the problems start.
SE
Square Eyes Founding member
There was no recovery, only 1.5m last night for Bank Balance.
IT
itvblocks
Watched the first episode last night, I actually thought it was alright.

The set does look a bit like a TARDIS set if you think about it, you've got the base of the console and the design of the room.

I did question Gordon being a gameshow host, but I thought he did well, he didn't try to sugarcoat himself as a host, he was just, Gordon.

The game looked quite difficult for the contestants, suits the Beeb right down to the ground as they don't like giving huge sums of money away Laughing

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