Later this month, 10 groups of 5 family members from America will be flown across the Atlantic and will find themselves in Bristol. They'll maybe see some of Banksy's, and numerous other artists, finest on various walls, they'll take advantage of the hotel amenities, and they'll film their own adventure in The Crystal Maze to be broadcast back home in the States on Nickelodeon in the hope of winning a huge cash prize.
This isn't the first exchange of formats between a UK broadcaster and Nick however, although in the past it's been their shows getting remade over here. This week, I'm starting off with everybody's favourite CITV show featuring teams of two, a house and an awful lot of mess...
Finders Keepers
Yes OK, don't worry, I'll get to that other one another time. It was too obvious to start with.
(Turns out that one wasn't Nick. I'll do it anyway at some point. Not sure why I thought it was Nick although the issue of 'syndication, something we don't really have in TV broadcasting in the UK, may have contributed)
Debuting in 1987, the US version of Finders Keepers ran for 2 years. With the staple ingredients of US game shows at the time such as a regularly used VO artist at the time in 'Harvey', a dash of product placement and a host, Wesley Eure, trying too hard with plenty of forced laughter. The differences between this and the UK version we remember from the '90s are noticeable.
The opening round to decide who gets which room sees the two teams looking for hidden pictures in one large image. This was replaced in the CITV version with the contestants answering questions with answers hidden behind numbers on a video screen wall, having to answer with the numbers then remember where they all are.
After this comes the main part of the show, where each team gets 30 seconds in each room they earned to find an object which they are given a clue to identify. When it comes to the room raiding, there's no real mess made through extra effects such as silly string or streamers. So little, in fact, the contestants don't have helmets on unlike the UK version. Even the helmets during the end game, the "room to room romp", look like they're just there because they have to run around the set. The host is noticeably quiet whilst the raids happen too, he doesn't contribute any commentary or hints unlike Neil Buchanan on the UK version. Neil looked like he wanted to be there, Wesley looks glad to have a paycheck coming.
Speaking of cash, there's another big difference. In the UK, we've got rules against having kids win money on TV. So while the US contestants were playing for up to $50 per hidden picture and $100 per room, in the UK version they played for points. The highest-scoring team would go on to do the final round with a prize given for each completed room. Different countries, different standards of broadcasting. While our kids can't win cash on TV, we can swear on free-to-air TV channels after 9pm, so swings and roundabouts.
It lasted two years in America, production ending in 1989. Two years later on CITV we got a, in my personal and somewhat biased opinion because it's what I grew up with, much better version.
Just so I'm clear, I'm using the above episode to make my points, so by series 5 it had had time to adjust the format a bit and for Neil to be well established in his role as host.
Running from 1991 to 1996, with a brief revival in 2006, it was hosted by Neil Buchanan for the entirety of its original run with then-retired Gladiator Diane 'Jet' Youdale joining as co-host in 1996.
Why do I consider it better? Simple. More energy throughout.
They start with room raiding to introduce the teams instead of questions to have excitement from the off. Then whether we're talking about Neils commentating, the rigging in the rooms having shelves collapsing and confetti testing Youtube's video compression, or the surprising level of tension during the 4 minute final game which included every room, there's just more fun being had throughout. Everyone you see and hear on the show is fully invested in the game, even if the prize is naming a dolphin or going to the theatre rather than cold hard cash.
They also included occasional celebrity guests joining a team in a specific room to find an item which would earn a bonus prize on top of points. A good example that comes to mind would be PJ & Duncan (Ant & Dec) helping raid a mocked-up music studio. They'd later be seen lounging around the house as the winning team was running from room to room during the final round.
They start with room raiding to introduce the teams instead of questions to have excitement from the off. Then whether we're talking about Neils commentating, the rigging in the rooms having shelves collapsing and confetti testing Youtube's video compression, or the surprising level of tension during the 4 minute final game which included every room, there's just more fun being had throughout. Everyone you see and hear on the show is fully invested in the game, even if the prize is naming a dolphin or going to the theatre rather than cold hard cash.
They also included occasional celebrity guests joining a team in a specific room to find an item which would earn a bonus prize on top of points. A good example that comes to mind would be PJ & Duncan (Ant & Dec) helping raid a mocked-up music studio. They'd later be seen lounging around the house as the winning team was running from room to room during the final round.
It was, overall, a great show worth running home from school for, and whilst the 2006 revival didn't last, it did show the original was fondly remembered.
Wouldn't have envied the crewmembers tasked with clean-up after every game though.
Wouldn't have envied the crewmembers tasked with clean-up after every game though.
Next Time: Double Dare, and its UK successor
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