Entertainment & Arts

From Funhouse to Blind Date: Cult TV show comebacks

Scarlett Moffatt, Pat Sharp and Holly Willoughby Image copyright Getty Images

In this day and age, you haven't lived unless someone has started a crowdfunding campaign to bring you back from obscurity.

Funhouse is the latest cult TV series which could be making a return, which is good news for fans of - *clears throat* - "quizzes, races and really wacky places".

However, the programme's fans want it to return not as a TV show - but as a live experience which members of the public will be able to take part.

Funhouse fans plan to raise £650,000 to bring the idea to fruition, and original host Pat Sharp has even agreed to take part if the goal is reached.

Could we also see a TV revival as a result of the #BringBackFunHouse campaign?

Here are five other shows which have been rebooted, with varying degrees of success.


1. The Crystal Maze

Image copyright PA / Channel 4

It may be hard to remember a time when one of the most popular shows on TV involved a bald man from New Zealand challenging adults to solve mind puzzles in the Aztec zone.

But it really happened - and The Crystal Maze was so popular it has since been brought back in two forms.

Last year, it launched as a real-life "immersive" live experience in London and Manchester, with members of the public able to play the game for real.

And now, it's being resurrected for our TV screens by Channel 4.

Richard O'Brien, now 75 years old, sadly won't be returning for the reboot (O'Brexit?), so producers went with the second most famous Richard they could find.

The IT Crowd star Richard Ayoade will be joined by Adam Buxton as Jarhead and Jessica Hynes as The Knight in the 20 new episodes, starting on 23 June.


2. Blind Date

Image copyright PA

Before people chose their potential life partners by swiping right on a dating app, there was an age where romance was something that happened in person.

No honestly, look it up.

Blind Date, which ran from 1985 to 2003, saw a male or female contestant pose questions to three potential partners, whom they couldn't physically see.

If the chooser liked any of the definitely-not-scripted answers given by the three datees, they could choose them as their Blind Date, and would be promptly whisked off to a glamorous holiday destination.

It truly was the height of romance for the couples involved. Save for being followed around by a massive camera crew who would record every moment for the following week's episode.

The idea of choosing people without being able to see them made for a successful TV format on more than one occasion - as The Voice followed a decade after Blind Date shut up shop.

Now though, Blind Date is on the way back thanks to Channel 5, with Paul O'Grady due to take over presenting duties from his friend Cilla Black, who died in 2015.


3. The Price is Right

Image copyright Getty Images

The Price is Right is also returning to our TV screens, but who knows whether its popularity will be higher or lower than the original series.

The show ran in the 1980s and 1990s on ITV with Leslie Crowther at the helm before Sir Bruce Forsyth took over.

The reboot will see Alan Carr take the reins as contestants attempt to win cash and prizes by guessing how much objects cost.

Surely this must be proper bucket list territory for Alan Carr?

"This is proper bucket list territory for me," said Alan Carr.

"I loved it when I was growing up and now for me to be at the helm of such a legendary show is a dream come true."

Wannabe contestants, "come on down".


4. Surprise Surprise

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As Theresa May and Jeremy Corbyn will attest, life is full, full of surprises.

And perhaps no programme summed this up better than the second show in our list to have been originally hosted by British game show queen Cilla Black.

ITV clearly spotted the potential in a warm-hearted show which surprised members of the public - often reuniting them with a long-lost relative.

The highlight, of course, was Cilla getting to sing the theme song at the end of every episode.

It was brought back in 2012 with Holly Willoughby fronting the show. Sadly she didn't get to sing, but she did enlist a star-studded cast including Lionel Richie and Pharrell Williams to help surprise a whole new generation of viewers.


5. Streetmate

Image copyright Getty Images

Streetmate falls into an unusual category, as it's about to be rebooted for the second time. A re-reboot, if you will.

It originally ran on Channel 4 from 1998 to 2001 - a set of circumstances which means it was naturally fronted by Davina McCall.

ITV2 then brought it back in 2007 for a short series fronted by Holly Willoughby, but it wasn't renewed beyond its initial four episodes.

TV producers will be hoping for a case of third time lucky when the show relaunches this summer on Channel 4, hosted by Gogglebox star Scarlett Moffatt.

Image copyright Instagram

The show will see Scarlett picking a single man or woman in the street, and then help them approach an eligible partner to ask them out on a date.

That sounds like a story we definitely want to be able tell at our wedding - sign us up.


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