It's usually wins Saturday night when it's on, there is a reason why it's the longest running Lottery show.
You miss my point. I'm not saying it's not a good show, I occasionally watch it myself when it's on BBC1 but I just think it's a bit lame repeated on Challenge given the choice of gameshows.
A bit of a morbid question, but watching an episode of The Crystal Maze tonight got me thinking - what generally happens to 'in memorial' slides that were inserted into the credits in the period between the production and original transmission?
For example, I remember watching The Crystal Maze on its first airing in around 1993, and seeing a slide inserted between the end credits and the copyright. It said "In Memory of [name] 19xx - 1993", and carried a freeze-frame shot of a contestant from that particular show.
I remember reading in the press [no internet in those days] that the contestant in question had died in a road accident within a couple of days of the recording taking place.
Although I'm not entirely sure, I have a hunch that the episode of The Crystal Maze just broadcast on Challenge was the episode in question - but there was no tribute slide at the end.
Is it 'protocol' to delete any such tribute slides, or to leave them in?
This sort of leads on to a wider question - there must be numerous contestants on repeats of Bullseye, Wheel of Fortune, Family Fortunes, etc, who have since passed away. Do Challenge give any thought to this?
Should
Challenge give any thought to this? Unlike professional actors, these contestants probably had no idea they were signing up to having their footage repeated 20+ years later. Is it insensitive to the deceased person's family for these TV appearances to be repeated ad infinitum and without warning?
Is it 'protocol' to delete any such tribute slides, or to leave them in?
I've seen that tribute slide on Challenge in years gone by, so it was once broadcast. I guess as the edits have increased due to extra ad capacity needed and the fact it's so long after you could probably find several contestants who are no longer with us.
I remember one of my sisters saying Richard O'Brien had been killed in a motor cycle accident when I was little, I wonder if the rumour was related to people mixing that slide up, or maybe it had something to do with ROB leaving the maze with Mumsey when ETP took over. Incidentally I did hear someone else repeat this rumour much more recently, I I gather it was widespread and a lot less easy to dispell
Is it 'protocol' to delete any such tribute slides, or to leave them in?
I've seen that tribute slide on Challenge in years gone by, so it was once broadcast. I guess as the edits have increased due to extra ad capacity needed and the fact it's so long after you could probably find several contestants who are no longer with us.
I remember one of my sisters saying Richard O'Brien had been killed in a motor cycle accident when I was little, I wonder if the rumour was related to people mixing that slide up, or maybe it had something to do with ROB leaving the maze with Mumsey when ETP took over. Incidentally I did hear someone else repeat this rumour much more recently, I I gather it was widespread and a lot less easy to dispell
A contestant died two weeks after the recording in a motorbike accident - one of the prizes involved something to do with motorbikes, and he died taking part.
I think it was perhaps a little insensitive of Challenge to drop the caption on this particular episode, but it'd be mad if the channel or distribution company had to keep track of every contestant's life! (Although Bob Holness did once claim that contestants on Blockbusters did receive repeat fees? Can anyone validate that?)
Some strange stuff seems to pass through the edits. Yesterday I caught an episode of Catchphrase with a 30 second montage of the previous series - surely that's a good bit to edit?
To a lesser extent there's an episode of Family Fortunes where Michael Aspel appears at the end to offer Les Dennis the This Is Your Life book - I expect this might have been maintained because there would be no way of cleanly loosing it without redoing the titles.
A contestant died two weeks after the recording in a motorbike accident - one of the prizes involved something to do with motorbikes, and he died taking part.
His name was David MacPherson, and he appeared in episode 13 of Series 2, in June 1991.
He died in a road accident, but it was nothing to do with the Crystal Maze as his team only amassed 25 Gold credits and as such wouldn't have even got a minor prize.
Sources: UKGameshows.co.uk and Mark Gerrish's Crystal Maze site.
Last edited by Michael on 20 March 2011 2:18pm - 3 times in total
A contestant died two weeks after the recording in a motorbike accident - one of the prizes involved something to do with motorbikes, and he died taking part.
His name was David MacPherson, and he appeared in episode 13 of Series 2, in June 1991.
He died in a road accident, but it was nothing to do with the Crystal Maze as his team only amassed 25 crystals and as such wouldn't have even got a minor prize.
Sources: UKGameshows.co.uk and Mark Gerrish's Crystal Maze site.
A contestant died two weeks after the recording in a motorbike accident - one of the prizes involved something to do with motorbikes, and he died taking part.
His name was David MacPherson, and he appeared in episode 13 of Series 2, in June 1991.
He died in a road accident, but it was nothing to do with the Crystal Maze as his team only amassed 25 crystals and as such wouldn't have even got a minor prize.
Sources: UKGameshows.co.uk and Mark Gerrish's Crystal Maze site.
A bit of a morbid question, but watching an episode of The Crystal Maze tonight got me thinking - what generally happens to 'in memorial' slides that were inserted into the credits in the period between the production and original transmission?
For example, I remember watching The Crystal Maze on its first airing in around 1993, and seeing a slide inserted between the end credits and the copyright. It said "In Memory of [name] 19xx - 1993", and carried a freeze-frame shot of a contestant from that particular show.
I remember reading in the press [no internet in those days] that the contestant in question had died in a road accident within a couple of days of the recording taking place.
Wasn't from the 1993 series, the memorials in question are from 1991 (as discussed) and the final episode of 1995 (which according to ukgameshows.com only aired originally on its original transmission so I can only presume it has either been chopped out of Challenge reruns or was added at the last minute and never made it onto the broadcast master). Far as I'm aware there were no others. The 1991 tribute has been aired on Challenge before.
Quote:
Is it 'protocol' to delete any such tribute slides, or to leave them in?
Realistically we're talking about what is now a gap of 20 years since the programme was originally made and I would presume that the family of the late contestant would have a copy of the original recording from Channel 4 with the tribute. As time goes by the fact that a gameshow contestant is no longer with us is tragic, but not entirely unexpected, in fact it becomes more commonplace, as morbid as that sounds.
Quote:
This sort of leads on to a wider question - there must be numerous contestants on repeats of Bullseye, Wheel of Fortune, Family Fortunes, etc, who have since passed away. Do Challenge give any thought to this?
Should
Challenge give any thought to this? Unlike professional actors, these contestants probably had no idea they were signing up to having their footage repeated 20+ years later. Is it insensitive to the deceased person's family for these TV appearances to be repeated ad infinitum and without warning?
It's almost certain that a contestant would have had to sign a clearing form of some sort at the time that effectively signs away their rights re: their appearances to the production company in question, and these tend to be perpetual agreements across the world. The fact that they're no longer alive doesn't really change anything because of the original agreement. I mean the family of the now late Bob Johnson (famously known as "Turkey" man on Family Fortunes during the Max Bygraves era) tried to buy their way out of having this humiliating spectacle broadcast in the first place.
Good to see that Challenge are showing Ed Tudor Pole's editions of The Crystal Maze from tonight - Series 5 and 6!! The first time they've been on Freeview as FTN never showed them back in 2007! Haven't seen these editions since 1994 so they'll be interesting to watch!! Noticed how the lighting seemed to be a lot darker and dingier in Ed's editions, especially in Aztec and Ocean and at the dome! ETP did a great job as MazeMaster during his time.
Noticed in tonight's Crystal Maze, there was an extra advert break between Zones 2 and 3 - fairly good editing and accompanying music changes - although you did hear crickets and jungle sounds whilst in the Ocean zone because of this. I know someone has said Challenge have sometimes inserted some extra breaks in TCM but this is the 1st time I have seen this. Yet it still finished on time so whether there were any more cuts, I didn't spot any...
because of this. I know someone has said Challenge have sometimes inserted some extra breaks in TCM but this is the 1st time I have seen this. Yet it still finished on time so whether there were any more cuts, I didn't spot any...