It is rare to see millions gather around a reality competition show with the same zeal they reserve for a global sporting event, but Squid Game: The Challenge managed exactly that. Viewers adored watching participants sweat through cookie-cutting trials, stumble in tug-of-war, and strategize as if a single wrong whisper meant exile. The spectacle combined the thrills of scripted television with the unpredictability of human folly, which made the show irresistible. Yet, the real gamble occurred off-screen.

Behind the cameras, producers risked their livelihoods, wagering credibility, reputations, and sanity as though Netflix were the giant doll shouting “red light, green light.”

Speaking on The Town with Matthew Belloni, producer Stephen Lambert recalled a frank exchange with Netflix executive Brandon Reid during the early planning of Squid Game: The Challenge. Reid warned Lambert of the immense stakes, declaring, “if it does not work, it will probably destroy both our careers.” The remark underscored how translating a scripted global phenomenon into unscripted television could prove either a triumph of innovation or a ruinous miscalculation.

Lambert emphasized that Reid’s caution was matched by a willingness to gamble. “You know, this is mad because if it does not work, it will probably destroy both our careers. And if it is a success, well, that is just another success,” Reid told him. Such honesty reflected the broader reality of unscripted television, where risk and reward constantly circle one another in precarious rhythm.

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Squid Game: The Challenge carried undeniable risks, yet it has built a loyal fanbase mirroring the original’s popularity, marking Stephen Lambert and his fellow producers’ most ambitious financial gamble

Producer Stephen Lambert confirmed on The Town with Matthew Belloni that Squid Game: The Challenge was the most expensive Netflix series of his career. Unlike the original scripted Korean drama, which relied heavily on green screen, the unscripted reality adaptation demanded full-scale construction. “Director Hwang came to see the show… he said, ‘I cannot believe you have built it all for real,’” Lambert recalled. Sets required working plumbing, livable spaces, and functioning arenas, elevating costs beyond precedent.

Lambert credited his partner Tim Harcourt and their creative team for orchestrating the massive logistical effort. The absence of a script forced producers to design games that revealed genuine moral choices and personality traits. The production’s scale, organization, and inventive gameplay underscored both the enormous financial gamble and the creative ingenuity required to make the format work. The series banked on audiences’ curiosity about whether they could survive Squid Game themselves, despite experts already weighing in on that question, and it worked.

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