Craig Ferguson Hosting a Game Show Pilot

[Timsterino]

The Wizard of Oz gave away a heart, a brain and a shot of courage.

Craig Ferguson can't give away stuff nearly that cool, but he can help!

It's Funny and You Can Win Stuff!!

THE WIZARD is an improv comedy game-show that is just as much about the comedy as the game. In The Wizard, two contestants compete against one another in hopes of winning a personal prize they pick for themselves by wagering on the outcome of improv games played by Craig and his cast of four comedians.

http://www.ocatv.com/shows/show/143/event/3677

Interesting and could work where Funny Money didn't. We shall see. Anyone know which network this is for? I assume CBS?

Tim :-)

[Jimmy Owen]

It's being taped at CBS, but I guess everything is these days.

[PYLdude]

[quote name=\'Timsterino\' post=\'150903\' date=\'Apr 24 2007, 08:56 PM\']
The Wizard of Oz gave away a heart, a brain and a shot of courage.

Craig Ferguson can't give away stuff nearly that cool, but he can help!

It's Funny and You Can Win Stuff!!

THE WIZARD is an improv comedy game-show that is just as much about the comedy as the game. In The Wizard, two contestants compete against one another in hopes of winning a personal prize they pick for themselves by wagering on the outcome of improv games played by Craig and his cast of four comedians.

http://www.ocatv.com/shows/show/143/event/3677

Interesting and could work where Funny Money didn't. We shall see. Anyone know which network this is for? I assume CBS?

Tim :-)
[/quote]

Sounds like a good idea (and it read even better the second time), and I think I'd like to see that...but what I'd like to see is an improv comedy game show where you get actual people playing...just to see what and/or how they'd do, of course.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'PYLdude\' post=\'150906\' date=\'Apr 24 2007, 06:14 PM\']
...but what I'd like to see is an improv comedy game show where you get actual people playing...just to see what and/or how they'd do, of course.
[/quote]
If you'd truly like to see that, I don't think you've thought that notion through at all.

The average Joe would be AWFUL at improv. I mean, HORRIBLE. It would be painfully bad television.

[BrandonFG]

Sounds like "Street Smarts" meets "Whose Line"...but it actually could be interesting.

[PYLdude]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'150908\' date=\'Apr 24 2007, 09:49 PM\']
[quote name=\'PYLdude\' post=\'150906\' date=\'Apr 24 2007, 06:14 PM\']
...but what I'd like to see is an improv comedy game show where you get actual people playing...just to see what and/or how they'd do, of course.
[/quote]
If you'd truly like to see that, I don't think you've thought that notion through at all.

The average Joe would be AWFUL at improv. I mean, HORRIBLE. It would be painfully bad television.
[/quote]

Sez you. You don't know for a fact that there aren't people out there in America that are good at improvisational comedy. I may not know either, but I'm more optimistic.

And it may shock you, but I have thought about what it might be like to see something like that for a while. Yes, you'd get some people who wouldn't know what the hell they were doing, but I'd think you might find more than a few who might be good at something like that. I'm sure the casting directors would weed out the dead weight if it ever came to that. (I may be giving them a little too much credit, considering the fine group of casting directors does for television today...but still.)

[Robert Hutchinson]

[quote name=\'PYLdude\' post=\'150910\' date=\'Apr 24 2007, 10:13 PM\']And it may shock you, but I have thought about what it might be like to see something like that for a while. Yes, you'd get some people who wouldn't know what the hell they were doing, but I'd think you might find more than a few who might be good at something like that.[/quote]
I have no doubt that a decent number of people "might be good" at improv comedy.

But unless they practice, practice, practice, and practice some more (at being funny, at acting, etc.), it's still going to be painful to watch. Hell, Whose Line had seasoned veterans up there all the time, and even those were "best ofs", edited down from longer taping sessions.

[cmjb13]

This pilot is part of a development deal Craig has with Worldwide Pants.

I was asked just yesterday if I was at TVC for The Wizard. Now I know what that was about.

[TheLastResort]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'150908\' date=\'Apr 24 2007, 08:49 PM\']
The average Joe would be AWFUL at improv. I mean, HORRIBLE. It would be painfully bad television.
[/quote]
That's what would make it so much fun!  Think about it!!  

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'Robert Hutchinson\' post=\'150913\' date=\'Apr 24 2007, 07:55 PM\']
But unless they practice, practice, practice, and practice some more (at being funny, at acting, etc.), it's still going to be painful to watch. Hell, Whose Line had seasoned veterans up there all the time, and even those were "best ofs", edited down from longer taping sessions.
[/quote]
Thank you, Robert. This is prezactly my point.
[quote name=\'TheLastResort\' post=\'150925\' date=\'Apr 24 2007, 08:53 PM\']
That's what would make it so much fun!  Think about it!!  
[/quote]
No, I don't mean so-bad-it's-good television, I mean BAD TELEVISION. Like they-owe-me-an-hour-of-my-life-back bad. Rich List bad.

[MSTieScott]

[quote name=\'PYLdude\' post=\'150906\' date=\'Apr 24 2007, 08:14 PM\']...but what I'd like to see is an improv comedy game show where you get actual people playing...just to see what and/or how they'd do, of course.[/quote]
As others have said, that would not go over well. You only have to look at "Thank God You're Here" -- it features actual actors who presumably at least have taken improv classes at some point in their lives, and that show is rarely laugh-out-loud funny.

--
Scott Robinson

[PYLdude]

[quote name=\'MSTieScott\' post=\'150951\' date=\'Apr 25 2007, 12:51 PM\']
[quote name=\'PYLdude\' post=\'150906\' date=\'Apr 24 2007, 08:14 PM\']...but what I'd like to see is an improv comedy game show where you get actual people playing...just to see what and/or how they'd do, of course.[/quote]
As others have said, that would not go over well. You only have to look at "Thank God You're Here" -- it features actual actors who presumably at least have taken improv classes at some point in their lives, and that show is rarely laugh-out-loud funny.

--
Scott Robinson
[/quote]

You guys can keep saying that all you want...I see your point, and I do agree that you would probably have a train wreck on your hands, but I'm more optimistic.

[Neumms]

[quote name=\'PYLdude\' post=\'150955\' date=\'Apr 25 2007, 12:22 PM\']
You guys can keep saying that all you want...I see your point, and I do agree that you would probably have a train wreck on your hands, but I'm more optimistic.
[/quote]

I'd like to see a game show, you could call it "Not Ready for Monday Night Football," where you get real people playing football, maybe with one pro on each team, maybe a linebacker. I see people running around the lake each weekend who look pretty fast. They might surprise you.

[PYLdude]

[quote name=\'Neumms\' post=\'150957\' date=\'Apr 25 2007, 01:32 PM\']
[quote name=\'PYLdude\' post=\'150955\' date=\'Apr 25 2007, 12:22 PM\']
You guys can keep saying that all you want...I see your point, and I do agree that you would probably have a train wreck on your hands, but I'm more optimistic.
[/quote]

I'd like to see a game show, you could call it "Not Ready for Monday Night Football," where you get real people playing football, maybe with one pro on each team, maybe a linebacker. I see people running around the lake each weekend who look pretty fast. They might surprise you.
[/quote]

Alright already. I get it. You don't think my idea is good. Whatever.

[dzinkin]

[quote name=\'PYLdude\' post=\'150955\' date=\'Apr 25 2007, 01:22 PM\']
You guys can keep saying that all you want...I see your point, and I do agree that you would probably have a train wreck on your hands, but I'm more optimistic.
[/quote]
You've been pointed to a current example of trained actors doing improv and not pulling it off well, and you've been told that even the seasoned professionals on WLIIA? had to edit out a lot in order to come up with a half-hour suitable for broadcast.  You're certainly welcome to your opinion; we're just not seeing the basis for it, other than "well there have to be people out there who can do it."

I'm reminded of one member here who demanded that GSN put reruns of Tic Tac Dough and The Joker's Wild back on the schedule, with the argument that it had to do better than what GSN was running at the time -- despite evidence that the shows hadn't done anything for GSN's ratings in the recent past.  Your optimism in spite of the evidence seems very similar; it would help if you had something to back it up.

(And yes, I've been guilty of similar optimism in hoping that certain members of our group would reform, but Matt, Chris and I are running a 2000-member message board, not a nationally-distributed cable network.  The economics involved are just a bit different. ;-)