Chain Reaction...

[willmorris]

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' post=\'126220\' date=\'Aug 3 2006, 09:30 PM\']
It's okay...that's about it. Not horrible, but not the Cullen version, like everyone else said. It's something to watch when nothing else is on.

The ending of the maingame was pretty awkward in declaring a winner.

Tonite's female contestants were pretty damn clueless...and had no betting strategy. It's the last word, you're down $900, and you bet $500?!  The men were a little better, but not by much, esp. in the bonus round. And my gracious, can we stick to one camera movement during the bonus round?! Why not just stick to the 3-box setup.

Theme song is interesting...somewhat catchy, but that's about it. Set isn't as bad as I expected, but it's still too much leftover Millionaire effect.

Lots of awkward moments.
[/quote]

Actually, when I saw that it was down to one word, men up $600... once they missed it, the women were in for a dilemma.  I think they should have fished once and bet $100, and clam.  No help of a wrong answer, and you're assured that if you get another shot, you have the shot to tie/win on your next guess.  In any case, it's very hard to make up a substantial lead in that round.

EDIT:  My thoughts on Chain Reaction, and how it might be fixed...

(1) Judging needs to be a lot better.  No last letter and forms of the word should be permitted
(2) I'd do chains of eight words, instead of seven, and make the last word played worth half again.
(3) Four rounds of chains, play for points.  10-15 points, 20-30 points, 40-60 points, 60-90 points.  No Speedchains.
(4) Losing team splits $3 a point for consolation, winning team splits $3,000 for the maingame.
(5) Bonus Round: Similar to the 80s version; give the team 2 free letters plus 1 for each 100 points the team earned in the main game (minimum 5 free letters, maximum 9 free letters).  Should the team complete the chain, their winnings would be augmented to $30,000 total.  Should they fail, they would receive an additional $300 for each word they managed to complete.

[FlashStash]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'126263\' date=\'Aug 4 2006, 12:11 AM\']
[quote name=\'Robert Hutchinson\' post=\'126260\' date=\'Aug 3 2006, 08:57 PM\']
If you're ahead by $700 going into the final word, yes, you should win. But if you're behind $700, your only hope--and therefore your only decent strategy--is to do everything you can to get the leaders to fall back to a $500 or less lead. This requires A) dumb opponents (as you said), but also B) intentionally giving the opponents more opportunities for a dumb bet. Hence, not answering even when you know the answer.
[/quote]
Absolutely. Your only hope is to bet $100, do a little soft-shoe, and then hope your opponents suddenly have an aneurysm.
[/quote]

Ok, now I understand...I was mulling this over on the drive into work this morning, because I just assumed if a team was up by $700 on the last word, they'd be smart enough to realize how to make sure they win.  After seeing a couple of these teams, I see why this is a viable strategy.

Also, I noticed something...even when it is the last letter, you are not told it's the last letter.  Any bets as to when we see the person have the full word, and STILL guess a longer word and miss it?  Then I'm sure they'l be mention that there are no more letters to give.

After seeing a few episodes, I still like the show, but it can be cleaned up.  I agree with just about everyone here...don't give the last letter, and let the contestants know that it's a form of the word.  The compound word chains are fine, speed chains are fine.  The betting idea is ok (you know it's there because it's a gambling element which is big now (Joker's Wild '07, big slot machine?)), but it does need to be re-worked somehow since the game has been decided every time before the last word was completed.

FS

[cmjb13]

At the end of the game, both teams are at $1000

What's the tiebreaker?

[FlashStash]

[quote name=\'cmjb13\' post=\'126299\' date=\'Aug 4 2006, 08:49 AM\']
At the end of the game, both teams are at $1000

What's the tiebreaker?
[/quote]

They told us, but I can't remember!

FS

[Robert Hutchinson]

I'm starting to feel bad for all this incremental piling on I'm doing . . . but not too much. I just saw the first bonus round on YouTube, and good Lord. I have no problem with the blindfold, or even a whole lot with the multitude of camera shots they keep cutting to. But having to rely on the sound effects person to tell you when you're right or wrong, when there's a host *right there* who ought to have the answers on his card? And that two-second delay before the sound effect? And not playing a sound effect for that last miss, with about :05 left? And . . . and . . . bleargh.

I surrender. Bring me the terms, GSN. I'll sign.

[Moe Train]

I just got back from the beach, and was disappointed on Friday night when our show was supposed to air.  We all were huddled around the TV, while waiting to see ourselves, and ended up watchiing someone else's show.  We felt like idiots when we had everyone over to watch the show when ours didn't even air.  When I got home today, I got an email saying that the shows are being shifted around, and our show will air Thursday, August 10.  Well... That's subject to change, so check out the show that day!

[clemon79]

And you felt compelled to tell us this in two different threads?

[catnap1972]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'126465\' date=\'Aug 6 2006, 02:08 PM\']
And you felt compelled to tell us this in two different threads?
[/quote]

Considering the caliber of crap we've seen, someone that hopefully has the faintest clue how to play would be a welcome change.

[Moe Train]

Yes, I felt compelled, since I felt bad for telling people to watch on a certain night, and the show didnt even air!

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'Moe Train\' post=\'126480\' date=\'Aug 6 2006, 01:59 PM\']
Yes, I felt compelled, since I felt bad for telling people to watch on a certain night, and the show didnt even air!
[/quote]
Which is great, you're absolutely welcome to pass that information along, but one thread would have been sufficient, is all I'm saying.

[Peter Sarrett]

Some thoughts after watching a week's worth of shows:

• The host is perfectly adequate.  His job is minimal in this game, and he's not obtrusive.  I'll take him over Bonaduce any day.
• I have mixed feelings about the consistent compound word structure of the chains.  On the one hand, they're more elegant and easier to play.  On the other hand, they're less fun to play at home because they're easier.  Given the caliber of contestants, however, I can't imagine what the game would be like with free associations in the chains as well.
• Revealing the last letter of the word is absurd.
• My only complaint about the speed chains is the inconsistency of their difficulty.  Sometimes they're absurdly simple because there's only one reasonable choice to pair one of the words with.  Others are hard for the opposite reason-- too many choices to narrow down in the time allotted.
• I hate, Hate, HATE the Chyroned board.  A game show should have a set piece at its center.  I understand it may be cheaper to throw things up on the computer, but some kind of central on-set display would provide much-needed anchoring for this game, which currently feels disembodied.  Take a cue from Wheel of Fortune, which could have canned Vanna and gone Chyroned ages ago.  A physical board enhances the game.
• Forcing players to bet $100 in the last round means that, in practice, teams earn very little in that round.  That seems backwards to me.  There are gazillions of different options here-- always getting $100 for a correct answer, but being allowed to make an additional, optional wager, for example-- but given the show's overall scoring system, nothing short of a no-limit wager will eliminate the possibility that the outcome of the match will be decided well before the final answer.  And frankly, I'm OK with that.  I have no problem with the better team being rewarded for being better, and not giving a weaker team the chance to luck into victory at the end.
• By far-- and I'm talking not-even-in-the-same-league-- the biggest problem with the game is the caliber of contestants.  These people have been, almost to a one, idiots.  They don't play strategically, they miss the most obvious answers, and when they reach the bonus round they have no clue (with the notable exception of the winning team from the first episode, who played the bonus round well).  I watch the show because the format is one of my all-time favorites and it has great play-along value.  But the stupidity of the contestants may ultimately make me lose interest and drive me away.  It makes me glad that my friends and I decided not to fly across the country to audition, because we'd have played too well to get on the show.

Contestants aside, the show is watchable, and my girlfriend likes it so she'll watch with me, which is worth something.  I love that they kept the Cullen endgame, which is the best part of the show.  And it's definitely got more energy than Lingo, a show that is now covered under many major medical plans as a remedy for insomnia.  If they'd just make a couple of small rules changes and move their contestant coordinator to the deep end of the gene pool...

[Speedy G]

[quote name=\'Peter Sarrett\' post=\'126486\' date=\'Aug 6 2006, 06:49 PM\']
Forcing players to bet $100 in the last round means that, in practice, teams earn very little in that round.  That seems backwards to me.  There are gazillions of different options here-- always getting $100 for a correct answer, but being allowed to make an additional, optional wager, for example-- but given the show's overall scoring system, nothing short of a no-limit wager will eliminate the possibility that the outcome of the match will be decided well before the final answer.  And frankly, I'm OK with that.  I have no problem with the better team being rewarded for being better, and not giving a weaker team the chance to luck into victory at the end.
[/quote]
Taking this idea to its natural extension, you have one of two scenarios:

A) There is a minimum and maximum bet, leading players to bet either the minimum or the maximum, all the time, as long as they have the money to do so.  Anything but a very close game will be a runaway.  If they don't have the money, it leads to situation B:

B) No limits; players can go all in at any time and try to double up, which inevitably leads to a situation where the game is over instantly because of an early all-in.

In short: the betting round is broken.

I also saw the clips on Youtube of the first show, and it's not a good sign when I end up mock hosting the bonus round to fill out the silence.  And Davies is responsible for this?  *shrug*

[PYLW]

[quote name=\'Peter Sarrett\' post=\'126486\' date=\'Aug 6 2006, 06:49 PM\']

• (with the notable exception of the winning team from the first episode, who played the bonus round well)

[/quote]

Wrong. I went to the taping of the first show, and they were absolutely terrible. For some reason, someone would say "I messed up", and they would start again. The ladies did this THREE TIMES! They would purposely mess up something just to get a restart until they got easier words. Plus, they re-did the final thirty seconds three times aswell! The only reason why they looked like they did well was because they did it so much...

[itiparanoid13]

Uh, no....

The bonus was done 3 times.  The first time, tape was stopped because there was a computer malfunction and a word was repeated.  There was an outage of about 30 minutes, so they just decided to redo the entire bonus round instead of a terrible edit.  The second time, they ran out of words.  They wrote 13 words, and they ran out.  Afterwards, they had to do a little segment of Dylan saying how much time was left, if they doubled, how many they got right, and a recreation of the loss.  The girls did absolutely nothing wrong.  It was the fault of the show.  The only fault of the first episode should have been on the guys, who caused us to redo "Let's do the first speedchain" roughly 6 times by not shutting the hell up.

[PYLW]

[quote name=\'itiparanoid13\' post=\'126504\' date=\'Aug 6 2006, 10:02 PM\'] Uh, no....

The bonus was done 3 times.  The first time, tape was stopped because there was a computer malfunction and a word was repeated.  There was an outage of about 30 minutes, so they just decided to redo the entire bonus round instead of a terrible edit.  The second time, they ran out of words.  They wrote 13 words, and they ran out.  Afterwards, they had to do a little segment of Dylan saying how much time was left, if they doubled, how many they got right, and a recreation of the loss.  The girls did absolutely nothing wrong.  It was the fault of the show.  The only fault of the first episode should have been on the guys, who caused us to redo "Let's do the first speedchain" roughly 6 times by not shutting the hell up. [/quote]

This is probably my bad memory acting up, but I swear the girl's did something wrong in the beginning that made the whole thing start over again...