But nobody as was pointed out really is demanding a show like this, unlike Australia the US version was not well received by viewers so why would they necessarily be crying out for a British version.
TAR is like The Bachelor, big show stateside that flops in the UK. The Bachelor was attempted twice and the second time around C5 had to add a "celeb" element to drum up any interest whatsoever in it.
Also for an multi-Emmy winning reality show it has only been picked up in a small number of other countries and this is likely due to the prohibitive costs in most countries.
TV stations in the UK want cheap shows that can perform well, like how Gogglebox is doing for C4, Bake Off is another.
The days of having big over the top shows is over, its too risky in such a competitive market and doing a cheap version doesn't cut it. I mean look at how Gladiators was in the 90s compared to its reboot.
I love TAR and would like a British version but its highly unlikely it will ever happen.
TAR is like The Bachelor, big show stateside that flops in the UK. The Bachelor was attempted twice and the second time around C5 had to add a "celeb" element to drum up any interest whatsoever in it.
I don't think a dating show is the best comparison. That by it's nature is a bit trashy a race show is very different. I understand that channels are cheapskates but I don't think that helps them build an audience in the long term, in fact it probably loses TV channels even more of their audience and has them fighting over even fewer viewers. They've been pretty poor at adapting US game/reality shows in recent times but I think that's more because they water them down and often don't understand what made them successful in the first place. It's this attitude that the British public have to have some patronising soft version as we wouldn't like something which is more biting and exciting which is at the root I think. And I've even seen that idea in this thread too.
And anyway most people out there aren't even aware The Amazing Race exists, so why would they be demanding something they don't now exists?
I do think that there could be a Europe version and it could work - teams travel around Europe (mainly by train). I love Coach Trip and it does a great job of finding interesting parts of Europe to go to and do activities in; these activities could surely be tasks for a UK TAR programme. It also manages to find pairs who have interesting dynamics. I think Alexander Armstrong would make a good host of the show.
My main wonder is why no UK channel has shown the US version in recent years. I remember once seeing the first episode of a season on Challenge a couple of years ago but then the following episodes in the series were never shown. I just don't understand why no one is interested in showing it. We all know how good it is!!
We had a show called "Lost" about 10 years ago on Channel 4. Not the plane crash on a mystery Island Lost.
It was kind of like TAR in that people were dropped in a remote location and had to work their way back to London (apart from the very last episode which instead of Trafalgar Square the teams had to inexplicably race to The Angel of The North). The first team to do so was awarded £20,000 or something.
They would not get any clues as to their location until they got themselves to a certain point. I think at first they were only given a days rations and a compass and told to head in a certain direction. I vaguely remember that once they got to certain points and solved the clues they got access to their passports, food, money, maps etc and then had to make it to the next town or city and eventually back to London (or Gateshead). I can't recall if they had to solve more clues along the way or if they just had one clue and then they were left to their own devices to get home. Some of them got lucky and got cheap plane/train/boat tickets, others ended up stranded in some former USSR village.
It was always on at a weird time, about 11pm on a Tuesday or something. It only lasted for about 4 or 5 episodes then it vanished without a trace. It's a shame as it was such a good idea. I really enjoyed that show. I think it would be great to see something like that on TV here again.
We had a show called "Lost" about 10 years ago on Channel 4. Not the plane crash on a mystery Island Lost.
It was kind of like TAR in that people were dropped in a remote location and had to work their way back to London (apart from the very last episode which instead of Trafalgar Square the teams had to inexplicably race to The Angel of The North). The first team to do so was awarded £20,000 or something.
They would not get any clues as to their location until they got themselves to a certain point. I think at first they were only given a days rations and a compass and told to head in a certain direction. I vaguely remember that once they got to certain points and solved the clues they got access to their passports, food, money, maps etc and then had to make it to the next town or city and eventually back to London (or Gateshead). I can't recall if they had to solve more clues along the way or if they just had one clue and then they were left to their own devices to get home. Some of them got lucky and got cheap plane/train/boat tickets, others ended up stranded in some former USSR village.
It was always on at a weird time, about 11pm on a Tuesday or something. It only lasted for about 4 or 5 episodes then it vanished without a trace. It's a shame as it was such a good idea. I really enjoyed that show. I think it would be great to see something like that on TV here again.
That was actually a US show as well, just about the same time (the US version started only about a month before the UK one apparently--so they must have been produced simultaneously). The US one actually debuted the SAME day The Amazing Race originally did (and I remember watching both). The US one didn't last very long (it was cancelled after about 5 episodes, I believe).
If it wasn't part of the franchise it was likely a cheapo version. Not sure I'd really trust ITV with these things either.
If I remember correctly, it wasn't. It was just a stand alone show on ITV2 - back in the days when about 5 people were watching that channel.
They had the rights to the original Survivor and that didn't last very long. I find it amusing that a UK show flopped and became a massive hit in the US. Actually I think Survivor is very good so it's a shame it didn't last longer over here.
If I remember correctly, it wasn't. It was just a stand alone show on ITV2 - back in the days when about 5 people were watching that channel.
They had the rights to the original Survivor and that didn't last very long. I find it amusing that a UK show flopped and became a massive hit in the US. Actually I think Survivor is very good so it's a shame it didn't last longer over here.
I think the problem with our Survivor is that it was very lacklustre and not as slick as the US version. Had they had the Survivor equivalent of Big Brothers "Nasty Nick" and better production values I think it could have been a hit.
In the first series, the one potential good storyline (a married woman having an affair with another contestant) was cut out. That could have grabbed a few headlines and encouraged more people to watch.
Ours suffered from bad casting and needed people who were more cunning, manipulative and downright awful. Haha.
I think the problem with our Survivor is that it was very lacklustre and not as slick as the US version. Had they had the Survivor equivalent of Big Brothers "Nasty Nick" and better production values I think it could have been a hit.
In the first series, the one potential good storyline (a married woman having an affair with another contestant) was cut out. That could have grabbed a few headlines and encouraged more people to watch.
Ours suffered from bad casting and needed people who were more cunning, manipulative and downright awful. Haha.
I just watched this clip and agree it was very boring and can see why the UK version of Suvivor was cancelled after only two season. I love both the U.S. shows of Survivor and The Amazing Race. They are slick, well produced, well cast and most importantly fun to watch. I personally would like to see a UK version made today for these shows but can't see it ever happening as UK broadcasters are obsessed with reality formats that require viewer votes to gain extra revenue. I think it is about time we had a completely new UK reality show on primetime ITV as it does get boring seeing the same old shows year after year like with I'm A Celebrity & XFactor.
I've just watched and loved all four seasons of this that are currently available on Amazon Instant, and this thought crossed my mind about a UK version. But I don't think it would work, down to smaller prize money and I think it would be hard to find teams that are excitable and memorable enough.
I think it would be hard to find teams that are excitable and memorable enough.
I don't see why. I think it's more up to the producers to be daring than they often are here and cast teams who people will be split over rather than safe anonymous types.
This show would be perfect for Sky 1. I believe the product placement and tourism board sponsors pay for the show entirely, and Jerry Bruckheimer Television has a permanent Australian production team that films the international versions.
Comments
TAR is like The Bachelor, big show stateside that flops in the UK. The Bachelor was attempted twice and the second time around C5 had to add a "celeb" element to drum up any interest whatsoever in it.
Also for an multi-Emmy winning reality show it has only been picked up in a small number of other countries and this is likely due to the prohibitive costs in most countries.
TV stations in the UK want cheap shows that can perform well, like how Gogglebox is doing for C4, Bake Off is another.
The days of having big over the top shows is over, its too risky in such a competitive market and doing a cheap version doesn't cut it. I mean look at how Gladiators was in the 90s compared to its reboot.
I love TAR and would like a British version but its highly unlikely it will ever happen.
I don't think a dating show is the best comparison. That by it's nature is a bit trashy a race show is very different. I understand that channels are cheapskates but I don't think that helps them build an audience in the long term, in fact it probably loses TV channels even more of their audience and has them fighting over even fewer viewers. They've been pretty poor at adapting US game/reality shows in recent times but I think that's more because they water them down and often don't understand what made them successful in the first place. It's this attitude that the British public have to have some patronising soft version as we wouldn't like something which is more biting and exciting which is at the root I think. And I've even seen that idea in this thread too.
And anyway most people out there aren't even aware The Amazing Race exists, so why would they be demanding something they don't now exists?
Nope that was Lost a similar show on Channel4 think it may even be pre Amazing Race
My main wonder is why no UK channel has shown the US version in recent years. I remember once seeing the first episode of a season on Challenge a couple of years ago but then the following episodes in the series were never shown. I just don't understand why no one is interested in showing it. We all know how good it is!!
It was kind of like TAR in that people were dropped in a remote location and had to work their way back to London (apart from the very last episode which instead of Trafalgar Square the teams had to inexplicably race to The Angel of The North). The first team to do so was awarded £20,000 or something.
They would not get any clues as to their location until they got themselves to a certain point. I think at first they were only given a days rations and a compass and told to head in a certain direction. I vaguely remember that once they got to certain points and solved the clues they got access to their passports, food, money, maps etc and then had to make it to the next town or city and eventually back to London (or Gateshead). I can't recall if they had to solve more clues along the way or if they just had one clue and then they were left to their own devices to get home. Some of them got lucky and got cheap plane/train/boat tickets, others ended up stranded in some former USSR village.
It was always on at a weird time, about 11pm on a Tuesday or something. It only lasted for about 4 or 5 episodes then it vanished without a trace. It's a shame as it was such a good idea. I really enjoyed that show. I think it would be great to see something like that on TV here again.
The US Reality show Lost premiered the same day as TAR. The UK Lost about a month later, apparently.
This. I don't remember it being that good though.
If I remember correctly, it wasn't. It was just a stand alone show on ITV2 - back in the days when about 5 people were watching that channel.
They had the rights to the original Survivor and that didn't last very long. I find it amusing that a UK show flopped and became a massive hit in the US. Actually I think Survivor is very good so it's a shame it didn't last longer over here.
I think the problem with our Survivor is that it was very lacklustre and not as slick as the US version. Had they had the Survivor equivalent of Big Brothers "Nasty Nick" and better production values I think it could have been a hit.
In the first series, the one potential good storyline (a married woman having an affair with another contestant) was cut out. That could have grabbed a few headlines and encouraged more people to watch.
Ours suffered from bad casting and needed people who were more cunning, manipulative and downright awful. Haha.
I mean, how is this for boring?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIY9qkQQ5H4&index=5&list=PL2BD84A632FA2E075
I just watched this clip and agree it was very boring and can see why the UK version of Suvivor was cancelled after only two season. I love both the U.S. shows of Survivor and The Amazing Race. They are slick, well produced, well cast and most importantly fun to watch. I personally would like to see a UK version made today for these shows but can't see it ever happening as UK broadcasters are obsessed with reality formats that require viewer votes to gain extra revenue. I think it is about time we had a completely new UK reality show on primetime ITV as it does get boring seeing the same old shows year after year like with I'm A Celebrity & XFactor.
In America they come up with some good ideas but often these days they are cut short after just one series.
Still can't think of a logical reason why someone hasn't picked it up yet.
I don't see why. I think it's more up to the producers to be daring than they often are here and cast teams who people will be split over rather than safe anonymous types.