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.

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.

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

ETOnline Video Goes Behind The Scenes of The Crystal Maze - And It's All Very Familiar

As we've mentioned in the past, we've visited the Bottleyard Studios twice on the invitation of the Crystal Maze production crew to have a go on the games before filming. We've also been used as stand in contestants during camera blocking, the stage where they plan out the camera angles to give the audience at home the best view.

Well, with the new Nickelodeon series underway, a few US journalists were invited to enjoy similar experiences to promote the show, and this video with Cassie DiLaura from etonline.com should give you a great idea of how our days go. It even includes a moment with nicest bloke in the world, executive producer Neale Simpson.

The Music Of The Crystal Maze US - Ryan Lofty

Hi this is Ryan Lofty, one of the composers of the Nickelodeon adaptation of The Crystal Maze, here to chat about what’s new in music for the US version of the show!

Thank you to Liam, Jon, and the whole team for having me.

Co-composer David Butterfield and I were initially brought on to cover the theme song. The creative brief didn’t have too much detail other than a request for a contemporary hybridized take... plus a nicely worded warning that the UK series composer would be reviewing and approving – so don’t mess with his composition!

Covering a theme as well-known and loved as “Force Field” is a big responsibility. We spent a lot of time researching, reading YouTube comments, and checking out fan blogs like this one.

The Crystal Maze US Debuts on YouTube

In a move not unfamiliar to Nickelodeon viewers, the first episode has made it's bow on Youtube.

Now if you're not located in North America it won't work for you. But this is the internet and when has that stopped anyone. There'll be no spoilers on here though, we want you watching it and enjoying it. So instead of us reviewing the episode over a week from the 24th, here's what Twitter thought:

More Names For Part Two of This Years Series

I've already covered a multitude of names after picking apart a trailer the social media team put up but thanks to a tiny little slip by whoever manages the Youtube channel, a thumbnail for a future show has shown us a couple of names to add to the list.

On the left, we can see former Liverpool, Real Madrid, Newcastle United and Manchester United player Michael Owen. The man who scored THAT goal against Argentina in 1998. Alongside him is Kimberly Wyatt, the second former Pussycat Doll to take on the challenge after Ashley Roberts last year. In the middle is someone who I have no idea about but I'm going to take a wild swing at him being from a reality show, probably Love Island. (Thanks to Danker1990, it's Kem from Love Island) Bringing up the rear are two names we've already established: Radio 1 DJ (who always sounds surprised with himself) Matt Edmondson and finally the lovely Debbie McGee. Not my word, simply the often-repeated line by her late husband, magic icon Paul Daniels.

TV Choice Awards Voting

Throughout the year TV awards from different groups come and go, and the longlist for the TV Choice Awards features our favourite game show in the Best Entertainment category. So if you get a spare 3 minutes, feel free to go onto the TV Choice site, vote for whatever you like in the other categories but when you get to the Best Entertainment grouping, save your click/tap for The Crystal Maze.

https://awards.tvchoicemagazine.co.uk/vote-here

The Crystal Maze is possibly getting a US version

Before I say this, it must be taken with a wheelbarrow sized pinch of salt so prepare accordingly. An article popped up online today suggesting the possibility of a US version of everyone's favourite British game show devised by a Frenchman.

https://www.c21media.net/banijays-crystal-maze-leads-to-us/

For a bit of background, as I understand it, the ownership of the show is as follows:

TCM is produced by Fizz, which is owned by RDF Television, which itself is a subsidiary of Banijay Group after BG bought RDF's parent company Zodiak Media. I think this is how it goes, I may not be 100% accurate but I know the name above the door at the top of the pile is Banijay Group.

An American producer by the name of Bunim Murray Productions, which is also under the Banijay Group umbrella, is wanting to shop the format around to US broadcasters. BMP being the people who brought the world 'Surviving R Kelly' and some unknown thing called 'Keeping Up With The Kardashians', so TCM seems like something a bit different for them.