Sudden Turns....

[tpirfan28]

With the news of TPIR's virtually impeding identity change, it got me thinking...are there any other game shows that had a major change (to the caliber that we could see TPIR) between seasons?

The only one that I could think of is Sale of the (New) Century in Australia, but I don't think that was this radical.

[Jimmy Owen]

As far as daytime shows, they didn't really do "seasons", so drastic changes came within the run whenever they were ready.  '70's $ale to the couples format, ABC Password to All-Stars (or other shows going to "Celebrity....."), Snap Judgment changing formats to that of Password, High Rollers changing from knocking off the numbers to "Face Lifters," etc.
What's worrisome is the changes generally didn't prevent the show from going off 13-26 weeks later.

[chris319]

Celebrity The Price Is Right.

"Danny Bonaduce bid $19,000 on his showcase. Brian Dunkleman, if you bid closer without going over, you win your showcase."

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' post=\'189874\' date=\'Jul 6 2008, 12:17 PM\']
ABC Password to All-Stars (or other shows going to "Celebrity.....")[/quote]
No question, Password All-Stars.  Much more than other shows that simply switch to playing with celebrities,  All-Stars was a complete overhaul of a basic format (and set) that hadn't substantively changed in thirteen years.  I honestly doubt the changes TPIR will undergo are going to be as radical as that was.

[rugrats1]

[quote name=\'chris319\' post=\'189876\' date=\'Jul 6 2008, 12:33 PM\']
Celebrity The Price Is Right.
[/quote]

That phrase alone would be grounds for golden-road.net to take down the entire internet, not just their own website.

[Jay Temple]

Not as big as Password All-Stars, but I submit Play the Percentages. In the main game alone, they went from couples to single players and a complete change of the focus of the game.

[Allstar87]

First thing I thought of was that God-awful Rodriguez Newlywed Game posted here a little while ago.

[Craig Karlberg]

[quote name=\'Jay Temple\' post=\'189946\' date=\'Jul 6 2008, 10:30 PM\']
Not as big as Password All-Stars, but I submit Play the Percentages. In the main game alone, they went from couples to single players and a complete change of the focus of the game.
[/quote]


Not only that, they even tinkered with the bonus round a few times.  No wonder it didn't last very long.  

Even Crosswords from this year went with a couple formats   Tinkering with formats especially during the season can lead to all kinds of problems.  That's why Program Partners wanted to "shut it down" for awhile due to production costs.

I guess we can make "If it ain't broke, don't fix it" the Ultimate Game Show Golden Rule.

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'Allstar87\' post=\'189955\' date=\'Jul 7 2008, 02:08 AM\']
First thing I thought of was that God-awful Rodriguez Newlywed Game posted here a little while ago.
[/quote]
And in the same vein, the 90s versions of Dating/Newlywed changed from already radically altered formats, back to the original versions that worked in the previous three decades.

[whewfan]

Break the Bank ('86) also underwent a serious overhaul shortly after Joe Farago took over. The stunts were axed, and now the players played for money instead of seconds. The bonus game was now another puzzle, where players started off with 10 bank cards, and each clue to the puzzle costed between 1-3 cards, which was randomly selected. When the puzzle was solved, the couple had a choice of 50 bank cards. A "bankrupt" card was added, meaning any prizes they won up to that point were lost.

The stunts were kind of stupid, and poorly timed and conceived, but the new bonus game was no improvement. It made for a much duller game.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'Craig Karlberg\' post=\'189960\' date=\'Jul 7 2008, 01:19 AM\']
Tinkering with formats especially during the season can lead to all kinds of problems.  That's why Program Partners wanted to "shut it down" for awhile due to production costs.[/quote]
No, they shut it down because it sucked and nobody was watching it. Trying to fix it had not one thing to do with that. It. Sucked.
 
Not that I was the least bit surprised to see something this far off the mark.

[entguy1]

"Tattletales" changed its format quite a bit from the first season (buzz in when you hear a quote that matches your story) and survived. It's one of the few I can think of where changes helped the game.

[Dbacksfan12]

Jackpot made some pretty big changes in the last few weeks of that format.  Also, the title of the show changed...but some might consider the changes the Illinois Lottery made to their game shows as a qualifiable situation as well.

[rugrats1]

[quote name=\'Modor\' post=\'190072\' date=\'Jul 7 2008, 06:20 PM\']
Jackpot made some pretty big changes in the last few weeks of that format.  Also, the title of the show changed...
[/quote]

While I was aware of the changes in the game, I thought the show was always "Jackpot" up until it left the air?

[Jimmy Owen]

[quote name=\'rugrats1\' post=\'190275\' date=\'Jul 8 2008, 08:03 PM\']
[quote name=\'Modor\' post=\'190072\' date=\'Jul 7 2008, 06:20 PM\']
Jackpot made some pretty big changes in the last few weeks of that format.  Also, the title of the show changed...
[/quote]

While I was aware of the changes in the game, I thought the show was always "Jackpot" up until it left the air?
[/quote]

The name change Mark was referring to was IIR, IIRC.