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Gamesmaster: The Oral History (Kickstarter)

Stoppy2000

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donkeyk

donkeyk

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So I've finished the book and I really enjoyed it.

 

Some thoughts - in a spoiler tag in case you haven't started and/or finished and want to read it first:

 

Spoiler

Poor Dexter. Yes, he clearly didn't take to presenting but it sounds like the producer-director pairing was a complete shitshow and certainly didn't afford him any opportunity to make the transition. Add in the considerable personal problems he was facing at the time, I'm surprised it was half as watchable as it was. If the book achieves anything, it's to at least tell his story properly for the first time.

 

Feel for Dave Perry as well. Yeah, that moment was hilarious and always will be - but it is clear he worked considerably hard in the early days to make the whole thing work (perhaps not as much as he might think he did - but from reading the book, he was not alone in that arrogance) and tried his best to help Dexter when everyone else was taking pop shots. I empathize with his pain of being involved in something he loved which ultimately shat him out the back without hesitating - and the apex of the whole thing broadcast on national television. Still dining out on it though to some extent, which brings a certain irony.

 

As for Dominik - I think he struck a good balance between elevating the talent that brought it all together whilst recognizing the excess that surrounded the show and that some of the things that were broadcast are very much a product of it's time, to be charitable.

 

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Gabe

Gabe

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14 minutes ago, donkeyk said:

So I've finished the book and I really enjoyed it.

 

Some thoughts - in a spoiler tag in case you haven't started and/or finished and want to read it first:

 

  Reveal hidden contents

Poor Dexter. Yes, he clearly didn't take to presenting but it sounds like the producer-director pairing was a complete shitshow and certainly didn't afford him any opportunity to make the transition. Add in the considerable personal problems he was facing at the time, I'm surprised it was half as watchable as it was. If the book achieves anything, it's to at least tell his story properly for the first time.

 

Feel for Dave Perry as well. Yeah, that moment was hilarious and always will be - but it is clear he worked considerably hard in the early days to make the whole thing work (perhaps not as much as he might think he did - but from reading the book, he was not alone in that arrogance) and tried his best to help Dexter when everyone else was taking pop shots. I empathize with his pain of being involved in something he loved which ultimately shat him out the back without hesitating - and the apex of the whole thing broadcast on national television. Still dining out on it though to some extent, which brings a certain irony.

 

As for Dominik - I think he struck a good balance between elevating the talent that brought it all together whilst recognizing the excess that surrounded the show and that some of the things that were broadcast are very much a product of it's time, to be charitable.

 

I never really watched the show (though I knew of it, of course), so as a result this book doesn't hold any nostalgia for me, but all the same I'm intrigued by your comments there.

 

Can you expand on

Spoiler

What the issues around Dexter were?

 

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donkeyk

donkeyk

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2 minutes ago, Gabe said:

I never really watched the show (though I knew of it, of course), so as a result this book doesn't hold any nostalgia for me, but all the same I'm intrigued by your comments there.

 

Can you expand on

  Reveal hidden contents

What the issues around Dexter were?

 

Spoiler

Drug and alcohol addiction, primarily. He took the gig because acting work was drying up. A quick google suggests he's been pretty candid about his issues. Glad that he was able to turn it around - he's not done too badly for himself since!

 

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Lorfarius

Lorfarius

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From the comments on KS:

 

Hey, can you email Ruth at r.hubball@spatialglobal.com with your backer number please? The warehouse is now directly assisting with these last late deliveries. Ruth will be able to provide more information on your reward delivery and ensure it gets to you soon. I'm here if you need further info.

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K

K

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This a really good read, as you'd expect from ROM. I'm not that interested in Gamesmaster ultimately - I enjoyed it at the time, but I don't think I watched it after series 2 - but it's a fascinating document of the early / mid nineties, and the ridiculous culture of excess that existed then. Dominik comes across as an absolute nightmare to work with. Some of this he acknowledges (there are plenty of stories about him completely losing his shit over some minor slight), and some of it he doesn't - there are loads of bits that are presented as fun office banter, but sound a bit like workplace bullying to me. I'm sure it was great to work in the Gamesmaster production office if you were mates with Dominik, but it sounds like it could be hell on earth if he took against you.

 

I mean, all through the book his bad behaviour is acknowledged, and the book was written by him and his mates. God knows what it would be like if some of the people he'd pissed off had contributed their anecdotes. Dave "The Animal of Games" Perry sounds like he was very easy to wind up and clearly takes himself very seriously, but I did feel sorry for him after the (lengthy, utterly compelling) account of Mario64gate. It sounds a bit like he made his own bed and then had to lie in it, but it also sounds like Dominik and his gang were standing round the bed pissing on it.

 

 

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Ketchup

Ketchup

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Posted

Around 2006-2008 there was a website called gamesmasterlive.co.uk that tried hosting every single episode as well as featuring content about the show.

 

It’s somehow still up, even if most links are broken. But on the main page written in 2008 is thanks to Jack Templeton. Would love to know what he contributed to the site to years later be basically the creator of this book.

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