It's Been A While - I Took Some Time Off - Saw @Ashens, @NostalNerd, @TristaBytes, @mrbiffo and co. have been to Crystal Maze Live

 It's been a while since I did one of these. I've been doing 14 hour days, 9 days a week and I inevitably burned out. The last few weeks haven't been great for me so I've had a mental health week to myself. Honestly, barely moved from the bed. According to my phone, I've gone from 55k steps a week to 400. But if you aren't coping, you aren't coping, simple as that. 

So it's left me some time to catch up on a lot of things. Fixed my laptop for example. For several months the concept of sound has been beyond this thing, input or output, nothing. May as well have tried getting it to accept eclairs as a form of audio, just nothing. And nothing says I've been binge eating quite like shoehorning eclairs in there for no sensical reason whatsoever.

Washing piles are done, the sun's been out so I've been able to plough through the numerous mounds of washing that have accumulated around the house without relying on an electroholic tumbler.

Now, when I dragged my carcass out of bed eventually this morning (been really struggling on mornings so when I saw today would be hot, hung my washing out last night. Woke up to dry clothes.) I sat down at my laptop and saw that several of my favourite Youtube and Twitch types were at Crystal Maze Live.

Last night, These excellent folks and I cracked the Crystal Maze (Team Cygnet Moon ~don't ask).

I did two physical games, got two crystals, almost died of exhaustion. WOULD RECOMMEND.@TristaBytes @myunie @ashens @mrbiffo @SlopesGameRoom @quangdx @TheCrystalMaze @CrystalMazeHQ pic.twitter.com/ZVoV1mRtSu

— Nostalgia Nerd (@nostalnerd) March 24, 2022

 Content creators whose work has really helped over the last couple of years, so it put a smile on my face seeing them there. 

Just putting it on record some of these were in my fantasy celeb episode casting, and I did put forward the idea of a YouTuber team to producers, to be told Youtube types want too much money.

Ah well. This is the next best thing isn't it? 

Given the spin and now re-united! Crystal Maze's Rob & The Red Planet!

August 31st, 2021 marks a day in history, as Rob Griffin has been re-united with a particularly memorable prop from the labyrinth known as The Crystal Maze!

Rob became famous following his appearance on The Crystal Maze after his adventure with The Cosplay Team left him a captive in the Futuristic Zone briefly! 

Saying that, it wouldn't be the first time human beings have become stuck on the Red Planet, as it appears to be a popular mechanic of Hollywood Filmmakers!

The planets have become that iconic in the show as a result of Rob, that The Crystal Maze Live experience decided they had to implement the game at one of their venues - which we can confirm Rob did manage to complete on this occasion!

If you were watching the show, you'll know that there was a further mishap in the Aztec Zone, but I'll leave you to watch that and enjoy it for yourselves!

Also, Neil (Blog Team) has uploaded the magical moment to YouTube, so why not tune in and enjoy this moment of mirth?

We'll have some more videos soon, so as MazeMaster Ayoade would say -
"Thank you for watching, if indeed you still are!"

Strike It Lucky or Strike It Rich - Whichever Name it Went By, It Was Great Fun

Strike It Lucky or Strike It Rich - Whichever name it went by, it was great fun and now there's probably the nearest there'll ever be to some official uploads.

Yesterday whilst scrolling Twitter, as I'm one to do, I happened across something that caught my eye:

The best way to start the weekend is with a dose of Eric and a good belly laugh! A good cure. The FULL episode is over on my YouTube channel (link below) X pic.twitter.com/0Msakyx1HQ

— Michael Barrymore (@MrBarrymore) June 11, 2021

The key bit that I noticed, "The full episode is over on my YouTube channel". Michael Barrymore is uploading episodes of Strike It Rich himself and I'm all for it. There's a lot of shows I've been watching on YouTube over the last year and a bit, and I'm very well aware they probably aren't from 100% legitimate sources. I don't imagine all those episodes of Indoor League I've enjoyed came from someone at Yorkshire Television. And if you like Indoor League, I highly recommend twitch.tv/nikkiandbunty on a Sunday evening, their watch-along streams usually include some Indoor League and Fred Trueman being the most Yorkshire Yorkshireman that ever did Yorkshire.

Strike It Lucky/Rich was a great show, it's quite hard to find anything not to like. An easy to follow format that doesn't suffer from one of my biggest bugbears of modern TV, overproduction. Nowadays everything seems like it's timed to the second, positions and timing are adhered to very strictly and there's no room for spontaneity. In stark contrast, Michael Barrymore found time to completely derail a show from the running order, start dancing with contestants, rant at production about giving an elderly couple trapeze lessons as a prize. One great example, the show starts with an introduction to the contestants which just never ends because MB just gets such great entertainment out of a couple. It goes so long, the episode goes on to skip the first half of the game just to make sure the show still fits its half-hour slot.

If you've never seen it, give it a half hour of your day, it's simply enjoyable throughout:

And I can't mention Strike It Lucky without mentioning the parody from Dick 'n Dom, Strike It Mucky. You know what they say about imitation. Mark Lamarr was less than complimentary about a similar parody of himself on "Never Muck the Buzzcocks" but I hope MB doesn't mind Dave Chapman's impersonation.

 

Fun fact: Dave Chapman, with his other talents as a puppeteer, would later be behind BB8 in Star Wars

The Time A Saudi TV Channel Borrowed From My Crystal Maze Intro Editing

 Since the revived series started, I've taken the episodes, done a bit of chopping, stuck the original theme underneath and created a montage style opening more akin to the 90s series. They were on YouTube for posterity but YouTube said no and I no longer have a YouTube. Annoying? Yes but nothing to get angry at. It's not lost me anything.

After the first run, I put together the following:

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.

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.

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

Some More Themed Wordsearches To Try Your Hand At

We've hit on a theme at the moment, moving on from YouTube playlists, crosswords and wordsearches. So here's a few we've put together for you to have a go at.


Click the image for an interactive version to play, check your volume levels, they can be a bit loud.

More Free Time? Here's Some Game Show/Panel Shows To Enjoy

Well this is fun isn't it? All this free time and panicky shoppers raiding Sainsbury's is proving.... well it's something isn't it. I got a little mini lecture off a woman this morning in regards to me buying one of the last three bottles of semi-skimmed. Anyhow, in between trying the Resident Evil 3 demo and relearning to bake bread since everyone's had it all, I've been cobbling together some YouTube playlists of gameshows and panel shows to have a flick through. No more than one episode of each show, if you like something I'm sure you can go look for more in your own time, we've all got plenty of that for now. I'll be constantly adding to them over time as I remember and find more.

Game Shows

Panel Shows

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:

Some Resources for Teachers Planning Crystal Maze Themed End of Term Stuff

It's getting to the time where teachers give up because it's close to Christmas and usually just throw a  movie on. I remember my RE teacher's go-to movie was Terminator 2, and that wasn't even for Christmas. One thing I've seen a lot of on Twitter has been teachers and schools having TCM themed events for their pupils making use videos and graphics online so I thought why not group the suitable stuff together and throw some suggestions in:

Taskmaster: The Crystal Maze Joined At Channel 4 By Another Game Show Phenomenon

Channel 4 was today confirmed as the new home of the hit celebrity game show 'Taskmaster', taking the show from UKTV channel 'Dave' after 9 series.

Missing Fort Boyard? Putin some effort and there's more to watch (sorry, that was terrible)

Just a quick one before today's main Friday blog. Crystal Maze is on a break, Fort Boyard finished a few weeks ago, and we've no idea when Boyard Land is starting, so we've been struggling for something to watch. But without wanting to sound too much like Professor Farnsworth:

Good News Everyone!

It looks like Russian Fort Boyard is getting the official YouTube upload treatment much like it's French counterpart.

Doesn't run as long as the French version, and again it's not in English, but as with the French version you can still follow along easily, you might even pick up some of the language.

EDIT: just seen they've made it private, spoilsports

A French Language Look At Adventure Game Shows by @Meeea

Here's a little something for the 13 of you reading this in France, and for anyone else who understands French. I've been picking the language up from watching Fort Boyard every Saturday night recently but not enough to fully appreciate this video. Here's a 40-minute history looking at adventure game shows by YouTuber MrMeeea

There are shows included that even those who didn't grow up in France may recognize such as TCM, Fort Boyard, Treasure Hunt, Legends of the Hidden Temple, and French versions of Knightmare and The Desert Forges. May have to do something on Knightmare and even The Desert Forges after I do Fun House next week. I'm soon running out of shows during this TCM mid-series break.

Did You Know You Can Watch French Fort Boyard For Free Online And Not In A Piratey Way?

Well, you do now.

EDIT: Seems they've made more recent content private, but there's still plenty available on YouTube

In the last few weeks, following on from the post which featured a clip of Richard O'Brien hosting the British pilot episode of Fort Boyard, I've found myself watching the full French episodes of the newest series on YouTube, and it's only just hit me that I was doing so on the official Fort Boyard YouTube page. As such I wasn't watching something that a fan had uploaded to share with the world, I was watching it because the production company was letting me.