Author Topic: Original Game Show Formats (Read 2191 times)

Jeremy Nelson · « **on:** June 26, 2006, 08:17:25 PM »

I was at PYLP Studios last night to watch a game of Take It or Leave It, and I enjoyed it very much, which got me thinking: are there any formats which have caught your eye?

clemon79 · « **Reply #1 on:** June 26, 2006, 08:20:35 PM »

[quote name=\'rollercoaster87\' post=\'122582\' date=\'Jun 26 2006, 05:17 PM\']
I was at PYLP Studios last night to watch a game of Take It or Leave It, and I enjoyed it very much, which got me thinking: are there any formats which have caught your eye?
[/quote]
Huh?

TLEberle · « **Reply #2 on:** June 26, 2006, 08:40:51 PM »

"Take it or Leave it" is not an 'original' format, in that it was created by Endemol. It is an original format in that every game show was original at some point.

Brandon Brooks · « **Reply #3 on:** June 26, 2006, 10:05:36 PM »

[quote name=\'rollercoaster87\' post=\'122582\' date=\'Jun 26 2006, 07:17 PM\']
I was at PYLP Studios last night to watch a game of Take It or Leave It, and I enjoyed it very much, which got me thinking: are there any formats which have caught your eye?
[/quote]
You've asked the following:

"Are there any game shows that you've seen for the first time that you've liked?"

I hate game shows that I've seen for the first time.

Brandon Brooks

Jeremy Nelson · « **Reply #4 on:** June 27, 2006, 10:49:58 AM »

Sorry. I meant fan created games. Have you seen any which you think could work as a TV show?

clemon79 · « **Reply #5 on:** June 27, 2006, 11:09:33 AM »

[quote name=\'rollercoaster87\' post=\'122621\' date=\'Jun 27 2006, 07:49 AM\']
Sorry. I meant fan created games. Have you seen any which you think could work as a TV show?
[/quote]
No. Mostly because what makes a good online or computer or Messenger or whatever-based game and what makes a good game show are two very different things.

Also because more often than not the games have gaping holes in them, either because the "creator" wants to be true to whatever concept they stole it from, or because they just don't know what the hell they are doing.

I've done a few playtests, and at the end, because it's a playtest and that's what you're supposed to do, I will say "okay, this is why this is broken." And invariably, you get an argument about why they did it that way and therefore it isn't broken, or you just plain get ignored because the creator wasn't really interested in true feedback, they wanted to be told how great their idea was. This is the direct polar opposite to what happens when I playtest board games in person, where I am dealing with professionals who value and consider every comment I provide, even if they might not agree with it initially (or at all.)

(This is one of several reasons I don't Palace anymore.)

FOXSportsFan · « **Reply #6 on:** June 27, 2006, 04:36:39 PM »

Truly there is no such thing as an original format. All formats borrow from one another in some way, shape, or form. One which I created kind of combines elements of Press Your Luck and Bullseye, and I'd be the first to admit that, though that wasn't my direct intention.

PYLdude · « **Reply #7 on:** June 27, 2006, 11:17:27 PM »

[quote name=\'FOXSportsFan\' post=\'122638\' date=\'Jun 27 2006, 04:36 PM\']
Truly there is no such thing as an original format. All formats borrow from one another in some way, shape, or form. One which I created kind of combines elements of Press Your Luck and Bullseye, and I'd be the first to admit that, though that wasn't my direct intention.
[/quote]

I gotta go with Jim here, as I incorporated the basis for the Geekqualizer from Beat the Geeks into an original game I'm still trying to perfect (and which I have pitched to the local cable channel, which in turn has shown some interest in it).

Addressing Chris' criticism concerns: I know that a lot of people are too sensitive to criticism. But at the same time, with some of these formats they come up with, maybe they feel a little too much of the game would be compromised if certain changes were made. Granted, I know that there's more than a few idiots out there who think their game is great no matter what. You won't get an argument from me there.

However, with this format I'm doing I've done two or three run throughs, each with different changes. One was instead of presenting all the categories at the start of the game (like I had the first game), I presented the categories to be played at the start of each round instead (3 rounds, eight categories, with the last round consisting of the retooled Geekqualizer). A second was a scrapping of a bonus question (in both chances where a player could have picked the question it was attached to, neither did).

The third and most obvious was the change of the format from a sports-based quiz to a straight category-based quiz- in the playing of the game as the first, I wasn't able to get any players and quickly realized that if I was going to continue this or possibly have it taken seriously (maybe thinking too far ahead, but work with me here), it would have been better off just as a straight quiz.

Of course, there were other games (like me and Jim doing our own version of Stump the Schwab, with me as the Schwab, the only once beaten (by a certain member of this board) sultan of sports trivia), but none were "originals", as they were.