[Stooky Bill]

One of the facebook groups for those working in the TV industry the other week was saying how quiet things were. There's a bit of a lull in production and commissioning at the moment. Things are tough at the moment.

That is of course except for those in OBs which have had a busy couple of months what with Eurovision and the Coronation, however there's not much else coming up this year and the next few months not even much football

[Brekkie]

Yes, partly due to another advertising turndown but also post the covid break there was probably a bit of over commissioning out of panic.

C4 also it seems took a bit of a hit with Rise and Fall not doing what they hoped - had it become a hit it likely would have generated the cash to fund shows such as this, but as things stand it's contributed to that cash not being available.

[Pips2022]

Yes, partly due to another advertising turndown but also post the covid break there was probably a bit of over commissioning out of panic.

C4 also it seems took a bit of a hit with Rise and Fall not doing what they hoped - had it become a hit it likely would have generated the cash to fund shows such as this, but as things stand it's contributed to that cash not being available.

I thought Rise and Fall was deemed to have done relatively OK in the end (once On Demand etc was added in)? Personally I thought it was pretty abysmal I have to say

[JAS84]

Yeah, the profits all go back into edgy, risky altogether different reboots of 90's hits like TFI Friday, Crystal Maze, The BIG Breakfast and Changing Rooms.

None of those are still in production, right?

[gottago]

One of the facebook groups for those working in the TV industry the other week was saying how quiet things were. There's a bit of a lull in production and commissioning at the moment. Things are tough at the moment.

Yes it's a nightmare. 45% of unscripted Bectu members currently out of work.

deadline.com 

Bectu Survey: UK Unscripted TV Drought Puts Freelancers Out Of Work – Deadline
The UK's reality television drought has put nearly half of freelance produc…
  Source: deadline.com

[Kim Wexler’s Ponytail]

Yeah, the profits all go back into edgy, risky altogether different reboots of 90's hits like TFI Friday, Crystal Maze, The BIG Breakfast and Changing Rooms.

None of those are still in production, right?

I mean TBF they haven’t made any TFI since 2015, or any Crystal Maze since 2020.

Yeah, because they were lazy nostalgia trips that people lost interest in.

[tellyblues]

Bar Changing Rooms which wasn't a C4 original anyway, compared to similar shows on other channels they could be seen as edgy. A problem is that the reboots were all stuck in silly timeslots where people don't want to watch those types of shows and it was probably forgotten/disregarded that a large part of the audience who these shows appealed to back in the day were young people - under 16s in the case of The Crystal Maze.

[Brekkie]

And to be fair they got 45 episodes out of the revival of The Crystal Maze - just appallingly scheduled, though in fairness to C4 when they did reschedule it into the sort of slots fans said it should be in it didn't do much better.

[Gary Baldy]

The Crystal Maze revival had potential but was ruined by constant celebrity specials, something that the original never had.

---

Bar Changing Rooms which wasn't a C4 original anyway, compared to similar shows on other channels they could be seen as edgy. A problem is that the reboots were all stuck in silly timeslots where people don't want to watch those types of shows and it was probably forgotten/disregarded that a large part of the audience who these shows appealed to back in the day were young people - under 16s in the case of The Crystal Maze.

TFI worked OK in the 9pm timeslot (I recall the original run having a post-watershed repeat anyway)- the timeslot was the least of that revival’s problems. The revival of TFI lacked edge and spontaneity… I loved the summer 2015 pilot of the show, that was a fun trip down memory lane, but the fun of the revival’s pilot didn’t translate to the revival series proper.

[Kim Wexler’s Ponytail]

Bar Changing Rooms which wasn't a C4 original anyway, compared to similar shows on other channels they could be seen as edgy.

But they weren’t. If other broadcasters get called out for being lazy when they rehash old shows why shouldn't Ch4? The one that is supposed to be different and innovative.