The show wasn't bad. The set is something of an assault on the senses though, and Milly started to annoy me with her words of wisom. She repeated the line "well the good news is..." ad nauseam, as well as using pointless clichés like "fortune favours the brave" and over-emphasising "good luck!" at the end of every pep talk. The average viewer might not be bothered by these things, but it really began to irritate me.
There's an interesting article about it on Times Online which suggests they're just concerned about flogging the format abroad. I don't think the format is right even for this country right now, as the contestants essentially want £50,000+ for doing nothing except walking around a studio for an hour and getting 'stressed', which doesn't really seem appropriate in the current climate.
I don't actually remember Carol Smilie speaking (I'm sure she did though), but I do remember how annoying Mrs Simon Cowell's voice was during the John Leslie era.
Anyhow - rating in. Not great - 3.8m (17.6%). Let's Dance For Comic Relief got 6.81m (31.1%), while Saturday Night Takeaway got 6.39m (27.4%).
:-(
A former member
Carol Smile and jenny both speak, there was the special prize thing and also the talk at the end.
Not a bad effort but I personally don't think it's strong enough to be a Saturday night show and do we really need those... "John has made some ground but will he win the money join us after the break" followed by "John has made some ground, will he win... I hate these "Goldfish memory" recaps in programmes, not needed at all in this case.
Well I did a casting for this show many months ago. Was made to sign a document indicating I wouldn't discuss it ahead of broadcast - and woo @ me - I didn't.
The whole "sob story" thing was clearly intended to be the thrust of the game. The contestant's motivation to win was required to be stretched to breaking point.
The production team seemed quite insistent that they were absolutely
not interested
in anyone saying, "I want to get on the housing ladder", or "I need a holiday" - nothing short of "life ambitions" would do, and if it garnered an "aww" from the assembled auditionees, then so much the better.
Many of those I spoke to were struggling to come up with a heart-tugger - even I did; and rather shamefully had to drag up a family illness and sister-on-the-other-side-of-the-world for them - and for what, £64K? Its a fair whack of money, but it aint £1M - which, frankly they should be giving away for what they were asking of the contestants.
The game is so utterly simple that at the audition they were playing it off a hastily created powerpoint presentation - and I agree with everyone that there was no need for the sob stories, or the blonde in the little black dress (Goldenballs, anyone?).
The most intimidating prospect about doing that show, as a contestant, would have been to endlessly fill the yawning moments - and to have your friends and family do the same, with much gnashing of teeth cutaways for good measure.
Thought Tarrant was a bit OTT. All that palm-on-forehead stuff seemed a bit forced, given that he's no stranger to giving out £64K cheques and looking subdued when he's doing it.
Its no millionaire. Heck, its not even Goldenballs.
But it will probably be in 30 countries by the end of the year.
Interesting Gavin. As much as I hate sob stories on The X Factor, at least there they do add to the narrative of the programme, while in Deal or No Deal (not that they have them too often), it can often play a part in the game into how much risk a player is likely to take - but here I just felt it added nothing. It didn't make me engage with the player any more, and as there is a fixed amount to be won, it didn't affect the game play.
As much as I hate sob stories on The X Factor, at least there they do add to the narrative of the programme,
In what way? I personally think a "sob story" is a "sob story" and I can't see how they would be different on any show (unless of course, it was for something like Surprise Surprise etc).