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Hypothetical

Started by worldsgreatestsinner, July 25, 2018, 12:22:13 PM

Previous topic - Next topic
New Dave show is causing a bit of a controversy on Twitter

https://www.chortle.co.uk/news/2018/07/25/40567/james_acaster_and_josh_widdicombe_to_host_new_panel_show

QuoteJames Acaster and Josh Widdicombe are to host a new panel show for Dave based on ridiculous fictional situations.

Eight episodes of Hypothetical has been commissioned, in which comedians will compete for points based on how well they deal with the scenarios set.

Understandably Danielle Ward is a bit pissed off at the resemblance to Do the Right Thing and Dilemma.

https://twitter.com/captainward/status/1022035313357729793

The news about Matthew Crosby is especially shitty.

rasta-spouse

Jon Richardson's Ultimate Worrier is basically Room 101. So Dave has priors.

Good point, I'd say this is probably worse though because Danielle actually pitched DTRT to Dave last year.

BeardFaceMan

Josh Widdicombe, craaaazzzzy James Acaster, stealing other peoples shows, yet another panel show, 2 fucking hosts for some reason, there are so, so many reasons for me to avoid this show like the plague. So I will.

This is shameful. It sounds identical.

Matthew Crosby's got no excuse. That'll be the end of those Flatshare Slamdown/Do The Right Thing double headers. And I can't believe nobody else who's involved hasn't thought 'hang on, this sounds a bit familiar.'

I'm looking forward to Michael Legge's response...

Utter Shit

Very odd - I don't know that Ward/Legge/Cabourn-Smith are mates with Acaster or Widdicombe, but they certainly have a lot of friends in common and, at least in the past few years, it has seemed like the comedy circuit is something of a band of brothers, with most of the [relative] new school all pals. I've never sensed, or heard, that Acaster or Widdicombe were ruthlessly ambitious either, so my instinct is to think that this is somehow a misunderstanding...but it really doesn't seem like it at all.

rasta-spouse

I'm not very familiar with Danielle Ward's Do The Right Thing.

But I did occasionally listen to Widdecombe on XFM. They did a bit on that show which sounds like a nascent Hypothetical where Widd and his posse would have to give very detailed plans on how they'd go back in time and kill Hitler, or go back in time and stop the JFK assassination. Along with the Wiki-races segment it was quite entertaining. How similar is this to the Danielle Ward show?

Normally with rip-offs, you can do a few changes here and there, perhaps add some new features and no one can complain. With the Jon Richardson thing, they didn't bother to even try - his "worries" even get put in a special room/noticeboard at the end.


BeardFaceMan

I'd give them the benefit of the doubt if it wasnt for Crosbys involvement and the fact she had already pitched the show to Dave, so at the very least Dave were aware of the similarities/blatant stealing.

Yeah, it's Crosby's involvement that's the real damning part.

I mean there's a chance it's wildly different and it's just some clumsy PR. But even if that was the case, you'd think Crosby would clarify that rather than talk about his involvement on the show on Twitter and Instagram.

Utter Shit

Margaret Cabourn-Smith just replied to me on Twitter saying they've had assurances it's not as similar as it seems, so hopefully it's all ok.

notjosh

It's a fairly simple idea, one that I didn't connect to DTRT when I heard it. Depending on the formatting it could be a totally different show.

olliebean

I got polled a few months back on whether I would watch this. My immediate thought was that it sounded like a rip-off of DTRT, and I said so. Also pointed it out to the DTRT twitter account, and I think they followed it up - probably resulting in the assurances they've received that it's different.

There clearly are similarities in the concept, though, and even assuming no plagiarism the existence of this show might have been a factor in them not picking up DTRT.

FWIW, here's the description as it was presented to me in April. Make up your own mind how similar it sounds.

QuoteIn Hypothetical, host Josh Widdicombe presents comedians with a selection of bizarre and totally made up scenarios that would almost never happen in real life, to see how they would react, and awards them points according to how well they deal with them. James Acaster is on hand to tell them the correct answers (because apparently there is a correct way to behave in any made up scenario) and award points.

Rocket Surgery

Quote(because apparently there is a correct way to behave in any made up scenario)

Bloody hell.

If "totally different format" means the same thing as "the exact monologue that Danielle Ward delivers right at the beginning of every single episode of Do The Right Thing with a few of the letters shunted around a bit" then yeah, I guess this could be totally acceptable.

The one thing they'll be able to hang the cry of "It's different!" on is that they're offering  what sounds like elaborate fictional scenarios whereas Danielle gives elaborate fictional intros to real world scenarios. Still the same fucking concept though, even down to Acaster filling the Producer Ben role. And my opinion of Crosby has crashed through the floor as a result of this. The one major difference is with Widdicombe hosting the show will be a good deal less funny.

PlanktonSideburns

Gutted that this exists

PlanktonSideburns

And you can put that on the poster, sub Russell bantsmerchants

BeardFaceMan

So was Crosby involved with Wards pitch to Dave too or just this new show?

Just the new show I think. Crosby's link to DTRT is basically just that  Ben Walker produces both that and Pappy's and they often record as a double bill.

neardark

Who the fuck is Matthew Crosby, who the fuck is Danielle Ward and what the fuck is Do The Right Thing

kittens

two comedians and a podcast, i believe

Sebastian Cobb

Quote from: worldsgreatestsinner on July 26, 2018, 12:10:39 PM
The one thing they'll be able to hang the cry of "It's different!" on is that they're offering  what sounds like elaborate fictional scenarios whereas Danielle gives elaborate fictional intros to real world scenarios.

I thought that was what separated DTRT and Dilemma.

Ward didn't just pitch DTRT to Dave, she got a pilot and everything, Winkleman was the host (which seems daft as Ward was fucking great at it).

olliebean

The impression I got from her twitter comments to the post linked at the start of this thread (which since seems to have been deleted) was that they were on the verge of signing a contract for a full series, but that has now (coincidentally) gone away.

An interesting development:

"When I was tweeting about DTRT & Hypothetical on Wednesday it was hasty and ill-judged of me to accuse Matthew Crosby or anyone working on the show of deliberately ripping off DTRT. That is a serious accusation and not one I should have made off the back of one Chortle article."

https://twitter.com/captainward/status/1023272360630280193?s=21

Wonder if Dave's lawyers have been in touch?

olliebean

That'll be why the original tweet was deleted, then.

That's a very carefully worded retraction. She says the accusation of plagiarism was "hasty and ill-judged" and that she shouldn't have made it, but stops short of saying it was untrue. Very much "I shouldn't have said that" rather than "I don't think that."

There's another article saying that the show will also have stunts in the studio, location filming, archive footage and celebrity guests. So it sounds like the basis was DTRT but they've added enough unnecessary faff to claim it's different while also making it shit.

olliebean

Celebrity guests? The expert guests on DTRT are worth having because they know stuff. WTF are celebrities going to bring to the table?

olliebean

The first episode of this is up on the UKTV website. My potted review is: They passed up Do The Right Thing for this?

slempike

Agreed - my pleasure that they actually hadn't ripped off DTRT was immediately followed with the feeling that it would have been a significantly better show if they had. Some of the guests were pretty good, given the circumstances, but James Acaster and Josh Widdecombe were very tedious.

jobotic

I'm not a comedy aficionado like you let, and it's years since I went to see any stand up, but i really liked Acaster's Netflix specials, it'd be a real shame if he just turns into a face of Dave.