Have We Forgotten the Lyrics?

[Ian Wallis]

There have already been two $50,000 winners on Don't Forget the Lyrics this season, but this is one show we hardly ever talk about around here.

Anybody watching?

[inturnaround]

I gave it a shot. It's unwatchable really. There's absolutely no momentum and even though there's likely just as many commercials as any other show, it seems like there's a lot more and they go on forever.

It's a show that works better in a full hour format like it had on Fox, watched with DVR fast forward at the ready to cut through all the overhead. Shame, too, I like the format of this show better than Singing Bee and it has the potential of a high playability factor. There's just far less game in this desiccated syndie version.

[Ian Wallis]

A lot of that I agree with.  There is too much padding and too many commercials.  What gets me is the Trivia Question segment - take that out and essentially you've got a 6-minute commercial break.  I usually turn the channel during that portion anyway.

I'm a top-40 music geek so I've been watching most nights.  Brings back a lot of memories of songs you just don't hear on the radio anymore.

[entguy1]

[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' post=\'251486\' date=\'Nov 23 2010, 10:09 AM\']A lot of that I agree with.  There is too much padding and too many commercials.  What gets me is the Trivia Question segment - take that out and essentially you've got a 6-minute commercial break.  I usually turn the channel during that portion anyway.

I'm a top-40 music geek so I've been watching most nights.  Brings back a lot of memories of songs you just don't hear on the radio anymore.[/quote]

It's no different than the long breaks on 5th Grader. I think 30 minutes helps the format. The prime-time version seemed to drag things out way too long. WIsh there could be more songs per show, but that's the format. It's a yin-and-yang with Singing Bee.

Watched it a few times, but it's not a must-see/Tivo for me. And I thought I read the ratings have been horrible...

[Jimmy Owen]

I saw it briefly (the My station runs it at 9am between "The Daily Buzz" and "Recipe TV").  I know the host is somewhat of a pop star, but I don't think this show enhances his resume.  When these half-baked shows make it on the air, they tarnish the game show genre and station managers feel they got burned. Thus making it more and more difficult to get good game shows launched.

[tpirfan28]

Here, the program airs on the weakest OTA, a "high" 200s cable channel, and against Wheel/Jeopardy and itself on VH1.  So yeah, not a lot of viewing here.

[golden-road]

How's this: A double run on my CW+ channel, going up against the double run on VH1.

[TLEberle]

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' post=\'251498\' date=\'Nov 23 2010, 09:38 AM\']I know the host is somewhat of a pop star, but I don't think this show enhances his resume.[/quote]Mark McGrath, lead singer of Sugar Ray, for those too lazy to do the google-fu themselves. And if cleaning up every year on the celebrity episode of Rock & Roll Jeopardy! isn't a boost to the resume, I don't know what is.

[gameshowcrazy]

If this were a trivia show, that would be 5 questions in 30 minutes--way too long dragging things out on this, good reason not to watch.

[J.R.]

I think I saw it here on like 3:00 AM. That should be a pretty telling sign of it's unpopularity.

[TLEberle]

[quote name=\'gameshowcrazy\' post=\'251509\' date=\'Nov 23 2010, 01:20 PM\']If this were a trivia show, that would be 5 questions in 30 minutes--way too long dragging things out on this, good reason not to watch.[/quote]But it isn't. You have the singing, the lead up to the right answer, and the reveal. Would I prefer more game and something other than a four step ladder? Hell yes. But it isn't quite the same as Fifth Grader, which really has no excuse.

[gameshowcrazy]

[quote name=\'TLEberle\' post=\'251514\' date=\'Nov 23 2010, 06:49 PM\'][quote name=\'gameshowcrazy\' post=\'251509\' date=\'Nov 23 2010, 01:20 PM\']If this were a trivia show, that would be 5 questions in 30 minutes--way too long dragging things out on this, good reason not to watch.[/quote]But it isn't. You have the singing, the lead up to the right answer, and the reveal. Would I prefer more game and something other than a four step ladder? Hell yes. But it isn't quite the same as Fifth Grader, which really has no excuse.
[/quote]

and that whole lead up and reveal is the problem, putzing around to "build suspense" isn't suspenseful--IT'S BORING!

[polo23]

Oh wow, Recipe TV has been out of production for years now. I've been following all of Don't Forget The Lyrics. I can get the whole show watched in like 12-13 minutes if I record it. Otherwise, it's background noise for me.

[TheInquisitiveOne]

I had to chime in on this after having the show run in the background.

One of the biggest things wrong with the show is that the song list is a lot smaller than one may think. I saw a VH1 double run tonight when the Encore Song on BOTH shows was "Womanizer" by Britney Spears. I was disappointed - not because they used a song that sucks - but because they don't have a diversified playlist.

To show this is not coincidence, another song that was offered on THREE different episodes (and used forcibly once) was the Culture Club's "I'll Tumble For Ya." If the producers did not have enough clearances for music rights, they should have worked on it before selling the program for syndication.

As for the question:time ratio, we (the viewing public, not we on this board) have been trained to treat this as acceptable viewing. I know there could be more content crammed in a 30 minute period...something I made a point of in another Lyrics-related thread.

The Inquisitive One