The Crystal Maze was a British game show, produced by Chatsworth Television and shown on Channel 4 in the United Kingdom between 15 February 1990 and 10 August 1995. There was one series per year, with the first four series presented by Richard O’Brien and the final two by Ed Tudor-Pole. Each show was one hour long, including adverts.
The show was originally intended to be a British remake of the French programme Fort Boyard, devised by Jacques Antoine. However, the unavailability of the French show’s set led British producer Malcolm Heyworth to reinvent the show, using themed zones as a means to keep the show visually fresh.
The series is set in “The Crystal Maze”, which features four different “zones” set in various periods of time and space. A team of six contestants take part in a series of challenges in order to win “time crystals”. Each crystal gives the team five seconds of time inside “The Crystal Dome”, the centrepiece of the maze where the contestants take part in their final challenge.
The maze cost £250,000 to build and was the size of two football pitches. At its height the show was the most watched on Channel 4, regularly attracting between 4 and 6 million viewers. In 2006 and again in 2010, the show was voted “greatest UK game show of all time” by readers of UKGameshows.com. This site describes the programme as “a highly-ambitious, high-risk show that paid off handsomely.”
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America’s Got Talent is an American reality television series on the NBC television network, and part of the global British Got Talent franchise. It is a talent show that features singers, dancers, magicians, comedians, and other performers of all ages competing for the advertised top prize of one million dollars. The show debuted in June 2006 for the summer television season. From season three onwards, the prize includes the one million dollars, payable in a financial annuity over 40 years, and a show as the headliner on the Las Vegas Strip.
Among its significant features were that it gave an opportunity to talented amateurs or unknown performers, with the results decided by an audience vote. The format is a popular one and has often been reworked for television in the United States and the United Kingdom.
The current incarnation was created by Simon Cowell, and was originally due to be a 2005 British series called Paul O’Grady’s Got Talent but was postponed due to O’Grady’s acrimonious split with broadcaster ITV. As such, the American version became the first full series of the franchise. Despite Cowell’s involvement in the show’s production, his contract with Fox for his involvement with American Idol prevented him from being involved in the show as a judge. After leaving Idol Cowell began to produce and judge a version of The X Factor for Fox in 2011.
A show for Fanboys by Fanboys. Set in uber-geek Kevin Smith’s iconic comic shop Jay and Silent Bob’s Secret Stash, the show explores every nook and cranny of Fanboy culture from A to Z. Endless circular debates about the technical accuracy of the USS Enterprise’s warp-core schematics? Snarky comic aficionados with an encyclopedic knowledge of every Marvel back issue? You bet.
Ghost Hunters is an American paranormal reality television series that premiered on October 6, 2004, on Syfy. The program features paranormal investigators Jason Hawes and Grant Wilson who investigate places that are reported to be haunted. The two originally worked as plumbers for Roto-Rooter as a day job while investigating locations at night. Since the show’s success, the series now takes precedence in their lives, but they are still honorary employees with the company and continue to do jobs for them if time permits.
The show is unrelated to the original 1996 Inca Productions show Ghosthunters produced for the Discovery Channel. The format was sold to Pilgrim Films & Television in the United States to become Ghost Hunters. The only link between the two shows is presenter Ian Cashmore who anchored the UK/Europe show. Cashmore piloted the U.S. show, but chose not to remain part of the U.S. venture after he filmed the promos.
The Internet can be a powerful tool, allowing people to communicate and conduct business across borders. Unfortunately, that also makes it easy for people to, often anonymously, threaten others — or worse — post content that they don’t like. This series tells stories of folks whose lives were ruined because they did something as simple as sending a tweet or posting a status update. Each episode features two people whose lives were turned upside down because of a few keystrokes. The true tales include a woman who received death threats for sending a tweet calling for a cable show’s cancellation, a British man who was detained by the Department of Homeland Security because British slang was misunderstood, and a woman who was forced to move out of her town because of violent threats directed toward her for using the wrong emoji on Facebook.
Property Brothers is a Canadian reality television series that is produced by Cineflix. It airs on W Network and HGTV. Identical twin brothers Jonathan and Drew Scott help home buyers to purchase and renovate “fixer-uppers.”
Drew is a real estate expert who scouts neglected houses and negotiates the purchases. His identical twin brother Jonathan is a licensed contractor who does the renovations of the houses. Together, the Property Brothers help families find, buy, and transform fixer-uppers into dream homes on a strict time-line and strict budget.
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Get Out Alive with Bear Grylls is an American reality competition series hosted by adventurer and survivalist Bear Grylls. The eight-episode series premiered on NBC on July 8, 2013.
Queer Eye is an American reality television series that premiered on the Bravo cable television network in July 2003. The program’s name was changed from Queer Eye for the Straight Guy after the third season to broaden the scope of its content. The series was created by executive producers David Collins and Michael Williams along with their producing partner David Metzler; it was produced by their production company, Scout Productions.
The show is premised on and plays with the stereotypes that gay men are superior in matters of fashion, style, personal grooming, interior design and culture. In each episode, the team of five gay men known collectively as the “Fab Five” perform a makeover on a person, usually a straight man, revamping his wardrobe, redecorating his home and offering advice on grooming, lifestyle and food.
Queer Eye for the Straight Guy debuted in 2003, and quickly became both a surprise hit and one of the most talked-about television programs of the year. The success of the show led to merchandising, franchising of the concept internationally, and a woman-oriented spin-off, Queer Eye for the Straight Girl. Queer Eye won an Emmy Award for Outstanding Reality Program in 2004. The show’s name was shortened to Queer Eye at the beginning of its third season to reflect the show’s change in direction from making over only straight men to including women and gay men. Queer Eye ended production in June 2006 and the final ten episodes aired in October 2007. The series ended October 30. In September 2008, the Fine Living Network briefly aired Queer Eye in syndication.
Set against the backdrop of Ink Ink, a tattoo shop like no other—owned and operated by young entrepreneur Kelsey and employing an all-female lineup of tattoo artists—the series explores their friendships and working relationships as they navigate everyday life.
A dating competition series featuring football star Travis Kelce, who hopes to find true love among 50 eligible women, one representing each state in the U.S.
For the first time ever, The New Zealand All Blacks rugby team, one of the most successful teams in global sports history, allow cameras to join them as they face one of their most difficult seasons yet. Follow them, as they face the demands of the most physically grueling team sport on the planet to uphold a legacy of excellence and dominance that goes back well over a century.
Bridezillas is an American reality television series that airs on WE tv and debuted on June 1, 2004. It chronicles the lives of women engaged to be married, casting their busy schedules in an emphatic and sometimes humorous fashion.
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