[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'218268\' date=\'Jun 17 2009, 03:00 PM\'][quote name=\'Loogaroo\' post=\'218229\' date=\'Jun 17 2009, 08:24 AM\']Which begs the question - if they're able to fit in the 7-in-30 game now, why did Sony resort to that horrendous 6-in-20 format?[/quote]
Well, a couple of possible reasons. I believe there is more commercial time built into a syndicated show than a network one, so the Donnymid program may simply have been a little bit shorter. Still, probably the biggest reason was the most misguided -- change for change's sake. That producer had shown for years his desire to put his own stamp on the very structure of the game, and even after theoretically learning his lessons from those ill-conceived pilots, it could simply be that he felt he had to tweak something.
To my mind, the 6-in-20 thing was the biggest flaw of Donnymid. It has nothing to do with nostalgia and everythign to do with pacing. Put them on that same steel-girder set, or have them play it in somebody's garage. The game works in thirty-second chunks.
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Yeah, if you timed any episode of Donnymid without the commercials, it comes to about 19-20 minutes in program length. I agree it was the commercial factor that Sony decided to have the 6-in-20 format, being it was a syndicated show.
However, in the UK version, and with Osmond as host, it went back to the 7-in-30 format. You're right, Matt, the front game worked better in that way you said because the teams could have a little breathing room while playing as the clock ticks away.