James Corden and Carey Mulligan Talk Crystal Maze on The Late Late Show

One thing I've just never quite understood: the scheduling of late-night US talk shows. Having them nightly, I get that because there's a lot of people out there with a lot of material to promote. It's the time that these shows go out at that goes right over my head. An ideal example of this is The Late Late Show on CBS. It's listed as going out at 12:37am. Now is it just me, or does anyone else use that kind of time for sleeping. Do Americans not go to bed until nearing 2am? Also, 12:37 is more than a little specific isn't it?

 James Corden, known on this side of the Atlantic for 'Gavin and Stacey', 'Doctor Who' and that single he did with Dizzee Rascal, was chatting with Carey Mulligan on The Late Late Show last night/this morning/whenever it goes out. You may be familiar with the show from its Carpool Karaoke segment, a segment that probably broadcasts at 1am. The topic of surprise parties came up and Carey brought up surprising her husband with a trip to The Crystal Maze Live Experience with 35 of his mates and taking over the venue for a session.

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.