Shafted (partially found international adaptations of British game show; 2001-2003)

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Shaftedaus1.png

Logo for the Australian version of the show.

Status: Partially Found

Shafted was an Endemol game show that rose to prominence in the early 2000s. Its most infamous adaptation was the UK version, which was cancelled in November 2001 after only four episodes were aired. However, Endemol also trialled the concept internationally, producing adaptations in Australia, the Netherlands, Russia and Poland. But like the UK original, none of these shows were commercially successful either.

Shafted (Australia)

In November 2001, Nine Network's long-running game show Sale of the Century had come to an end.[1][2][3] Nine opted to replace it with Shafted,[1][2] a programme ITV had greenlit and started airing in November 2001 with Robert Kilroy-Silk as host.[4][5] According to The Age, Shafted was designed to challenge the Seven drama Home & Away while also appealing to a younger demographic than what Sale of the Century mustered.[6] It was also among several recent Nine imports of international shows, including Fear Factor and Survivor.[7] Nine originally commissioned Southern Star Endemol to produce 65 30-minute episodes,[1] though only 40 would ultimately be established.[8]

During production, Stephen Hall was appointed as the Nine adaptation's head writer,[3] working alongside Graeme Rickerby and Chris Ho to establish questions and scripts for the 40 programmes.[9][8] Consternation soon emerged within the production crew, as they were informed that the UK original had been scrapped after a mere four episodes were aired because of poor ratings.[9][4][5] Still, Nine retained faith in the show's potential, having selected Red Symons as its presenter.[10][2] Before hosting Shafted, Symons rose to prominence in the 1970s as the lead guitarist for Skyhooks. In the 1980s and 1990s, Symons was an integral part of the variety show Hey Hey It's Saturday, most notably becoming a judge for its Red Faces segments.[11][10] In his blog How To Win Game Shows, Hall praised Symons as the show's ideal host, particularly for his on-screen confidence and banter with the contestants.[10]

The programme made its debut on 11th February 2002.[12][2] Its opening round was a faithful adaptation of the UK version:[13] Six players were tasked to make a bid up to $500. Whoever landed the second-highest wager gained a monetary advantage heading into Round 2, while the highest bidder was immediately eliminated from the game.[14][12] Symons operated a red lever that caused losing players to drop through the floor, which is noted by sources as the show's most memorable sequence.[15][8] In contrast, Rounds 2-4 differed greatly. In the UK version, players exclusively made wagers to answer vague general knowledge questions, where only the first part was available before bidding commenced.[13] But in the Australian adaptation, the round leader chose from a set of four categories. The remaining contestants subsequently established a general wager for answering questions. The round would then become a quickfire general knowledge game; answering a question correctly would add the wager to the player's total while an incorrect one deducted it. The amount wagered is therefore crucial to the player's chances; a conservative value reduces the risk but the low payout could allow a high-rolling opponent to quickly overtake them. Likewise, a high bid could mean a contestant is frozen out after only one or two incorrect answers.[12][14]

Near the end of each round, Symons presented a split question.[14] This worked the same as the UK original where players wager based on how confident they are in answering a question that could very well be much different than expected.[13][5] Following a round's conclusion, the leader got to shaft a player, but not before hearing the plea of their original target.[12] Oftentimes, the intended target can change the leader's mind; in the final episode, broadcast on 5th April 2002, Laurie notably convinced Craig to shaft Usa, so that Craig could avoid becoming stuck with two "unreliable" women.[14] When two contestants are left, their accumulated totals are added up. In the final round, they must decide whether to Share the spoils or risk a Shaft.[12] A successful Shaft not only grants the player the entire prize fund but enables them to become the "Master Shafter" and thus stay on for the next episode.[5] Consequently the motivation to stay on increased the number of double shafts, meaning neither player went home with anything.[14] Hall noted Symons rarely got to congratulate players as most ended up unsuccessful.[10]

Alas, Nine's adaptation of Shafted was neither critically nor commercially successful.[7][15][12] A review by The Age lambasted it as "the most idiotic and boring program inflicted upon us in recent times". Their main gripe surrounded its rather unfair gameplay, including how each round resets by buffing each player's score to that of the leader, and how otherwise unintelligent contestants could win it all through "ridiculous" bluffs.[7] Meanwhile, the Herald Sun listed Shafted as among the "biggest Melbourne-made TV turkeys", particularly for its confusing format and Symons as host.[12] Worse still, Hall recalled a time when the show directly humiliated one of its reviewers. During one of the media launch shoots, the show's producers invited a few journalists to compete. A higher-up soon remembered a female journalist had appeared in a programme decades prior. He ordered Hall to obtain this clip so that Symons could joke about her appearance. Despite Symons' best efforts to lessen its impact, the ordeal embarrassed the contestant and was viewed as tasteless by those in attendance.[10] The higher-up was later fired for poor leadership. Hall himself admitted he disliked Shafted's concept, namely to encourage contestants to be greedy, lie and backstab one another.[16]

The show's ratings were also considered a disappointment in comparison to Sale of the Century.[15][7][12] According to The Age, its debut episodes ranked a distant fourth in the 7 pm timeslot, ahead of only SBS' World Sports.[7] Additionally, the Herald Sun noted Shafted's poor ratings damaged the run-in for Nine News.[12] Consequently, the show was cancelled after a single series with Hall admitting the programme failed to justify its expensive budget.[15] The format was later incorporated into a proposed CBS adaptation, which ultimately never materialised.[17]

Deelt-ie 't of Deelt-ie 't Niet (Does He Share It or Not?)

Despite Endemol being a Dutch production company,[18] an adaptation for the Netherlands did not emerge until April 2002.[19] Its host was Peter Jan Rens, who had established Kaktus in 1978 to produce his own programmes.[20][21] A prominent television star by the early 2000s, Rens had previously hosted such game shows as Labyrinth and Doet-ie 't of doet-ie 't niet.[20] The Dutch adaptation was titled Deelt-ie 't of Deelt-ie 't Niet (Does He Share It or Not?), which aired on SBS 6 from April to June 2002.[19]

Based on Kaktus' synopsis and an available episode, Deelt-ie 't of Deelt-ie 't Niet was a relatively faithful adaptation of the Australian version.[22][19] In Round 1, seven contestants are placed in a cell where they wager up to €75. This time, the highest and lowest bidders are eliminated,[22][19] something that was originally trialled in the pilot productions.[23] Round 2 completely replicates the Australian gameplay; the only difference comes in how players are eliminated. Each contestant is tasked to put on a seatbelt as the leader decides who to eliminate with the touch of a button. Shafted players subsequently have their chairs fall backwards.[24][22] In the second to last round, part of a film is played, with the three players placing bids to answer what happens next in the clip.[24][22] The final round plays exactly the same as previous adaptations, with Kaktus noting most players opted to shaft.[25][22]

Alas, Deelt-ie 't of Deelt-ie 't Niet was a ratings disappointment. Changes to quicken the show's pace, including the removal of question categories and the ability to make a plea against elimination, failed to entice the Dutch audience.[25] Thus, the programme was cancelled after a single series.[19] The show was later used in a 2012 study published in The Review of Economics and Statistics, where Belot, M, Bhaskar, V & van de Ven, J aimed to determine whether observers could predict trustworthiness.[26]

Ставка (Stake) and Искушение (Temptation)

Interestingly, Shafted was adapted by two Russian broadcasters.[27] The first was created by RTR in 2002, which featured Vladimir Lebedev as host.[28][27] Titled Ставка (Stake), analysis of an available episode indicates it faithfully adapted the original British show.[28][13] A notable difference occurs in the final round: If both players decide to Share, whoever accumulated the most money decides how much is split between them.[28] Poor ratings, contributed by the relatively unknown Lebedev and its 1 pm timeslot, caused the show to be cancelled after a single series.[27]

Nevertheless, rival channel TVS remained optimistic about the concept's potential.[27] A year following the failure of Ставка, TVS announced it would broadcast Искушение (Temptation).[29][30] Искушение arose during a time when TVS suddenly lacked any game shows on its schedule. It worked extensively with Endemol, earning the company's approval to shoot a full series following a pilot with Irina Apeksimova as the presenter.[29] Apeksimova had risen to prominence as an actress in film and theatre, featuring in such productions as Limita, Bourgeois' Birthday and The Executioner.[31] She had beaten Gosha Kutsenko to the role, with TVS prioritising her for her intelligence and charming appearance.[29]

TVS' promotional campaign for Искушение centred around Apeksimova and the jackpot prize of 4.5 million rubles.[30][27] The programme's studio, host and choice of questions were greatly praised by Endemol.[27] However, a Komsomolskaya Pravda correspondent was sceptical of the show's chances, believing it would not catch on because of the overly-complicated format. Additionally, Apeksimova struggled in her duties as the "Temptress".[27][31][30] In an interview with Zvezda, Apeksimova admitted she was new to hosting a television show and struggled to settle in until the final episode was filmed.[31] The Komsomolskaya Pravda correspondent recalled that Apeksimova almost fainted during filming, the otherwise confident actress having looked pale and nervous throughout the game.[27]

Despite the challenges, Искушение made its primetime debut in mid-March 2003.[29][27] Any chances of a sequel series were scuppered when TVS was closed by the Ministry of Press, Television and Radio Broadcasting and Mass Communications in June 2003. Financial problems appeared to have been the main culprit.[32][33] Based on Apeksimova's comments for Zvezda, no other channel was interested in rebooting the show.[31]

Shafted (Poland)

In November 2001, C21 Media reported that TVN had acquired the Shafted format for a possible Polish adaptation.[1] Unlike the other international versions, very little is known about TVN's adaptation, with the majority of information about it arising from the 9th September 2001 issue of Przekrój.[34] According to the article, TVN, in conjunction with Endemol, planned to launch its adaptation under host Andrzej Sołtysik. Sołtysik was a prominent journalist and spokesman for TVN, having even hosted the second and third series of Poland's Big Brother.[35][36] A title for the show had not yet been announced. Rather interestingly, Poland's adaptation was originally planned as the first edition of Shafted to be televised anywhere in the world.[34] It aimed to air a week before ITV's version; considering that the UK's Shafted debuted on 5th November 2001,[5] it can be deduced the TVN version was set for broadcast in late October 2001.[34] The programme has since fallen into complete obscurity and it is not entirely clear whether any episodes eventually did air on TVN channels.

Availability

Because of Shafted's universal lack of success, it is perhaps unsurprising that its international adaptations are mostly lost media. The final episode of Nine's Shafted, broadcast on 5th April 2002, is currently the only programme to fully resurface on YouTube. It was uploaded to the platform on 27th January 2014 by gameshowaus2.[14] gameshowaus2 had previously uploaded the introduction for the 5th March 2002 episode;[37] the episode's ending has also been found courtesy of anthony78977 on 26th February 2014. A few commercials can additionally be viewed on YouTube.[38]

In contrast, no full episodes of Deelt-ie 't of Deelt-ie 't Niet have yet been unearthed. Nevertheless, former contestant Theo Manders uploaded a partial recording of his episode on 19th December 2012.[22] This, as well as a commercial, remain the only publicly available clips of the show.[39] A similar fate has befallen the Russian adaptations. Currently, a single episode of Ставка is viewable.[28] It originally surfaced on Gameshows in July 2009 before being uploaded to YouTube on 10th October 2017 by UzumakiPlayroom.[40][28] UzumakiPlayroom also provided a commercial for Искушение, to date the only found footage of the TVS version.[41] Finally, no clips nor photographs of the elusive Polish show have been discovered.

Gallery

Videos

The final episode of Australia's Shafted.

The ending of the 5th March 2002 episode.

A partially found episode of Deelt-ie 't of Deelt-ie 't Niet.

An advertisement for Deelt-ie 't of Deelt-ie 't Niet.

An episode of Ставка (Stake).

An advertisement for Искушение (Temptation).

See Also

External Links

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 C21 Media reporting on Nine Network commissioning 65 episodes of Shafted. Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 10th February 2002 issue of Sunday Times' TV Extra promoting the Australian adaptation of Shafted in its TV guide (found on Television.AU). Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 How To Win Game Shows where Hall discussed how Australia's Shafted came about and becoming its head writer. Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 BBC News reporting on ITV scrapping the UK version of Shafted because of poor ratings. Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 5.4 UKGameshows summarising the UK's Shafted and noting the Australian adaptation. Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  6. ↑ The Age reporting on Australia's Shafted being designed to appeal to a younger demographic. Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 7.3 7.4 The Age review of Australia's Shafted. Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 8.2 TV Tonight briefly summarising Australia's Shafted and how it was cancelled after just 40 episodes. Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  9. ↑ 9.0 9.1 How To Win Game Shows where Hall discussed writing alongside Graeme Rickerby and Chris Ho, and the consternation felt following the abrupt cancellation of the UK version. Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 10.2 10.3 10.4 How To Win Game Shows where Hall discussed Symons' abilities as presenter and an awkward moment during filming of an episode featuring television show reviewers. Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  11. ↑ Archived The Sydney Morning Herald documenting Symons' career. Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  12. ↑ 12.0 12.1 12.2 12.3 12.4 12.5 12.6 12.7 12.8 Archived Herald Sun declaring Shafted as among the "biggest Melbourne-made TV turkeys". Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 13.2 13.3 Independent summarising the gameplay of the UK's Shafted. Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 14.2 14.3 14.4 14.5 The last episode of Australia's Shafted. Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  15. ↑ 15.0 15.1 15.2 15.3 How To Win Game Shows where Hall discussed Shafted's cancellation and its redeeming factors. Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  16. ↑ How To Win Game Shows where Hall discussed the firing of a higher-up and his thoughts on Shafted's concept. Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  17. ↑ Archived The Sydney Morning Herald reporting on CBS planning to adapt the Australian version of Shafted. Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  18. ↑ Television Business International summarising the history of Endemol and its subsidiaries. Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  19. ↑ 19.0 19.1 19.2 19.3 19.4 Kaktus summarising Deelt-ie 't of Deelt-ie 't Niet's conceptualisation and its Round 1 gameplay (article in Dutch). Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  20. ↑ 20.0 20.1 Archived Algemeen Dagblad summarising the career of Rens (article in Dutch). Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  21. ↑ Kaktus summarising its establishment (article in Dutch). Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  22. ↑ 22.0 22.1 22.2 22.3 22.4 22.5 A partially found episode of Deelt-ie 't of Deelt-ie 't Niet. Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  23. ↑ Endemol's Shafted promotion, which featured pilots that utilised slightly altered versions of Rounds 1 and 5. Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  24. ↑ 24.0 24.1 Kaktus summarising the main rounds of Deelt-ie 't of Deelt-ie 't Niet (article in Dutch). Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  25. ↑ 25.0 25.1 Kaktus summarising Deelt-ie 't of Deelt-ie 't Niet's final round, changes made to the format and how its ratings disappointed SBS 6 (article in Dutch). Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  26. ↑ "Can Observers Predict Trustworthiness?" published in volume 94 of The Review of Economics and Statistics, which used edited versions of Deelt-ie 't of Deelt-ie 't Niet as part of its experiment (p.g. 248). Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  27. ↑ 27.0 27.1 27.2 27.3 27.4 27.5 27.6 27.7 27.8 Komsomolskaya Pravda previewing Искушение and noting Apeksimova faced issues as its presenter (article in Russian). Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  28. ↑ 28.0 28.1 28.2 28.3 28.4 An episode of Ставка. Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  29. ↑ 29.0 29.1 29.2 29.3 Komsomolskaya Pravda reporting on Apeksimova being set to present Искушение (article in Russian). Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  30. ↑ 30.0 30.1 30.2 Archived TVS summary of Искушение (article in Russian). Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  31. ↑ 31.0 31.1 31.2 31.3 Zvezda interview with Apeksimova where she discussed her time hosting Искушение (article in Russian). Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  32. ↑ Sports.ru documenting the demise of TVS (article in Russian). Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  33. ↑ Kommersant detailing the timeline leading to TVS' closure (article in Russian). Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  34. ↑ 34.0 34.1 34.2 9th September 2001 issue of Przekrój reporting on TVN's Shafted being planned for broadcast a week before ITV's version (article in Polish, found on Małopolska Biblioteka Cyfrowa, p.g. 65. Article can be accessed via selecting a Polish VPN server). Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  35. ↑ Wirtualne Media reporting on Sołtysik departing TVN after 26 years as a journalist, host and spokesman (article in Polish). Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  36. ↑ Onet reporting on Sołtysik's statement surrounding TVN removing sex scenes from a recording of its adaptation of Big Brother (article in Polish). Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  37. ↑ The opening credits for the 5th March 2002 episode of Australia's Shafted. Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  38. ↑ The ending of the 5th March 2002 episode of Australia's Shafted. Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  39. ↑ A commercial for Deelt-ie 't of Deelt-ie 't Niet. Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  40. ↑ Gameshows discussing an available episode of Ставка (discussion in Russian). Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
  41. ↑ A commercial for Искушение. Retrieved 3rd Sep '24
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