Remember all those old TV shows based on your favourite video game franchises? Whatever happened to those? Oh, wait. They disappeared into the mist of time either because they were instantly forgettable, or television networks grew tired of them.
In conjunction with the 30th anniversary of one of video gaming's most iconic characters, we'll soon see the return of a familiar round face to our TV screens, but it might not be what you were expecting. Namco Bandai Games will be celebrating thirty years of Pac-Man this May and the company has teamed up with Merv Griffin Entertainment to bring us an unscripted series starring the dot-chomping yellow muncher. The production company's President of TV, Roy Bank, describes the show as a:
... big, crazy Wipeout-type event with a lot of energy... 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.
Merv Griffin Entertainment has been responsible for an eclectic (shall we say?) range of shows in the past, with Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus; Dance Fever; Merv Griffin's Crosswords; and Lisa Williams: Voices from the Other Side as a few examples. However, it's not the first time Pac-Man has appeared on our screens as Hanna-Barbera produced an animated series based on the franchise which ran for two seasons in the early 1980s. Let's see if this outing lasts any longer.
[source deadline.com]
Comments 34
Sounds great. I desperately need a new video game TV show featuring a character from the past. Hopefully the animation is wacky like an old Mickey Mouse cartoon!
Interesting...
(sigh)...Just...(sigh)...
Wut
Looks like pacman lost his last life.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqLCSt-0S4Y
Is it unrelated to this?
@ 6. is this the series? aww i hoped it was gonna be drawn and not animated 3D. i would much rather see a 2nd sonic SATM show whos with me?!
I actually like the sound of this. If it were on Takeshi's Castle's level of craziness it would be amazing.
And so long as Ms Pac-Man doesn't show up and start calling him 'Paccy' like she did in the cartoon.
Can't be much worse than this:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvYJPES9Ykw
...Oh god.
Guys, I don't think you're getting what this is. It's not a cartoon show, it's a game show along the lines of Wipeout (a game show where people must go though an obstacle filled path over a pool of water). So, I think this might actually be worth watching.
Fascinating.
I remember watching the '80s Hanna-Barbera Pac-Man cartoon years ago, and I thought it was good. Hopefully this new series will be good.
I wanna try. :3
Haha, Wipeout is a pretty crazy show to watch (normally in a good way), so this should be pretty fun. I can see it now, some fat bald guy running through a real-life Pac-Man stage being chased by giant animatronic ghosts with a look of terror on his face.
well this is something i might want to see out of boredom
Anyone remember the cereal?
@Tasuki - I remember knowing about the cereal from playing Namco Museum Vol. 1 on the PlayStation.
How can they make so much off of one little freakin' game?
This show had better be good! I hope it isn't related to that one 3D Pac-Man cartoon that was shown at E3 last year.
Huh
they did a live action pacman in the movie Club Dread, it was pretty awesome. I think this will be fun to watch.
@Terra's Post: That so reminds me of The Chaser's War on Everything!
This could be an interesting watch. It sounds like Pac-Man meets Wipeout meets Selected Japanese Game Shows!
Not all old TV shows based on video game franchises have disappeared. The Pokémon anime is still making new episodes.
Uh, this is a tough one because who doesn't want cool TV shows based on our favorite video game characters, but then again, if it's like all those other shows back in the 80's, we're all in trouble if this thing hits our TV screens.
@Bulbasaurus Rex Yes, that is true, but the new episodes are really awful. Like REALLY awful.
So presumably there'll be 255 events and then the studio collapses.
I just can't wait for this and the new Missile Command film!
. . . seriously, this is moronic. Also, Wipeout gets boring after about 20 minutes.
intriguing...
Id watch it, i have no shame
@Terra Yes, please yes!
Its been a really long time since I last saw Pac-Man on the TV screen. (Suddenly feels old.......)
The visuals weren't bad on that E3 special but the VO of Pac-Man was simply terrible! I hope they get that part fixed at least...
I've seen the E3 preview and I have to say it looks pretty terrible and just proves that cartoons toady suck compared to what they were when most of us were kids.
super!love pacman!
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