Pac-Man Reality Series To Resemble Wipeout

 

Pac-Man is going to be on TV! Wait, that’s nothing new. Let me try again.

Pac-Man is getting his own reality TV series! There, that is suitably ridiculous. It’s also true. Merv Griffin Entertainment signed a deal with Namco Bandai Games, the Pac-Man license-holder, that kicks off development on an unscripted series of the game show variety based on the inexplicably lovable pellet-gobbling yellow circle.

If you’re saying “whaaaaa???” you’re not alone. Pac-Man is a fictional character, and fiction doesn’t jive so well with reality. Merv Griffin prez Roy Bank describes the pitch as a “big, crazy Wipeout-type event with a lot of energy.” In place of the fictional eating machine the game will unfold as what Bank calls “the world’s biggest game of tag.” Presumably with ghosts, fruit and eating competitions thrown in to keep things faithful.

Now as an entertainment reporter, I definitely come across a fairly broad cross-section of unusual news items every day. This though… my brain misfires every time I try to process this information. It is so patently ridiculous that I not only want to see it, I want to see it do well. If only to confirm that the various absurdities of pop culture can still cater to the geek population of the world.

All that said, if the show’s theme song isn’t “Pac-Man Fever” or some derivation/remix of the same, I will definitely not be tuning in. I’d even sign an online petition in support of that, so you know I’m serious.

[Editor's Note: If the Pac-Man reality series is anything like the game of tag seen in Club Dread, we're in for a good time. Observe for yourself. -J. Wigler]