The great Richard Osman once said that the best way to pitch a TV show to commissioning executives is to say that it is like something else that they know. And in terms of reality/game shows, what is the huge success that other channels would like a slice of? The Traitors of course. We’ve already seen BBC’s Destination X last year, which only had a slight hint of The Traitors, and Channel Four’s disappointing “The Inheritance” last Autumn, which I found to be somewhat mean spirited. “Nobody’s Fool”, or - I Can’t Believe It’s Not The Traitors - sees ITV having a go, and to be honest, a rather more convincing go than either of the other two shows.
It works like this. In the first episode we were introduced
to the ten contestants enteringa huge English country house (as opposed to a
huge Scottish baronial castle). The main point of the game is that every day
each contestant goes on their own to a quiz pod. They are asked a number of
questions. Each question correctly answered earns money for the prize pot. They
may not reveal anything about what happened in the quiz pot, nor do they have
to tell the truth about how they did in it. The contestants then face a round
table style vote. Each one is asked how much money they contributed, but they
do not have to tell the truth. Their task is to work out which of them
contributed least to the prize pot, and then vote them out. If they get it
right, then happy days. If they get it wrong, then the prize money is halved. The
idea is to be the last one left who will get the prize pot. The show has not
yet explained how the end game is going to work.
There are challenges between time in the quiz pod and the
votes as well. For example, sorting out a ton of tennis balls to find out those
with the letters needed to spell a nine letter word. These don’t contribute
money but are meant to help the contestants work out who might actually be the
weakest players. Three episodes are available on the ITV player at the moment
and we’ve already seen plenty of plotting, making and breaking of alliances and
shock reveals – supposedly prim and proper , 178 IQ Melissa revealing that she
is a dominatrix being perhaps the most surprising.
The show is presented by Danny Dyer and Emily Atack. Mr.
Dyer is probably something of an acquired taste. But you do know what you are
going to get with him. He’s certainly intelligent enough to know what this is
and to give you what you expect. But in a show like this, although the host is
not the most important element of the show, the host can make a difference. Would
the Traitors be quite as good without Claudia, for example? I like Alan Cummings
the actor, but I don’t think he’s as good a host in the US version of the
Traitors. I felt that the Liz Hurley character was one of the worst things
about The Inheritance, but that’s just my personal opinion and feel free to
disagree. So Danny Dyer, scion of royalty, doesn’t give us quite the full on
gawd blimey, apples and pears diabolical liberty my old china, but just enough.
Having said that, I don’t know that there’s anything he does that Emily Atack
couldn’t do on her own. She asks the questions in the pod, and does just as
much as Mr. Dyer does. But then she’s not (at the moment) such a ‘name’ so the
presenting tag team it is.
Cards on the table. When I review new shows, I watch one
and then if it hasn’t grabbed me I will rarely watch another edition of it. I
have watched all three editions of “Nobody’s Fool “ currently on the ITV
Player. Yes, it speaks almost exclusively in the vocabulary and syntax of “The
Traitors”. You might say it does so openly, or, if it’s not your cup of tea you
might say it does so blatantly. I really
don’t mind though. If you can’t have the real thing, this is a perfectly
acceptable like for like alternative. Yeah, the quiz elements aren’t necessarily
that great, but they are only a small part of the show. But I like it. I shall
watch the next episodes as they become available, and I sincerely hope that
when we get to the end game it will stick the landing.
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