That (Censored) Quiz Show

[clanky06]

There was a discussion over at an Avid video editing forum about the all-time worst TV show. This link was posted:  Old TV Tickets

Has this show been discussed before on this forum?

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'clanky06\' post=\'161660\' date=\'Aug 22 2007, 07:19 PM\']
There was a discussion over at an Avid video editing forum about the all-time worst TV show. This link was posted:  Old TV Tickets

Has this show been discussed before on this forum?
[/quote]
Rarely, if ever. I wonder how many markets even aired the show.

TIDBIT: the Rice brothers make the rounds on the late-nite infomercial circuit. Apparently, they've made a killing in real estate.

[parliboy]

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' post=\'161662\' date=\'Aug 22 2007, 06:35 PM\']

Has this show been discussed before on this forum?

Rarely, if ever. I wonder how many markets even aired the show.
[/quote]
I can say with complete confidence that the Houston market aired the show.  Those of us in Lake Charles, La. at the time who first got to see cable got this as well, as we got some of their UHF channels in the very early days of cable TV.  I want to say channel 39 (now their CW affiliate) aired it at 9:30 Central; but that part of my memory doesn't hold too well, as I had a Barry & Enright love at the time.
 
  The show was just a You Bet Your Life variant.  Not bad if it's done right.  This wasn't.

 Yeah, I was eight.  I still knew it wasn't a good show.  Laughter had more cans than a nuclear bomb shelter.
 

TIDBIT: the Rice brothers make the rounds on the late-nite infomercial circuit. Apparently, they've made a killing in real estate.

Made.  Darn surgical complications.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' post=\'161662\' date=\'Aug 22 2007, 04:35 PM\']
TIDBIT: the Rice brothers make the rounds on the late-nite infomercial circuit. Apparently, they've made a killing in real estate.
[/quote]
I was gonna ask if that was them.

Boy, based on that article, and based on what we know about Barbour's performance on Gong, that man just had NO IDEA what "funny" was, did he?

For whatever reason I was inspired to try to look up Barbour's Wiki article (yes, it hits, no, it's not him, it's the 14th century poet), and from there the article on Real People. These two passages made me weep:

Real People was an NBC reality television series

The success of Real People led to a rash of imitators, the best known (and longest-running) of which was That's Incredible!

[Neumms]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'161665\' date=\'Aug 22 2007, 06:59 PM\']
For whatever reason I was inspired to try to look up Barbour's Wiki article (yes, it hits, no, it's not him, it's the 14th century poet), and from there the article on Real People. These two passages made me weep:

Real People was an NBC reality television series

[/quote]

Why would that make you weep? It was by no means high brow entertainment, but it was certainly an original format, and indeed, reality. It made me laugh, although I was around 10 when it was on.

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'parliboy\' post=\'161664\' date=\'Aug 22 2007, 07:49 PM\']
Made.  Darn surgical complications.
[/quote]
Just found an obit from November 2005...I had no idea. I could've sworn I saw their infomercial sometime in 2006, when I worked 3rd shift. Could be VERY wrong on that one.

[mcsittel]

[quote name=\'Neumms\' post=\'161666\' date=\'Aug 22 2007, 07:05 PM\']
[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'161665\' date=\'Aug 22 2007, 06:59 PM\']
For whatever reason I was inspired to try to look up Barbour's Wiki article (yes, it hits, no, it's not him, it's the 14th century poet), and from there the article on Real People. These two passages made me weep:

Real People was an NBC reality television series

[/quote]

Why would that make you weep? It was by no means high brow entertainment, but it was certainly an original format, and indeed, reality. It made me laugh, although I was around 10 when it was on.
[/quote]

Didn't they have short segments where they'd show funny road signs, newspaper clippings, etc.?  I seem to recall one about "Twin Peaks Bra Shop".

But hey, look how many game show hosts were on Real People... Sarah Purcell, Bill Rafferty and David Ruprecht... but not all at the same time?  Can't remember now... seems like Ruprecht was later on with Peter Billingsley-that show's answer to adding a child on a sitcom for additional lame-o laughs.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'Neumms\' post=\'161666\' date=\'Aug 22 2007, 05:05 PM\']
but it was certainly an original format, and indeed, reality.
[/quote]
Sorry, no. An "anthology" series, I can buy. A "magazine" series, sure. "Variety", okay, maybe. But it was no more a friggin' "reality" show than 60 Minutes is. In fact, the two are REMARKABLY similar programs, save for the subjects of their stories.

I am tiring of idiots today applying the word "reality" to any genre of television they can't figure out how to slot elsewhere.

[DrBear]

Well, they aren't scripted fictional entertainment, are they? They deal with actual people and events, not docudramas. Seems like a good definition of "reality" to me. More real, in fact, than 11 show-biz wannabes dumped on a desert island and voting each other off. That happens all the time...

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'DrBear\' post=\'161675\' date=\'Aug 22 2007, 09:13 PM\']
Well, they aren't scripted fictional entertainment, are they? They deal with actual people and events, not docudramas. Seems like a good definition of "reality" to me. More real, in fact, than 11 show-biz wannabes dumped on a desert island and voting each other off. That happens all the time...
[/quote]
Those crappy has-been B-list shows that VH-1 keeps churning out (damn you Mark Cronin)...those are reality. Viewers see, for the most part, how these "stars" live their lives. Some of it might be exaggerated for the camera, but that's another story.

The Survivor and Big Brother shows, I'd place them into a "competitive game" category. They're not sports, but they're not quite game shows, in the traditional sense per se. Won't open that can of worms.

However, I have a serious problem with people calling a show like D/ND or "Singing Bee" a reality show. I've seen it written in news articles (usually the media rags) and NBC refers to Deal as reality in its fall schedule. That's not some fanb0i rant, I seriously find that idiotic, and in the article's case, piss-poor research, to call either show, or anything similar, a reality show.

[jalman]

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' post=\'161678\' date=\'Aug 22 2007, 09:25 PM\']
However, I have a serious problem with people calling a show like D/ND or "Singing Bee" a reality show. I've seen it written in news articles (usually the media rags) and NBC refers to Deal as reality in its fall schedule. That's not some fanb0i rant, I seriously find that idiotic, and in the article's case, piss-poor research, to call either show, or anything similar, a reality show.
[/quote]
It could be worse.  You could read how Millionaire created this wonderful trend of reality shows.

Reading commentary lumping Millionaire in the Reality Bin made my intelligence hurt.

[Steve McClellan]

[quote name=\'jalman\' date=\'Aug 22 2007, 09:22 PM\']It could be worse.  You could read how Millionaire created this wonderful trend of reality shows.[/quote]
Actually, I don't think that's too far off. While Millionaire certainly isn't a reality show itself, it seems that it did cause a brief upswing in game shows, which quickly devolved into a much longer trend of reality shows.

[PYLdude]

[quote name=\'DrBear\' post=\'161675\' date=\'Aug 22 2007, 09:13 PM\']
Well, they aren't scripted fictional entertainment, are they? They deal with actual people and events, not docudramas. Seems like a good definition of "reality" to me.[/quote]

It's not a good definition.

It's the damn right definition.

If a show like Real People isn't close to a universal standard of reality, then what the hell is? Honestly.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'DrBear\' post=\'161675\' date=\'Aug 22 2007, 06:13 PM\']
Well, they aren't scripted fictional entertainment, are they? They deal with actual people and events, not docudramas. Seems like a good definition of "reality" to me.
[/quote]
Tell me, PLEASE tell me, you're not using the definition "anything that is not scripted fictional entertainment" for "reality" television. Because if you are, you just called the Super Bowl a "reality" show, and the "reality" of that is that that would be incredibly freakin' stupid.

There are other genres of television other than "reality" and "fictional television." Some people would do well to friggin' LEARN them.
[quote name=\'PYLdude\' post=\'161690\' date=\'Aug 22 2007, 11:38 PM\']
It's not a good definition.

It's the damn right definition.[/quote]
And let me just say that I KNOW I'm on the right side of the discussion here when I see this.

[dzinkin]

[quote name=\'PYLdude\' post=\'161690\' date=\'Aug 23 2007, 02:38 AM\']
[quote name=\'DrBear\' post=\'161675\' date=\'Aug 22 2007, 09:13 PM\']
Well, they aren't scripted fictional entertainment, are they? They deal with actual people and events, not docudramas. Seems like a good definition of "reality" to me.[/quote]

It's not a good definition.

It's the damn right definition.

If a show like Real People isn't close to a universal standard of reality, then what the hell is? Honestly.
[/quote]
By your "damn right" definition, MSNBC, Fox News and CNN are 24-hour reality channels.

Would a bunch of people have gotten together on an island and voted each other off if not for Mark Burnett?  No.  Would a bunch of people who don't know each other and whose personality combinations are so combustible voluntarily agree to live together in a strange house if not for Endemol?  No.  Would the Osbournes act so bizarre if not for the producers at MTV?  (Okay, bad example. ;-)  By contrast, NFL games were played long before they ever were televised (and football games in general obviously are played all over the country without being televised), and people doing interesting/stupid/interestingly stupid things would still have done interesting/stupid/interestingly stupid things if Real People hadn't existed.  (Yes, a few idiots here and there may have done moronic things for the purpose of getting on Real People, but it actually worked better when the events "reported" weren't so manufactured and in any event the producers didn't arrange them.)

Reality shows may not be scripted, but they're arranged to the extent that people usually are placed into those situations by the producers for the purpose of creating a television show, and to the extent that the situations may be, though not scripted, at least manipulated by said producers to see how the subjects will react.  That's not true of Real People, the Super Bowl, or news broadcasts even though they're unscripted.

I'm sure that my definition has holes and that they'll be quickly pointed out to me, but that's true of the various definitions of "game show" others have offered, so I'm in good company. :-)