ITV Programming Thread

[tellyblues]

Epic Gameshow getting a lot of hate on Twitter.

What light entertainment show doesn't?

Epic Gameshow is a unique case though. It can make wholesale changes where other shows can't without appearing desperate. Quite why certain decisions have been made is anyone's guess but the act of playing on nostalgia doesn't seem to have been thought through properly otherwise it wouldn't be getting so much hate.

[eyeTV]

I don't mind most of the Epic variants of the gameshows, but I can't forgive what they did to Bullseye. You just shouldn't mess to that extent with that format. Awful.

[telebox2001]

Bullseye is a cherished format. You shouldn't mess with it full stop. You either do Bullseye faithfully or not at all.

[Steve Williams]

I don't mind most of the Epic variants of the gameshows, but I can't forgive what they did to Bullseye. You just shouldn't mess to that extent with that format. Awful.

Bullseye is a cherished format. You shouldn't mess with it full stop. You either do Bullseye faithfully or not at all.

Seems to be two threads on here discussing Epic Gameshow, but as has been mentioned before, it's not a revival of Bullseye, it's Epic Gameshow featuring Bullseye.

I'm not sure how much they were messing with it anyway, the first three rounds were absolutely identical to how it used to be. The only difference was that they played the first round twice with two pairs of contestants rather once with three pairs. Yes, there was a different final round but it's not like the original final round in Bullseye was any great innovation, it was just them playing darts and trying to get 101, the new final shows a bit more invention than that and I find it engaging enough.

Besides, Bullseye itself changed the format several times, the first series was very different with a completely different opening round, and they made other changes during the run regarding when contestants were eliminated and what they gambled and so on. So they were "messing" with the format from 1982. Which version of Bullseye should they have used?

[Rob]

"Our Graham" Skidmore, best known as the voice of Blind Date, died in December aged 90. The news has just been announced.

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/tv/breaking-...m-27332273

[telebox2001]

I don't mind most of the Epic variants of the gameshows, but I can't forgive what they did to Bullseye. You just shouldn't mess to that extent with that format. Awful.

Bullseye is a cherished format.  You shouldn't mess with it full stop.  You either do Bullseye faithfully or not at all.

Seems to be two threads on here discussing Epic Gameshow, but as has been mentioned before, it's not a revival of Bullseye, it's Epic Gameshow featuring Bullseye.

I'm not sure how much they were messing with it anyway, the first three rounds were absolutely identical to how it used to be. The only difference was that they played the first round twice with two pairs of contestants rather once with three pairs. Yes, there was a different final round but it's not like the original final round in Bullseye was any great innovation, it was just them playing darts and trying to get 101, the new final shows a bit more invention than that and I find it engaging enough.

Besides, Bullseye itself changed the format several times, the first series was very different with a completely different opening round, and they made other changes during the run regarding when contestants were eliminated and what they gambled and so on. So they were "messing" with the format from 1982. Which version of Bullseye should they have used?

The only real changes were:

• The first round in the very early days
  
• Letting all teams play Pounds for Points around 1989
  
• You had to gamble your prize money on the end game
  

Not really major changes.

[tellyblues]

I don't mind most of the Epic variants of the gameshows, but I can't forgive what they did to Bullseye. You just shouldn't mess to that extent with that format. Awful.

Bullseye is a cherished format. You shouldn't mess with it full stop. You either do Bullseye faithfully or not at all.

Seems to be two threads on here discussing Epic Gameshow, but as has been mentioned before, it's not a revival of Bullseye, it's Epic Gameshow featuring Bullseye.

I'm not sure how much they were messing with it anyway, the first three rounds were absolutely identical to how it used to be. The only difference was that they played the first round twice with two pairs of contestants rather once with three pairs. Yes, there was a different final round but it's not like the original final round in Bullseye was any great innovation, it was just them playing darts and trying to get 101, the new final shows a bit more invention than that and I find it engaging enough.

Besides, Bullseye itself changed the format several times, the first series was very different with a completely different opening round, and they made other changes during the run regarding when contestants were eliminated and what they gambled and so on. So they were "messing" with the format from 1982. Which version of Bullseye should they have used?

How about not using it at all?

I can see why they chose Bullseye because it was a very popular show back in the day but the problem is that it is also very fondly remembered, so you can't change things and expect people to go along with it just because it's Bullseye.

[tellyblues]

https://www.tvzoneuk.com/post/imaceleb-allstars-pt3

[iloveTV1]

Britain’s Brightest Family axed.

[Ash101]

Britain’s Brightest Family axed.

Shame as it’s a good quiz. I liked the variety in questions you didn’t really see elsewhere.

But it never really took off in a big way & with the limited pre-9pm half hours for it, I can see why they’d not renew.

Although not sure it ever recovered from getting rid of the chair that bumped you into the air to answer from S1 

[JAS84]

Can't say I'm surprised, considering the recent schedule changes. Isn't it's timeslot gone now?

Link, which confirms that is the reason: https://www.tvzoneuk.com/post/britbrighfam-axed-itv1

[Brekkie]

Bothers Bar have been speculating for a while if streaming may endanger the quiz show and Kevin Lygo's quote about such shows not competing with Netflix adds to that theory, though find his comments about them not having room for shows people "don't remember" a bit insulting.

"We extended the news by half an hour and shifted the soaps - and the programming that's gone, you can't remember...

"It was perfectly good, honest it was, but it was for a gentler age when there wasn't so much choice. It doesn't work when there's an amazing five million pound an hour drama to watch on Netflix."

That "gentler age" of course was... 2018.

[tellyblues]

The scheduling for Britain's Brightest Family did it no favours and it would have been better in a post-teatime weekend slot. The Button was a similar show in 2018 that struggled. Don't think it's necessarily to do with streaming but more the concepts feel dated and the shows are out of place with what normally airs in those slots.

[Dogorilla]

"It was perfectly good, honest it was, but it was for a gentler age when there wasn't so much choice. It doesn't work when there's an amazing five million pound an hour drama to watch on Netflix."

That seems like a really strange and defeatist comparison to make. I'm sure streaming has some effect on viewership of evening quiz shows, but you can say that about anything. Documentaries, panel shows, even ITV-produced dramas - why watch them when there's bigger budget stuff on Netflix?

There'll obviously always be a place for light entertainment shows - even if nobody will 'remember' them, that's what some people want to watch sometimes. I'm sure ITV's controller of all people knows that, so maybe that statement was taken out of context, I don't know, it's just an odd thing to say.

[tellyblues]

There's a place for light entertainment but for ITV it has to rate well.