COMEDIAN/WRITER ADAM CONOVER TAPPED TO HOST
NICKELODEON’S NEW FAMILY GAME SHOW, THE CRYSTAL MAZE,
PREMIERING FRIDAY, JAN. 24, AT 7:00 P.M. (ET/PT)
Share it: #CrystalMaze @nickelodeon
BURBANK, Calif.–Dec. 9, 2019–Comedian/writer Adam Conover is the new host of Nickelodeon’s upcoming family game show, The Crystal Maze, an all-new version of the legendary UK hit series, premiering Friday, Jan. 24, at 7:00 p.m. (ET/PT). The Crystal Maze will feature Conover as the Maze Master, charged with guiding one family team through physical and mental challenges set within an elaborate labyrinth of four giant and immersive themed zones: Aztec, Eastern, Futuristic and Industrial.
Said Conover, “As the Maze Master, the only thing that gives me greater joy than tormenting our adventurers with devious games is handing out giant cash prizes to the lucky few who manage to escape the challenges inside the crystal maze. This show is the ultimate challenge for families, proving that you have to work together if you want to win, and that’s a fact.”
“We are delighted to welcome Adam Conover into the Nickelodeon family as our first Maze Master. His wit, warmth and pizazz are the perfect attributes to guide families through the exhilarating adventure that is The Crystal Maze,” said Rob Bagshaw, Executive Vice President, Nickelodeon Unscripted Content.
The premiere episode of The Crystal Maze will feature a family from Houston, Texas, tackling a range of challenges in the maze for the first time ever for U.S. audiences. This season will feature families from: Scottsdale, Ariz; Lake Forest, Calif; Eastvale, Calif ; St. Augustine, Fla; Windemere, Fla; Chester, Va; Germantown, Tenn; Carollton, Texas; and Wheaton, Ill.
In each episode, the youngest family member takes on the role of team Captain. The successful completion of escape-room style challenges are rewarded with a “time crystal” granting the family five seconds in the centerpiece final zone called the Crystal Dome. The more crystals gathered throughout the game, the more time each family has for a dramatic clock countdown challenge inside the iconic Dome for a chance to win up to $25,000.
A current ratings smash in the UK, The Crystal Maze has been a beloved family and cult favorite since the mid ‘90s, with the current global popularity of the escape room phenomena reigniting interest further. The show was recently rebooted to great success with celebrity, charity and family seasons in UK, Australia and beyond.
The Crystal Maze is co-produced by Bunim/Murray Productions (The Real World, The Challenge, Born This Way) and RDF Television (Secret Life of 4 Year Olds, Wife Swap, Shipwrecked) under parent company Banijay Group. Gil Goldschein and Maria Pepin from Bunim/Murray Productions, Neale Simpson from Fizz, part of RDF Television, and Stephen David from Stephen David Entertainment serve as executive producers. Production of The Crystal Maze for Nickelodeon is overseen by Rob Bagshaw, Executive Vice President, Unscripted Content.
Production on the new series (10 one-hour episodes) took place on the show's original set located at The Bottle Yard Studios in Bristol, England, earlier this summer.
Devised by Jacques Antoine, the UK version of The Crystal Maze was originally hosted by Richard O'Brien (Rocky Horror), followed by Ed Tudor-Pole. The reboot was originally presented by Stephen Merchant (for Stand Up To Cancer), and currently by Richard Ayoade (The IT Crowd, Travel Man) with his "hand." The show's theme song is the legendary "Force Field", below. The show is currently filmed at The Bottle Yard Studios in Bristol.
About Bunim/Murray Productions:
Bunim/Murray Productions (BMP) is the leading producer of innovative entertainment content. The Emmy Award-winning company is widely credited with creating the reality television genre with its hit series The Real World, which is moving to Facebook after 32 seasons on MTV. BMP continued to innovate with the first reality game show, Road Rules (MTV), in 1995; the first reality sitcom, The Simple Life (E!), in 2003; and the first reality soap opera, Starting Over, in 2003. BMP’s current programming includes Keeping up with the Kardashians, Total Divas and Total Bellas (E!), The Challenge and Lindsay Lohan’s Beach Club (MTV), Born This Way (A&E), Earth Live (National Geographic), The Real World and Ball in the Family (Facebook Watch), Endless Summer and Growing Up is a Drag (Snapchat), Miz and Mrs. (USA Network), and Family or Fiancé (OWN). BMP has also produced They Call Us Monsters (PBS), Valentine Road (HBO), Pedro (MTV) and the Emmy Award-winning Autism: The Musical (HBO) for BMP Films. Based in Glendale, CA, the company was founded in 1987 by Jonathan Murray and the late Mary-Ellis Bunim, who were inducted into the Television Academy’s Hall of Fame in 2012. The company joined Banijay Group in 2010.
About Nickelodeon:
Nickelodeon, now in its 40th year, is the number-one entertainment brand for kids. It has built a diverse, global business by putting kids first in everything it does. The brand includes television programming and production in the United States and around the world, plus consumer products, digital, location based experiences, publishing and feature films. For more information or artwork, visit http://www.nickpress.com. Nickelodeon and all related titles, characters and logos are trademarks of ViacomCBS Inc. (Nasdaq: VIACA, VIAC).
Update (1/11/2020) - Nickelodeon will air an episode of The Crystal Maze featuring the Browne family (Marli, Kelli, Apache and Fever) on Friday, March 6, 2020 at 7:00 p.m. (ET/PT)!
Earlier this year, TV Insider caught up with Conover during a set visit in Bristol, England. In the chat, the host weighed in on how the series would be received by U.S. viewers, saying, "I think a really easy in for American audiences is escape rooms. People know escape rooms now. This is a series of interconnected, very physical, super fun escape rooms set in a fictional maze.
"We're in a labyrinth and we're going from zone to zone, and game to game, winning crystals along the way. It's really an escape room meets Double Dare in a way. And then it's, of course, hosted by me, an ageless immortal maze master who is fabulously dressed," Conover continued. (TV Insider can confirm the fabulous outfit, which at the time was a sparkly pink blazer and other brightly-colored garments).
(Credit: Meaghan Darwish/TV Insider)
(Credit: Meaghan Darwish/TV Insider)
From Den of Geek:
As the new Maze Master, Conover told Den of Geek in an interview conducted earlier this year that he created his own persona for the role.
“In my other work, Adam Ruins Everything, I play a heightened extension of myself too,” he says. “I was like, ‘All right. I can go in a different direction and build that character in a different way.'" This is like totally fantasy land. This guy has stuff in common with the crypt keeper, that sort of thing where it's it can be really, really silly.”
Part of the inspiration for creating a new take on the Maze Master came from watching the original host of The Crystal Maze, Richard O’Brien.
“I looked at the original host in the UK, Richard O’Brien. He played it very flamboyantly. He's one of the creators of The Rocky Horror Picture Show. I was like, ‘Oh, that's cool.’ That's like a sort of heightened extension of his personality, right?”
For Conover, hosting the show is something of a full circle moment. Game shows have been noticeably absent from Nickelodeon’s programming in recent years. With The Crystal Maze, Conover feels the network is going back to its roots.
“Growing up, I watched a ton of Double Dare. It was right in the pocket for my age group and then Legends of the Hidden Temple and stuff like that, when I got older. It was pretty awesome to get a call from Nickelodeon who wants you to host this game show."
Nickelodeon’s version of The Crystal Maze premieres on Friday, January 24th at 7:00 p.m.
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From cheddar:
Hit U.K. Game Show 'The Crystal Maze' comes to U.S.
A legendary U.K. game show is heading overseas and debuting on Nickelodeon. Cheddar sits down with host and Maze Master Adam Conover to see what's in store.
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Originally published: Monday, December 9, 2019 at 19:04 GMT.
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