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Author Topic: Escape Perfecto channel on Pluto TV  (Read 5076 times)

Kniwt

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Escape Perfecto channel on Pluto TV
« on: June 09, 2021, 06:12:43 PM »
I've been getting really into Escape Perfecto and would love some discussion about the show, and/or any of its other international versions (NBC reportedly ordered a pilot but never went to air.) I assume its library of episodes is similar to the Barker TPIR channel in size and rotation; indeed, I tuned in one late night and saw a repeat of an episode from earlier in the day.

The big question I have today, having watched a few more hours (and another nail-biting escape!): In the modern era, many shows like this aren't recorded in episode-size chunks but are assembled into time-fitting episodes long after the fact. The giveaway to this is usually that the host wears the exact same wardrobe in every episode. But here, the hosts wear different clothes in every episode (but not switching mid-episode after a win or loss, which would be another giveaway). Yet every episode I've seen so far ends on the hour with a fully decided win or loss, no carryover contestants ... which seems like a tough editing job, especially if a team gets anywhere near the jackpot question, usually promoted as worth ~800k pesos (~US$40k, but more a few years ago when these were recorded). Wikipedia seems to suggest (but not definitively) that the jackpot has never been won in Mexico. Is there ever a carryover team?

A second minor question: One of the prizes is "x2," which apparently doubles the prize pot if won. Does the team just get two of everything, or is the prize actually the cash equivalent of all the other prizes won? Does the 800k jackpot include a "x2" of 400k?

Perhaps it's just the excitement of seeing a format I've never watched before (from any country), but I've been screaming at the TV in a way I haven't done since the early series of The Cube. :)

One small gripe: Pluto/Sony seem to insert a bunch of extra ad breaks that weren't in the original airings, with the tradeoff apparently being shorter breaks so it still ends on the hour.

Kniwt

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Re: Escape Perfecto channel on Pluto TV
« Reply #1 on: June 17, 2021, 04:28:21 PM »
I've been landing on lots of repeats on the Pluto channel; looks like their library is (for now?) considerably smaller than the Barker TPIR channel. And the episodes don't appear to be any more recent than 2017.

So ... I skipped ahead a bit and started watching some of the more recent episodes on YT. Here's a particularly engaging one that aired in June 2020 (although the copyright at the end is 2019). The music and graphics have been updated a bit, the pace is a bit more lively, and the reveal time for answers has been reduced a bit. (Plus, it doesn't have any of the annoying extra ad breaks that Pluto inserts!)

I'm also growing more impressed with host Rafa Mercadante, who's apparently also worked on some Spanish-language TV in the USA. He runs the show like a precision machine ... and watching him explain the rules to each new team in extreme rapid-fire, even by Mexican standards, is right up there with Peter Marshall's double-time HS disclaimer. :) (Starts at 1:20 in the video below.)

Another interesting only-in-Mexico quirk: At the beginning of each episode, Rafa announces the name of the paid government supervisor on-site to adjudicate the contest, as required by law: https://www.gob.mx/tramites/ficha/supervision-de-concurso-en-radio-y-o-television/SEGOB1787




Joe Mello

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Re: Escape Perfecto channel on Pluto TV
« Reply #2 on: June 17, 2021, 09:25:05 PM »
I think they cut the rules explanation down significantly, but the 10-second dramatic pause before the reveal is still there in full. Also if I heard the correctly, the mass of prizes is smaller, but what's left seemed to have inflated in price except for the car, now excuse me while I grab my passport...
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