Treasure eludes Pirate Master
- Published by David Knox
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The first episode of Pirate Master with Cameron Daddo as host has aired in the US.
The reality series is the latest offering from Mark Burnett. But the 7.1m viewers were not enough to win its timeslot, losing to Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader’s 8.7m. And early reviews are not promising. Most see the show as a Survivor clone, and although The Apprentice used similar power games it had a different backdrop plus the character of Donald Trump.
“Reality show addicts who took in last night’s debut now know what Jack Sparrow felt like when he was swallowed by that awful, foul smelling Kraken. Neither were pleasant experiences, that’s for sure,” said John Powell of Jam Showbiz. He was kinder about Daddo, saying, “Daddo did an admirable job as host. He came across as authoritative and commanding. I know he is new to the gig but I hope he becomes more involved with each episode so as to become synonymous with the series.”
One reviewer even thought he was British. Time’s blog accuses it of resembling Survivor outtakes, adding, “does the fact that Mark Burnett was ripping himself off make it any better?”
At least the show is premiering in the equivalent of US non-ratings.
Pirate Master is due to air here on TEN. Australian Eden Gaha, who has worked for Burnett on Survivor and Rock Idol is a producer on the show.
And if that isn’t enough, Mark Burnett has a real struggle on his hands with On The Lot. It’s terrible ratings will see it quickly merge its Results show with its Competition edition into one single hour -that’s assuming it even lasts long enough.
3 Responses
I agree it was a little like in a studio/stage
It was very strange to watch. Everyone seemed to be reading from scripts. Not saying they were, but it had an odd stagey vibe to it, which Survivor doesn’t. Someone commented it was like eavesdropping on a group’s live action role playing session. There are some interesting parts to the rules, but lordy is it cheesy.
I quite liked the 1st episode of this. It is way different than Survivor, more like a spin off if you like of a game held in survivor. AbFab was created as a spin off from a Sketch of F/S. I see this the same style spin off however quite different.