MK
Well, I recommended him back on 18th October and am waiting for my agent feels (they don't pick up the phone for some reason).
Must say, I like Richard. He brings his own thing to the show, like that weird hand stick thing. I loved how he couldn't hide his joy at Louie Spence being locked in and the others choosing to keep him there. I was cheering out loud when he got locked in (never done that in any episode ever). The only slight niggle I have is him not being 'in character' so to speak; paying to much attention to the editing or phoney special effects. Hoping with the non-celeb episodes (we are getting 'non-celeb episodes, right?) he tones down on that aspect a little. Other than that, I think he's well suited to the programme.
The new set looks great. I don't even mind the Future despite it being different; though it does jar a bit because the other three zones are so faithful to the original series.
Got other tiny niggles that others have already covered, like the lack of the presenter setting the time (hourglass, water clock etc), the transition between zones, the map, the theme tune etc but I can live with them.
All in all, it gets a solid 8/10 from me. May even go up to a 9 once, instead of Louie Spence, we get normal people like Dave the computer programmer from Daventry.
Richard Ayoade? 
Well, I recommended him back on 18th October and am waiting for my agent feels (they don't pick up the phone for some reason).
Must say, I like Richard. He brings his own thing to the show, like that weird hand stick thing. I loved how he couldn't hide his joy at Louie Spence being locked in and the others choosing to keep him there. I was cheering out loud when he got locked in (never done that in any episode ever). The only slight niggle I have is him not being 'in character' so to speak; paying to much attention to the editing or phoney special effects. Hoping with the non-celeb episodes (we are getting 'non-celeb episodes, right?) he tones down on that aspect a little. Other than that, I think he's well suited to the programme.
The new set looks great. I don't even mind the Future despite it being different; though it does jar a bit because the other three zones are so faithful to the original series.
Got other tiny niggles that others have already covered, like the lack of the presenter setting the time (hourglass, water clock etc), the transition between zones, the map, the theme tune etc but I can live with them.
All in all, it gets a solid 8/10 from me. May even go up to a 9 once, instead of Louie Spence, we get normal people like Dave the computer programmer from Daventry.
BR
I was slightly worried Richards awkward persona might just not work - always said he's be awful or brilliant and thankfully he's the latter. Not only did his character work but he had the running commentary down to a tea and actually felt like he was just doing it his way. Really do hope the show gets rewarded in the ratings.
Also hoping that come the civilian episodes that they'll squeeze an extra couple of games in and bump it up to 12 a show.
Also hoping that come the civilian episodes that they'll squeeze an extra couple of games in and bump it up to 12 a show.
EE
I thought the pacing was all wrong, some parts were very rushed and cut to save time whilst others were too padded.
It feels like a practice run or pilot rather than a real series.
Doesn't work as a 60 minute show in the current format.
It feels like a practice run or pilot rather than a real series.
Doesn't work as a 60 minute show in the current format.
NJ
Neil Jones
Founding member
Richard Osman has the overnight rating for Crystal Maze:
2.32m for new 'Crystal Maze' last night. That's brilliant for C4.
— Richard Osman (@richardosman) June 24, 2017
BR
The run time is 47 minutes which I think is only about 3 mins shorter than the later 90s editions so just one game really. I think 10 games is fine for the celeb shows but they should manage 12 for the main series. It's still pacy enough - more game time in an hour of this than performance time in a talent show twice as long.
I thought the pacing was all wrong, some parts were very rushed and cut to save time whilst others were too padded.
It feels like a practice run or pilot rather than a real series.
Doesn't work as a 60 minute show in the current format.
It feels like a practice run or pilot rather than a real series.
Doesn't work as a 60 minute show in the current format.
The run time is 47 minutes which I think is only about 3 mins shorter than the later 90s editions so just one game really. I think 10 games is fine for the celeb shows but they should manage 12 for the main series. It's still pacy enough - more game time in an hour of this than performance time in a talent show twice as long.
NJ
The run time is 47 minutes which I think is only about 3 mins shorter than the later 90s editions so just one game really. I think 10 games is fine for the celeb shows but they should manage 12 for the main series.
Deliberate decision apparently, not just because of the shorter runtime:
This Buzzfeed article is also very fascinating on the original show which suggests the average then was going to be closer to 12 games a show from the off:
https://www.buzzfeed.com/patricksmith/to-the-crystal-dome
Neil Jones
Founding member
I thought the pacing was all wrong, some parts were very rushed and cut to save time whilst others were too padded.
It feels like a practice run or pilot rather than a real series.
Doesn't work as a 60 minute show in the current format.
It feels like a practice run or pilot rather than a real series.
Doesn't work as a 60 minute show in the current format.
The run time is 47 minutes which I think is only about 3 mins shorter than the later 90s editions so just one game really. I think 10 games is fine for the celeb shows but they should manage 12 for the main series.
Deliberate decision apparently, not just because of the shorter runtime:
http://www.radiotimes.com/news/2017-06-23/the-crystal-maze-how-is-the-new-series-different-to-the-original posted:
“We wanted teams to come out with an average of five to six crystals per show, so we play 10 games in our episodes,” says [executive producer Neale] Simpson.
“And that’s not because we’ve stripped back the number of games per time; it’s that a commercial hour is shorter now than it was back in the day. They started out with 15 games per show – later series went down to about 13. Now we can only fit in about 10 along with the dome in time without losing lots of fun and bits with Richard.”
“And that’s not because we’ve stripped back the number of games per time; it’s that a commercial hour is shorter now than it was back in the day. They started out with 15 games per show – later series went down to about 13. Now we can only fit in about 10 along with the dome in time without losing lots of fun and bits with Richard.”
This Buzzfeed article is also very fascinating on the original show which suggests the average then was going to be closer to 12 games a show from the off:
https://www.buzzfeed.com/patricksmith/to-the-crystal-dome
TL
toby lerone 2016
Richard Osman has the overnight rating for Crystal Maze:
2.32m for new 'Crystal Maze' last night. That's brilliant for C4.
— Richard Osman (@richardosman) June 24, 2017
I really enjoyed the new sets and Richard Ayoade I thought was excellent. He helped when needed and added in snipes at the celebs when needed, I especially enjoyed his glee when the immensely annoying Louis Spence was locked in. I am looking forward to the rest of the series which apparently is 4 more Celeb Specials, 1 Christmas Special and 15 shows with the general public.
On the rating, it was excellent and thoroughly deserved for the work that has gone into it. Still faithful to the original but brought up to 2017.
After slagging Channel 4 for their terrible ratings on Thursday night In the 9pm hour on Friday they were 2nd behind BBC One which is often the case when they show Gogglebox, here's the ratings for those interested
BBC One: Peter Kay's Comedy Shuffle - 3.47m, Tracey Breaks the News - 2.43m
BBC Two: Versailles - 1.00m
ITV: Lethal Weapon - 2.07m
ITV2: Love Island - 1.39m
Channel 5: The Paul O'Grady Story - 1.47m
And while I'm mentioning terrible ratings Count Arthur Strong only got 1.10m for BBC One from 8.30pm-9pm, ouch
Last edited by toby lerone 2016 on 24 June 2017 2:47pm - 3 times in total