6 Sucky Truths About Working On Gamesmaster And Games World
The most beloved gaming show of all time had more hidden behind all that fog than just shiny prizes.
Channel 4I'm a TV producer, so there's lots of glamorous parties, hookers and Coke. Not Pepsi though, that's reserved for the executive producers. And a couple of decades ago I worked on a two shows from the 90s that many of you will remember, possibly fondly, as Gamesmaster for Channel 4 and Games World for Sky One, starting as researcher and ultimately battling my way up to producer. These particular shows were notable for many things: they were surprisingly very, very popular, with Games World being the second highest rated show on Sky (second only to The Simpson) and Gamesmaster being the single most successful game-related show ever aired on UK TV. They were inexpensive to make and they involved making small children cry. Literally. So without further delay, let's get counting the major suckness that was producing content for said shows. 6. The Pay Was Bizarrely Crap
Channel 4Working in television is not like many people think; it's a high-stress environment with terrible hours and often involves dealing with even worse people. But surely that stress and people cack-dealing nonsense yields dividends beyond your wildest dreams, right? Huge salary, company cars, residuals, toys, free hats... Wrong. The pay is wildly random, seemingly related to how far your tongue is willing to travel up the nearest boss's anus, and/or factoring in your age - I guarantee you it's a lot lower than you'd think. Some of the folks I worked with - I'm talking Associate Producers - were getting eight grand a year. In London. Before tax. You'd make more bank looking for coins in nearby fountains or stealing fluff from a sleeping tramp's belly button and selling it. Factor in the cost of living, the travel to and from work and so on, and I think several people were effectively paying to work on these shows. Even the high-ups were on 50K or so, which whilst not a bad wage especially twenty years ago, is still crap given the position in the company. There were runners; poor lackies who were earning more than that, hoping for a proper TV job by being willing to do the stuff others refused, but all they really did was get lukewarm cappuccinos for some pudgy, bald director who shall remain nameless (his name was Pete). You did occasionally get a free hat though. So there's that.