What if we designed a game show after a deadly fiction game show?
February 3, 2023 3:48 PM   Subscribe

 
“The conditions were absolutely inhumane and had nothing to do with the game.”

It's like they didn't watch the originating series.
posted by hippybear at 3:50 PM on February 3, 2023 [8 favorites]


If it wasn't a show based on squid game I don't think it'd be getting this much press... Though a seven-hour shoot in zero degree (celsius) weather doesn't sound pleasant the article seems to be casting around for examples to support the headline and kind of padded after a while.
posted by subdee at 3:56 PM on February 3, 2023 [1 favorite]


The British do not kid around
posted by Going To Maine at 3:57 PM on February 3, 2023


In the grand history of abusive British reality tv competitions, this seems rather tame.
posted by forbiddencabinet at 4:12 PM on February 3, 2023 [5 favorites]


The lesson of the Squid Game is that the rich will happily destroy the rest of us for their own benefit.

Turns out that includes Netflix execs.
posted by leotrotsky at 4:18 PM on February 3, 2023 [14 favorites]


In the cyberpunk comic series Transmetropolitan, there's a TV show called "Torture Me For Money."

Later I would find a real tv show called "The Chamber" that was this exact premise.

And now a game show has commodified a poignant story of how the wealthy ruling class uses debt to torture and kill the poor out of sheer boredom.

Capitalism is a tragedy and a farce.
posted by AlSweigart at 4:22 PM on February 3, 2023 [13 favorites]


Amusingly(?) enough, this is not the most dystopian game show thing to happen in the UK lately.
posted by Joakim Ziegler at 4:24 PM on February 3, 2023 [9 favorites]


Reality TV is a race to the bottom, and, having reached the bottom, they get out the pickaxes and shovels and just keep digging.
posted by signsofrain at 5:23 PM on February 3, 2023 [13 favorites]


So, if I jokingly suggest a game show called "How Much For Your Mother?", I can expect it to show up at some point in the near future?

Address all royalty checks to me, please.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 5:35 PM on February 3, 2023 [5 favorites]


What are you going to do with all those mothers, though?
posted by abulafa at 5:36 PM on February 3, 2023 [5 favorites]


Having a well maintained Mother collection is going to be paramount in the coming decades.
posted by hippybear at 5:42 PM on February 3, 2023 [10 favorites]


I’m actually from this area, and would drive past the hangers regularly. They were originally built for dirigibles, and are some of the largest buildings in the area. I wasn’t around for this winters cold snap, but I have been there in cold conditions and the high humidity and frequent wind make it very cold. I’ve since relocated to Central Europe, and although on paper it’s colder here, it’s not the bone-raw winds of my youth.
posted by The River Ivel at 5:44 PM on February 3, 2023


At long last, we have created the Torment Game Show from classic sci-fi series Don’t Create the Torment Game Show
posted by staggernation at 5:52 PM on February 3, 2023 [66 favorites]


In a more just world, Guantanamo would be full of game show producers and originators forced to be contestants in their own games until they died or committed suicide.
posted by jamjam at 7:14 PM on February 3, 2023 [1 favorite]


In a more just world, Reality TV producers would be consigned to a show called “Hoisted On A Petard”.
posted by JustSayNoDawg at 7:26 PM on February 3, 2023 [1 favorite]


Funny thing is, Korean Netflix has gone ahead and made their own Squid Game-inspired show. It’s called Physical: 100, and by reality show standards, it’s practically nice. All the contestants are athletes of some kind, and almost all of them are sportsmanlike and supportive. I couldn’t help thinking that an American or British show would have been much nastier, and now I see how it is—
posted by Countess Elena at 7:28 PM on February 3, 2023 [3 favorites]


That's not journalism, it's an advertisement. The more Vanity talks up the supposed "brutality" of the show, the higher the rating will go.

Gross.
posted by metametamind at 7:34 PM on February 3, 2023 [5 favorites]


I was just going to mention what Countess Elena mentioned: the actual Korean version of this is Physical: 100, and it's amazing. They're very serious but also weirdly positive and respectful (at the same time, the show assistants are all masked and hooded like in Squid Games). I've never like reality shows, but I'm 100% invested in this one, and there's none of the squirrelly "omg is that too far?"
posted by fatbird at 10:53 PM on February 3, 2023


So, if I jokingly suggest a game show called "How Much For Your Mother?", I can expect it to show up at some point in the near future?

You have it exactly. That's how we went from MILF Island to MILF Manor in only 15 years!
posted by The Tensor at 11:27 PM on February 3, 2023 [3 favorites]


I'm surprised at how callous some of y'all are being to the contestants.

I've been a TV extra working long hours. They make sure you're fed, for one - it's union regulations. On one shoot I ended up being asked to stay late on a cold night, just to walk back and forth behind the lead, and I was given blankets and space next to a heater when I wasn't needed on camera. It was pretty gruelling but at least there was SOME effort to make sure you don't FAINT.

This is a TV game show, no one needs to be freaking method acting
posted by creatrixtiara at 12:05 AM on February 4, 2023 [12 favorites]


Embarrassing that a youtuber could do this a year ago, including for 465 people, without similar complaints.
posted by Narrow Harbor at 12:22 AM on February 4, 2023


the actual Korean version of this is Physical: 100, and it's amazing

We started watching this last night. Three episodes later we are desperate
to know how the impromptu but respectful MMA fight cliffhanger will come out.

Having said that: health & safety nightmare!
posted by biffa at 12:27 AM on February 4, 2023 [1 favorite]


We are truly at the decline and fall stage of Western Civilisation.
posted by mumimor at 3:06 AM on February 4, 2023 [1 favorite]


This isn't just about the entertainment of the rich. You don't have to be rich to afford a Netflix subscription.
posted by Nancy Lebovitz at 3:53 AM on February 4, 2023


I don't follow much TeeVee and "entertainment" sort of things. Every once in a while I read an article that seems to be discussing a far off planet. This is one of them. I have no idea what the hell any of this is about! I realized it was "Variety", and I kind of figured it would be a bit confusing for me, but not on this level.
posted by pthomas745 at 5:28 AM on February 4, 2023 [1 favorite]


We are truly at the decline and fall stage of Western Civilisation.

Panem et Circenses, sure, but the state-run broadcasters buy from private production companies, and where's my UBI?
posted by k3ninho at 5:31 AM on February 4, 2023




We are truly at the decline and fall stage of Western Civilisation.

Nah. They still have referees in MMA matches.
posted by Thorzdad at 6:11 AM on February 4, 2023


We are truly at the decline and fall stage of Western Civilisation.

People used to have picnics at literal executions and battles and lynchings. Placerville, CA used to be called Hangtown. They had a noose in their city insignia until... 2021.

I'm not saying things aren't terrible now. I'm saying the past was no Garden of Eden.
posted by AlSweigart at 6:23 AM on February 4, 2023 [19 favorites]


I don't follow much TeeVee and "entertainment" sort of things.

Wait til you hear what I don’t even own.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 6:44 AM on February 4, 2023 [19 favorites]


So, if I jokingly suggest a game show called "How Much For Your Mother?",

My kingdom for the IMG tag. There is rarely a better need than right now for a GIF from The Blues Brothers, in the fancy restaurant scene.
posted by hwyengr at 8:11 AM on February 4, 2023 [2 favorites]


All the contestants are athletes of some kind, and almost all of them are sportsmanlike and supportive. I couldn’t help thinking that an American or British show would have been much nastier, and now I see how it is—

Probably because the reality show that Koreans did originate, Running Man*, did cause a death already, though to be 'fair', it was the Chinese iteration.

*Yes, that's right.
posted by cendawanita at 8:14 AM on February 4, 2023 [2 favorites]


Amateurs!
posted by 1adam12 at 10:02 AM on February 4, 2023


its no Takeshi's Castle
posted by supermedusa at 10:18 AM on February 4, 2023


What are you going to do with all those mothers, though?

Paging Julian Cope!
posted by Rash at 11:00 AM on February 4, 2023 [1 favorite]


Another article by VICE

I don't know if this is where the rumours of the show being rigged (it's right there in the title) or not. The Variety article doesn't touch on that part but it was still included in the statement by the studios.
posted by LostInUbe at 3:59 PM on February 4, 2023


It’s called Physical: 100, and by reality show standards, it’s practically nice.

It may be nice, but it's terrible to watch. I guess it's ok to watch on FastForward.

If you want a better, more sportman like show, American Ninja Warrior is much better. It's similar with lots of 'feel good stories' and competitor comradire, but shot much better without the stupid cliffhangers for every event.
posted by The_Vegetables at 11:59 AM on February 9, 2023


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