Keep it in the Family and to an extent Get your Act Together show the opposite problem to reviving classics - it's pretty difficult nowadays to come up with something that doesn't feel like it's been done before. The former at least worked very well as a vehicle for Bradley Walsh and I hope that ITV give it a second series and the chance to develop rather than yet again going back to the drawing board and coming back with something even worse.
Over the last decade all too often they've dropped series after just one run which may not have done spectacularly but didn't spectacularly flop either.
I'm sure Stars in Their Eyes could have been a success if done more mainstream but I don't think there will be any coming back for it from this.
ITV's balance sheet is healthy but some of the commissioning is awful. They've never found anything in entertainment that has come close to BGT or XF. These are ageing formats and won't be around for ever. Think they may need a new controller or commissioners with a new vision.
I wonder, if Sky didn't get there first, ITV would've ever considered reviving Gladiators. Granted, I imagine it'd be given a bigger budget and wouldn't have been anywhere near as bad as Sky's attempt.
It's probably been long enough now since Gladiators was revived for it to be revived again. Blind Date seems inevitable too, certainly if Take Me Out ends any time soon.
Revival wise You Bet is one I'd like to see and something that could work. Ant and Dec tried it as their attempt to break America (and failed) but it could definately work for them, or others, here.
It'll be interesting how Warrior UK goes for them - seems it's more a take on American Ninja Warrior than the original British version and think it's being filmed at an arena rather than outdoors so how that turns out remains to be seen. I don't think anyone looks at shows ITV commission for the Spring/Summer (and increasingly the rest of the year now) and sees them as anything more than a one-off series.
Keep it in the Family and to an extent Get your Act Together show the opposite problem to reviving classics - it's pretty difficult nowadays to come up with something that doesn't feel like it's been done before. The former at least worked very well as a vehicle for Bradley Walsh and I hope that ITV give it a second series and the chance to develop rather than yet again going back to the drawing board and coming back with something even worse.
Again, I have to stress I really do think the problem ultimately lies with a very poor team of commissioners. I've worked in development for a number of years and although it can sometimes be difficult to think of original ideas we still managed to come up with a number of quite innovative formats that were ultimately shot down because they didn't suit that commissioner's personal taste in that hour long meeting. I've worked for people who have created some of the biggest quiz and game shows ever made and know exactly how to piece a perfect show together. They've walked into ITV with genuinely excellent ideas (promise I'm not just saying that because I worked on them!) and they've ended up having them ripped to shreds for inane reasons.
ITV has this utterly clueless obsession with celebrities showcasing their talents even though time and time again the ratings have shown that viewers are tired of copycat formats but for some reason they still insist on indies bringing them woeful formats. I still can't believe Stepping Out made it past even an initial meeting. The same goes for their insistence on reusing quite weak or inappropriate talent for a number of their shows. I remember one of the daytime commissioners being beside herself with excitement at Peter Andre becoming the new host of 60 Minute Makeover and making out that it would be a revolution in daytime broadcasting. I think the ratings ended up being some of the lowest the show had ever received.
Keep it in the Family and to an extent Get your Act Together show the opposite problem to reviving classics - it's pretty difficult nowadays to come up with something that doesn't feel like it's been done before. The former at least worked very well as a vehicle for Bradley Walsh and I hope that ITV give it a second series and the chance to develop rather than yet again going back to the drawing board and coming back with something even worse.
Again, I have to stress I really do think the problem ultimately lies with a very poor team of commissioners. I've worked in development for a number of years and although it can sometimes be difficult to think of original ideas we still managed to come up with a number of quite innovative formats that were ultimately shot down because they didn't suit that commissioner's personal taste in that hour long meeting. I've worked for people who have created some of the biggest quiz and game shows ever made and know exactly how to piece a perfect show together. They've walked into ITV with genuinely excellent ideas (promise I'm not just saying that because I worked on them!) and they've ended up having them ripped to shreds for inane reasons.
ITV has this utterly clueless obsession with celebrities showcasing their talents even though time and time again the ratings have shown that viewers are tired of copycat formats but for some reason they still insist on indies bringing them woeful formats. I still can't believe Stepping Out made it past even an initial meeting. The same goes for their insistence on reusing quite weak or inappropriate talent for a number of their shows. I remember one of the daytime commissioners being beside herself with excitement at Peter Andre becoming the new host of 60 Minute Makeover and making out that it would be a revolution in daytime broadcasting. I think the ratings ended up being some of the lowest the show had ever received.
Keep it in the Family and to an extent Get your Act Together show the opposite problem to reviving classics - it's pretty difficult nowadays to come up with something that doesn't feel like it's been done before. The former at least worked very well as a vehicle for Bradley Walsh and I hope that ITV give it a second series and the chance to develop rather than yet again going back to the drawing board and coming back with something even worse.
Again, I have to stress I really do think the problem ultimately lies with a very poor team of commissioners. I've worked in development for a number of years and although it can sometimes be difficult to think of original ideas we still managed to come up with a number of quite innovative formats that were ultimately shot down because they didn't suit that commissioner's personal taste in that hour long meeting. I've worked for people who have created some of the biggest quiz and game shows ever made and know exactly how to piece a perfect show together. They've walked into ITV with genuinely excellent ideas (promise I'm not just saying that because I worked on them!) and they've ended up having them ripped to shreds for inane reasons.
Just to play devils advocate is it just the commissioners are stupid or that they simply don't have the budgets for the shows people are bringing to them.