Body Language

[The Pyramids]

I have enjoyed 'Body Language'. I was wondering how it compares to 'Showoffs'? (Better than, worse then etc). I've never seen the one episode of it that circuates.

[Chief-O]

Better host, better theme, and better set. Can't really say anything about format.

[tvwxman]

[quote name=\'Chief-O\' post=\'129104\' date=\'Aug 25 2006, 01:20 PM\']
Better host, better theme, and better set. Can't really say anything about format.
[/quote]
I disagree on all three. All four if you include scoring rules.

[tvmitch]

Now that we've been watching BL every day, I am kinda wondering about why the tiebreaker round has *almost nothing to do* with the basic premise of the game. Why not make the tiebreaker some sort of Pyramid-like "act out these three words in the fastest time" round?

Other than that, I've seen the ep of Showoffs that most of us have (Jamie could maybe post some clips? :-)) and I did like their format better, mainly because it made a lot more sense.

All in all though, we enjoy Body Language. A nice change from TTTT.

[JasonA1]

I wonder why "Body Language" had to straddle. Maybe there were production complications with doing the bonus at non pre-determined times...or something. I think maybe a "first to three puzzles" format would work, keeping the two loss rule enacted later on.

-Jason

[alfonzos]

Showoffs: Body Language :: Password: Password Plus

Body Language's added extra dimension of solving a word puzzle that made it memorable. Tom Kennedy was more fun to watch than was Bobby Van. Plus, Lucy was a celebrity guest on BL many times.

[Blanquepage]

Shameless plug:

You can see an entire episode of Showoffs at Page O' Clips from September 4th - 6th.

--Jamie

[Robert Hutchinson]

[quote name=\'mitchgroff\' post=\'129111\' date=\'Aug 25 2006, 02:11 PM\']Now that we've been watching BL every day, I am kinda wondering about why the tiebreaker round has *almost nothing to do* with the basic premise of the game.[/quote]
I think it might not be so bad, if not for the fact that it's required *so often*. Pure odds has it happening in 50% of all matches, and I can't believe skill moves that percentage a tremendous amount.

[Jay Temple]

The problems with the game structure are even worse because they were fixable. Throw in a $50 bonus for getting all five words, and the game can end in three rounds that all require acting!

[Craig Karlberg]

Not sure on Showoffs' main game rules but I do remember the bonus round.  It was a 2-parter just like BL.  In part 1, the winning team had to correctly act out as many words as possible in 60 seconds.  The number of correct words then translates to $1 per word to initiate part 2 where the team can correctly act out 3 more words in 20 seconds I think.  Each correct word multiplies the dollar value 10 times(ie $9 - $90 - $900 - $9K)  BL is simallar except each correct word in part 1 yields $100 up to a maximum of 10($1K).  Part 2 is the same as Showoffs except the last correct word within 20 seconds multiplies the money by 10.  As far as format goes, I prefer BL for the main game & Showoffs for the bonus round.

[MikeK]

[quote name=\'Jay Temple\' post=\'129185\' date=\'Aug 26 2006, 01:49 AM\']
The problems with the game structure are even worse because they were fixable. Throw in a $50 bonus for getting all five words, and the game can end in three rounds that all require acting!
[/quote]
Interesting.  The only problem with this idea is if a game ends in three rounds, the host will have to stretch some part of the show for at least three minutes and/or the viewers will see a ridiculously long credit roll.  It puts a patch on one glaring problem but creates possibly another issue.

[calliaume]

The original format of Showoffs (best two of three) was far better, in my opinion.  Even at age 12, I figured out when they changed the format of the main game and the end game, the show didn't have long to live.

Showoffs also had cooler theme music.  And I will say Bobby Van, while not a better host than Tom Kennedy, certainly wasn't awful, especially given it was his first show and he had very little prep time.

[SRIV94]

[quote name=\'alfonzos\' post=\'129119\' date=\'Aug 25 2006, 01:57 PM\']
Plus, Lucy was a celebrity guest on BL many times.
[/quote]
Yes (actually, I think it was only once), but she was also on P+ and SP a few times as well.  And I cringed when watching.  Not exactly a ringing endorsement there.

And a minor nitpick to Jason--I don't consider BL to be a show that straddled.  A game was never started at the end of one ep and resumed on the next day's ep.

Doug -- and the countdown to 2200 continues (still broadcasting remotely from NY)

[JasonA1]

Oh, whoa. Major typo. I meant to say words to the effect of "why couldn't BL straddle?" I assume the producers would've put in a more sound format (that would've likely straddled) but had to do what they did for an outside reason. Either budget concerns or network pressures...I dunno.

-Jason

[calliaume]

[quote name=\'JasonA1\' post=\'129245\' date=\'Aug 26 2006, 07:42 PM\']
Oh, whoa. Major typo. I meant to say words to the effect of "why couldn't BL straddle?" I assume the producers would've put in a more sound format (that would've likely straddled) but had to do what they did for an outside reason. Either budget concerns or network pressures...I dunno.
[/quote]

I think by that point, the networks strongly preferred that game shows didn't straddle unless the format didn't work otherwise.  Only a few shows introduced in the 1980s straddled (Blockbusters and Scrabble come to mind, but no other shows that lasted much more than six to nine months).  Goodson made Body Language work without straddling; the rule to avoid it, however, wasn't very sensible.