Author Topic: Tonya Harding's Documentary... (Read 5594 times)

dad1153 · « **on:** March 14, 2006, 10:54:14 PM »

From Buzzer: http://buzzerblog.blogspot.com/2006/03/kne...ashing-fun.html

A 0.7 rating on Sunday night for GSN! I guess the overkill of promotion worked. Now if the 'Anything to Win' producers could do documentaries about John Hatton's winning streak on 'Blockbusters,' Ruth's 'Concentration' reign and the Barry-Enright rigging of '21.'

Dbacksfan12 · « **Reply #1 on:** March 14, 2006, 11:18:04 PM »

And get a 0.07 rating.
Seriously...what makes you think anyone would be interested in watching Blockbusters clips?

sshuffield70 · « **Reply #2 on:** March 14, 2006, 11:26:39 PM »

[quote name=\'Modor\' date=\'Mar 14 2006, 10:18 PM\']And get a 0.07 rating.
Seriously...what makes you think anyone would be interested in watching Blockbusters clips?

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What would make anyone watch what is essentially a sports story on a game show network? I've never thought ATW was a fit for the network.

dad1153 · « **Reply #3 on:** March 14, 2006, 11:43:29 PM »

[quote name=\'Modor\' date=\'Mar 15 2006, 12:18 AM\']Seriously...what makes you think anyone would be interested in watching Blockbusters clips?[/quote]

The 'Anything to Win' producers (who were also responsible for the 'Big Bucks' documentary) have shown they have a knack for stretching their subject matters into 60 or 120 min. documentaries that are interesting-enough to hold viewer attention. It seems the more footage of a subject matter is available (the 'PYL' episodes, the news coverage of the Boston Marathon, etc.) the more likely the show is to be either two hours long or more compelling because there's less repetition of stock footage (like the hour-long documentary about the PA lottery fix). With the John Hatton saga you have (a) a guy that lost his house to a fire and then came back to continue winning, (b) tons of footage that GSN can use free of charge or leased cheap and ('c') his return visit where he won another $60,000 against more seasoned contestants. And I don't need to remind you how compelling the behind-the-scenes shenanigans of the '21' quiz show scandal were!

Hey, if 'Anything to Win' can dedicate entire shows to such subjects as John DeLorean or Johnny Cochran then John Hatton winning $120,000 against incredible odds and many other game show champions (like Ruth H. and Thom M.) should also be (at the very least) considered as potential subject matters for what is shaping to be an inevitable renewal of the documentary series for another season.

FOXSportsFan · « **Reply #4 on:** March 15, 2006, 12:19:11 AM »

The 21 scandal would be the definitive one to go for. Blockbusters...meh...the little storyline of the house fire wouldn't intrigue viewers as much as the rigging of the Barry helmed 50s quizzer. And, hey if you can't use real footage, they could get away with pimpin' footage from Quiz Show, right?

FeudDude · « **Reply #5 on:** March 15, 2006, 12:29:39 AM »

[quote name=\'sshuffield70\' date=\'Mar 14 2006, 11:26 PM\']What would make anyone watch what is essentially a sports story on a game show network? I've never thought ATW was a fit for the network.

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If people are interested in seeing a documentary on Tonya Harding, they're going to tune in, regardless of who airs it. Sure, they might wonder why "Game Show Network" would show such a thing, but it won't stop them from watching.

While a John Hatten documentary would be interesting for myself to watch, and probably for a lot of other people here as well, I would have to agree that it probably wouldn't bring in the ratings. On the other hand, I could totally see the quiz show scandal idea happening, and maybe a Ken Jennings documentary somewhere along the line.

FOXSportsFan · « **Reply #6 on:** March 15, 2006, 12:39:20 AM »

Just add Pat O' Brien as host to the KenJen documentary and the fanbois of this forum would go crazy. We wouldn't know if the fanbois were coming or going...oooh, my bad...I should have bought a U.

Seriously, a KenJen documentary has to be done. It's not like GSN couldn't obtain the footage...

clemon79 · « **Reply #7 on:** March 15, 2006, 04:31:34 AM »

[quote name=\'dad1153\' date=\'Mar 14 2006, 08:43 PM\']John Hatton winning $120,000 against incredible odds and many other game show champions (like Ruth H. and Thom M.) should also be (at the very least) considered as potential subject matters for what is shaping to be an inevitable renewal of the documentary series for another season.

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[quote name=\'FOXSportsFan\' date=\'Mar 14 2006, 09:39 PM\']Seriously, a KenJen documentary has to be done. It's not like GSN couldn't obtain the footage...

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Except both of you are completely missing the point of the series, which is to tell the stories of people who were so desperate to win that they were willing to take unusual or amazing actions in order to do so.

Hatten and Jennings were just doing their jobs. They were not desperate, they didn't take any drastic actions, they just did what any game show contestant wants to do, which is win their game. It so happens that they did it a lot and in a dominating fashion, but neither of those aspects make it appropriate subject matter for this series.

dad1153 · « **Reply #8 on:** March 15, 2006, 05:19:07 AM »

[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Mar 15 2006, 05:31 AM\']...both of you are completely missing the point of the series, which is to tell the stories of people who were so desperate to win that they were willing to take unusual or amazing actions in order to do so.[/quote]

Great! Looking forward to 'The Ben Johnson Story' (he used drugs to get ahead to win the Olympic 100m Run), 'The Lou Ferrigno Story' (he overcame his deafness to star in a top rated network show that breathed life to an iconic comic book character), the 'MST3K Story' (Minnesota comedians make a hilarious comedy show that stays on the air for ten years on two cable networks despite low ratings and major cast changes) and the inspirational 'Mike "I Ate Evander's Ear to Keep Fighting" Tyson Story' (self-explanatory). All people/subjects more worthy of a documentary about winning than the '21' scandal and gameshow contestants (i.e. everyday men/women) that excelled and stood head and shoulder above thousands[/u] of other contestants in beating the odds.

I know you're intentions are good Lemon, I'm just poe'd that there appears to be no room on the 'Anything to Win' slate of projects for something for the thousands of viewers that made 'Big Bucks' GSN's highest-rated program ever.

clemon79 · « **Reply #9 on:** March 15, 2006, 05:21:44 AM »

[quote name=\'dad1153\' date=\'Mar 15 2006, 02:19 AM\']I know you're intentions are good Lemon, I'm just poe'd that there appears to be no room on the 'Anything to Win' slate of projects for something for the thousands of viewers that made 'Big Bucks' GSN's highest-rated program ever.

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There isn't room for those, BECAUSE THEY AREN'T PEOPLE DOING ANYTHING TO WIN.

If you want to advocate starting up ANOTHER documentary series, then maybe you have something. But my point was, not this one.

FeudDude · « **Reply #10 on:** March 15, 2006, 05:07:57 PM »

I can't speak for the other people who made such suggestions, but when I suggested a Ken Jennings documentary, I didn't mean to imply that it should necessarily be done under the ATW banner. And you're right, it would be more than a bit of a stretch to say that KJ did anything to win.

Don Howard · « **Reply #11 on:** March 15, 2006, 05:16:48 PM »

[quote name=\'FOXSportsFan\' date=\'Mar 15 2006, 12:39 AM\']Just add Pat O' Brien as host to the KenJen documentary and the fanbois of this forum would go crazy. We wouldn't know if the fanbois were coming or going...oooh, my bad...I should have bought a U.

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And I should've bought more baggies. Pat O'Brien. Rapture!!
The tales of Twenty One and the other 1950s quizzers of that ilk were done as well as they could be done on American Experience in the early 1990s. A piece during American Justice about the scandals was well done, too. I don't see what a third offering on the subject could tell us that those two couldn't.
As for Blockbusters and the John Hatten thrillah, I've got all 20 games on tape and don't need the story retold. And what a really limited story it is anyway. He came, he played, he conquered ten times. Fast forward a year or so and repeat. The end. Squeezed-back credits.