History Main / TheCube

* If you want the ''film'' about a man trapped in a cubical white room, go to Film.TheCube.
* If you want the ''GameShow'' with one player competing inside a giant acrylic glass cube, go to Series.TheCube.

An ITV GameShow where players try to perform various physical and mental challenges. Completing a challenge allows the player to go on to the next level (and increases their potential winnings), and completing all 7 levels earns the player a grand prize of £250,000. You only get 9 lives to use in your game

But hold on, before you begin jumping to conclusions and saying that this show is basically ''WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire'' meets ''TheKryptonFactor'', there's just one more thing that should be noted: you have to do all the tasks within a giant four metre wide acrylic glass cube, with a limited number of lives, and chances to [[{{Lifelines}} simplify a task or practice it beforehand]]. Oh, and unlike most game shows [[WhoWantsToBeWhoWantsToBeaMillionaire patterned off of]] ''Millionaire'', every level is AllOrNothing, there are in fact ''no'' safe points at all (unless you bail out before you commit yourself to the next game, which is the only time you're actually allowed to quit by the way).

For what this show may or may not lack in originality (stunt game shows are not a new idea; see ''BeatTheClock'', although a lot of the challenges on this show ''are'' quite ingenious at times), it truly is BetterThanItSounds once you actually notice all the VisualEffectsOfAwesome (which are the result of this show's biggest draw aside from the game itself: its innovative camerawork and clever use of [=CGI=])

The show has been quite a hit for ITV 1, currently preparing for its fourth series later in 2011. Over in America, CBS had recently greenlit a pilot for an American version hosted by NeilPatrickHarris (who is allegedly quite a fan of the show, and was a major influence in getting CBS to pick it up), though no word on it has ever been heard since.
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!!GameShow Tropes in use:
* AllOrNothing: Every task is an all-or-nothing gamble, and once you decide to play, you can't back out. There are no safety nets if you lose all your lives.
* HomeGame: There's a "[[http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3905212.htm Family Electronic Game]]" as well as an [=iOS=] version.
* LetsJustSeeWhatWouldHaveHappened: Inverted; the "Trial Run" gives the contestant a chance to see how he might do before committing to a decision.
* {{Lifelines}}: "Simplify" (makes the stunt easier in some way) and "Trial Run" (allows the player to practice the stunt once before deciding to play on or not). The are discarded for the final level.
* Personnel:
** TheAnnouncer: Colin [=McFarlane=], personified as the voice of the Cube itself.
** GameShowHost: Philip Schofield. Justin Lee Collins hosted a pilot for Channel 4.
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!!This show provides examples of:
* CameraTricks: This show is probably the only excuse to use advanced camera trickery outside of ''TheMatrix''
** And yes, they can do BulletTime too.
* CommercialBreakCliffhanger: Notably averted. Commercial breaks are generally scheduled after a challenge has been presented to the contestant, but before the player decides whether to play on, take the money and quit, or use the Trial Run.
* DuelingShows / FollowTheLeader: ''MinuteToWinIt'' started out in early development as an attempt by {{NBC}} to rip off ''The Cube'' using items you can find around your home for the stunts, although it later evolved into something more like ''BeatTheClock'' shortly before its premiere. Ironically, ITV has also picked up ''Minute'' for its digital channel [=ITV2=], but the British version will use a brand new format.
* HardModeFiller: The final level will always end up being the game you had the most trouble with. To make it worse, it's a tougher version, ''and'' you cannot use any lifelines on it.
* MercyMode: The "simplify" help ... sorta. You still have to activate it on your own, but you get the idea.
* NintendoHard: All of the stunts have been tested prior to production. In the later stages of the game, they make it a point to use challenges that gave the testers the most trouble - to the point that the contestant would have to do ''better'' than the testers in terms of average lives used to complete the stunt.
* RuleOfCool: Watching someone count to ten seconds? Dull. Watching someone count to ten seconds ''in the Cube''? Awesome.
* TheFaceless / TheVoiceless: The Body, a woman wearing a silver mask who demonstrates the tasks in clips, allowing the contestants to judge if they will go on or not. However, she has revealed her mouth once - to demonstrate a stunt involving blowing a ball into a glass of water - so she's not ''that'' shy, maybe.
* TrailersAlwaysSpoil: The new series is introducing contestants whose games air over two episodes. That makes the trailers for next week's episode give away at least some of the contestant's future progress. For example, anyone who watched the second episode's trailer knows that the contestant is going to at least reach the £50K game.
* UnwinnableByDesign: Because there are no safety nets in the money ladder, and because the final game is a much harder version of a revisited game with no lifelines allowed, we're probably never going to see anyone ''play'' the £250K game, much less win it. One contestant had five lives and ''still'' backed down at the prospect of losing the £100K he'd just won.
* WhoWantsToBeWhoWantsToBeAMillionaire

But hold on, before you begin jumping to conclusions and saying that this show is basically ''WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire'' meets ''TheKryptonFactor'', there's just one more thing that should be noted: you have to do all the tasks within a giant 4 meter wide acrylic glass cube, with a limited number of lives, and chances to [[{{Lifelines}} simplify a task or practice it beforehand]]. Oh, and unlike most game shows [[WhoWantsToBeWhoWantsToBeaMillionaire patterned off of]] ''Millionaire'', every level is AllOrNothing, there are in fact ''no'' safe points at all (unless you bail out before you commit yourself to the next game, which is the only time you're actually allowed to quit by the way)

* DuelingShows / FollowTheLeader: ''MinuteToWinIt'' started out in early development as an attempt by {{NBC}} to rip off ''The Cube'' using items you can find around your home for the stunts, although it later evolved into something more like ''BeatTheClock'' shortly before its premiere. Ironically, ITV has also picked up ''Minute'' for its digital channel ITV2, but the British version will use a brand new format.

* MomentOfAwesome: A contestant plays ''Contact'' for £50K - essentially a "steady hands" game where you have to guide a ring along a long metal rod without it touching - and ''nails it'' on his first try, giving him 5 lives and both Lifelines available for the £100K game.
** Same for its other appearance as the very last game in Series 1, whose contestant had three lives for £20k. Goes down to the last life after two poor attempts. Out of nowhere, he somehow manages to clear all three metres and win.
** Series 3 add a new moment to the list: a contestant has three lives and a Trial Run to play ''Hit Rate'' for £50k (a game in which the player has to hit five pads on a curved table within half a second). He uses his Trial Run and gets a time of 0.566. He commits, to the shock of pretty much everyone in the studio. His first two attempts get him down to a time of around 0.51. Cue the entire audience behind him cheering him on, as his very last life gets him a time of 0.494, winning the game (and £50,000) by just ''six thousandths of a second''.

** At least the final boss isn't [[MinuteToWinIt shooting coins into a barrel ... or jug]].

* DuelingShows / FollowTheLeader: ''MinuteToWinIt'' started out in early development as an attempt by {{NBC}} to rip off ''The Cube'' using items you can find around your home for the stunts, although it later evolved into something more like ''BeatTheClock'' shortly before its premiere.

** At least its not Supercoin.

But hold on, before you begin jumping to conclusions and saying that this show is basically ''WhoWantsToBeAMillionaire'' meets ''TheKryptonFactor'', there's just one more thing that should be noted: you have to do all the tasks within a giant 4 meter wide acrylic glass cube, with a limited number of lives, and chances to [[{{Lifelines}} simplify a task or practice it beforehand]]

Extremely-wicked British ITV game show where players try to perform physical and mental challenges for progressively larger sums of money (up to £250,000) within a 4 meter wide perspex cube with a limited number of lives, and chances to simplify a task or practice it beforehand. For what this show may or may not lack in originality (stunt game shows are not a new idea; see ''BeatTheClock''), it truly is BetterThanItSounds once you see just ''how'' it's all put together on-screen.

CBS recently ordered a pilot hosted by NeilPatrickHarris (who is allegedly quite a fan of the show), and has apparently greenlit an American version of the show, although there has been no news since of a debut date.

* HomeGame: There's a "[[http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/3905212.htm Family Electronic Game]]" as well as an [=iPod/iPhone/iPad=] app game.

* CameraTricks: In fact, this is one of the show's major gimmicks.
** BulletTime: Yes, they can do that too.