TV Home Forum

Coronavirus - Impact on live/recorded shows

Several talk programmes have cancelled studio audiences (March 2020)

This site closed in March 2021 and is now a read-only archive
JO
Jon
I don’t think anyone would be expecting Richard & Carol to remake the episode. I agree it’s very unlikely that Channel 4 would show two unbroadcast episodes from 2003 as the significance would be lost on most people and if they were going to show episodes from that era they’d be just as well off showing episodes where something memorable happens that have been broadcast.
NJ
Neil Jones Founding member
The results of one of the games of the unaired 2003 episodes were published if one is that fussed about them:
http://wiki.apterous.org/Category:Unreleased_episodes - see Episode S(25)

You'll also notice here a handful of other unaired Countdown episodes over the years for whatever reason.
BR
Brekkie
Thought that Champions series would be the one they'd choose if they ran out of episodes, but didn't realise it was that long ago. They'd also got the 10 More4 Celeb episodes they could show, though they were pretty poor really.

Countdown though don't need to adjust much, if anything, to film with the 2m rule in place, other than spacing out Susie and the dictionary corner guest. Whether Nick would be allowed to film (in theory not for the next 6 weeks anyway) but I think pressure is increasing now to relax the stricter rules for the over 70s with no underlying conditions.
NW
nwtv2003
I can imagine Countdown would be one of the easier shows to film with restrictions. You’d probably struggle with Dictionary Corner but aside that it’d probably be easy to do. It obviously depends on what restrictions will remain in place but it’d be nice to see Jeff Stelling back in the interim whilst there’s nothing to do at Sky. However I don’t think that would happen.
DA
davidhorman
The results of one of the games of the unaired 2003 episodes were published if one is that fussed about them:
http://wiki.apterous.org/Category:Unreleased_episodes - see Episode S(25)

You'll also notice here a handful of other unaired Countdown episodes over the years for whatever reason.


One of them being:

Quote:
Episode 7290 was scheduled to be broadcast on 24 March 2020, as part of Series 82, but was pulled from the schedule [...] due to a comment made by Nick Hewer during the episode that could have been perceived as insensitive following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic


What on Earth could he have said that couldn't have been edited out?
CW
Charlie Wells Moderator
The results of one of the games of the unaired 2003 episodes were published if one is that fussed about them:
http://wiki.apterous.org/Category:Unreleased_episodes - see Episode S(25)

You'll also notice here a handful of other unaired Countdown episodes over the years for whatever reason.


One of them being:

Quote:
Episode 7290 was scheduled to be broadcast on 24 March 2020, as part of Series 82, but was pulled from the schedule [...] due to a comment made by Nick Hewer during the episode that could have been perceived as insensitive following the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic


What on Earth could he have said that couldn't have been edited out?

Maybe Nick managed an 8 letter word during one of the letter, and unfortunately that word was 'pandemic'. Razz
BR
Brekkie
If that were true surely they'd just edit out the comment rather than scrap the entire episode, but then again society nowadays seems to demand a whole building be torn down for a crack in the paintwork.
DW
DavidWhitfield
If it were merely a case of one of the players or Nick declaring a word which is, shall we say, somewhat 'viral' in its nature, would it really need editing out? It's a game of anagrams and if a word is there, it's just part of the game. Other than 'oh, ironic to find that word at the minute', I don't see what other reaction a viewer could reasonably have to somebody playing a word on Countdown, however topical.
NJ
Neil Jones Founding member
I dare say if it does eventually air we'll all like, "was that it? An entire episode withdrawn for that little comment?"

Time will tell. Or not as the case may be.
SL
Shaun Linden
Predictably lots of pathetic jokes on social media about it. Personally I feel for the team that have already had a traumatic year and now find themselves out of work.


If there was ever a show that should have been rested this year regardless of the Coronaviris, its Love Island.
GE
thegeek Founding member
Coronavirus does exist in Weatherfield, but it appears that everyone will be immune to it:
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-52548379
BR
Brekkie
I think it has to - and makes filming easier too if characters have to be socially distant in the scenes. Timescales will be the trickiest thing and how they address that - will almost be easier if they do run out of episodes so there is a brief break between the "normal" and the "new normal".

Newer posts