Rhiannon Elizabeth Irons
It’s no secret that QUIZarenaLIVE has been a large part of my life in the last couple of years. I’ve thoroughly enjoyed teaming up with host Richard Lovegrove each week for fun games, endless tangents, and copious amounts of trivia.
While the show is currently on hiatus, it got me thinking about some of the special episodes we’ve done over the course of the show. I’m not just talking about whenever I would theme a final tournament. I’m talking about where the show went all in on the one subject.
From Disney to Musicals and 80’s Action to Old Hollywood, I’m going to break down each special episode for you, rating them for entertainment value and personal preference.
DISNEY – Season 2, Episode 15
Our first tentative steps into creating a special event show were to take on the House of Mouse. Richard created a brand-new game in Villainous Titters specifically just to deal with Disney villains and their penchant for a good diabolical laugh. The QUIZarena was also full, with two teams going head-to-head. Princes vs. Princesses saw the genders divide as they worked their way through a 15-question final tournament.
This was our first attempt at a special episode, and I do hold a lot of love for Disney. There are some incredible highlights from the show, including a wardrobe change from me from Disney Princess to Disney Villain, right through to the games, as well as all the Disney nostalgia.
But as far as specials go, this is probably the weakest in the QUIZarenaLIVE canon. The chaos of having the two teams is nothing new. We had one member of the Princesses team overseas, while one of the members of the Princes team had a room full of people and didn’t seem too engaged with what was happened.
We had hoped for our 100th episode of QUIZarenaLIVE to return to the wonderful world of Disney for another special episode. We managed to make it to 91 episodes before going on hiatus, so it may still come true. You know, they say if you dream something more than once, it’s sure to come true. And I’ve dreamed of another Disney special so many times.
This is not my favourite special episode, but if you’re a Disney fan, you’ll still find something enjoyable about it.
Rating: 4/10
THE BEATLES – Season 4, Episode 1
It’s been a hard day’s night. At the request of Richard, our 64th episode was dedicated to The Beatles.
This episode holds a special place in my heart. Not because I’m a fan of The Beatles, but because I was actually in Sydney for it. Sitting next to Richard for the night, we teamed up to take on Michael Woodbridge, a.k.a Woody’s Here.
The games played included Britney the Toxic Avenger and What Now, while the final tournament was 10 questions all related to The Beatles, specifically their movie appearances. A High Anxiety was also created for this special, but subsequently wasn’t played until much later.
Being our second special, it wasn’t fully themed the way the Disney Special was. But despite lacking all the bells and whistles of a fully themed episode, this really did bring The Beatles nostalgia for fans of all ages.
Personally speaking, I’m not a fan of The Beatles so this special was well out of my depth. And as far as our specials have gone, this is my least favourite. But there are certainly moments which are worth the watch. Woody’s trip across the iconic Sydney Harbour Bridge, or dancing on public transport while playing Britney the Toxic Avenger are certainly highlights. But for me, the big win is hanging out with Richard in person.
Rating: 3/10
THE MUSICAL SPECIAL – Season 4, Episode 5
Richard and I warmed up our vocal cords for a musical special. A musical episode had been teased as far back as the beginning of Season 2, so it was great to finally create one at the beginning of Season 4.
Richard was the mastermind behind this special, creating two new games in Gotta Dance and A Chorus Line. Also on the spin wheel was Chronoloco and Celebrity Creepy Crawlies. The games we ended up playing were A Chorus Line and Chronoloco. Richard did spoil us with a teaser of Gotta Dance this episode.
This was always going to be dangerous for me to play because Richard knows every time he sings on air, I award him points because I love hearing him sing. And he took full advantage of that.
There are a couple of issues with this broadcast that bring down its rating in my eyes. My microphone kept dropping out, and as the show was starting, the light above me blew so my lighting is terrible. Ignoring those technical errors, this episode is very enjoyable.
This is one of my favourite specials that we’ve done. The addition of two new games to the spin wheel and seeing Richard let his hair down with a subject that he truly enjoys fuelled my excitement for this special. And to be perfectly honest, having him read a scene from Burlesque as Joker while I read as Harley just added to the enjoyment of the show. The final tournament, though only 10 questions, had enough variety from musicals of old and new. But between you and me, I’m still impressed I got through an entire show about musicals without anything linking to back to Grease.
Rate: 8/10
THE SCI-FI SPECIAL – Season 4, Episode 6
Calling all sci-fi fans! Back-to-back specials sent Richard and I running for the Tardis. Sci-Fi had been highly requested for a couple of seasons by the viewers of the show so I couldn’t resist giving the people what they wanted.
While no new games were created for this special, High Anxiety was themed with Dr. Who. Celebrity Creepy Crawlies was also played. The final tournament was 10 questions all from Sci-Fi movies.
It’s a well-known fact that I’m not a big fan of Sci-Fi, but despite my dislike of the genre, I brought my A-Game to the table and did my best in a category that I’m completely lost in. While this is not my favourite special, I consider this on par with our Beatles Special. Sci-Fi fans will get a kick out of it and hopefully find some new movies for their enjoyment.
Rating: 3/10
OLD HOLLYWOOD – Season 4, Episode 17
Paying homage to the Golden Age of Hollywood, Richard and I went all out to show our love of all things Old Hollywood. Richard went above and beyond by changing the intro to the show to fit in with the theme which moved me to the point of tears. After all this time, the man still manages to surprise me.
The games played were Scene Stealers and High Anxiety. For Scene Stealers, Richard and I found three quotes each from different films between the years of 1935-1955 and had fun delivering them, with Richard even attempting an impersonation of Lina Lamont from Singin’ In The Rain. As for High Anxiety, this game actually had two separate rounds; Hollywood Heartthrobs and Starlets of the Golden Age.
The final tournament consisted of 10 questions and resulted in one of our viewers, Sezzy Says, getting all 10 correct. We hadn’t had a clean sweep of the final tournament since the beginning of Season 2.
This is one of my favourite specials that we’ve done so far. Between the endless trivia about this period of Hollywood right through to the games and the final tournament, there truly something for everyone.
Rating: 9/10
THE SIMPSONS SPECIAL – Season 4, Episode 22
Richard and I packed our bags and headed off to Springfield where we got to rub shoulders with The Simpsons for this special event.
Based off the success of our Old Hollywood special, Richard went all out, adding members of The Simpsons to the opening credits of the show. As the gates swing open, Lisa, Apu, and Maggie are seen dancing. Homer appears behind Lisa momentarily before moving off to the side. Nelson appears as the camera moves closer to the house, while Bart appears in the window. Out of all those characters, Bart is the only one to appear each episode of QUIZarenaLIVE.
The games saw a return of Villainous Titters from our Disney Special, and fan favourite Chronoloco, which had a twist of still shots from Simpson’s episodes as opposed to movie posters.
The final tournament had 15 questions instead of the usual 10. This would be the format moving forward for special events and episodes. The popularity of The Simpsons meant the final tournament questions were easier to answer, although I was able to stump a few people with a couple of questions. Even if you’re only a casual viewer of the show, you were guaranteed to get a handful of questions right.
This is my favourite special episode we’re ever done on QUIZarenaLIVE. And I’m not just saying that because Richard broke into Happy Birthday, Lisa from the episode Stark Raving Dad. There was something for everyone, regardless of your stance on the long-running animated series.
Rating: 10/10
80’S ACTION MOVIE SPECIAL – Season 4, Episode 25
Richard and I flexed our muscles as we took on the heavy hitters of the 1980’s action movie genre.
Richard again went above and beyond for the intro to the show, adding an exploding grenade, a car chase and crash, Rambo, John McClane, and the flock of birds often featured in John Woo movies. If that wasn’t impressive enough, he also managed to squeeze Jean-Claude Van Damme into the closing outro of the show, giving viewers something new to fest their eyes on.
Unlike other specials, we were able to get 3 games played. FanTales, Chronoloco, and What Now were all on the spin wheel. Both Chronoloco and What Now were themed to fit in with the show, while FanTales was a more recent addition to the show.
The final tournament again consisted of 15 questions about 1980’s action movies, again with a variety of films ranging from the classic action movies like Rambo and The Terminator to RoboCop and Masters of the Universe.
I’m not the biggest fan of action movies, but there is something truly spectacular about the ones released in the 80’s. Although, with the way Richard and I spoke on the night about films we thought we could have included in the special, but they were actually released in the 1990’s left it open for us to return to the action genre with a 90’s twist. This is one of my favourite specials. The nostalgia overload is something to behold and between Richard and Gizmo playing Rambo for the night, this is easily one of the most entertaining specials we’ve ever done.
Rating: 9/10
ELVIS PRESLEY SPECIAL – Season 5, Episode 2
Wise men say only fools rush in. Thankfully, Richard and I are only All Shook Up after this first special of a new season.
Again, Richard went above and beyond, cutting Elvis into the intro and outro for the show, while I did my part with jumping on to TikTok during the week and singing All Shook Up (badly) to promote this special.
The games played were Britney the Toxic Avenger and the return of Slasher Pix from Season 1. Richard also created a new game called Viva Las Vegas, which was themed perfectly in name and gameplay to the theme of Elvis. True to form, the final tournament consisted of 15 questions all about Elvis movies and soundtrack appearances.
Much like with The Beatles, I’m not the biggest Elvis fan, but I did thoroughly enjoy this special. It’s hard not to get caught up in the magic that is Elvis.
Rating: 8/10
BONUS SPECIALS
THE HARD AF QUIZ – Season 4, Episode 20
Richard unleashed me at my full power as I constructed the quiz that no one got the answers to. And I do mean no one. It was the first time in QUIZarenaLIVE history that none of the viewers were able to get a single question right.
THE TITANIC SPECIAL – Season 5, Episode 4
The special that sank QUIZarenaLIVE. After being live for 2 hours with a plaguing technical issue, the episode has been wiped from history. This would have been our 92nd episode of QUIZarenaLIVE, but due to the tech issues that Gizmo liked creating, we’ve taken an indefinite hiatus for the foreseeable future.