PT
Well, I think X Factor has a bigger point than celebrities just fighting each other.
NU
No matter how bad you thought Pop Stars/Pop Idol/X Factor is, we really have reached an all-time low with Celebrity Wrestling.
Ok so we were expecting it to be bad, but I was SHOCKED when I watched the first part before Dr Who on Saturday. The concept's crap. That yank presenter is crap. The trainers are crap (D-Lo? D-List more like... haha). The graphics are cheap. I have only heard of about half of the so-called celebrities, and those I have heard of are old hat.
Never mind thinks I, at least we'll get to see some woman-on-woman wrestling! But even that was crap. But no, wait, here's a round where they have to take each other's clothes off! Hurray! No, can that, the women will wear big long cloaks so no chance of a glimpse here lads!
It really was awful. Shockingly we watched the entire ITV2 repeat and the "extra" show (which was TERRIBLE) on Sunday AM... car-crash TV at its finest.
I'll be surprised if the viewing figures don't plummet even lower next week. I bet the BBC aren't worrying too much at the moment.
Ok so we were expecting it to be bad, but I was SHOCKED when I watched the first part before Dr Who on Saturday. The concept's crap. That yank presenter is crap. The trainers are crap (D-Lo? D-List more like... haha). The graphics are cheap. I have only heard of about half of the so-called celebrities, and those I have heard of are old hat.
Never mind thinks I, at least we'll get to see some woman-on-woman wrestling! But even that was crap. But no, wait, here's a round where they have to take each other's clothes off! Hurray! No, can that, the women will wear big long cloaks so no chance of a glimpse here lads!
It really was awful. Shockingly we watched the entire ITV2 repeat and the "extra" show (which was TERRIBLE) on Sunday AM... car-crash TV at its finest.
I'll be surprised if the viewing figures don't plummet even lower next week. I bet the BBC aren't worrying too much at the moment.
AU
Well I agree, but you know, the strange thing with Celebrity Wrestling is that it's actually reached the point where i'm not really angry with ITV anymore.
When the programming ideas get to this sort of level, instead of getting angry and going on a tirade about what's happening to the ITV we all use to love, I just sit back with amazement. I really mean it - the thought of anybody coming up with this idea in the first place is really quite startling, but how can even ITV bosses not realise that this is going to be such a flop? I thought the first week's ratings might have been a bit higher, but it's SO obvious it will go exactly the same way as Simply The Best. I have thought that from the moment I heard the original concept.
And I geniunely mean this about ITV in general now - the reason so many people on this board slag off ITV is because of our PASSION for television - that's why most of us are here - we love our British television, especially those four major channels that took us all through those primitive years before the digital age. We hate to see ITV become what it has today, and it's only because deep down we care about it that we get angry about it. However, it really is reaching the point now where I no longer feel angry inside
- I just want to sit back, and perhaps laugh at ITV's programming ideas - and if it continues to sink to the ground, then so what?
Times really have changed.....
The Nurse posted:
No matter how bad you thought Pop Stars/Pop Idol/X Factor is, we really have reached an all-time low with Celebrity Wrestling.
Well I agree, but you know, the strange thing with Celebrity Wrestling is that it's actually reached the point where i'm not really angry with ITV anymore.
When the programming ideas get to this sort of level, instead of getting angry and going on a tirade about what's happening to the ITV we all use to love, I just sit back with amazement. I really mean it - the thought of anybody coming up with this idea in the first place is really quite startling, but how can even ITV bosses not realise that this is going to be such a flop? I thought the first week's ratings might have been a bit higher, but it's SO obvious it will go exactly the same way as Simply The Best. I have thought that from the moment I heard the original concept.
And I geniunely mean this about ITV in general now - the reason so many people on this board slag off ITV is because of our PASSION for television - that's why most of us are here - we love our British television, especially those four major channels that took us all through those primitive years before the digital age. We hate to see ITV become what it has today, and it's only because deep down we care about it that we get angry about it. However, it really is reaching the point now where I no longer feel angry inside
- I just want to sit back, and perhaps laugh at ITV's programming ideas - and if it continues to sink to the ground, then so what?
Times really have changed.....
NU
I have to say it doesn't make me paticularly angry, the biggest emotion I was experiencing whilst watching it was one of shock!
I know people bang on about dumbing down and stuff but I have always watched the "Pop Factor" genre of show. This is just something else though...
To compare it to Gladiators is just ridiculous, Gladiators, whilst pantomimey in places, was basically a well thought-out and extremely well produced show. Celebrity Wrestling can only DREAM of being in the same league!
Contenders ready...
I know people bang on about dumbing down and stuff but I have always watched the "Pop Factor" genre of show. This is just something else though...
To compare it to Gladiators is just ridiculous, Gladiators, whilst pantomimey in places, was basically a well thought-out and extremely well produced show. Celebrity Wrestling can only DREAM of being in the same league!
Contenders ready...
CY
D-Lo Brown never got back in the WWE's god books when he accidentally paralysed a wrestler in the ring while botching a move, Roddy Piper admitted he was dabbling in 'things' (don't want to get the site into trouble) and both of them aren't working at the moment in America. That says more about this show than anything else in my opinion!
CT
Well the last I remember of D-Lo was when he was in TNA. (And the guy D-Lo paralysed, "Droz" is still doing his "Droz's Two Cents" Commentary).
Piper has (As well as appearing at wrestlemania 21 in march) just signed a merchandising / likeness deal with the WWE witch enables the WWE to use his likeness on products & WWE24/7.
Just want to say I have avoided this "Show" like the plague. It’s an insult to Pro wrestling.
Although I am tempted to tune in for the hotrod's commentary!
cylon6 posted:
D-Lo Brown never got back in the WWE's god books when he accidentally paralysed a wrestler in the ring while botching a move, Roddy Piper admitted he was dabbling in 'things' (don't want to get the site into trouble) and both of them aren't working at the moment in America. That says more about this show than anything else in my opinion!
Well the last I remember of D-Lo was when he was in TNA. (And the guy D-Lo paralysed, "Droz" is still doing his "Droz's Two Cents" Commentary).
Piper has (As well as appearing at wrestlemania 21 in march) just signed a merchandising / likeness deal with the WWE witch enables the WWE to use his likeness on products & WWE24/7.
Just want to say I have avoided this "Show" like the plague. It’s an insult to Pro wrestling.
Although I am tempted to tune in for the hotrod's commentary!
MS
From DigitalSpy:
As soon as I heard about this programme and made a post on here about ITVs 'celebrity summer' I knew this was a doomed format. You really do have to question what kind of idiot commissions these programmes when its quite obvious to alot of people on boards like these that they will flop. 'Hells Kitchen' didnt do as well as predicted, 'Celebrity Wrestling' failed on both counts; it didnt include any celebrities and very little wrestling! In a couple of weeks time 'Celebrity Love Island' launches - can I make a prediction it will disappear mid-series? Hopefully now ITV will realise that people are sick of all these cheap, nasty, and tacky celebrity reality shows and will try out new ideas. Talk about flogging a dead horse!
Quote:
Celebrity Wrestling could be axed from ITV1's Saturday night line-up in two weeks time.
Nigel Pickard, ITV Director of Programmes, has admitted that he will reconsider the show's future unless ratings increase. The second episode of the show only managed to draw three million viewers last Saturday, while eight million watched the return of the Daleks on Doctor Who at the same time.
"It's a certain type of show," Pickard told The Mirror. "We're trying it on Saturday nights and that's been a complete battleground for the last 20 years.
"We had a bad night last Saturday, but we got a very good share of the 16 to 24-year-olds. I've scheduled the next two weeks of programmes, but if it's still getting the same after that, we'll be looking at it."
Nigel Pickard, ITV Director of Programmes, has admitted that he will reconsider the show's future unless ratings increase. The second episode of the show only managed to draw three million viewers last Saturday, while eight million watched the return of the Daleks on Doctor Who at the same time.
"It's a certain type of show," Pickard told The Mirror. "We're trying it on Saturday nights and that's been a complete battleground for the last 20 years.
"We had a bad night last Saturday, but we got a very good share of the 16 to 24-year-olds. I've scheduled the next two weeks of programmes, but if it's still getting the same after that, we'll be looking at it."
As soon as I heard about this programme and made a post on here about ITVs 'celebrity summer' I knew this was a doomed format. You really do have to question what kind of idiot commissions these programmes when its quite obvious to alot of people on boards like these that they will flop. 'Hells Kitchen' didnt do as well as predicted, 'Celebrity Wrestling' failed on both counts; it didnt include any celebrities and very little wrestling! In a couple of weeks time 'Celebrity Love Island' launches - can I make a prediction it will disappear mid-series? Hopefully now ITV will realise that people are sick of all these cheap, nasty, and tacky celebrity reality shows and will try out new ideas. Talk about flogging a dead horse!
PC
The thing is, only ITV could have done this quite so badly.
If this had been a Five programme, they would have found some way of, to use a phrase, sexing it up, and playing on the female bouts. On Channel 4 they would have tried some degree of credible approach, probably in an almost Faking It style, showing how the celebrities train for wrestling.
But on ITV it just seems cheap. They got their pre-publicity in by deliberately going for the male viewer and saying "Look, these gorgeous women are going to fight each other". But two things then went wrong. The costumes are absolutely ridiculous, there's no real wrestling and guys would have been more attracted to the pics in the tabloids than two girls in costumes designed by five year olds pushing each other off a stage.
The other thing that's gone wrong is that a lot of studies have shown women control television viewing on Saturday nights. Even if they don't, you're going to lose 50% of your audience if women think it's going to be some sort of peep show. ITV haven't learned their mistakes from The Premiership I'm afraid.
Had the programme actually been any good, they could've risen above these problems, but it's dire. It's not attracting wrestling fans because it quite simply isn't wrestling, and it's not attracting casual viewers because they think it's going to be wrestling. And it's doing so badly, and viewing figures are sinking so disastrously, that no-one wants to admit to watching it, so it's just going to get worse.
If this had been a Five programme, they would have found some way of, to use a phrase, sexing it up, and playing on the female bouts. On Channel 4 they would have tried some degree of credible approach, probably in an almost Faking It style, showing how the celebrities train for wrestling.
But on ITV it just seems cheap. They got their pre-publicity in by deliberately going for the male viewer and saying "Look, these gorgeous women are going to fight each other". But two things then went wrong. The costumes are absolutely ridiculous, there's no real wrestling and guys would have been more attracted to the pics in the tabloids than two girls in costumes designed by five year olds pushing each other off a stage.
The other thing that's gone wrong is that a lot of studies have shown women control television viewing on Saturday nights. Even if they don't, you're going to lose 50% of your audience if women think it's going to be some sort of peep show. ITV haven't learned their mistakes from The Premiership I'm afraid.
Had the programme actually been any good, they could've risen above these problems, but it's dire. It's not attracting wrestling fans because it quite simply isn't wrestling, and it's not attracting casual viewers because they think it's going to be wrestling. And it's doing so badly, and viewing figures are sinking so disastrously, that no-one wants to admit to watching it, so it's just going to get worse.