101 Ways to try to reinvent a game show

[JasonA1]

Once Deal or No Deal hit big...most of these shows had to rely on gimmicks, such as The Chamber

Que? Chamber aired in 2002.

-Jason

[Steve Gavazzi]

Que? Chamber aired in 2002.

God, that was that long ago already?

[The Ol' Guy]

Had a phone conversation with one of our astute members several years ago, and some of the things he said really rang true and stayed with me. Like some of us, I used to have a feeling of embarrassment over liking game shows while growing up. He mentioned that one of the attractions of most early game shows was entering a world of civility. People got together, looked good, were polite, won with excitement, losers were good losers...at least on screen, anyway. The games and the hosts knew they were guests in your home and wanted to keep making themselves welcome. By keeping the game simple and the stakes moderate, competition was friendlier. Now granted, in many ways it was like a fantasy world, but it was one a lot of us used to (and some of us still do) wish existed outside our front doors. And back in the day, you could still find some of that if you (a) looked, and (b) was proactive (greeting and acknowledging people, helping as you could). We all have a dark side brewing under the skin, and it takes effort to keep it under control. Since today control doesn't seem to be worth the effort or isn't as entertaining, producers tapped into it to create "excitement" television. Take Survivor. Being able to take pride in sabotaging others' efforts and eliminating your enemies/competitors was seen as good. Then transfer that concept to The Weakest Link, Greed, Friend or Foe and many others. Being able to put the hurt on others kinda took some of the fun out of watching. To screw people just for the sake of screwing them. You could be a lousy game player, but if you get lucky enough to get the vote to eliminate those who threaten you or are better than you (current political discourse, anyone?), what's the message there? Losers win. That's just one of the reasons most new shows sour me (along with the fake suspense and padding to turn a 10-minute game into an hour show). Note to those producers: Jeopardy, Wheel, Price and Feud have maintained those classic values and have run longer than any of these high-concept, raw emotion-driven, race to the bottom of civility projects. Or just plain silly ones. That's my vent for the day. Now I gotta air out the room. Thanks for the insight, Mr. T.

[chris319]

I was going to respond to this thread a couple of days ago. Rather than rail against any particular network which may or may not employ me, I will simply point out that two of the highest-rated shows in all of syndication have been on the air literally for decades. They have succeeded without gratuitous gimmicks. They have succeeded without pushing a single contestant into a tank of water, without pushing a single prize off the roof, without having a single contestant fall through a trap door, and without flushing the better part of a million dollars down a faux toilet. They have succeeded without the law of gravity playing a central role in the game.

It says something when a game show has been on for more decades than other game shows have been on for weeks.

[clemon79]

They have succeeded without the law of gravity playing a central role in the game.

There's an argument that one of them does. You'd be waiting a loooong time for the Wheel to stop spinning otherwise.

[chris319]

They have succeeded without the law of gravity playing a central role in the game.

There's an argument that one of them does. You'd be waiting a loooong time for the Wheel to stop spinning otherwise.

Huh? The WOF wheel isn't gravity operated; it stops by friction. You're thinking of Wheel of Cliffhangers.

Newton's laws of motion are three physical laws that form the basis for classical mechanics. They describe the relationship between the forces acting on a body and its motion due to those forces. They have been expressed in several different ways over nearly three centuries and can be summarized as follows:

1. First law: Every body remains in a state of constant velocity unless acted upon by an external unbalanced force. This means that in the absence of a non-zero net force, the center of mass of a body either remains at rest, or moves at a constant velocity.

[clemon79]

Huh? The WOF wheel isn't gravity operated; it stops by friction. You're thinking of Wheel of Cliffhangers.

Without gravity pulling the wheel down (which creates friction on the hub), the lone source of friction are those three tiny-ass pointers trying to stop that big-ass wheel. Eventually it would stop, but you'd be there for a while.

[chris319]

Huh? The WOF wheel isn't gravity operated; it stops by friction. You're thinking of Wheel of Cliffhangers.

Without gravity pulling the wheel down (which creates friction on the hub), the lone source of friction are those three tiny-ass pointers trying to stop that big-ass wheel. Eventually it would stop, but you'd be there for a while.

This assumes that compression isn't being applied to the wheel bearing, say to regulate the speed of the wheel.

Ultimately, gravity plays a role in all game shows or else the cameras would float around the studio. It doesn't play a major role in the WOF game, though.

[clemon79]

Ultimately, gravity plays a role in all game shows or else the cameras would float around the studio. It doesn't play a major role in the WOF game, though.

Fair point.

[chris319]

The game board on the original Double Dare relied a great deal on gravity to reveal the clues, and look where it is today.

[tvrandywest]

The game board on the original Double Dare relied a great deal on gravity to reveal the clues, and look where it is today.

Bob Boden's garage?    ;-P


Randy
tvrandywest.com

[chris319]

The game board on the original Double Dare relied a great deal on gravity to reveal the clues, and look where it is today.

Bob Boden's garage?    ;-P

Mr. West, I don't see the need for a question mark at the end of that sentence. Now pick up your set of Town & Country tableware from Washington Forge, with Fleetwood handles and dishwasher safe, on your way out of the studio. Thank you.

/Despite having once been an ubiquitous fixture on daytime television, a Google search turns up very little on the former Washington Forge cutlery company, except for someone mentioning that they won a set on Split Second. Calling Art Alisi ...

[Mr. Armadillo]

without having a single contestant fall through a trap door,

No, but I've been hoping Jeopardy! would institute this for contestants who fail to reach Final for years now.

[Fedya]

I'd rather Jeopardy! contestants in a deficit situation after Double Jeopardy! be sucked off the set through pneumatic tubes.  :-)

Unrelated, but I noticed during the most recent episode of 101 Ways... that the local ABC affiliate uses a much-too-big notification for Severe Thunderstorm Warnings: a giant blue bar at the bottom of the screen that's on screen the entire time, big enough for the entire row of answers to be hidden.  (It also blocks out the score displays on Jeopardy![/i)

[clemon79]

I'd rather Jeopardy! contestants in a deficit situation after Double Jeopardy! be sucked off the set through pneumatic tubes.  :-)

Certainly it would be more appropriate, considering their performance.