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Space Cadets - the channel 4 TV show... its very cruel, isn't it?

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I've seen this advertised a few times now, and it seems like Endemol are plugging new lows.

Probably not, someone will have been lower.. but this is very cruel.

Unless its all a big bluff. How the hell are they going to do it anyway? Its not so easy to convince someone they're in space, is it?

Anyway, I'll probably end up watching it.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/tv_and_radio/4442882.stm

Spoof show to trick 'astronauts'
Johnny Vaughan
Johnny Vaughan will present the show from a secret location
A Channel 4 reality show is aiming to trick contestants into thinking they have been launched into space.

Space Cadets, which will air next month, will tell nine people they are to visit space thanks to a Russian tourism agency.

They will be told they are being taken to a Russian training base - but it will, in fact, be a secret UK location.

Channel 4 executives have admitted the joke could be on them if the participants cotton on to the stunt.

The channel has lined up a stand-in schedule just in case the 10-day series beginning on 7 December does not go to plan.

Hollywood creation

The show, presented by Johnny Vaughan, has been created by Endemol, the firm behind Big Brother.

The contestants will be told four of them have been to be selected to go on a "space flight" after training.


We've taken a big risk with Space Cadets, and we don't know who will have the last laugh
Angela Jain, Channel 4

Among the winners will be one of three actors in the group.

Their shuttle will be a Hollywood creation, made originally for the Clint Eastwood film Space Cowboys, with sounds created by a special effects specialist.

A custom-built screen just outside the shuttle will attempt to provide the illusion of a view of Earth.

But producers will not have to recreate weightlessness because the contestants are to be told their orbit will take them to Near Space, not Deep Space, where they could experience the sensation.

"We've taken a big risk with Space Cadets, and we don't know who will have the last laugh," said Channel 4's factual entertainment commissioning editor Angela Jain.

"But we're hoping it's going to be a really entertaining and unique event."

Psychological tests

The participants, who answered an advert for "thrill-seeking" members of the public, will be "trained" for space in a disused airbase.

They were selected because they showed a trait of "suggestibility" during psychological testing, said Channel 4.

About one fifth of what they learn in preparation will be fiction but the remainder will be based on genuine training techniques.

― hobart paving (hobart paving), Monday, 5 December 2005 19:21 (twenty years ago)

Cruel?... disgraceful and probably should be illegal. it's all very well making a fool of people on reality shows when they know what they've signed up for but to manufacture something like this could have pretty grave psychological consequences. if they have chosen people who ' showed a trait of "suggestibility" during psychological testing' they may well be people who are inclined to some other kinds of psych imbalance.

― jed_ (jed), Monday, 5 December 2005 19:32 (twenty years ago)

i really hope ch4 comes a cropper on this.

― jed_ (jed), Monday, 5 December 2005 19:34 (twenty years ago)

I can only assume its a hoax, and the "joke" is on us, the viewing public. Ho ho ho. Otherwise...well, its just not going to work, is it?

I mean, convincing someone the person they're falling in love with is biologically female when that technically isn't the case is one thing but convincing someone they're orbiting the Earth is going to take some doing, I'd have thought.

I think it will get good figures, but they'll be mostly people wanting it all to go wrong for Channel 4.

― hobart paving (hobart paving), Monday, 5 December 2005 19:38 (twenty years ago)

I'll reserve judgement 'til I see it. I reckon it won't be much of anything.

Maybe they'll make out that the spaceship is just about to crash, and then Johnny Vaughan will appear outside the ship, waving, or maybe they could replace JV with Mr Blobby.

― jel -- (jel), Monday, 5 December 2005 19:51 (twenty years ago)

the article in the guide by the creator of the show makes it clear that as soon as the contestants were in isolation, their friends and family were consulted on continuing to play the joke on them.

i'm not saying this absolves them of the tag of cruelty, but it is very much germane to the issue.

― Britain's Obtusest Shepherd (Alan), Monday, 5 December 2005 19:53 (twenty years ago)

I wonder if one of the contestants will be Lance Bass? He never did get his space journey did he?

― jel -- (jel), Monday, 5 December 2005 19:57 (twenty years ago)

T/S: This vs. "There's Something About Miriam," the Bachelor-style series where a bunch of guys were competing for the affections of - and occasionally making out with - a pre-op transsexual.

― Mugged Outside the Jabberjaw, 1993 (Bent Over at the Arclight), Monday, 5 December 2005 20:08 (twenty years ago)

There was a never programme where people thought they were starring in a film with William Shatner. I thought that was the most cruel, how could you Jim?

― jel -- (jel), Monday, 5 December 2005 20:12 (twenty years ago)

Invasion Iowa - it was recently shown on ITV4.

― ailsa (ailsa), Monday, 5 December 2005 20:17 (twenty years ago)

yeah, that's the one, it clashed with Tommy Lee and Simple Life, so I never got to see it. God, I'm so hi-brow.

(a never = another, what the hell was I thinking?)

― jel -- (jel), Monday, 5 December 2005 20:19 (twenty years ago)

If my family/friends/window cleaner EVER signed a bit of paper saying I was okay with having my head fucked with in this way, well, I'd disown them. And then start training to actually go and live in space.

― Zoe Espera (Espera), Monday, 5 December 2005 20:40 (twenty years ago)

Where is the love for Capricorn One?

― k/l (Ken L), Monday, 5 December 2005 20:42 (twenty years ago)

I was just thinking that (it's on cable TV in the UK this week, as I found when trying to see if Invasion Iowa was still showing)...

― ailsa (ailsa), Monday, 5 December 2005 21:11 (twenty years ago)

where's the love for Doctor Who and the Invasion of the Dinoasaurs

http://www.drwhoguide.com/who_3w.htm

When Sarah wakes up a handsome man welcomes her, a new "sister". Mark is the man's name and he explains: she is welcomed to the People and that they are on a spaceship, on their way, soon to arrive on a planet that is to be their new home. Sarah gets up and looks out the window... to see outerspace, stars, and a planet..."We left Earth three months ago," Mark tells her...

― Britain's Obtusest Shepherd (Alan), Monday, 5 December 2005 21:18 (twenty years ago)

Where is the love for Capricorn One?

yeah... that movie sucks tho.

― foxy boxer (stevie), Monday, 5 December 2005 21:21 (twenty years ago)

I can only assume its a hoax, and the "joke" is on us, the viewing public.

you mean they actually DID go into space?

― Theorry Henry (Enrique), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 09:18 (twenty years ago)

I wonder what the legal situation is if — having their lifelong dream cruelly snatched away from them and been humiliated in front of millions of people — someone freaks out and kills themselves or someone else...

What I really want to see channel four do is make a series of Big Brother in which the fame-hungry heat fodder are made to do ever more degrading tasks in their hope of becoming the next Jade Goody, only to find when they leave the house that the show was never broadcast and that nobody gives a toss about them.

― Hello Sunshine (Hello Sunshine), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 09:32 (twenty years ago)

I wonder what the legal situation is if — having their lifelong dream cruelly snatched away from them and been humiliated in front of millions of people — someone freaks out and kills themselves or someone else...

didn't someone kill themselves after that ghostwatch thing that was on about 10 or 15 years ago? there was a lot of stuff in the press iirc but i don't remember anyone getting in serious trouble for it.

― emsk ( emsk), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 09:49 (twenty years ago)

did ian curtis' widow sue werner herzog? no.

― Theorry Henry (Enrique), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 09:51 (twenty years ago)

only to find when they leave the house that the show was never broadcast and that nobody gives a toss about them

oh that would be so good.

― not-goodwin (not-goodwin), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 10:14 (twenty years ago)

Space Cadets - the channel 4 TV show... its very cruel, isn't it?

Welcome to Britain, December 2005.

― Oh No, It's Dadaismus (and His Endless Stupid Jokes) (Dada), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 10:14 (twenty years ago)

(xpost) Wasn't there a The Armando Iannucci Shows' sketch where eight celebrities were put in a room with no cameras in it for a week, where they weren't filmed going about their daily tasks?

― Oh No, It's Dadaismus (and His Endless Stupid Jokes) (Dada), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 10:17 (twenty years ago)

The main thing I wonder about is why they're taking such a big risk for a show that they can't exactly make another series of afterwards, what with everybody being wise to it. It's not like it can run and run is it?

This in turn adds to the suspicion that maybe the intention is to have the contestants find out for themselves, supposedly 'spoiling' it but possibly making for a far more thrilling TV moment than the somewhat more mean-spirited method of forcibly revealing it to them at the end. Seeing as the show surely can't return afterwards the chances of 'failure' are somewhat reduced.

― Sororah T Massacre (blueski), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 10:23 (twenty years ago)

Have the BBC given up on Johnny Vaughan and sent him back to Channel 4? Thank God I don't pay my license fee is all I can say.

― Oh No, It's Dadaismus (and His Endless Stupid Jokes) (Dada), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 10:25 (twenty years ago)

oh right, i thought the show had 'happened' so to speak. so the contestants have been in total isolation since the show was announced? that was like 3 weeks ago already!

― Theorry Henry (Enrique), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 10:42 (twenty years ago)

What I really want to see channel four do is make a series of Big Brother in which the fame-hungry heat fodder are made to do ever more degrading tasks in their hope of becoming the next Jade Goody, only to find when they leave the house that the show was never broadcast and that nobody gives a toss about them.

What's the purpose of the word 'see' in this sentence? Read about in the papers?

― Andrew Farrell (afarrell), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 10:43 (twenty years ago)

There was a never programme where people thought they were starring in a film with William Shatner. I thought that was the most cruel, how could you Jim?

.........

(a never = another, what the hell was I thinking?)

-- jel -- (freeduni...) (webmail), Yesterday 8:19 PM. (later) (link)


No, you're right. Programmes that pertain to be reality progs about one thing, but are in fact hoaxes should be called "Never Programmes"...

― mark grout (mark grout), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 14:28 (twenty years ago)

What an unbelievably stupid idea for a tv programme.

― Pashmina (Pashmina), Tuesday, 6 December 2005 14:39 (twenty years ago)

anyone?

i'm not convinced anyone will fall for it.

and were there really 10 hours worth of 'jamies school dinners'?

― koogs (koogs), Thursday, 8 December 2005 13:59 (twenty years ago)

yes but Jamie Oliver is worth the license fee alone these days (no really).

― Sororah T Massacre (blueski), Thursday, 8 December 2005 14:32 (twenty years ago)

I didn't watch it in the end.. Perhaps no-one else did either..

― hobart paving (hobart paving), Thursday, 8 December 2005 14:35 (twenty years ago)

I watched it. It was a bit nasty watching JV reveal the big picture to the contestants, and seeing how all excited they were about going into space.

But it's crap really, it'll only be worth watching at the end when the winners are revealed.

― Ste (Fuzzy), Thursday, 8 December 2005 14:43 (twenty years ago)

i watched it and i dreamed that they rumbled it right away when there was a shadow of a person cast on the window of the spacestation thingy.

― Britain's Obtusest Shepherd (Alan), Thursday, 8 December 2005 14:48 (twenty years ago)

Its the actors I feel (slightly) sorry for. This is a non-stop job for them and they don't even get the bonus of believing they might end up in space.

It feels like there will be another twist yet such as they are all actors and the joke is on us (easy to check when tab stories come out on them).

― Pete (Pete), Thursday, 8 December 2005 14:50 (twenty years ago)

I was out and watched a little bit of The Satellite Show (Space Cadets' BBLB analogue) with that prick Alex Zane. There was a gay guy from Scotland who hadn't got on the show but had only found out at the very last minute, who ranked up there with Marco BB as the most annoying cunt in television ever.

I might watch an episode or two if there's nothing else on.

― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Thursday, 8 December 2005 14:52 (twenty years ago)

I'll watch it tonight (is it on tonight? if not I'll torrent it or something) and see what's happening. But it does come across as the world' most elaborate practical joke. Practical jokes are cruel anyway, so world's most elaborate practical joke = world's most cruel thing.

― Come Back Johnny B (Johnney B), Thursday, 8 December 2005 14:54 (twenty years ago)

There is something odd about how they keep telling everyone about where their super secret base is (ie just off the B104 nr Ipswich) They are almost daring bored locals to break in and "spoil the fun".

Practical jokes are great.

― Pete (Pete), Thursday, 8 December 2005 14:55 (twenty years ago)

anyone convinced by the test to weed out ppl who couldn't take a bit of humiliation?

― Britain's Obtusest Shepherd (Alan), Thursday, 8 December 2005 15:07 (twenty years ago)

I'm fairly sure that one of the actors - Charlie - was also in another smaller-scale reality TV hoax called something like Bedsitcom, where actors and real "contestants" lived together in a house and the actors were fed lines by production. Man, what a career. "What do you do for a living?" "I'm a hoax reality show contestant"

― James Ward (jamesmichaelward), Thursday, 8 December 2005 15:20 (twenty years ago)

Imagine getting 'parts' like that because you are un-noticeable.

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 8 December 2005 15:26 (twenty years ago)

I have to admit, I liked that Bedsitcom thing. The non-actors did work out it was all a hoax in the end.

― Forest Pines (ForestPines), Thursday, 8 December 2005 16:08 (twenty years ago)

Anyroadup, the little that I saw of this was more 'here's a documentary about training to be astronauts' more than anything else.

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 8 December 2005 16:16 (twenty years ago)

Well, in my estimble opinion, this could only be classic if they are halfway through an exercise in space, and Elliot Gould enters tha capsule and says "Well done people, we're all really proud of youse..."

― mark grout (mark grout), Thursday, 8 December 2005 16:18 (twenty years ago)

haha

― Ste (Fuzzy), Thursday, 8 December 2005 16:25 (twenty years ago)

I'd like to see the contestants, after rumbling the game, making their escape across the Suffolk countryside only to be hunted down like dogs by Channel 4 production teams in choppers.

― Ste (Fuzzy), Thursday, 8 December 2005 16:27 (twenty years ago)

I took it too far again didn't I

― Ste (Fuzzy), Thursday, 8 December 2005 16:33 (twenty years ago)

I can definitely imagine Peter Bazalgette leaning out of a helicopter with a rifle taking shots at hapless contestants.

― James Ward (jamesmichaelward), Thursday, 8 December 2005 16:59 (twenty years ago)

I enjoyed it. I liked the way their 'complex' psychological tests worked..."gullable twits are also very creative!"

― jel -- (jel), Thursday, 8 December 2005 17:05 (twenty years ago)

is that our RJG that posted this to slashdot?

http://science.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=05/12/13/185238&tid=129&tid=133&tid=160

haven't seen it since sunday so i've no idea what's going on.

― koogs (koogs), Wednesday, 14 December 2005 13:17 (twenty years ago)

I haven't seen this 'at all'...

As I'm working 'away' from base, I get to leave home around 6:45 and return about 19:30, and all I have seen are a couple shots of people sleeping inside the 'capsule'.

― mark grout (mark grout), Wednesday, 14 December 2005 13:20 (twenty years ago)

Obviously, this needs to end with the Endemol production team soberly announcing that the spaceship is breaking up in Earth's atmosphere, then setting fire to the set

― Jason J, Wednesday, 14 December 2005 13:30 (twenty years ago)

linked to from the slashdot thing:
http://coolsmartphone.com/index.php?option=news&task=viewarticle&sid=1981&Itemid=2

some of the participants have been in other things. nice bit of research but doesn't necessarily mean it's all a hoax.

― koogs (koogs), Wednesday, 14 December 2005 13:34 (twenty years ago)

Jason, I’m hoping they have some kind of disaster! Lack of oxygen would be good, tell them there isn't enough to get back and watch them panick.

― not-goodwin (not-goodwin), Wednesday, 14 December 2005 14:04 (twenty years ago)

worst. programme. ever.

― Ste (Fuzzy), Wednesday, 14 December 2005 14:09 (twenty years ago)

I saw one episode in order to form an opinion. Mission accomplished and no further episodes watched.

― Mädchen (Madchen), Wednesday, 14 December 2005 14:17 (twenty years ago)

But what opinion did you form?

― Forest Pines (ForestPines), Wednesday, 14 December 2005 14:34 (twenty years ago)

As regards people being in other things, there was a piece in theguardian on Saturday about how almost all people on quiz shows, in adverts, on reality shows etc now come from two or three super-agencies with 10,000 people on their books.

Suckers desperate for fame sign up, pay £60 a month or something and in return get emailed details of hundreds of auditions and things. It's how Makosi got on BB.

Which would explain why one of the Space Cadets was in a B&Q advert and once appeared on the Weakest Link or something.

― Hello Sunshine (Hello Sunshine), Wednesday, 14 December 2005 14:54 (twenty years ago)

I saw the Scottish guy with the big hair in the Gordon Ramsay advert for the Blood Donor Service.

― aldo_cowpat (aldo_cowpat), Wednesday, 14 December 2005 15:42 (twenty years ago)


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