Originally Posted by Cestrian18:
“I just don't get Celebrity Splash, as part of The Games on Channel 4 it worked fine as there was variety, even the BBC might have got away with it by tying it into Strictly and spinnning it for sport relief but as a full blown light entertainment format on ITV 1 I can't see who'd watch it for ten weeks as there isn't that much you can do to TVise diving, like Strictly and DOI have props, themes, different styles, what can Celebrity splash do?”
According to the FOX press release they will do synchronised diving and that's just in the 2 hour special they have so I'd imagine you could make a week of that in a series. There also seems to be an emphasis on higher, more complex dives as the weeks go by.
I'm not sure what the UK commission is for but I'd probably start out at something like 4x90' (6 weeks at the very most) and see how it plays in the first run before considering longer series.
I share the concerns about the actual diving aspect. I loved watching it at The Olympics but when I watched a bit of the Dutch pilot I wasn't that taken in (OK, being in a foreign language didn't help).
Quote:
“Theres guaranteed to be loads of padding, and having Tom Daley to front that, chat to the celebs, talk to the judges, introduce acts etc...is a hell of a risk as he is a complete unknown quantity in a presenting sense, so either he'll have a crutch or they go the route of him being the equivalent of Torvill and Dean on DOI but then which presenters do ITV have to pull it off? I can't see it taking off at all and imagine it'll seem completely amateuristic and stupid but then again what do I know?
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I can't see him actually presenting alone. While Ant & Dec (and perhaps Norton) are the only presenters you could build a show around, there is a supply of autocue monkeys that could perform the task required for this series. Dermot O'Leary needs something to do in the first half of the year. Caroline Flack has proven to be very good on Xtra Factor. I'd like to see those two present a show together sometime. They could go with Paddy McGuiness if they wanted something more light hearted. Vernon Kay and Stephen Mulhern are kind of on the "C List" right now. Davina is back working for ITV these days so she could do it. I could imagine ITV being tempted to give Bradley Walsh a run at primetime.
Again, the reason everyone is buying this format just now isn't particularly because they think it's an awesome idea. I'm sure many people buying the idea have rejected similar ideas in the past. Networks are buying it because it is proven - it has beaten Dancing With The Stars in Holland, a country known for discovering new global format hits. And it has been a successful returning series in Germany for many years. Whatever flaws we might identify on paper, the fact is that this show has delivered ratings in major markets.