Riot is an American game show comedy television series from Fox and based upon the Australian Slide Show television series,[1] itself based upon the Arthur-created French program Vendredi tout est permis ("On Fridays, Anything Goes with Arthur", aka Anything Goes), where two teams of celebrities competed in a number of challenges and games, including one on a huge set that tilts at 22½ degrees.[2][3] Hosted by Rove McManus, weekly episode "guest" captains include a rotating set of actors, with Andy Buckley and Steve Carell "captaining" the premiere episode.[4][5] Riot was canceled by Fox on June 12, 2014.[6]

Riot
Slide Show/Riot logo
GenreGame show
Entertainment
Based onFrench series
Vendredi tout est permis
Australian series Slide Show
Developed by
Written by
  • Evan Mann
  • John C. Plummer
  • Gareth Reynolds
Directed byRon de Moraes
Presented byRove McManus
Starring
Country of originUnited States
Original languageEnglish
No. of seasons1
No. of episodes13 (list of episodes)
Production
Executive producers
  • Steve Carell
  • Paul Franklin
  • Eden Gaha
  • Adam Zuvich
  • Jim Biederman
  • Rich Brown
Running time60 minutes
Production companiesSatisfaction – The Television Agency
Carousel
Shine America
Original release
NetworkFox
ReleaseMay 13 (2014-05-13) –
June 10, 2014 (2014-06-10)

Format

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The show's concept places two teams of celebrities and comedians in a series of competitions that have the teams sing, dance and create comedy sketches while overcoming multiple mental and physical obstacles. Instructed by guest team captains, two teams of comedians are instructed to create and participate in a set of unscripted improv skits, some of which take place on a set tilted at 22-1/2 degrees[7] or some of which take place in complete darkness with the audience able to observe through night-vision cameras while the contestants blunder about.

Regular cast

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The series "regular" main cast includes[8]

Guest stars

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Weekly episode "guest" team captains include a rotating set of actors, including:[9][10][11]

Games

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  • Slide Show: Players perform a scene on a set built at a 22-degree angle with the cameras tilted to make the floor appear to be level. This game is played twice per episode.
  • A Bunch of Jerks: Several players act out scenes wearing suits attached to cables from the studio rafters and when anyone makes a mistake, they are jerked up nearly 20 feet off the floor.
  • Mime Sweeper: A performer stands on a pedestal and has ten seconds to mime the identity of an image shown on a screen to another whose back is turned to the screen. Every time the second performer fails to guess the image, the first performer is knocked off by a large medicine ball and is replaced by another.
  • Alphabody: Two players form the letters in a four-letter word in any order using only their bodies for ten seconds per letter. After the last letter is formed, the host tries to guess the word.
  • In The Dark: Players act out a scene in a pitch-black room, while those in the studio can see everything due to infra-red cameras.
  • Shadow Puppets: Players act out movie titles, etc. behind a back-lit white screen for another to guess.
  • Floored: Players perform on the floor while an overhead camera makes them appear to be standing.
  • Dogs at Work: A dog is dressed like a human, with human hands using the sleeves to interact with players.

Development and production

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In October 2013, Fox greenlit production of an American version of Vendredi Tout est Permis Avec Arthur, from Steve Carell and Shine America, to be produced by Shine America with Carell’s banner, Carousel TV.[2] Fox ordered 8 episodes,[3] which were filmed during February 2014 and premiered on May 13, 2014.

Episodes

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No. Original airdate Captain 1 Captain 2 U.S. viewers
(millions)
1May 13, 2014 (2014-05-13)Steve CarellAndy Buckley1.34[4]
Games performed: Slide Show, A Bunch of Jerks, Mime Sweeper, Alphabody, In The Dark, Shadow Puppets
2May 27, 2014 (2014-05-27)[12]Jason AlexanderCheryl Hines1.36[13]
3June 3, 2014 (2014-06-03)[14]Tom GreenAndy Dick1.15[15]
4June 10, 2014 (2014-06-10)[16]Rob DelaneyDavid Arquette1.18[17]
Games performed: Slide Show, A Bunch of Jerks, Mime Sweeper, Dogs at Work, Floored, Alphabody, In The Dark, Shadow Puppets

Reception

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Riot received mixed to positive reviews from television critics, on Rotten Tomatoes, the show has a 57% based on 7 reviews[18] and a Metacritic score of 63 out of 100 based on 5 critics, indicating "generally favorable reviews".[19]

Neil Genzlinger of The New York Times wrote "There’s no describing how hysterical this is; you have to see it."[20] Diane Werts of Newsday wrote "Is there anything great here? No. Is it goofy fun? Yes. BOTTOM LINE Silly fun in the summertime."[21] Brian Lowry of Variety wrote "If imitation is the sincerest form of flattery (and television), those responsible for Whose Line Is It Anyway? should be positively red-faced watching Riot, Fox’s amped-up, exhausting new improv show. Lowry expanded that even with the creativity and comedy of the various skits, the show's "stunt-enhanced physical gags" do not quite merit the name "Riot".[22] Neil Drumming of Salon said the "premiere felt like harmless summer programming, though a bit manic for my tastes."[23]

Release

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Shine America's parent company represents the format internationally, and apart from the Australian and French versions, local-language versions of the show have screened in Thailand, Finland, Portugal, Denmark, Spain, Brazil, Ukraine and Romania.[5] Vietnam

Cancellation

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After just four weeks, Fox pulled Riot from its Tuesday night schedule due to extremely poor ratings.[24] The show's initial ratings and viewer response was mixed, debuting mid-May with a 0.5 rating in the 18–49 demographic with 1.34 million viewers,[25] and for episodes 3 and 4, Riot drew a 0.4 rating in the same demographic.[26] Fox stated they would eventually find a better time-slot for the show,[27] and will fill the Tuesday slot with re-runs of more popular shows.

International versions

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The international rights are produced by Satisfaction – The Television Agency and distributed by Endemol Shine Group.[28][29][30]

Country Title Presenter Broadcaster Premiere Finale
  France (original version) Vendredi tout est permis (VTEP)
("On Fridays, Anything Goes with Arthur", aka Anything Goes)
Arthur TF1 December 16, 2011 present
  Algeria Vendredi ماشي عادي avec Sofiane
Vendredi Machi Adi (Ce n’est pas normal)
Vendredi Machi 3adi
Sofiane Dani Echorouk TV (2017–2019)
Numidia TV (2019–present)
March 4, 2017 present
  Germany Jetzt wird’s schräg Jochen Schropp Sat.1 July 18, 2014 present
  Australia Slide Show Grant Denyer Seven Network August 7, 2013[31] November 13, 2013
  Bulgaria С Рачков всичко е възможно
S Rachkov vsichko e vazmozhno
Dimitar Rachkov NOVA September 10, 2022 present
  Canada (French) Ce soir tout est permis[32] Éric Salvail V November 17, 2014[33] May 6, 2016[34][35]
  Colombia Me caigo de la risa Jorge Enrique Abello RCN Televisión March 5, 2016 May 28, 2016
  Denmark Rundt på gulvet Lars Hjortshøj TV 2 August 31, 2013 September 7, 2013
  Spain Me resbala Arturo Valls Antena 3 November 15, 2013[36] August 18, 2021
Lara Álvarez Telecinco June 27, 2023 present
  USA Riot Rove McManus Fox May 13, 2014[37] June 10, 2014
  Indonesia Slide Show Raffi Ahmad Trans TV February 10, 2014 September 12, 2014
  Israel הכל הולך
Hakol Holekh
VTEP Israel
Dvir Benedek Channel 2 (2014–2017)
Reshet 13 (2017–present)
November 7, 2014[38] present
  Italy Stasera tutto è possibile Amadeus (2015-2018)
Stefano De Martino (2019–present)
Rai 2 September 8, 2015 present
  Jordan جمعة مش عادية
Djomaa Mesh Adieh
Abdallah Al-Ammari Channel 1
ON TV
2020 present
  Lebanon الليلة جنون
Eleylé Jnoun
Layle Jnoun
Laylé Jnoun
Mario Bassil MTV Lebanon November 8, 2013 present
  Mexico Me caigo de risa Faisy Televisa March 4, 2014 present
  Netherlands Alles mag op ... Jandino Asporaat RTL 4 April 20, 2014[39] February 19, 2017
  Norway Alt er lov Solveig Kloppen TV2 February 28, 2015 May 14, 2016 [40]
  Poland Anything Goes. Ale jazda! Elżbieta Romanowska TVP2 September 11, 2020 present
  Portugal Vale Tudo João Manzarra SIC January 13, 2013[41] present
  Romania Totul e permis Cosmin Seleși Antena 1 January 5, 2014 February 11, 2014
Săriți de pe fix! Cabral Ibacka Pro TV September 14, 2023 present
  Russia Возможно всё!
Vozmozhno vso![42]
Vladimir Markony Rossiya-1 February 4, 2022 present
  Slovakia Možné je všetko Daniel Dangl Markiza September 2, 2023 present
  Slovenia Vse je mogoče Marjan Kučej
Bojan Emeršič
TV Slovenija October 4, 2015 present
  Tunisia نهار الأحد ما يهمك في حد
Nhar Lahad Ma Yhemk Fi Had[43]
Sami Fehri
Nidhal Saadi[44]
Amine Gara (March 22, 2020)
Aymen Ammar
Wassim Migalo[45]
Elhiwar Ettounsi[46] September 24, 2017[citation needed][47][48] June 26, 2022
100 Façons Amine Gara Attessia TV October 26, 2016[49] May 26, 2017
  Thailand เกมตลกหกคะเมน
Game Talok Hokkhamen
Kiattisak Udomnak Thairath TV October 3, 2015 January 30, 2016
  Turkey Dur Durabilirsen Engin Hepiler aTV May 30, 2014 July 6, 2014
  Uruguay Me resbala Rafael Villanueva Teledoce February 4, 2015 July 4, 2015
  Vietnam Chết Cười Đức Hải VTV3 January 17, 2015 April 25, 2015

References

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  1. ^ Kissell, Rick (March 26, 2014). "Fox Slates Two Original Dramas, Trio of Gordon Ramsay Series for Spring/Summer". Variety. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
  2. ^ a b Marechal, AJ (October 8, 2013). "Fox Orders Celeb-Driven Unscripted Series from Steve Carell". Variety. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
  3. ^ a b Newcomb, Tim (October 9, 2013). "Steve Steve Carell to Produce Unscripted Comedy Show for Fox". Time. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
  4. ^ a b Bibel, Sara (May 14, 2014). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'The Voice', 'Marvel's Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.' & 'The Goldbergs' Adjusted Up; 'The Originals', 'Supernatural', & 'About a Boy' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on May 15, 2014. Retrieved May 14, 2014.
  5. ^ a b Idato, Michael (March 21, 2014). "Rove McManus to work with Steve Carell on new game show, Riot". Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
  6. ^ Bibel, Sara (June 12, 2014). "'I Wanna Marry Harry' & 'Riot' Canceled by FOX". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on June 15, 2014. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
  7. ^ Goldberg, Lesley (October 8, 2013). "Fox Picks Up Steve Carell-Produced Unscripted Comedy 'Slide Show'". The Hollywood Reporter. Retrieved March 28, 2014.
  8. ^ Fox press release (April 8, 2014). "Seven Comics Join Cast of New Improv Comedy Series "Riot" Premiering Tuesday, May 13". via The Futon Critic. Retrieved April 17, 2014.
  9. ^ Kroeger, Jake (April 8, 2014). "Fox Improv Show RIOT Will Feature Steve Carell, Jason Alexander, Cheryl Hines". Nerdist. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  10. ^ Geddes, Robin (April 8, 2014). "Steve Carell, Big Bang Theory's Mayim Bialik for new Fox series Riot". Digital Spy. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  11. ^ Swift, Andy (April 8, 2014). "Exclusive: Steve Carell and Cheryl Hines Among Celebrity Guests in Fox Improv Series Riot". TVLine. Archived from the original on April 10, 2014. Retrieved April 10, 2014.
  12. ^ "(R-102) "Jason Alexander and Cheryl Hines"". The Futon Critic. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
  13. ^ Bibel, Sara (May 29, 2014). "Tuesday Final Ratings: No Adjustments to 'America's Got Talent' or 'The Night Shift'". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on May 30, 2014. Retrieved June 6, 2014.
  14. ^ "Shows A-Z -". The Futon Critic. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
  15. ^ Bibel, Sara (June 4, 2014). "Tuesday Final Ratings: 'America's Got Talent', 'Extreme Weight Loss' & 'Celebrity Wife Swap' Adjusted Up; 'Famous in 12' Adjusted Down". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on June 6, 2014. Retrieved June 6, 2014.
  16. ^ "Riot Episodes 2014 -". TV Guide. Retrieved June 1, 2014.
  17. ^ Bibel, Sara (June 11, 2014). "Tuesday Final Ratings: Final Numbers for NBA Finals Game 3". TV by the Numbers. Archived from the original on June 14, 2014. Retrieved June 17, 2014.
  18. ^ "Riot: Season 1". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved February 29, 2024.
  19. ^ "Riot: Season 1". Metacritic. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
  20. ^ Genzlinger, Neil (May 12, 2014). "Just One More Way the Stars Live Better Than We Do". The New York Times. Retrieved May 14, 2014.
  21. ^ Werts, Diane (May 9, 2014). "Steve Carell's 'Riot' review: Goofy improv fun". Newsday. Retrieved May 14, 2014.
  22. ^ Lowry, Brian (May 12, 2014). "TV Review: 'Riot'". Variety. Retrieved May 12, 2014.
  23. ^ Drumming, Neil (May 14, 2014). "Steve Carell's new Fox improv show Riot is just that". Salon. Retrieved May 15, 2014.
  24. ^ Hibberd, James (June 12, 2014). "Fox Has Seen Enough, Pulls Plug on Two Underperforming Shows". TV Week. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
  25. ^ staff (June 12, 2014). "Riot: TV Show Cancelled by FOX". tvseriesfinale.com. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
  26. ^ Andreeva, Nellie (June 12, 2014). "Fox Pulls 'Riot' & 'I Wanna Marry "Harry"' From Schedule". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
  27. ^ Masaki, Lyle (June 13, 2013). "TV On Tap: Fox Wants to Cancel "Harry" and David Tennant Returns as "The Escape Artist"". thebacklot.com. Retrieved June 13, 2014.
  28. ^ "Anything Goes for Fox". C21Media. Retrieved October 9, 2013.
  29. ^ "Anything Goes set for Brazil". C21Media. Retrieved August 12, 2013.
  30. ^ "Anything Goes for Arthur, Shine". C21Media. Retrieved October 10, 2012.
  31. ^ Tony Squires (7 August 2013). "Trying a different angle on comedy". theage.com.au.
  32. ^ http://noovo.ca/emissions/ce-soir-tout-est-permis
  33. ^ "Arthur exporte encore Vendredi tout est permis". lefigaro.fr. 16 April 2015.
  34. ^ "La fin pour "Ce soir tout est permis"". journaldemontreal.com. 15 March 2016.
  35. ^ "Dernier message facebook". facebook.com. 6 May 2016.
  36. ^ Xabier Migelez (30 July 2013). "Arturo Valls presentará 'Me resbala', un formato en el que ocho cómicos pondrán a prueba sus dotes de improvisación". formulatv.com (in Spanish).
  37. ^ Benjamin Lopes (27 March 2014). ""Vendredi tout est permis" débutera aux Etats-Unis le 13 mai prochain". toutelatele.com.
  38. ^ Reshet. הכל הולך - רשת. reshet.tv (in Hebrew). Archived from the original on 2014-12-05. Retrieved 2017-01-26.
  39. ^ Clémence Peyron (9 October 2013). "L'émission "Vendredi tout est permis" adaptée aux Etats-Unis". programme.tv.
  40. ^ TV2 (16 April 2018). "Sesong 1 / 10 episoder". medianews.over-blog.net.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  41. ^ Benjamin Lopes (10 January 2013). "Vendredi tout est permis débarque en prime time au Portugal". medianews.over-blog.net.
  42. ^ "WeiT Media Gets Ready to Make Russia Laugh with Anything Goes". Banijay Group - We are Banijay. 2022-01-28. Archived from the original on February 2, 2022. Retrieved 2022-02-02.
  43. ^ "La version tunisienne de l'émission Vendredi tout est permis bientôt sur Elhiwar Ettounsi…". Tuniscope. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  44. ^ "#حصري ، في الموسم الثالث من برنامج نهار الأحد مايهمك في حد سيقع استبدال الديكور penché بديكور 360 درجة مثل ماهو موجود في النسخة الفرنسية Vendredi tout est permis". Facebook.com. Retrieved September 1, 2019.
  45. ^ برنامج ضخم جديد على قناة الحوار التونسي...التفاصيل. tuniscope.com. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  46. ^ "La version tunisienne de l'émission Vendredi tout est permis sera diffusée à partir de ce dimanche sur Elhiwar Ettounsi". tuniscope.com. Retrieved March 6, 2018.
  47. ^ ﺑﺮﻧﺎﻣﺞ - نهار الأحد ما يهمك في حد- 2017 طاقم العمل، فيديو، الإعلان، صور، النقد الفني، مواعيد العرض.. elCinema.com. Retrieved September 24, 2017.
  48. ^ قريبا : "نهار الأحد ما يهمك فى حد" على شاشة الحوار التونسي. Al-thawraNews. Retrieved August 23, 2017.
  49. ^ "100 Facons". Attessia TV. 23 October 2016.
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