You stay-at-home, stare-at-a-black-box-in-the-corner-on-the-weekend types got treated to a new type of Syco-induced educational low this weekend with the introduction of Red or Black, the somewhat exciting new gameshow on ITV1, which is running for another five days so if you missed it, then you shouldn’t despair.
If you haven’t guessed from it’s title, Red or Black is essentially a guessing game. A thousand contestants choose the red or black option in a variety of games for example ‘Knight Rider’ had two perfectly choreographed knights riding on top of two cars simulating the classic jousting tournament surrounded by plump, plentiful crash mats. The contestants had to guess who would win a best-of-three. The heat was on, even if it was only a simmer.
This then carries on for a good half an hour with situations of ever-increasing flamboyancy allowing the reducing numbers of contestants to choose red or black. We the audience then get to watch as they get more and more excited about a pair of colourful voids which, for once, isn’t Ant and Dec.
The action then moves live into the studio when the contestants have been whittled down to eight, where they weave in sports personalities and ‘that woman off that thing you saw advertised’ to craft games with two, apparently random, individual outcomes. When one person is decided the winner, they then have the humiliating task of choosing – once again – red or black on an giant roulette wheel to choose between £1 million and nothing.
Unfortunately, both days it’s been on they’ve both won the money, but one day this isn’t going to happen. We are personally going to witness the downfall of one person live on national television. I’m pretty sure that’s what shows like The X Factor are all about, so Simon Cowell’s not exactly lost his touch in his old age, has he.
I’m usually the cynical one on these “let’s involve the public and see what idiots we can uncover” type shows by watching for the rubbish acts or hoping they fall over or something but in this one I’m… well, I’m split. On one hand I want to see someone’s life fall apart in full high definition, but the other I would love to see Syco lose a good £7 million out of their coffers. Ooh, it’s a choice between two options. See what I did, there?
Apparently six people playing along at home also got to the final on Saturday. Congratulations, you six, you’re really good at making a one in two choices. You can play along at home Million Pound Drop Live style at itv.com/redorblack and run the risk of being name-checked on air by Britain’s most loved presenting duo. Just make sure you register as Myke Hawke from Brown Willy for the biggest chance at entertainment as you watch.
Essentially it was 20 million people (seriously, over both shows on Saturday) getting really excited about binary. My sister – who has enough trouble deciding whether to cross the road or not – would probably die watching this programme but feel free to do it yourself. It’s dominating ITV1’s schedule the whole of this week, and you can’t be washing your hair at that time every day, so you have no excuse.
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