Viacom/Comedy CentralTakeshi's Castle gets a reboot and Gladiators turns 25
Get ready for a kick right in the nostalgic feels, Keshi Heads.
Takeshi's Castle - the bonkers Japanese game show that saw upwards of 100 members of the public trying to tackle outlandish obstacles to reach the titular castle - is apparently making a comeback to British TV.
The show started in Japan in 1986, but became a cult hit in the UK when it began airing here in 2002. The UK version featured clips from the Japanese series, with voiceover from Craig Charles, who coined the term 'Keshi Heads' to describe fans.
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It had a brief reboot in 2013, with Dick & Dom doing vocal duties, but the new iteration of the show has been made in Thailand, and this time round, Jonathan Ross will provide the voiceover for UK editions.
With BBC's Robot Wars reboot and Channel 4's new Crystal Maze, all this nostalgia put us in mind of other wild game shows we'd love to see back on our screens. Here are five total classics...
Gladiators
This week (10 October, to be precise) marks the 25th anniversary of ITV's Saturday evening entertainment classic that featured referee John Anderson, the dreaded travelator, and lots and lots of lycra.
It ran for eight years, finishing on New Years Day 2000, and Sky briefly revived it in 2008 for one series.
Let's face it, Saturday evenings just haven't been the same without Atlaspheres, the Wall, and some dramatic, mid-air pugilism...
Get Your Own Back
This gunge-tastic CBBC show was hosted by Dave Benson Phillips and ran from 1991-2004. It pitted kids against adults (usually parents) in a series of physical challenges and games.
The children were looking for 'revenge' against the adult (typically for minor things like being generally embarrassing), and if they outwitted the grown-ups, they got to gunge the older person in slime at the end.
The show made a big impression on an entire generation - it's still a point of reference for some people.
In 2012, comedian Kevin Bridges got a chance to fulfil a childhood dream when he took part in a loose version of GYOB with Dave Benson Phillips. We should all get that opportunity to do the same with a fully fledged revival.
Hole In The Wall
BRING ON THE WALL... again.
This BBC show - hosted by Dale Winton and later Anton Du Beke - has been off our screens since 2009, and there has been a Hole-In-The-Wall-shaped hole in our hearts ever since.
In these crazy times, don't we deserve the opportunity to see people contort themselves into shapes to fit through holes in an advancing wall, risking being knocked into a pool of water if they fail?
The good news is there's a whole bunch of clips still available to watch here.
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Fun House
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Hosted by Pat Sharp - he of 1990s kids' television's most spectacular mullet - this CITV obstacle-course caper was, in the words of its theme song, "wacky, fun, crazy, and outrageous!"
The Fun Kart grand prix, the prize-laden Fun House of the title, the twins, the nervous, awkward banter between the kids and the adult hosts - this show was joy incarnate.
The filming schedule for it sounded decidedly less fun, however. Sharp revealed in 2008 that they used to film an entire series in a week. "We did seven days, 14 shows at a rate of two a day. Which was hard work as there was a lot of mess and resetting involved," he said.
But despite the gruelling schedule of the original, Sharp also said he'd be up for hosting an adult-only reboot.
Jungle Run
Another CITV gem, Jungle Run ran from 1999 to 2006. Hosted at different points by "jungle guides" Dominic Wood, Chris Jarvis, and Michael Underwood, the show involved a four-person team facing various challenges on a jungle set, collecting bananas (later monkey statues) that bought them extra time in later rounds.
The biggie was the Golden Banana, which was worth a load of 'bananas' (aka time). And as the show show's fans will tell you, the Golden Banana was much coveted.
Surely it's time for a new generation of kids to learn the simple pleasures of the Temple of the Jungle King?
Bullseye
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'You can¹t beat a bit o' bully' was the catchphrase of this iconic programme. Bully was of course the cartoon bull mascot of the long running game show, which ran from 1981-1995 before briefly returning in 2006.
Jim Bowen reportedly once stated Bullseye was "the second-best darts-based game show on television". There were of course no others.
The format saw teams of two split responsibilities between answering general knowledge questions and throwing darts at a dart board. The tension of the final round hinged on one vital question: Would they end up gambling their winnings away with the hope of bagging the mystery star prize (normally a speed boat or car)?
Yes, most of the time they would.
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