According to an advert I saw last night for the new series, the voiceover said "beginning with a series of celebrity specials". I thought it was just one, the Stand Up To Cancer episode?
So, we are getting a few or even a lot of celebrity specials before we get a full series with regular contestants?
With regards to Helen Chamberlain; Having done a bit of search there is one other person claiming she was on it on the whole internet. That person being me in 2009 on DS. I think it's safe to say it's figment of my imagination. I'm not sure why I'd have thought that.
"We want to care about a team and get to know them a bit more than you used to"
Oh dear, I really couldn't give a toss about the team members and their backgrounds. I just want to see them fail miserably to complete a simple task, fall into water or get chastised by the host for being a moron. If we are getting bits of them introducing themselves to camera and talking about their life etc. with supporting VT then I'll be pausing this and fast forwarding through them. The teams are also all friends or families that know one another instead of random strangers, which makes me think the introductions and "learning about the team members" is going to take up far too much time that could have been spent playing games. Speaking of which, they now only have 10 games an episode as opposed to the 13-15 previously and now 3 ad breaks to fit in instead of 2. Also, they are now going to be music whist each game is being played... why? The only music I want is Richard's excitement music on the harmonica!
They're changing too much about what made the show work so well and I fear they have ruined it. I'll be watching on 23rd June with a lot of apprehension.
Slight "technical" observation but the Series 4 Christmas Special of the Maze went out tonight on Challenge and at least two of the girls on the team seemed to be under the impression (for whatever reason) that if they move their mics closer to their mouths it allows their teammate in the game to hear them better.
It was my understanding that the microphones are only for the TV sound and aren't (weren't?) relayed to the game cells which was communication by shouting really loud through the walls or door. But that double-sized room in the Ocean zone (with the stepladder to get in and out) seemed badly designed in hindsight as nobody who played in it seemed to be able to hear the team particularly over the waterfalls.
Another composer with whom Laurence likes to collaborate, Marc Sylvan, has also created atmospheric soundscapes for the individual zones. “Each zone has its own unique soundbeds and music now” says Neale, which “adds a real sense of drama. In the original, there was never any music under the games but to add a bit of jeopardy and excitement there’s unique music for every game.”
I not sure how anyone could have expected the music not to be there, it might be a rivival but it still needs some modernisation. Anyway the lack of background music is one thing that really dates the repeats for me. The show is mostly going to be the same but clearly it needs to adapt for the modern era and some modern conventions. I think it will enhance the show and add to the fantasy world of The Crystal Maze. It was there to some extent in the last special anyway. If you watch the clip from the Industrial game you'll see it's not over powering anyway.
"We want to care about a team and get to know them a bit more than you used to"
Oh dear, I really couldn't give a toss about the team members and their backgrounds. I just want to see them fail miserably to complete a simple task, fall into water or get chastised by the host for being a moron. If we are getting bits of them introducing themselves to camera and talking about their life etc. with supporting VT then I'll be pausing this and fast forwarding through them. The teams are also all friends or families that know one another instead of random strangers, which makes me think the introductions and "learning about the team members" is going to take up far too much time that could have been spent playing games. Speaking of which, they now only have 10 games an episode as opposed to the 13-15 previously and now 3 ad breaks to fit in instead of 2. Also, they are now going to be music whist each game is being played... why? The only music I want is Richard's excitement music on the harmonica!
They're changing too much about what made the.
I don't think it's going to be as bad as you think. I can't imagine for one moment supporting VTs. The music has to be there and will be quite subtle compared to Fort Boyard, but it's simply a convention of modern game shows and it shows respect for the format and a desire to make the brand a success for today rather than some kind of nostalgia trip. So I am glad that they're bothering because the original is far from perfect by today's standards and as I said the lack of background music does really date it.
Having now read that article the producers claim the ratio of game play time to none game play time hasn't changed, it's only due to the shorter time they have to play with due to more ads. I think/hope 'getting to know the contestants better' has been massively misinterpreted with people thinking there is going to be masses more talk when I think what the reality is contestants will be a bit more comfortable with their peers so their personalities will come out a bit more.
If they were to have contestant background VT's, and have as many games per episode as they did in the original series, it'd have to be scheduled in a 90 minute timeslot ... which could be overkill for some viewers.