Hare-brained

If you're interested in game shows, I've found an excellent site.  Bothers Bar. "Commentary, guesswork and idle speculation on gameshows in the UK and abroad".

Back in September 2009, one of their contributors went to see a pilot of "Don't Scare the Hare", the show now in production at The Studios, MediaCityUK.  It all sounds pretty grim, as pilots often are.   Here's a flavour - the whole thing is worth a read - scroll down from this link.


The game pits three lycra-clad guys against three lycra-clad girls in a bid to win £10,000. 

The first game was Don't Lose Your Bottle. One contestant from each team is challenged to get to the end of a course, the first half has poles connected by bits of string (the web) followed by lots of tall poles close together (the forest). On top of each pole is a (sugar) glass bottle. Their job is to reach the end of the course within two minutes. Of course if a pole is dislodged too much the bottle on top will fall and smash. DON'T SCARE THE HARE!

The HARE begins in the three point zone with a net above it. When a bottle smashes, the hare spins round in apparent fear and retreats to the two point zone (the game pauses to allow this to happen which meant the audience got confused when they were following the floor manager's ten second countdown and a bottle smashed halfway through it). Another transgression drops another point, and a further transgression means the other team get to push their button for an automatic point. If they get to the end in time, they can push a button which drops the net (not looking unlike the cage from Mousetrap, in fact). The same game is then played with the teams reversed (the player set to play the game is out of the studio whilst the first team get their go). Sure, you've seen laser maze sort of thing on every show going, but you've NEVER seen it with a robotic hare providing a metaphorical visual scoring aid. This game was the longest to set up, apparently, so it was played before the opening and chats were done.......

So it's nine o' clock now and I'm losing the will to live - in three and a bit hours they've recorded two games. I bought a pack of Ibuprofen at the Liverpool Street Station Boots in case I got a headache. I'm quite tired and fed-up, I could do something extreme here to end the pain and possibly make a statement in an arty way.

You can see why it might have a new name when it finally hits our screens.