Author Topic: would TTD90 Have had a chance with a different host/ (Read 5328 times)

toetyper · « **on:** November 27, 2010, 03:20:02 PM »

or was it too flawed to be saved?'

/no carryovers after ties? CMON MAN

TLEberle · « **Reply #1 on:** November 27, 2010, 03:25:10 PM »

[quote name=\'toetyper\' post=\'251649\' date=\'Nov 27 2010, 12:20 PM\']or was it too flawed to be saved?'

/no carryovers after ties? CMON MAN[/quote]Doubt it. Notwithstanding the host, 1990-1991 was a crowded field. In Seattle, Trump Card/TTT competed against Wheel and Jeopardy. That's not a ratings battle you're gonna win.

J.R. · « **Reply #2 on:** November 27, 2010, 03:25:45 PM »

toetyper sure stars some strange threads.

Dbacksfan12 · « **Reply #3 on:** November 27, 2010, 03:28:34 PM »

[quote name=\'toetyper\' post=\'251649\' date=\'Nov 27 2010, 03:20 PM\']or was it too flawed to be saved?'

/no carryovers after ties? CMON MAN[/quote]I don't think it was flawed at all. I think TTD is a weak format to begin with and the fact the original syndicated run fizzled out soon after Wheel of Fortune and J! came on the scene only emphasizes that point.

BrandonFG · « **Reply #4 on:** November 27, 2010, 06:56:43 PM »

[quote name=\'Modor\' post=\'251654\' date=\'Nov 27 2010, 03:28 PM\'][quote name=\'toetyper\' post=\'251649\' date=\'Nov 27 2010, 03:20 PM\']or was it too flawed to be saved?'

/no carryovers after ties? CMON MAN[/quote]I don't think it was flawed at all. I think TTD is a weak format to begin with and the fact the original syndicated run fizzled out soon after Wheel of Fortune and J! came on the scene only emphasizes that point.
[/quote]
In all fairness, Feud fell off as well and In the early-80s those were the top two games on TV and were consistent top 5 syndicated shows.

I agree with Travis that 1990 was just a bad time to launch a game show. It aired at 1:35am in Norfolk. Not a good sign.

GameShowGuru · « **Reply #5 on:** November 27, 2010, 09:29:49 PM »

Not with a rapping dragon, to say the least.

Now if they had the LaChoy dragon, it could've been a different story. ;-)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QQNg8vEStwQ

But seriously, I cosign what the others have said with regards to 1990 being a tough time to market game shows. Plus, our local affiliate (WCMH-4 in Columbus) paired up TTD with The Challengers during the 7 pm hour in direct competition with Wheel and Jeopardy on WBNS-10). Just on that alone, neither The Challengers nor TTD stood a chance, and the rest is history (as was The Challengers & TTD).

TLEberle · « **Reply #6 on:** November 28, 2010, 12:47:39 AM »

[quote name=\'Modor\' post=\'251654\' date=\'Nov 27 2010, 12:28 PM\']I don't think it was flawed at all. I think TTD is a weak format to begin with and the fact the original syndicated run fizzled out soon after Wheel of Fortune and J! came on the scene only emphasizes that point.[/quote]What's weak about it? Everybody knows how to play tic-tac-toe. You have instant recognizability. Sure, the questions weren't any great shakes, so I would quibble that, and the Russian roulette bonus round was already done on Joker, but it ran for seven years, and it took Wheel and Jeopardy to pry those spots from Joker and Tic Tac.

Dbacksfan12 · « **Reply #7 on:** November 28, 2010, 05:01:03 PM »

[quote name=\'TLEberle\' post=\'251679\' date=\'Nov 28 2010, 12:47 AM\'][quote name=\'Modor\' post=\'251654\' date=\'Nov 27 2010, 12:28 PM\']I don't think it was flawed at all. I think TTD is a weak format to begin with and the fact the original syndicated run fizzled out soon after Wheel of Fortune and J! came on the scene only emphasizes that point.[/quote]What's weak about it? Everybody knows how to play tic-tac-toe. You have instant recognizability.[/quote]I'll concede that point to you, but you have a pretty basic Q&A game at best.

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and it took Wheel and Jeopardy to pry those spots from Joker and Tic Tac.

I would argue that there wasn't much in the way of quality competition.

TLEberle · « **Reply #8 on:** November 28, 2010, 08:16:31 PM »

[quote name=\'Modor\' post=\'251724\' date=\'Nov 28 2010, 02:01 PM\']I'll concede that point to you, but you have a pretty basic Q&A game at best.[/quote]Jeopardy! is a basic A&Q game, at best, with a little spice to it. Wheel of Fortune is basically Hangman. Once you get more than one layer of complexity on the game, it no longer becomes watchable.

Chelsea Thrasher · « **Reply #9 on:** November 29, 2010, 07:38:30 AM »

Shows that went on-the-air in 1990:
Tic Tac Dough
Let's Make a Deal
To Tell the Truth
The Joker's Wild
The Challengers
Supermarket Sweep
Rodeo Drive
Match Game
Great Getaway Game
Monopoly
Super Jeopardy
Quiz Kids Challenge
The Krypton Factor

Shows that were still on the air for Fall 1991:
Supermarket Sweep

Three of those (Super J!, Monopoly, Rodeo Drive) didn't even make it out of 1990 (though said Super Jeopardy wasn't really designed to). And Let's Make a Deal *barely* did.

You could have had Tom Kennedy or the re-animated zombie of Jack Barry hosting this show and it wouldn't have made it to another season. It was an absolute bloodbath as both networks and individual stations completely rejected the genre in one fell swoop (and at the time most cable stations still weren't spending large swaths of money on original program development)

Neumms · « **Reply #10 on:** November 29, 2010, 02:12:42 PM »

[quote name=\'toetyper\' post=\'251649\' date=\'Nov 27 2010, 03:20 PM\']or was it too flawed to be saved?'

/no carryovers after ties? CMON MAN[/quote]

After ties, they zeroed out the pot but then doubled the stakes, sort of how "21" did it. So it wasn't entirely a chintzy move, but yeah, it didn't work nearly as well.

Thom McKee made TTD. That gave it the drama it otherwise lacked. Otherwise it's just the same thing over and over with no build to it. Jeopardy is simple, but the competition is far more engaging. If TTD went for less accessible questions (or hired writers as good as Jeopardy's) that may have helped make it a better game.

Twentington · « **Reply #11 on:** November 29, 2010, 05:23:08 PM »

From what I've seen of it, I honestly don't think TTD'90 was too bad. There really isn't that much of a change in format, and I like how the bonus round offered a second chance if you didn't uncover 3 in a row. Still somewhat luck-based, I guess.

And, this may border on blasphemy, but I didn't think Patrick Wayne was a bad host. Nothing outstanding, but I'd take him over, say, Donny Osmond.

But I think Seth's list is the most convincing argument for why TTD'90 (and every other show that came out that year) failed. It was nearly suicide for the genre.

TLEberle · « **Reply #12 on:** December 04, 2010, 08:52:00 PM »

[quote name=\'Twentington\' post=\'251835\' date=\'Nov 29 2010, 02:23 PM\']Still somewhat luck-based, I guess.[/quote] You mean completely luck-based, there. While you could make the case that neither of the Barry-Enright dyad hasd questions that were terribly challenging, you at least got to roll the prize reel and do something different for a few minutes. I suppose you could do something with a bit of strategy, but why bother? Most people remember the picking of numbers and hoping to dodge the resident buzzkill.

Quote

And, this may border on blasphemy, but I didn't think Patrick Wayne was a bad host. Nothing outstanding, but I'd take him over, say, Donny Osmond.

No one will ever stop you from being wrong.

HairMetalLives · « **Reply #13 on:** December 04, 2010, 09:01:40 PM »

[quote name=\'TLEberle\' post=\'251652\' date=\'Nov 27 2010, 12:25 PM\']In Seattle, Trump Card/TTT competed against Wheel and Jeopardy. That's not a ratings battle you're gonna win.[/quote]

So that's why I never saw any of these shows until I started trading or until the few that popped up on USA did. I get it now!

TLEberle · « **Reply #14 on:** December 04, 2010, 09:25:30 PM »

[quote name=\'HairMetalLives\' post=\'252082\' date=\'Dec 4 2010, 06:01 PM\'][quote name=\'TLEberle\' post=\'251652\' date=\'Nov 27 2010, 12:25 PM\']In Seattle, Trump Card/TTT competed against Wheel and Jeopardy. That's not a ratings battle you're gonna win.[/quote]So that's why I never saw any of these shows until I started trading or until the few that popped up on USA did. I get it now![/quote]And I think this was the time when KIRO (7) was the independent station and KSTW was your CBS affiliate, swapping what was normal. I think Joker's Wild was 11 in the morning, Challengers at 4 (which was perfect viewing for a fifth grader who had just gotten home), Quiz Kids Challenge at o'dark thirty (I only happened upon it randomly some late Friday).

So, yeah, the TV year 1990 was unkind for upstart game shows.