People seem to think that "Genius Game" is a remake of Netflix's "The Devil's Plan". It isn't. "The Devil's Plan" is a spin-off of the original Korean show "The Genius" (2013-2015); they even have the same producer. The British Genius Game is a remake of that original show, and it adopts much of its set design and original games. So when people write here that blind poker and rock-paper-scissors betting game are trivial games invented by Westerners to dumb down the concept, they're simply wrong. Many of these games, including those mentioned, are taken straight out of the Korean original. Still, this, as well as the Dutch version, pales in comparison to the original. So what went wrong? Why the bad ratings? It's definitely a step up compared to the Dutch remake, but it repeats some of the same mistakes. Here are the main ones:
1. It's lacking brainpower: The British version of the Genius simply lacks people who truly belong to a show like this. These are alright, likeable people, but apart from Ken, Charlotte, Ben at times, India at times, none really give the impression of competing for the title of "genius". The Korean show had some goons, sure, don't get me wrong, but it was brimming with brainpower, and many of these people were already bonafide stars or went to become bonafide stars on Korean TV shows. You can't really say that's likely for many in this group. The Korean Genius made sure to have stars, much like the Devil's Plan, and when they didn't recruit stars, they recruited young Mensa prodigies. The British show didn't do this, much like the Dutch show. It just recruited fairly successful, but also fairly ordinary people that don't scream "genius" or "star". It's lacking a Dongmin, or a Jinho, or a Sangmin, and people who could keep up with them.
2. Production value: Here, the British version fares better than the Dutch. But the production is good mostly in directly adopting stuff from the original. It has the same set design and graphics design as the original. But it visibly cuts corners. The episodes are too short for the (new) viewer to figure out what's going on or to become invested in them. It doesn't include those supercool games from the original that include guests. It doesn't include games that allow players to shine as individuals (like the dice game or the one with the decks and calculation). It's lacking a bit of that suspense from the original. Finally, the season is a bit too short. So, it's definitely a step-up from the Dutch version, but it could do more.
3. It doesn't match the original's editing: The original editing from the Genius made sure you were in for a rollercoaster ride. The music was upbeat. There were twists in virtually every episode - they would make sure you weren't privy to all the information so that something could eventually surprise you, and to show you that not everything is as it seems. This version didn't have much of that (the Dutch version didn't have any of that). We just weren't all that invested because, sometimes, it was obvious how the game was going to go. Some of the blame goes to the players - frequently, they didn't generate this kind of content. But the editing was definitely somewhat lacking.
4. It was lacking originality - Us fans of the original game want to see more of "The Genius" in any shape or form. But the remake didn't do anything new. It was all just a little bland. It's amazing that the West doesn't know how to do a spin on the original in any shape or form. So for a fan of the original, it was a kind-of "been there, done that" experience.
