Rise & Fall

So its basically Milgrim's banned experiement, in fact so much so that the first work shifts are a pretty literal a replica, but instead of men with white coats, its men in suits and instead of 'science' being the lever its the possibility of maybe getting a little bit of money - so kinda more like the IRL horror that led Milgram to design the experiments following WWII - but for TV.

Its nothing new, pretty predictable and whilst some of the casting is good and somewhat understandable, it also kinda feels like the UK has run out of complex driven people and producers are left having to pick from pretty unpleasant sociopaths who are lying before they begin (surely not even Ramona's surgeon thinks she can pass for 35!?)

I love reality TV, and people watching, cultures and communities are my passion but I don't think I'll be able to see this one through as it is derivative, dull and discomforting all at once.

Greg James is, I am sure, a perfectly nice fellow but to say he is vanilla would be to suggest vanilla has no flavour, noooo is an anti-flavour, a flavour neutraliser - perhaps this a choice as if the presenter of this show had too much personality or presence them conducting a handful of greedy eejits to enforce what are essentially extremely cruel, dubiously required and (as demonstrated by the fact that Milgram had to drop his shiz) ethically unacceptable experiments/tasks/jobs would seem really dark and machiavellian.

One of the most interesting, probably accidentally, symbols central to the show is the location - a beautiful deco central London building, built to house and allow the development of a public transport system in London and SE UK in the early C20th, was the home of Transport of London for many years (so effectively a public building open to the public doing work for the public) but then once the tube was part privatised it was sold off to be developed into a 'luxury hotel' - but has had to become a set for a reality TV show as there are more luxury rooms in cities like London than there obscenely wealthy oligrachs/Emirati/yankie tourists/Chinese party members/Old Etonians/Instahookers. Short sighted greed, bailed out by tax payers, having to be used for something flippant so as not to sit empty whilst homelessness is rife and workers have to live in zone6 and commute for hours to sweep the floors.

RastaVari (23 March 2023) in an extremely perceptive post has pointed out that the first episode task is like Stanley Milgram's experiment. I think that the characters are professional actors who are role-playing. Otherwise, there is no way that the series can make enough revenue to cover production costs. The lift voice is by an actress (Emma Clarke). The red room interactions are for real but in a studio: and similarly with the basement interactions. The tower has been hired briefly for scene-setting and general filming. The role-playing actors compete against each other for real, even if the prize fund is imaginary and the results of the tasks are agreed beforehand. The electric shocks were faked; the dog food was ordinary palatable food; and so on. It is like playing Monopoly: no-one can buy a house in Mayfair for £200 but one suspends disbelief and the game is good fun. The series is addictive and unpredictable. I am expecting Matt to be sent to the basement in tonight's seventh episode: we shall see.

I stumbled across Rise & Fall but thought the premise was interesting so checked it out. I was initially impressed with the production quality so even though "meeting" the contestants left me ambivalent. I am not sure how many people applied to play the game but I am guessing a lot given the fact they managed to get such an "interesting" group. Anyway I hung in there. I don't want to give away anything but the manner in which the first "leaders" were selected made me think that this was going to get ugly at some point. The first task the workers had to perform shocked me a little. I am not going to say any more, other than I can't wait for episode two!

Oh dear another inane show on C4. Rise and Fall desperately tries to imitate the Traitors TV show but fails spectacularly. The rules are complex and nonsensical. The contestants are all shallow and tedious wannabes obsessed with social media. I honestly couldn't care who wins or crashes out of this show.

After much effort I finished one episode but definitely won't be watching any more. Does anyone remember C4 used to push the boundaries and produce original, good quality content? Now it's a shadow of its former self.

If you want to see a dramatic reality style contest, I'd recommend bbc Traitors.

So the basis of this show is that the 'Rulers' manage the 'Grafters'. The problem is, they don't actually do anything. All this talk about leadership, yet they don't lead, other than saying if a task goes on or not. Instead it feels like 2 different 'big brothers'.

To make this work, the rulers need much more of a say as to how the grafters live. They should budget electricity and hot water, as well as food and challenges.

The Grafters should be the ones who vote for which rulers stay in power like a democracy - don't base the show on a clique within a group of 6 people.

The rulers shouldn't leave the show when voted off, but return to the Grafters.

The idea is there, but the rules let it down massively.

Nothing happens.