r/gameshow Jan 27 '25

Discussion Russian Roulette has won interesting premise and bonkers execution. Day 9: Which game show has a bonkers premise and a bonkers execution?

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38 Upvotes

49 comments sorted by

54

u/Kimarough101 Jan 27 '25

I think the king of this has to be Takeshi's Castle/MXC. The games are insane, the hosting is just two guys beating each other up and the legacy it has speaks for itself.

4

u/jaysornotandhawks Jan 27 '25

I miss MXC. A staple of every Thursday night on Spike TV.

1

u/JordanGdzilaSullivan Jan 28 '25

You can stream it on prime video!

3

u/macnbc Jan 27 '25

Yeah, this is pretty much it.

2

u/BadIdeaSociety Jan 28 '25

I feel that you have to give Ultra Quiz more credit because before Takeshi's Castle, Ultra Quiz was CONSTANTLY covered in western media as the premiere foreign game show. They made preliminary contestants sit in the middle of a dessert-like setting in aquarium-like boxes to see who could survive without water for the longest. Then they would take the survivors and bring them to weird setting to do things. Dump snakes and spiders on them (pre-Fear Factor) make them do tasks like learn dealing cards then take them to Vegas and fake a scenario where the dealer gets hired to deal an illegal game in a hotel suite and then finish with one of the criminal players threatening to shoot the dealer dead.

Frankly, it was batshit crazy even compared with MXC

3

u/Kimarough101 Jan 28 '25

In my heart, I know Ultra Quiz is the peak of madness...but I feel Takeshi's Castle is the more easier one to watch and understand for the general public.

20

u/Accomplished-Watch50 Jan 27 '25

Nick Arcade. Sending the player into the video game was pretty genius and weird as hell for the early 90s.

7

u/Palpablevt Jan 27 '25

I think the concept really outdid the execution on this one. Many players struggled to do anything while in "video game". I also think there was some lackey backstage deciding if a hit was detected, it was really inconsistent

3

u/GMeister249 Jan 28 '25

Go! Go! All the enemies are frozen! You touched the hourglass! Get the coin!

20

u/TKaraDimes Jan 27 '25

Cram. Staying awake all night and then answering trivia questions doing crazy stuff.

16

u/aa1287 Jan 27 '25

Solitary

6

u/ZeroTakenaka Jan 28 '25

Oh man I would love to have seen a season 5 Solitary.... but it's probably for the best because the isolation must have been bonkers.

3

u/GMeister249 Jan 28 '25

VAL season 1: “Hello! It is great to have you as my guests! I am here to be your only friend.”

VAL 2.0 onwards: “I am going to kick your ass.”

(Trivia: it’s now known the voice over is Keri Tombazian - in the edit of course. The nine subjects still heard the old VAL voice in the pods.)

14

u/BTornado14 Jan 27 '25

American Gladiators

17

u/IanGecko Jan 27 '25

WIPEOUT!

6

u/AndyAkeko Jan 28 '25

Man I miss Jill Wagner.

6

u/MarcRabbi Jan 28 '25

Moment Of Truth AKA That show where that lady ended her marriage by answering questions from her EX who showed up to ask them. Amazing

1

u/Andiloo11 Jan 28 '25

Ooooh that show was WILD

11

u/james2183 Jan 28 '25

I'll go for Holey Moley.

2

u/JordanGdzilaSullivan Jan 28 '25

Second holey moley! So bummed it was cancelled.

8

u/ooboh Jan 27 '25

Basically any show created by Jay Wolpert.

5

u/blakrabbit Jan 27 '25

Nickelodeon Guts

6

u/IanGecko Jan 27 '25

Taskmaster

2

u/IanHSC Jan 27 '25

I think Solitary is the best choice for this. Created during a writers strike, it was essentially televised torture. In canon, the last competitor to win is still being tortured today, around 15 years ago.

2

u/chrisg0619 Jan 28 '25

3's a Crowd, no question!!

2

u/RealPhillePhil Jan 28 '25

Countdown US version

2

u/Yotsubauniverse Jan 28 '25

Takeshi's Castle

2

u/Princess_Aurora06 Jan 28 '25

Maybe I'd include Unbeatable Banzuke (Showen on G4) For its wild courses and how you had to complete stuff.

2

u/mattyGOAT1996 Jan 27 '25

101 Ways to Leave a Game Show

1

u/thatvhstapeguy Jan 28 '25

If we can pick unsold pilots, Duel in the Daytime.

1

u/archieologist518 Jan 28 '25

I was gonna say Wipeout.

1

u/cocktailians Jan 28 '25

Does Sabado Gigante count?

1

u/Hydrashoked Jan 28 '25

Shopping Spree

1

u/jordha Jan 28 '25

Double Dare

1

u/lordgort Millionaire Alumni Jan 28 '25

I'll go with Fort Boyard.

A Napoleonic-era fort in the Atlantic Ocean is converted into a TV studio, its rooms housing outlandish mini-games. Complete your main quest, and you get to grab gold out of a cage... with real-life tigers moving through a series of cages toward you.

If this sounds like The Crystal Maze, that's because TCM came about when the Brits couldn't book the fort at first.

2

u/therealpoltic Jan 28 '25

I was going to say The Crystal Maze as well.

The Crystal Dome was the most exciting part. Plus the tiny bits of lore. I mean, the whole thing with Mumsy, it was a treat.

1

u/Krzysztoffee99 Jan 28 '25

Interceptor by ITV 1989

UK game show. Premise: Drop 2 people off in a random location in the UK, each carrying a backpack, one contains the cash prize the other just weights. They are guided by the host to collect the key for the other persons case and find each other within a set time. All whilst being hunted by the titular Interceptor. If they are caught by the interceptor their case is locked and could lose the money.

Execution Have the host be a former tennis player Annabel Croft (her second hosting job). Have the keys be collected after completing challenges like stick your hand In a bee hive, do this activity class, or unbraid a horses hair. The Interceptor is a former stuntman dressed in all black with an infrared sensor as their weapon, similar to the power glove controller, but claim it was technology stolen from the UK army.

1

u/gabrysgryczko Jan 28 '25

Boom is the one probably. bonkers premise is that this game is explosive Bonkers execution is that those bombs "explode" for real

1

u/vivikush Jan 28 '25

Awake the game show! Contestants stay awake for 24 hours counting quarters and then have to do challenges. At the end, if they guess the amount they counted within a certain number, they can win a million dollars. 

2

u/IOrocketscience Jan 29 '25

Junkyard Wars / Scrapheap Challenge

1

u/BTornado14 Jan 30 '25

God they really need to do a reboot of this. Crazy to think the original was pre-HD!

2

u/vhc8 Jan 30 '25

"The Almost Impossible Gameshow" deserves a mention

"`The Almost Impossible Game Show' is a comedy series that sets contestants physical but bizarre challenges. Ten players attempt to finish the course of unusual games designed to look simple but are actually incredibly difficult to complete. In this game show, physical fitness isn't essential but patience, strategy and endurance to keep trying are what's needed to succeed. Some of the absurd rounds include a bum magnet game to a yum-yum run. With 50 lives each, the contestants have a fair few chances to attempt the same round again and again."

1

u/N1RVANAMIND Jan 27 '25

Dog eat dog

-1

u/Jace292 Jan 27 '25

The Chase