“What’s the craziest things that kids love and how do we jam them all into one show?” That’s the question Art Spigel was asking himself when he ruminated on his newest project. The answer: a lot. Debuting Monday at 6:30 p.m. ET/PT on Family Channel, Massive Monster Mayhem is a mishmash of genres—live-action game show, comedy, CGI and sci-fi series—delivered at a frenetic pace.
Where else can you create a world where kids teleport to an alien planet or a hot dog can drive a robot? That’s just the tip of the iceberg with Massive Monster Mayhem. Co-created by Spigel, the veteran of kids’ programming recalled all the things he loved as a child—giant robots, wrestling, outer space and winning prizes—and jammed them into a television show.
Each episode is an ingenious combination of technology and old-school, as kids don costumes and become intergalactic heroes, facing off against each other in Intergalactic Battle Alliance challenges. The winner of those tests faces a monster sent by Master Mayhem (voiced by Daniel Davies and performed by Thomas Lorber), who has proclaimed himself “Greatest Ruler in the Universe.” Master Mayhem wants to rule Earth and these kids are our last hope. Shot against a massive green screen, CGI transforms the challenges to a space-based colosseum where Graham Conway and Devon Deshaun Stewart call the action from Wipeout-ish obstacle course to the monster movie-inspired smackdown of a cityscape finale. The competitor that successfully defends the world takes home $1,000.
Spigel teamed with Toronto video effects company Playfight to utilize a real-time CGI environment usually reserved for feature films like Avatar—he likens it to dropping the television cameras into a video game—when creating Massive Monster Mayhem.
But Massive Monster Mayhem isn’t just the competition. Master Mayhem is a shade-throwing, sarcastic fellow who delights in boasting of his powers in comedic segments between tests where he preps to destroy Earth.
“I think the humour is universal,” Spigel says. “As crazy as this is, we want there to be some co-viewing. Parents can appreciate the wrestling parody and kids can laugh because that monster looks funny when he breaks things.”
Massive Monster Mayhem airs Monday at 6:30 p.m. ET/PT on Family Channel.
Image courtesy of Family Channel.
Any clue where the rules can be found? My son and I cannot find them online.
This show rules!! Honestly super creative and engaging and I’m surprised they still make shows like this. I remember stuff like Legends of Hidden Temple and Zoom and whatnot from when I was a kid. This is super cool that they still do this
Greg David what channel is the family channel on a tv network called tivo