Naman Shrestha
Based on the eponymous Israeli series, CBS’ ‘Raid the Cage’ is a competitive game show that involves two teams consisting of two players each episode as they go head-to-head and try to answer several trivia questions correctly. Each correct answer adds seconds to their respective clocks, which comes in handy in the second phase. Now, the contestants collect as many grab-and-go prizes from a giant cage as possible before they run out of the seconds that they had collected in the trivia round. The team with the highest number of prizes is announced as the winner, and they get to keep what they grabbed. The unique concept and format of the series, which is hosted by Damon Wayans Jr. and Jeannie Mai, keep the viewers entertained throughout each episode. The enclosed space where the competition takes place enhances the visuals, mainly thanks to all the flashy lights used throughout the games.
Raid the Cage Filming Locations
‘Raid the Cage’ is primarily taped in Mexico, specifically in Mexico City. The filming of the inaugural iteration reportedly commenced in August 2023 and concluded in a couple of weeks within the same month. As for the shooting of the sophomore round, it got underway in November 2024 before getting wrapped up in about two weeks. One of the contestants of the second season, Tyler Coskey, shared his experience of being a part of the show. He stated, “Honestly I could go on and on about the fun but mentally exhausting and nerve wrecking 14 hour day of filming, the weeks of hype up phone calls between Brandon and I, the studying of the game, the countless strategies we discussed, but all I will say is I’m so grateful for this experience that I’ll never forget.”
Mexico City, Mexico
For the production of ‘Raid the Game,’ the makers set up camp in the capital of Mexico — Mexico City. In particular, a majority of the show was taped on one of the stages at Azteca Studios. Situated at Canal de Miramontes 2437 in the neighborhood of Coapa in the municipality of Coyoacán, the film studio consists of 11 stages of different sizes and styles, each equipped with all kinds of amenities to meet the production requirements of different projects. Azteca Studios also offers production offices, loft space, multiple dressing rooms, hair and makeup rooms, and a parking lot. Given all the amenities that the film studio provides, it served as the ideal production location for ‘Raid the Game.’
The host, Damon Wayans Jr., was asked about his experience on set working as the host. He told Parade, “It was fun, man. I mean, you don’t get to sit down as much when you’re hosting, as opposed to acting. And, also, you have to do a lot of exposition, a lot of walking people through what they need to do, when they need to do it. But still trying to be charismatic and make it seem like it’s fun and stuff like that. So that was that was definitely a challenge for me. I’m used to just memorizing lines and then spitting them out how I want to spit them out. That was a fun challenge, though. Because once you get the hang of it, it’s like, ‘Okay, I can do this.'” Over the years, Mexico City has also hosted the production of other reality shows, including ‘Don’t Drive Here,’ ‘La Más Draga,’ ‘The Amazing Race,’ and ‘Race Across the World.’
