Pac-Man Eats His Way Into a Reality TV Series

[Tom Goldman]

Pac-Man Eats His Way Into a Reality TV Series

An upcoming reality television show focusing on Pac-Man might reveal the truth behind his compulsive overeating.

Pac-Man is being made into a reality television show. I repeat, a videogame about a yellow circle that is chased by ghosts while trying to eat as many dots and fruits as he can, is being made into a reality television show. Namco Bandai teamed up with Merv Griffin Entertainment for the development of the idea, which is currently being shopped to networks.

Considering that Pac-Man isn't real, unless I'm mistaken, it seems like it'd be tough to create a reality television show about him. This is true. The production appears to be more of an unscripted Pac-Man themed game show, rather than The Real World [http://www.amazon.com/Real-World-Complete-First-Season/dp/B00006DXXR/ref=pd_bxgy_d_text_b] starring Pac-Man.

Merv Griffin Entertainment president of television Roy Bank compares it to Wipeout, a show that features people trying to make their way through outlandish obstacles over pits of mud. "The idea we have is to take what Pac-Man is and bring it to life, to bring what is essentially the world's biggest game of tag to television," Bank told Deadline.

I'm envisioning Wipeout mixed with Amazing Race [http://www.amazon.com/Amazing-Race-First-Season/dp/B000A6T1JK/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1295020303&sr=1-2-spell], a reality show about teams of two traveling around the world while completing various tasks. Exactly how Pac-Man will tie in isn't known, but yellow, pink, blue, red, and orange costumes are probably involved somehow. It'll be interesting to see how the show actually works, if it eventually gets picked up by a network.

Source: Deadline [http://www.deadline.com/2011/01/pac-man-reality-series-in-the-works/]

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[Veloxe]

I would have thought Pac-Man more like a world wide game of man hunt as opposed to tag but whatever.

 

[teh_Canape]

well

makes way, WAY sense than the old PacMan cartoon

 

[Archemetis]

I don't... I can't...


What?

 

[manythings]

well

makes way, WAY sense than the old PacMan cartoon

Injecting heroin into your own genitalia is the only thing that makes less sense than the old pac-man show.

OT: I'm seeing something involving google maps in my head, like that GPS app that turns you into pac-man and places ghosts on the map.

 

[GiantRaven]

That's it. The world has officially gone crazy.

I think I like it...

 

[Evilsanta]

Say what now?

They have to atleast use some kind of illegal substance to come up with this.

 

[RatRace123]

Wow that's really, really really really really really stupid.
Could be the awesome kind of stupid, but still stupid nonetheless.

Better than the other crap that counts as "reality TV" I suppose.

 

[standokan]

That's just plain stupid.

 

[yellowhead]

I'm gonna guess that they'll put contestants in a maze one at a time and they have to collect objects while avoiding people trying to stop them (the ghosts)

The problem with that is, it's been done before in Takeshi's Castle.

 

[GeorgW]

I have no idea how this would be, but I doubt I'd watch it. I did see an event named pac man in a game show once where people rolled around in big balls, one yellow that's navigating a labyrinth filled with balloons to pop, and another one chasing it. That would work, but would get boring extremely quickly.

 

[teh_Canape]

... touche.

yes, the 80s were dark times

 

[pacati]

You can do it, you can do the PAC MAN,
PAC MAN cereal, you can open wide,
And gobble up the ghosts that are hiding inside.
Marshmellow, orange, red, pink or blue,
Gobble up the ghosts or they might gobble yooooooooouuu!
You can do it, you can do the PAC MAN.

I also remember the theme song from the Gillette commercial where they went from 1 blade to 2 for the first time. I used my tape recorder on a lot of strange things in the early 80s.

 

[Reed Spacer]

Um...if it's about a video game character, then technically isn't it impossible to be a reality show?

 

[Steve the Pocket]

My biggest beef with this is the use of "reality show" to refer to what, from the description, is clearly more of a game show. A Japanese-style game show, which is coincidentally very appropriate given the game's origins, but a game show none the less. Call a spade a spade and all that.

Heck, it's not even good marketing. Hasn't the "reality TV" thing gotten played out to the point where falsely advertising something as a reality show is likely to turn away more viewers than it would bring in?

 

[The Rogue Wolf]

Stop the world, I want to get off.

Um...if it's about a video game character, then technically isn't it impossible to be a reality show?

To be honest, how much of a connection to reality do current-day "reality shows" have?

 

[Dooly95]

I'm gonna guess that they'll put contestants in a maze one at a time and they have to collect objects while avoiding people trying to stop them (the ghosts)

The problem with that is, it's been done before in Takeshi's Castle.

+1, to all points.

Originality? What's that?

 

[Gruchul]

I'm gonna guess that they'll put contestants in a maze one at a time and they have to collect objects while avoiding people trying to stop them (the ghosts)

The problem with that is, it's been done before in Takeshi's Castle.

That was pretty much the first thing that came into my head too. Though I guess they'll be up-scaling it and adding a greater level of challenge to it in some regard. Still probably won't be something I'll be watching religiously.

 

[Reed Spacer]

Stop the world, I want to get off.

Um...if it's about a video game character, then technically isn't it impossible to be a reality show?

To be honest, how much of a connection to reality do current-day "reality shows" have?

Hey, I'm working through this forest of stupid as best I can.

Gimme a bit of leeway here.