Studio Production: Show Idea & Development

So now that we know what we're doing, I begun brainstorming some ideas for what my show could be. I had a general theme in my head which I wanted to stick with and out of the blue an idea popped into my head which to me seems viable and entertaining. I was simply looking at videos on YouTube and begun browsing people's comments until I noticed how ridiculous and funny some people's complaints were online. So then I thought - what if there was a game show which is based amongst these funny complaints? We see complaints almost everywhere on anything and it can be applicable for almost any audience - for those who deal with complaints or even the people who complain themselves. Below are the thoughts which I brainstormed which help to form my show.

Title: Whats Your Complaint? 

Pitch: The audience are increasingly showing the media their deep opinions and reviews on what they watch  - some showing critical and sophisticated responses whilst others often 'troll' - leaving irrelevant comments and generally just showing hatred. So what if there was a game show which consisted of watching something then guessing what the complaint could be?

What Defines A 'Complaint'?

For this show, each complaint MUST be realistic and reasonably guessable and even have some sense of validity with it. This means it has to come from a reliable site and shouldn't be a 'troll' as the complaint may be exaggerated or even false. For example, the complaint could come from YouTube or IMDB. Although these aren't all official critiques/'complainers', it works better knowing that it could be anyone complaining. As long as the complaint is reasonable to an extent (i.e. not dramatised or offensive that it may cause controversy), then it can be used for the show. The key values to make a complaint effective for the show are:
     - Believable: Cannot be a 'troll' or something completely random. Although it can be humorous, it
       still must have relevance to the clip.
     - Acceptable: It shouldn't be offensive that it causes a panic or controversy.
     - Suited for the show: It should be remotely guessable - we don't want the competitors to rarely
       win a round. They should be able to guess what complaint is likely to be true.

Show Structure

What type of show will it be?

I've decided to go with a game structure for my show. This is purely because I find it to be more entertaining plus most applicable for my 'complaints' idea, as it wouldn't be very applicable if the show was a chat show as they would have to focus on complaints only. Therefore, having a game show enables me to focus just on complaints plus the general theme of this is to be quite funny and entertaining as the idea is to laugh at some of the complaints which we will find.

Who will be in the show?

In terms of who will be in the show, I've decided to follow the conventional game show structure and stick with the host and two teams of 4. This is purely because this is an effective set up for the game show - there will be 9 people on camera making the show seem more crowded and it means that you don't have to sit and stick with say 4 people which may seem repetitive.

Additionally, the show could be more interesting if there was one team who deal with complaints (such as working in the food industry or customer service, for example) who could challenge the 'complainers'. This instantly can create a rivalry between both teams which is always more entertaining in a game show as it adds a sense of seriousness despite the game show having a casual and funny tone.

Who are the competitors?

Popular Panel Show 'Would I Lie To You?'

As this is only a low budget student show, I will be using members of the public whom have some relevance with complaints themselves. This means someone who may work in customer service or anyone who works with the public and may be likely to see themselves people moaning and complaining. For example, someone who works with food, in retail, etc.

Additionally, I feel the show would work much better if the members of each team know each other - they could potentially work in the same company together, meaning they will all be familiar with people complaining.

Alternatively, although this would be difficult to find and to make viable, the team members could even be people who are generally moaning and are known for complaining themselves. This would make the show much more entertaining if we have a team of people who deal with complaints, who are against a team who are the complainers.

What does the show consist of?

To generalise, the show will consist of a brief introduction which will introduce all the competitors, which will then be followed by 3 mini-games including a bonus round, followed the the ending which will conclude who the winning team is. Below are some ideas as to what the games could be (I will conclude which games will be used plus anything else in my conclusion at the bottom of this post).

Will there be any categories of complaints?

To help to give the game show some variety, there will be a number of categories which the competitors will be able to choose from at the beginning of each round. These categories are: 

     - Music Videos: Complaints from YouTube (e.g. top-rated comments)
     - Takeaway Reviews: From 'Just Eat'
     - Hotel Reviews: Reviews from 'Trip Advisor'
     - Film Clips or Reviews: Comments from IMDB or YouTube
     - TV Clips or Reviews: Comments from YouTube or IMDB
     - News Clips/YouTube Clips: Comments from YouTube
     - Other.

What is the procedure of the show?

Funny Game Show 'Celebrity Juice'

There will be 4 rounds for each game: 2 rounds for each team. The team who goes first will be decided on the first game, which you can see below. Whoever has the most points after the first game will be first for the upcoming games and get to choose the category which they prefer. Each round is worth one point to whoever wins however there will be a bonus round at the end of the show which
awards double points (2 points) to the winner. Some game ideas however may have different point awardings, however this will be explained if necessary.

Game Ideas

'Guessing The Complaint'

This idea could be the first game of the show purely because it is the simplest out of the ideas I have. It is as simple as the title - dependent on the category you choose, you will be given 3 choices of answers where the correct answer is the correct complaint from the clip shown. However, each team are given the chance to gamble by buzzing if they feel they know the complaint whilst the clip is playing. Of course, if they are wrong, they won't be able to guess again if the other team is wrong.The first person to buzz will be given the chance to answer, however this is at a risk as they are given a choice of 3 answers once the clip has been played and if incorrect, the team will not be allowed to answer again. They receive double points (2 points, 1 point for each correct answer) if they are correct.

Each round will consist of showing the clip on what the complaint could be about. The clip will play for no longer than 10 seconds, where a choice of 3 complaints will be given. The idea is to choose the answer where the team need to get the correct order so that they can receive the win for the round, which is one point (2 for the bonus round).

Second Game: 'What You Moaning About?'

This follows a different structure compared to before - there will only be 1 round each to complete the game to reduce the chances of my game being repetitive and continuous. This is one of the quicker games and there also won't be a bonus round. Nonetheless, The correct answer receives the winning team with two points instead of one, purely because of the fact that there is only one round and you aren't given a choice of answers to choose from.

Instead of trying to guess out of the three complaints like before, this game instead shows someone complaining about something however you aren't told what they are complaining about. Once the clip is shown, the competitors are only given 1 answer to choose from, or they can buzz in as the clip plays if they feel that they know what it is about (the same idea as before). This is dependent on what category is chosen like before.

The bonus round however is slightly harder. Instead of guessing what the person is complaining about, the competitors now have to guess what the complaint itself actually is. This can be done by allowing the clip to play until it is paused at a crucial part of the complaint (the part where the person is complaining however hasn't reached the climax of the complaint). This too rewards the winning team double points, meaning that they will receive 4 points if correct.

The clip in total will be around a minute and a half as there will be a VT introducing who it is briefly making the complaint so that the audience have a better understanding to help them with their answer.  The person complaining could be a celebrity or a member of the public - this isn't entirely important. It is the complaint itself which is key and it must remain relevant as to who (the company, or even a person) the complaint is about.

Third Game (VT): 'Fake the Compliant'

Following the same structure as the previous two games, this game is much more visual and is mostly pre-recorded. It will consist of actors acting out a certain compliant which our audience have to guess what they are doing whilst it is being shown on screen.

The acted out compliant should be around a minute long to enable the audience enough time for them to try to guess what it is. They will loose the round if they haven't given the correct answer by the time the clip finishes. This will be done for 2 rounds for both teams, where they will take their turns alternatively.

The team are allowed to shout out the correct answer until they get it correct. This game must be slightly difficult in terms of acting the compliant as this round enables multiple answers to be given until the correct answer is reached.

In terms of the VT, the VT will consist of actors demonstrating the compliant, therefore for this round the complaints which are pre-recorded must be used.

There will be no bonus round for this game as after this game has finished the bonus round from the first game will be played and used to decide the winner of the show.

Finale Bonus Round

Of course, theres no better way to end a game without a bonus round, enabling the teams to gamble to win the show. There will only be one round where either team have the chance to win as the team to go first will be whoever buzzes first. This round will consist of actors coming on stage and showing a reenactment of a celebrity/celebrities whom is known for complaining or moaning. For example, it could be the famous Nikki Grahame 'Who is She' from Celebrity Big Brother. This has to be something which is recent and must be recognisable for example known on YouTube or has been on the news, a TV programme, etc. The actor can dress up to give clues however these clues shouldn't be too obvious otherwise it wouldn't be as fun. The winner will be whomever buzzes in first and guesses the correct celebrity name. The winner will be awarded 3 points which additionally can decide who will win the game.

Video Tapes

One of the requirements are to include 4 video tapes (pre-recorded footage) for the show, which should aim to be around a 1-2 minutes long. Below are some ideas as to what my VTs could be:

     - 2x VT's for the second game ('What you Moaning About?' - guessing what the complaints 

       about). These VT's will consist of a brief interview of whomever is complaining. As well as this, 

       the video tape could also include a minor introduction of whom the person complaining is, so 

       that the audience can use the person's personality to help them with their answer. There would be 

       two of these  - one for each team to complete the round.

      - 2x Introducing VTs - these video tapes could be shown at the beginning of the show where 

        there will be 1 VT per team. The idea of this is mainly just to give a brief introduction as to who

        is in each team and there relevance to complaints. For example, saying if they deal with

       complaints,  or if they are the complainer.

      - VT for the third game ('Fake the Complaint')

Game Structure

Below is a rough structure in terms of what games will be first as well as roughly how long I would like everything to be. There is a 30 minute time limit meaning time is crucial and there needs to be enough time for each game to commence.

Because of the time limit, I feel only 2 of the three games will be enable to play as the show isn't long enough for all free. I haven't yet decided which game not to use as for now I'm just seeing roughly how long they'll be.

Introduction: Setting the scene, meeting the presenter, the competitors briefly and outlining the first game. Potential VT which imitates how the game works. (2 minutes)

First Game: 'Guessing the Compliant' - 1 game (4 rounds). Each round approx. 1.5 minutes. (1.5 x 4 = 6 minutes). Ending the first game, showing the scores so far. (1 min) (7 minutes)

                                                                          OR

Introducing second game (potentially with a VT like before) (1.5 minutes). 'What you moaning about?' - 1 game (4 rounds). Each round approx. 1.5 minutes (1.5 x 4 = 6 minutes). Bonus round: 1 minute. Ending second game, showing scores after the second game. (9 minutes)

Introducing third game (maybe a VT like before) (1 minute). 'Fake Compliant' - 1 round, 4 games. Around 2 minutes per round (2 x 4 = 8 minutes). End game, showing scores after last round (1 minute) (10 minutes)

Introducing bonus round to conclude the winners. Will be the same game as the first game so no explanation needed. (2 minutes). Final scores added and winners announced, leading to the end of the show. (3 minutes)

Total with all games together = 31 minutes
With first and third game = 22 minutes
With second and third game = 24 minutes.

Audience?

As this game show is meant to be funny, the target audience will be younger. It should focus on a similar target audience as other game shows such as 'Celebrity Juice', 'Mock the Week', and 'Would I Lie to You?', however isn't as targeted as 'Celebrity Juice'. The target audience is quite wide and should generally aim for the age group 16-28, or even having a sub audience from 28-55.

In terms of the competitors themselves, they should aim to be around mid 20s, or early 30s. The game show would work much better if the teams were friends as they are likely to work together better and feel more comfortable with the show enabling the show to create a relaxed feel. As well as this, there should be a variation of male and female competitors if possible. 

Channel?

In terms of what channel and time my show would be aired on, I feel that this show would be best suited for either ITV 2, BBC 3 or even Channel 5. These are the main shows which other game shows which are similar to mine are often aired on. As well as this, my target audience is aimed primarily at the younger generation however can also be applicable for the older audience (as mentioned earlier), thus conforming to the typical audience of these channels (particularly BBC 3).

Branding?

In terms of branding, the general tone which my show will create is purely that its focusing just on entertainment aspects. It isn't a serious show, it is simply a game show which is just for fun which highlights how some people's complaints can be simply just ridiculous and unbelievable. This means that there will be a very casual tone throughout the show.


These so far are my initial ideas for my show. I will be talking to my course leader (Helen) soon to receive feedback from my idea and to see whether it can be suited for the show.