Author Topic: Blockbusters (Read 5889 times)

Matt Ottinger · « **on:** February 19, 2007, 01:59:03 AM »

Well, for some reason I'm finding myself recording Blockbusters with some regularity, so I guess I'll throw it our to you guys who do more of this recording stuff than I do: Anybody know precisely where in the run we are? Bill's talking about the 20-win rule, but not making a huge deal out of it, so I'm wondering if we might be pretty close to the end.

Details on the M-F run, as well as the different S-S run, would be appreciated. Maybe even rewarded.

Allstar87 · « **Reply #1 on:** February 19, 2007, 02:12:50 AM »

Don't know where in the run we are, but I do know of a fantastic episode guide that'll help pinpoint it:

http://members.fortunecity.com/gswarehouse/bbguide80.html

It has every episode of both runs listed there.

Matt Ottinger · « **Reply #2 on:** February 19, 2007, 02:42:02 AM »

[quote name=\'Allstar87\' post=\'146292\' date=\'Feb 19 2007, 02:12 AM\']
Don't know where in the run we are, but I do know of a fantastic episode guide that'll help pinpoint it:

http://members.fortunecity.com/gswarehouse/bbguide80.html

It has every episode of both runs listed there.
[/quote]
Perfect! That'll take care of everything. Thanks!

(And sure enough, Friday's show was from 2/15/82, a little more than two months away from the end of the run. Note that GSN is playing these things almost exactly twenty-five years ago to the day of their original airing!)

Allstar87 · « **Reply #3 on:** February 19, 2007, 11:00:29 PM »

My pleasure. ^^ I keep close tabs on these episode guides; I'm one of those guys who like to know the exact airdates of their stuff.

Like how they're re-running them almost 25 years to the day they first aired. Makes it a lot easier to remember where in the run we are.

trainman · « **Reply #4 on:** February 19, 2007, 11:17:06 PM »

[quote name=\'Allstar87\' post=\'146403\' date=\'Feb 19 2007, 08:00 PM\']Like how they're re-running them almost 25 years to the day they first aired. Makes it a lot easier to remember where in the run we are.
[/quote]

Until GSN switched to the 2-a-day schedule, the weekday "Super Password" run was almost exactly 20 years old. It was fun.

SRIV94 · « **Reply #5 on:** February 19, 2007, 11:28:05 PM »

[quote name=\'Allstar87\' post=\'146403\' date=\'Feb 19 2007, 10:00 PM\']
My pleasure. ^^ I keep close tabs on these episode guides; I'm one of those guys who like to know the exact airdates of their stuff.

Like how they're re-running them almost 25 years to the day they first aired. Makes it a lot easier to remember where in the run we are.
[/quote]
I believe GSN is running P+ in the same fashion--today's ep was the 2/18/80 ep.

Might be the same for CS, since they doubled back to the start of 1979 right after the holidays.

Allstar87 · « **Reply #6 on:** February 19, 2007, 11:53:23 PM »

[quote name=\'SRIV94\' post=\'146406\' date=\'Feb 19 2007, 11:28 PM\']
Might be the same for CS, since they doubled back to the start of 1979 right after the holidays.
[/quote]

Yep; we're somewhere in mid-February 1979 right now.

tvmitch · « **Reply #7 on:** February 20, 2007, 08:50:45 AM »

Along these same lines, do we know what episodes of BB will air this coming Saturday night? I believe I saw a 2-hour marathon from 8-10p Eastern listed on my Comcast box.

geno57 · « **Reply #8 on:** February 24, 2007, 03:13:12 PM »

I'd love to see "Blockbusters" return, but have it done the way it was in England for many years. Make it a show for high school and college kids. On the cerebral side. It was very very popular over there, and lasted far longer than it did in the U.S.

catnap1972 · « **Reply #9 on:** February 24, 2007, 08:07:16 PM »

[quote name=\'mitchgroff\' post=\'146432\' date=\'Feb 20 2007, 08:50 AM\']
Along these same lines, do we know what episodes of BB will air this coming Saturday night? I believe I saw a 2-hour marathon from 8-10p Eastern listed on my Comcast box.
[/quote]

Started off with the 9/29/1981 episode...looks like they're going to show Pat & Liz's last 4 episodes (to their $120,000 win)

game show guy · « **Reply #10 on:** February 24, 2007, 08:28:01 PM »

good choice for the marathon. I already have these eps on tape, however, so i will not be recording it.

clemon79 · « **Reply #11 on:** February 24, 2007, 09:33:21 PM »

[quote name=\'game show guy\' post=\'146817\' date=\'Feb 24 2007, 05:28 PM\']
good choice for the marathon. I already have these eps on tape, however, so i will not be recording it.
[/quote]
Thank Gawd. I was worried.

catnap1972 · « **Reply #12 on:** March 01, 2007, 10:54:46 AM »

In case anyone cares (probably not, but you never know...), today's was the first episode with the blue backdrop (whereas it was gold before).

Matt Ottinger · « **Reply #13 on:** March 01, 2007, 11:51:49 AM »

[quote name=\'catnap1972\' post=\'147248\' date=\'Mar 1 2007, 10:54 AM\']
In case anyone cares (probably not, but you never know...), today's was the first episode with the blue backdrop (whereas it was gold before).[/quote]
And the show would end up being canceled less than two months later. Makes you wonder whether somebody thought that what Blockbusters really needed to boost its ratings was a different colored backdrop.

Jimmy Owen · « **Reply #14 on:** March 01, 2007, 12:42:37 PM »

I'm not sure if it was a ratings issue. When the show returned in 87, Broadcasting had a story quoting then-NBC veep of game shows Jake Tauber as saying the show had good ratings and shouldn't have been cancelled in the first place.

Shortly after the cancellation (maybe a month or so) Variety reported the CBS pickup of "Child's Play" with Bill that September in the same time slot, so all was right with the world.

It may have been an economics issue for NBC. They had to burn off those "CHiPs" reruns before they went to local stations that fall.