Coming Soon from Neale Simpson, the Producer of The Crystal Maze, 'Lightning'

 I will never be able to thank Neale Simpson enough for letting the other blog members and myself on set to test games. Not just once but twice. Those two days are days I will never forget and he let me live out a childhood dream that, for a very long time, I never saw happening because the show wasn't on. I'd give limbs for another day on that set, two if it was for a TV recording*, but a certain pandemic seems to be putting a gigantic spanner in those works. 

By the way, Neale's book The Crystal Maze Challenge is still available online, £4 on Google Play. Go on, he's one of the nicest TV producers I've ever had a pot of tea with. It's a short list of those that have, but I don't particularly care. Chris Lore and Neale didn't have to come down and have a chat with us lot, yet they did.

However, the situation is what it is and it's a situation that certainly won't be fixed by sulking about it. As such Neale, in his role as Creative Director at Fizz, has got a new show starting next week on BBC Two and it looks rather fun.

The Crystal Maze - FAQ (More will be added over time)

 In the course of my Twitter browsing, I often happen upon the same things coming up. "What was that show kinda like Crystal Maze but with tigers?", "So Crystal Maze is just Jungle Run for adults?" and "What's Crystal Maze?". That last one really gets to me, its been 31 years.

Anyhow, and it may get added to over time, here is just some answers to questions that may or may not have been asked frequently:

1. The Crystal Maze - Fort Boyard Link

• In the late '80s, Channel 4 wanted their own version of a forthcoming French format "The Keys to Fort Boyard"

Ayoade, Vaccination, Catchphrase and Jurassic Park - How Was Your Weekend?

Things aren't looking great at the moment. To paraphrase the joke EVERY U.S. talk show made on Friday: The last week has been a hell of a year. But what really topped off the weekend came via Stephen Mulhern's Catchphrase on ITV. Mr Ayoade was a contestant, but I wasn't watching at the time, I was fully engrossed in Jurassic World Evolution. PlayStation have a sale on and I packed out my hard drive again.

Anyhow, a couple of tweets caught my eye and knocked my confidence in seeing any future series of Crystal Maze.

Lockdown 3: Lockdown with a Vengeance. Let the Binge Watching Continue

Happy 2021. Well it was inevitable, wasn't it? Once again Britain is locked in.

I won't say anything you haven't read or thought yourself, we know it's a pain in the arse, but what I can do is suggest something to fill in the hours you may be about to spend stuck inside again. 

Here's some playlists, if something takes your fantasy there'll be plenty more on YouTube to find.

If you've got any suggestions to add, stick them in the comments below and I'll add a playlist and this page will always be there keeping options available. And I'll get to the obvious one I've missed in due course. I found some more recent uploads of the episodes with much better picture quality than we've been used to on what's been uploaded to the youtubes in the past.

I Have Had My Tiny Little Mind Blown - There Was A Sequel Series to Crystal Maze: Magic Carnival

It's escaped my notice for 25 years, but there was a follow up to The Crystal Maze.

Last night I was watching Channel 4's "Back to the '90s", part of a series celebrating 4 decades of Channel 4. I was doing my usual thing on Twitter, liking and retweeting everything remotely relevant to this humble little blog. Every mention of quality Channel 4 programming (of which GamesMaster was noticeable by its absence). One tweet certainly grabbed my attention:

I Art Directed the last original series of The Crystal Maze, such a buzz to work on #backtothe90s

— Richard Drew (@dickydrew) December 28, 2020

The whole thread is there to find on Twitter, and after some messages, something came up that I've never heard of in 30ish years of being far too obsessed with a quirky Channel 4 gameshow:

I was very fortunate in my AD career to work with some fantastic Production Designers, but James and Dennis ( de Groot) probably had the biggest influence on me. James n I did the follow up show Magic Carnival together, was meant to succeed CM but it only got to pilot stage.

— Richard Drew (@dickydrew) December 29, 2020

Who Are The Final Set of Contestants For This Series (New Years Eve, 8pm)

 Almost as suddenly as it started, this series is almost over. However, we've still got one last episode to enjoy. So for the last time this series, who are they? Where've you seen them before? Which one's been on Strictly or I'm a Celeb? Keep reading after the photo.

Who Are the Next Set (December 24th) of Crystal Maze Contestants

 No sooner has one show finished and the next is nearly upon us. This Thursday, or as it was also known until fairly recently "Christmas Eve" (Hello Boris), at 10:55pm we get episode 5 of the current run. Yes, it's a little late but if you've got kids then they may well be up anyway in anticipation of whatever you've got them to play Fortnite on with a few more pixels to use. Or if you don't want them watching TV that late the whole run is on All4 already.

But who's taking part for the night, and where do you maybe perhaps possibly know them from?

Who Are Next Week's (Monday 21st December) Crystal Maze Contestants?

 Next week is bringing Christmas (sort of) and however we're each spending it, at least we still have some Crystal Maze to enjoy. Don't forget to go looking for the old Christmas specials online, they're all there if you look hard enough, and you don't have to look that hard. But who's taking part? Where do you know them from? And Why? When? How? If?.... Enough rubbish, here's who's who.

A Crystal Maze Christmas Special (for Future Consideration)

 'Tis the season to forget what an utter pile of [insert your own choice of something unpleasant here] this year has been. I'm finding myself laid up for a few days after a doctor stuck a needle in the underside of my foot and as such have spent today ploughing through various specials of various shows. 

My Christmas seasonal viewing tends to include the same shows year after year, I'm a creature of habit. I'll enjoy Richard Richard taking a finger off while preparing Christmas dinner in 'Bottom', I'll watch Blackadder's Christmas Carol and see the most harrowing use of a codpiece as Baldrick presents himself to the future Queen. I'll even revisit episodes of Never Mind the Buzzcocks I've got stashed for a Rick Wakeman/Bill Bailey supergroup the world needs more of.

But there's one set of shows that it should come as no surprise to anyone to know that'll I'll be watching without fail, the TCM Kids Christmas Specials. Yeah, I'll still be watching the more recent offerings that's have made the effort to offer up a more festive mise-en-scene but I do have a slight problem with them. As the show is currently, every show is a celebrity special, so they aren't all that special. I do really enjoy all the extra changes they make but, to me, they are missing one big shift that'd make them a proper Christmas Special.

Who Are Next Week's (December 17th) Crystal Maze Contestants?

Another week down and another episode aired, enjoy it? Good. Well there's another one next week and if you aren't sure who's on, or if you do know but have no idea who they actually are, keep reading.

Who Are Next Week's (December 10th) Crystal Maze Contestants?

 Hope we all enjoyed the return of the celebs. Nice high score too. However just as one episode becomes merely what was on yesterday, let's look forward to next week and have a look at who's who.

For Sale: One Original Crystal Maze "I Cracked The Crystal Maze" Crystal from Series One (1990)

 Thanks to the modern wonder that is social media, one of the contestants for the very first series filmed back in 1989 and broadcast in 1990 has been in touch regarding selling his prize crystal from the show. 

Now, I'll be the first to admit I'd love one for my collection. I'd give vital organs and limbs for one. But right now I've other priorities so I'd love to help another proper Crystal Maze fan (you, the reader) get in contact with the seller and work out a sale yourself.

Who Are Next Week's (December 3rd) Crystal Maze Contestants?

I hope we've all been enjoying the extra few episodes we've been treated to on E4 over the last couple of weeks. They've certainly generated reactions online widely ranging between annoyance and sheer rage.. However it's now that time again where there's going to be celebrity Crystal Maze on the telly, someone inevitably reads that it's a celebrity special, sees a name and asks "Who's that?". Well, allow me to try and fill in some blanks.

A Reminder of New Civilian Crystal Maze, and News of New Celeb Specials

 Just a reminder that this Sunday sees some new episodes of The Crystal Maze starting to air on E4 at 4:55pm followed immediately by the family-friendly PG edit of all new Taskmaster.

Ever heard Roman numerals decoded in a Bristol accent?

No?

You haven't lived people!

Let's right that wrong on Sunday

4:55pm on @E4Tweets #CrystalMaze pic.twitter.com/ouA5w11UnO

— The Crystal Maze (@TheCrystalMaze) November 11, 2020

However that's just 3 new episodes, whatever will we do with ourselves when the third is shown in just over a fortnight?

Gameshows and Streaming: Twitch Communities Making Viewing a Social Night In

 We're in a weird time, aren't we? We can't really have the level of socialization that we used to have (I've never been social but I know people like interacting) and yet thanks to modern technology we can still communicate in ways that the human race could never have imagined even 50 years ago. If you've ever used Twitch, you'll know that whatever people can do for a live-stream, they'll do happily and build up an audience. It's certainly been a way for people to fill their time under present circumstances.

Performers have turned to Twitch to generate some additional income in these times where they can't be booking gigs and getting on stage for audiences. Comedian and podcaster Richard Herring can't do his podcasts or shows from Leicester Square Theatre anymore so he's doing them live-streamed on Twitch. Likewise for Limmy, instead of being able to tell jokes on stage, he's taken to playing truck driving simulators for hundreds of viewers. Even as I'm typing this, Love Island narrator and Taskmaster alumnus Iain Stirling is playing FIFA 21 for 800 viewers.

TV presenters, wrestlers, singers, writers, people from all areas of entertainment have been creating content on Twitch including many who've already built up a following on YouTube.

At Long Last, 3 Forgotten Crystal Maze Episodes Get To Broadcast

 In 2017, 20 episodes were commissioned for a revived series of 'The Crystal Maze' hot on the heels of a successful one-off hosted by Stephen Merchant. Richard Ayoade took the helm for the series and everyone was enjoying themselves. However, as time wore on everyone was commenting that the games were becoming a bit samey, and viewing figures dropped as we'd all seen the Totem Mastermind Dragon game just a little too often. After 17 episodes, Channel 4 seemingly gave up with the run leaving three unaired.

These episodes still aired in other markets the show was sold to so they weren't forgotten completely, but last night @UndeniablyAlex alerted me to an ad airing on Channel 4 after they aired 'The Bridge' showing they were going to be airing these 3 shows on E4. "Coming Soon" says the ad so expect them within the month. 

@maze_blog @BothersBar here is that trailer confirming indeed S1 will finally be completed in the UK pic.twitter.com/qORcKK8PkO

— Danny Lee Kerner (@Danny_L_Kerner) November 1, 2020

About time too, with Lockdown 2 steaming into view on the horizon, I'm going to need something to watch. You'll be able to see The Ali family, The Midwives, and the Sasani Family and Friends at some point soon on E4.

The Midwives

Also, don't forget that The Crystal Maze USA will be back on Nickelodeon UK this week after a two-week hiatus. Friday, at 7pm.

You Bet! - When Talent Shows Were 100% Dancing Dog Free

It's been over a month since the last post. Life has been busy, things have been hectic, and everything's been a bit bleh. But while I've got some free time in the office, I thought I'd look at the other show I liked maybe a little too much.

Everyone's got one unusual, maybe even weird skill that it could safely be assumed isn't all that common. No show took advantage of that quite like You Bet!. 

Based on the German language format "Wetten Dass?", You Bet! invited celebrity guests to bet on the outcome of a very wide range of weird and wonderful challenges taken on by members of the public and some of these challenges were the kind of feats you wouldn't really see anywhere else.

First hosted by Bruce Forsyth in 1988, followed by Matthew Kelly then Darren Day, You Bet! was a talent show that featured the bare minimum of singing, dancing and illusion. Instead, you could see feats such as a dutchman driving a flatbed truck up and over an arch without disturbing the dinner service set up on the back of the truck. Or if that doesn't take your interest, how about a teenager identifying makes and models of car just by looking at the shape of the rear lights. Or a driver cracking eggs using the teeth on the bucket of his digger, whilst blindfolded.

The Crystal Maze Live IN YOUR LIVING ROOM!/BATHROOM!/CUPBOARD UNDER THE STAIRS!

 Well, the world's not getting any less weird. We seem to be going backward in terms of progress and supermarkets are apparently rationing stuff again.

So before you get roped back into another endless routine of Zoom quizzes, how about something different? Those delightful people behind the Crystal Maze (Hi Charlie!) have come up with a fun alternative to the same stuff you've been doing since March - A play at home Crystal Maze team challenge. 

For £15 a head, your team of at least 8 will be guided through 16 all-new puzzles and tasks. Sign up here and you'll be led by an experienced Maze Master where you can still shout at one another through smaller digital windows. Meaning you get to question your friend's choice of putting Argos catalogues on their bookshelves. 

Been working on this for an age and it's finally available! You can now play a Virtual @CrystalMazeHQ from home, 16 new games and the new Crystal Dome round - hosted by your own personal Maze Master! It's £15 a head and you can book here!https://t.co/a8pTuxwo6G

(1/2) pic.twitter.com/hjBbcTwFTK

— Charlie (@Wheeler____) September 25, 2020

There's also a free offering for 4 players to download without a mazemaster that includes 8 games to play along with. Sign up free and download the necessary PDF files HERE

To play, you'll need some form of video conferencing software (eg Zoom), pen and paper to make notes with, and access to Youtube.

Get your team together, tell them you're sick of quizzes, and do something different together: booking a mazemaster and yelling at each other's ineptitude online.

Don't forget, The Crystal Maze is on TV over on Nickelodeon every Friday at 7pm. Adam Conover is mazemastering with all new (to the UK) episodes of the US version of the show.

Stay safe people.

'Under Consoletation' Cover The Crystal Maze in a Patreon-only Podcast

 In the same way that they've been dissecting every episode of 'Gamesmaster' for their podcast 'Under Consoletation', Luke Owen and Ash Versus have picked apart an episode of The Crystal Maze for a special one-off podcast for their Patreons.

Noel's House Party - Saturday Night Marmite

 When I was small and weirder, I was highly entertained by shows that would merge fiction and reality, TCM being the obvious example but there were plenty of others. Shows that would take real people and have them experiencing life in, to some degree, a fantasy world. Knightmare took its contestants and made them have an adventure through a swords-and-sorcery style greenscreen-scape. Scavengers took contestants to a derelict space cruiser and made them work in the recycling sector for the viewing public's "entertainment". Gamesmaster - Oil rig, hell, heaven, island... they were determined to inject a little fiction into the art of having children play Mortal Kombat II. This mixture of fiction in reality would spill into BBC1 Saturday nights with the help of a short beardy bloke off of the radio.

An Unexpected Item of Mail from Richard O'Brien

I came home from work this afternoon and saw an envelope with a New Zealand stamp, an Air Mail sticker, and my address in strangely familiar handwriting. I had suspicions that the letter was from Richard O'Brien, after all, he is the only person I know of who resides there. I said to myself "Nah, surely it can't be". I excitedly logged onto the maze fan group to tell everyone and then opened the envelope carefully. Inside was a lovely autographed white card reading "Stay Safe Neil and never give up".  This was a beautiful message from the Maze legend himself. I was overwhelmed by it really. He even hand wrote my full postal address on the envelope. What a guy!

The Crystal Maze USA Starts Tonight at 7pm on Nickelodeon UK

 Morning, just a quick one. Wanted to stick a reminder out into the ether that the American incarnation of The Crystal Maze is starting tonight (September 4th) on Nickelodeon US. We reviewed the first episode after it aired stateside but for most of us, that is the only episode we've seen so we'll get to enjoy it show by show just like we would any new series. 

The show's hosted by TV personality and comedian Adam Conover, if you've never seen him before go and watch some 'Adam Ruins Everything' clips over on YouTube and prepare to lose several hours of your day. 

Nickelodeon is available in the UK on Sky, Virgin Media, TalkTalk, and on NOW TV's £4 a month kids package

A Puzzle Book Kickstarter We Want You To Support

 If you've read our stuff, you probably know the name Charlie Wheeler. We've interviewed him, we've gushed about his CG rendering (below), and we've plugged his puzzle books which it just so happens are still available on Amazon.

The Crystal Maze USA with Adam Conover Comes to Nickelodeon UK

 As first reported by NickALive!, The US version of The Crystal Maze is making its way to British TV. 

Starting Friday September 4th at 7pm on Nickelodeon, (repeated at 10pm) Adam Conover will be taking teams of American families around the familiar maze with a grand prize of $25,000 at stake in the Crystal Dome.

Nickelodeon is available on Sky, Virgin, Talk Talk, and if you now feel an urge to add Nickelodeon to your viewing habits, NOW TV's kids pack is £4 a month, which gets you Nickelodeon, Nick Jr, Nicktoons, Cartoon Network, Cartoonito and Boomerang.

I vanished down an Adam Conover YouTube rabbit hole just before posting this. If you've never seen Adam Ruins Everything, go watch one, it'll soon turn into several.

QI, you've had Corey Taylor and Teri Hatcher, about time to give Adam a seat.

A Message From Mumsey

Thanks to Charlie Wheeler, there's a video that's just gone up on Twitter with a message from Mumsey (Sandra Caron) 

A special message from a very special someone... ❤️ #CrystalMaze pic.twitter.com/cRYRy9qLl9

— Charlie (@Wheeler____) August 15, 2020

So, as a thank you to Charlie for sorting that out, everyone go buy a puzzle book. Go on, you know you want to.

'It's Only A Game Show' Talks The Crystal Maze This Saturday

 Following on from last week and @jordha talking about TCM on 'Game Shows I Suppose', this Saturday sees the UK perspective. Brit based podcast 'It's Only A Game Show' (no points for knowing which show that references, I've mentioned my Jim Davidson story enough as it is) takes to your podcast feeds at the end of the week to have a fun little chat about our favourite big-budget adventure game show.

'Game Shows I Suppose' Covers The Crystal Maze, with @jordha

Podcaster, comedian and 'lonely nerd' (his words, not mine) Jordan Hass has been talking about game shows on his weekly podcast 'Game Shows I Suppose' since 2018. He's clearly got a love of the genre and has covered shows from both sides of the Atlantic alongside a range of guests. A great example to me is talking 'Big Break' with Ben Paddon, whom I once randomly had a game of 'You Don't Know Jack' with, which really caught my attention because I met Ben in the same town where I once annoyed Jim Davidson, it's a small world after all.

Jordan has long mentioned his love of everybody's favourite Channel 4 adventure game show on GSIS and today sees the drop of his TCM episode. It's just over 100 minutes of a guy talking about his favourite British game show so if you like/love/have heard of TCM: subscribe, put the kettle on, put your feet up, play Fall Guys, and have a listen.

Jordan can be found at -

• jordanhass.com
• twitter.com/jordha
• twitch.tv/JordanGames
• patreon.com/jordanhass

Newest Addition to the Collective Crystal Collection

Good day fellow Maze fans,

It's a very exciting day at Superfan HQ today, as we take delivery of another authentic TV crystal, one that was formerly a gap in our collective collection of crystals. The crystal is from the revived series and is one of the crystals from the podium in front of the dome. These are different from the crystals played for in the games only due to the lack of logo from the base, as this would have affected the light shining through it from the podium.

Fantasy Casting a Future Crystal Maze Team - @Ashens @paulgannonshow @elisnoid @MrBiffo @larrybundyjr @octav1usking @mrbarrylewis

Yesterday in the course of tweeting, something came up that had me rueing a missed opportunity to have something on TV I think people would love to see. Or at least I would anyhow.

I did enter us all in @barshens a few years ago, but never heard back

— Mr. Gannon (@PaulGannonShow) July 26, 2020

I apologize in advance as this bit of fantasy casting may go on a bit, but for the last few years there's been a group of collaborators whose work on YouTube, and on a podcast I've mentioned more than occasionally, has got me through some more trying times. I know it's a bit cliche but laughter is the best medicine and this lot never fails to elicit a chuckle or at least a smile out of me every time I go looking for their content. These are simply a bunch of fun entertaining people I'd love to see taking on the games of The Crystal Maze. Bickering, shouting at each other, and just being as entertaining and fun as I've always seen them. I'll be listing more than 5 names here but it's fantasy casting, my writing, my rules.

Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout - Fortnite meets Takeshi's Castle

I'm going to put it out there straight away. I hate Fortnite. From the moment Epic saw PUBG and said "This Fortnite game we've got going on, let's just ignore our initial idea we've put out there already and copy theirs" I've stayed well clear of the streaming favourite. I might just be old fashioned but I like my games to have a story, to draw me into a well-realized fictional world, and occasionally just have me turning zombies and Nazis into jam. When it comes to battle royale games, the concept of a load of 10-year-olds hurling abuse at me, killing my character with zero effort, and claiming intimate knowledge of my mother has simply never appealed to me.

Final List of Celebrity Names for The Crystal Maze's Next Specials

Now that the episodes which haven't aired yet on Channel 4 have broadcast in Australasia, thanks to our commenters we have a complete list of names for what Channel 4 will be calling the next series. A clip with almost all the following names can be seen at the bottom 

(Thanks Danker1990 and Phillip)

The Crystal Maze PC Game - I don't want to be harsh, but there's no other option really

In general, I will praise and adore all Crystal Maze memorabilia. Whether it's the board games, the jigsaw puzzles, the thermal reactive mug I had made, the press photos that I've been getting extorted for on eBay, I love it all. I'll big up The Crystal Maze Challenge by Neale Simpson any day (still available digitally for £3.99)

However, The Crystal Maze PC game is the most infuriating bucket of arse-gravy I have ever played. And I played, and completed, 'Tomb Raider: Angel of Darkness'. Twice.

Good News! More Crystal Maze Incoming! Bad News! Not in the UK!

In 2017, three episodes never made broadcast. We'd been oversaturated with the same games over 20 episodes and so only 17 got to TV. It's happened again. 

Last year's episodes we haven't seen yet are to be aired on Australian children's channel ABC ME. They've been airing all of last year's episodes and will get the shows we haven't seen yet before we get them.

So, whos coming to Australia with me?

What do you mean 'pandemic'?

@BothersBar Remember how there were those three civilian Crystal Maze episodes that got shown in Australia but not the UK?

Looking like the OTHER unaired Crystal Maze episodes with the celebrities are going to start airing in Australia next week, on a different channel. pic.twitter.com/LBBzcSvFSO

— Captain ACAB, BA* (@TheGrimRecapper) July 3, 2020

My Trip Last Year to Test Out Games For The Crystal Maze

I've been sat around pretty bored of late. I keep ending up on eBay buying Crystal Maze related paraphernalia (more on that lot in another post for another day) so I thought I'd distract myself by recounting my travel last year from the North East to the South West to test games for The Crystal Maze.

I'll start by saying I don't drive, but thankfully we've got pretty good public transport covering the length and breadth of Great Britain. 

So...

Step 1 - Home to Middlesbrough: ~15 Miles. 

This stage is the easy bit. It's a trip I make not uncommonly. I went to Uni over there so it's somewhere I'm familiar with. At this time, McDonalds was doing Grand Big Macs so naturally, I had to go gorge myself on one in my usual combo - large meal, Big Mac, Fries, Strawberry milkshake. They should do GBMs more often because that meal kept me fed for the rest of what would be a long day. The meal in bag in hand, I head back to the bus station to wait for my first coach. I didn't take it on the coach, food in my possession rarely stays uneaten for long.

Step 2 - Middlesbrough to Leeds: ~65 miles

Getting Into Game Show Streaming inc. The Crystal Maze PC game

I'm a life long gamer. Since I first tore open a present of a Sega Master System 2 with built-in Sonic the Hedgehog (8-Bit version, bit different to the version everyone's familiar with), I haven't stopped. 

If you've got a PSN account, I'm 'Spudgun20', come say hello.

I recently got a new laptop which, unlike my past computers, doesn't soil itself trying to do anything more complex than minesweeper so I've been playing my old PS1 games via some emulators and I figured it could be fun to stream said games. 

As such, at twitch.tv/spudgun20 I'm going to be playing games such as 'Who Wants to Be a Millionaire', 'The Weakest Link', 'Jeopardy', and a whole host of other older games on Twitch. It'll be mostly game shows but not exclusively, e.g. I've been rediscovering the game for The Italian Job. Chat'll be open, I'll get the old Crystal Maze PC game going, you can enjoy a relentless torrent of bad-control based failure.

If you know of any other game shows turned into games then let me know below. For now I've got TCM, Blockbusters, Weakest Link, Jeopardy, and Millionaire but I'd love to grow that list.

Follow me at twitch.tv/spudgun20 and say hi!

P.S. was setting my streaming up, looking for sound effects, and I found the ultimate clip of Chris Tarrant doing an alternate take for a voiceclip for a PC WWTBAM game (Some swearing within):

Crystal Maze Repeats on TV, No-One Told Me It Had Been Going A While

Before I get to Crystal Maze getting repeat airings, could you give these lads a 'like' each, please: 

 

 

Now that little bit of admin is out of the way...

Two Key Members of the Maze Blog, And as Such Crystal Maze Superfans, Shortlisted for The Crystal Maze Live Experience Superfan Competition

"These old doomsday devices are dangerously unstable. I'll rest easier not knowing where they are."

- Professor Farnsworth

Great words by a great man, and words we can all live by I'm sure you'll all agree. But another great quote of his, far more relevant to anything going on today - 

As you may have guessed from the overlong title, two of our number have been shortlisted for The Crystal Maze Live Experience's Superfan competition. 

The '90s Was The Golden Age Of Television, And Has Filled My 2020 So Far

The '90s was the golden age of television. Nothing will sway me from this opinion. Could I be slightly biased in that the '90s were my formative years? Absolutely. Were my years from the age of 1 to 11 based solely around that box in the corner and whatever was projected on the screen? Definitely. Did I learn to read age 3-ish by using the TV guide so I knew when my shows were on? Odd but true. It worked and I could read to a level where my nursery school ran out of books for me, all because I needed to know when The Crystal Maze and Fun House were on. However, it doesn't alter the fact that all the best TV was around during the '90s.

One of the perks of living in the here and now is that everything is online somewhere. Whether officially available through services like iPlayer and All4, or if it's a forgotten series that's just been uploaded by a YouTube user who enjoyed a show, had it recorded on VHS and wanted to share. 

With the recent situation seeing a lot of increased TV time, I've found myself trawling a lot of older TV shows. Sitcoms like 'Drop the Dead Donkey', 'Red Dwarf', 'Bottom' and 'Absolutely Fabulous' have kept me amused and dramas such as 'Crime Traveller' and 'Jonathan Creek' have filled a few hours. I found a show I'd forgotten existed called 'Harry' which was a BBC One drama set in and around Darlington, a town I'm very familiar with. I spent most of it infuriated by moments where I found myself saying "...and that street doesn't lead into there" far more often than I'd have liked to.

Trailer for 'Jedi Temple Challenge' Released - Inspired by TCM, Jungle Run and Raven

A game show based in the world of Star Wars had it's preview drop today. Jedi Temple Challenge, hosted by Ahmed Best a.k.a the voice of Jar Jar Binks, sees teams of Jedi Padawan take on challenges in a series of Star Wars themed areas.

Why mention it on here? Well the creator, Scott Bromley, openly names Crystal Maze, Jungle Run and Raven as inspiration behind the show on his podcast The Comedy Button (listen from 17:45)

We did. A lot. In fact we referenced Raven numerous times during the development of the series. Keep in mind this is 1 minute of hyper-paced action and not a full episode.

— Scott Bromley (@Scott_Bromley) May 27, 2020

Have to say, the Jedi temple looks very Jungle Run - Temple of the Jungle King.

Watch the trailer below and you'll certainly get very strong TCM and Raven vibes from the action on screen. At least they've taken inspiration from the best, but what I'd give for some of that sweet, sweet Disney budget.

Jedi Temple Challenge starts on June 3rd on Star Wars Kids.

Crystal Maze's Mumsey in America Alongside Fred Willard

Comedy great Fred Willard passed away at the weekend. You may remember him from roles in This is Spinal Tap, Anchorman, Modern Family, Everybody Loves Raymond and much, much more. Our thoughts go out to his family.

This got me on the hunt for footage of him from a comedy show: "An Evening at the Improv". I'd seen it a while back and the clips I was after are, I think, now set to private. So after a bit of hunting around through Reddit, this clip came to my attention this morning that I had to share.

Fred Willard hosting, and doing a skit with Sandra Caron. Her name may not be familiar but you know the face. This ought to clear up who she is for anyone unsure -

Mumsey/Auntie Sabrina worked on stage with the late Fred Willard. This clip is from 1981 so it was 9 years before she was seen sat behind her crystal ball with a smoke machine under the table. Should I find another clip of them, I'll be sure to share.