I JUST saw an episode of the new Lingo, thanks to them uploading the first couple to the GSN website, and I really don't know what to say to these new changes. Because Lingo was popular even in reruns when they cancelled it, most of what is NOT the old Lingo feels like change for the sake of change.
The bonus round pays out way too much for getting four words right, let alone 5. I remember my strategy for the previous bonus round was to build up a stock of words in my head that would minimize overlapping letters, and not start to make guesses based on the clues from the board until clue 3 or 4. I think with this new bonus round, it would work even better.
The clues seem to deter the contestants more than help them. They are going to be so focused on that clue that they don't pay attention to the word itself- if it were me, I'd ignore the clue altogether unless I got down to my last guess. Contestants on the last version did quite well without the clues, and I see no reason why the same thing couldn't be said for this version.
All in all, I'm torn. It's still Lingo at its core, but it's mangled in some places nonetheless. I hope this gets another season-not just to work out the kinks, but also so GSN doesn't write off Lingo as another one off show, thus guaranteeing that we won't see it re-revived anytime soon.
BTW, Apple Autocorrect is pretentious, intrusive and just overall sucks. I would much rather see them implement the suggestion bar from the Windows Phone 7.
