Author Topic: Back To Square One...It Wasn't Broke, But They Tried To Fix It (Read 6009 times)

TimK2003 · « **on:** November 08, 2006, 07:41:14 PM »

I was involved in a conversation with someone who I seem to be converting to Gameshowism (good thing!), and he came up with this question:

Say a show premieres with a set of rules and/or formatics. Later, the producers change the rules or tweak the format. Still later on, the producers go back to original Day One rules/formatics and stayed that way during the rest of the show's run...

Has there ever been a game show that usnsuccessfully did some tweaking but went 100% back to basics before it was cancelled?

BrandonFG · « **Reply #1 on:** November 08, 2006, 07:51:58 PM »

[quote name=\'TimK2003\' post=\'137337\' date=\'Nov 8 2006, 07:41 PM\']
Has there ever been a game show that usnsuccessfully did some tweaking but went 100% back to basics before it was cancelled?
[/quote]
Technically, I suppose Wheel, with the failed hour-long format that lasted about a month.

aaron sica · « **Reply #2 on:** November 08, 2006, 07:53:50 PM »

A couple shows come to mind:

Scrabble: "Spell the word"
Tic Tac Dough: Hit $1000 on the dot.

Jimmy Owen · « **Reply #3 on:** November 08, 2006, 07:53:53 PM »

"Money Maze" did a week of celebrities (Soupy, Anita Gillette) paired with contestants but went back to married couples.

tpirfan28 · « **Reply #4 on:** November 08, 2006, 08:00:32 PM »

Couldn't you add Jeopardy from 1979? The whole drop one contestant before Double J!, the messed up Final J!...then back to (more) classic J! in 1984.

EDIT: Misread first post (whole "being canceled thing"), but still something to consider.

/and I like Firefox's built in spell checker.

BrandonFG · « **Reply #5 on:** November 08, 2006, 08:01:28 PM »

[quote name=\'tpirfan28\' post=\'137342\' date=\'Nov 8 2006, 08:00 PM\']
Couldn't you add Jeopardy from 1979? The whole drop one contestant before Double J!, the messed up Final J!...then back to (more) classic J! in 1984.
[/quote]
No, because Tim said

Quote

Has there ever been a game show that usnsuccessfully did some tweaking but went 100% back to basics before it was cancelled?

clemon79 · « **Reply #6 on:** November 08, 2006, 08:27:46 PM »

[quote name=\'tpirfan28\' post=\'137342\' date=\'Nov 8 2006, 05:00 PM\']
/and I like Firefox's built in spell checker.
[/quote]
Would that more people used it.

Allstar87 · « **Reply #7 on:** November 08, 2006, 08:28:50 PM »

Australia's WOF went through some changes in 1996 that almost got the show cancelled.

calliaume · « **Reply #8 on:** November 08, 2006, 09:23:03 PM »

[quote name=\'TimK2003\' post=\'137337\' date=\'Nov 8 2006, 08:41 PM\']
Has there ever been a game show that usnsuccessfully did some tweaking but went 100% back to basics before it was cancelled?
[/quote]
You could make a half-hearted argument for Password All-Stars morphing back into Password, but it was still way different from the original. I guess they figured they had to justify the expense of that big honkin' set with the lockout buzzers.

ChuckNet · « **Reply #9 on:** November 08, 2006, 09:39:45 PM »

There were those 3 wks. in late 82/early 83 where The $25K Pyramid dumped the Mystery 7 in favor of a Time of the Week format (similar to the $50K's tourney qualifying method), where the player w/the fastest maingame time each wk recieved a Greek cruise.

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")

chad1m · « **Reply #10 on:** November 08, 2006, 09:40:02 PM »

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'137351\' date=\'Nov 8 2006, 08:27 PM\']
Would that more people used it.

[/quote]

Too bad it doesn't have a grammar or proper use checker.

brianhenke · « **Reply #11 on:** November 08, 2006, 11:42:04 PM »

What about Scrabble when they had the spelling format? (ie, MOSQUITO).

Brian

Will Smith played Hutch?

clemon79 · « **Reply #12 on:** November 08, 2006, 11:47:08 PM »

[quote name=\'brianhenke\' post=\'137388\' date=\'Nov 8 2006, 08:42 PM\']
What about Scrabble when they had the spelling format? (ie, MOSQUITO).
[/quote]
Jesus, it was even on the same page.

DjohnsonCB · « **Reply #13 on:** November 08, 2006, 11:59:13 PM »

Didn't they once have an aborted rule on the '70s Match Game where a contestant playing the Head-To-Head Match had to pick a celebrity other than the one who won them the bucks in the Super Match?

SRIV94 · « **Reply #14 on:** November 09, 2006, 12:03:32 AM »

[quote name=\'DjohnsonCB\' post=\'137394\' date=\'Nov 8 2006, 10:59 PM\']
Didn't they once have an aborted rule on the '70s Match Game where a contestant playing the Head-To-Head Match had to pick a celebrity other than the one who won them the bucks in the Super Match?
[/quote]
Yep. And those shows should be airing relatively soon if they keep running MG75 for an hour in the 11PM ET slot.

However, while they did revert back to the old rule, there was the matter of the Star Wheel tweak in 1978.

Doug