The Exit List - ITV

The Exit List -  ITV

ITV have tried a raft of game shows in recent years to try and find something that sticks. We have already seen the first series of High Stakes and this week it was the turn of The Exit List. I was not clear at all from the adverts prior to the show what it was all about so I thought I would give it a chance. Matt Allwright hosts, a fairly funny chap in the usual dodgy-builder type programmes he does.

The opening was very dramatic indeed and the audience were over enthusiastic throughout. The premise of the show is that the contestants step foot into the "memory maze" which is seemingly some huge set of rooms or vaults they must work their way through. The first room is worth a £1,000 and the contestants were told if they answered correctly in this room they could move forward and the right answers goes onto the all important Exit List (which is a list of answers they have to remember). Get a question wrong and all 4 choices of the multiple choice goes into the exit list......Allwright was just throwing rules at the audience by this point and it was hard to follow. Something about panic rooms, being able to leave early and only one person reciting the exit list....it was a fairly complicate opening for a new game show. It got even worse when the couple had won £2,000 and got offered to stay in the row or move forward.....the difference? I do not know at this stage. Its bizarre. They did get told the subject of the question and made their choice but were not told if it was a Panic Room.

The Panic Room sure enough came up early.....the couple were shown pictures and names of about 8 flowers and then they had to remember the name's by being shown the pictures. A good play along at home feature of the Exit List but I still had little clue as to what was going on and what the punishment for loosing was. Everyone they didn't get, the opening letter was added to the Exit List in one code...so the code ended up being EFHGHEFGH or something similar. That became one of the "answers" they had to memorise for their "Exit List".....anyone struggling to follow this?. Either way Allwright kept reminding us that the Exit List has a prize of £100,000 although if remembering those types of things was needed not much money will be given away.

Now, because they had failed the Panic Room they had to stay on the same Row or exit the maze (assumingly taking the £2,000 with them). Getting it right would land them £3,000 and a chance to see The Exit List. Getting it wrong and they would be locked it. Again they are told the topic, the answers was right so they moved forward. Moving forward was vital as if you moved left and right, I soon worked out, you would be "locked in" which I assume means you loose everything! The further you get it is harder to get locked in as the row expands.

Was it me or did Matthew Allwright look very very bored?

All in all The Exit List is a big budget game show where the quiz questions play second fiddle really to everything else. £100,000 at stake, a big studio, a big set and plenty of advertising ITV clearly hope The Exit List is going to be a hit but I have a feeling the opening 10 minutes of this show in which the rules were explained in a frantic, illogical and darn right confusing way will have resulted in many people turning off!

It is worth sticking with though and has some good play-a-along at home value but it is never going to be the best gameshow on TV but The Exit List will appeal to some, but I cannot see it being around for many series.