Author Topic: Wait, Wait...Don't Tell Me to TV (Read 5456 times)

tpirfan28 · « **on:** November 17, 2011, 10:43:42 AM »

Quote

New York - November 16, 2011 - BBC AMERICA and NPR announced today that the Peabody Award-winning radio quiz show, Wait Wait... Don't Tell Me!, will make its television debut on BBC AMERICA with a "2011 Year in Review" special on Friday, December 23, 8:00pm ET/PT. The year-end special will also broadcast on NPR stations on that weekend, December 24 and 25.

Disappointed that it's not on PBS, but happy it's making it on to TV.

clemon79 · « **Reply #1 on:** November 17, 2011, 11:16:49 AM »

Quote from: tpirfan28 on November 17, 2011, 10:43:42 AM

Disappointed that it's not on PBS, but happy it's making it on to TV.

I dunno about you, but I'd rather see it have the chance to prove itself viable as a commercial affair.

Clay Zambo · « **Reply #2 on:** November 17, 2011, 12:02:06 PM »

I enjoyed reading about this on one of the NPR gang's twitter feed, especially EP Doug Berman's closing line: "It's pretty much what we do every week, except NPR has to add a budget line for pants."

byrd62 · « **Reply #3 on:** November 17, 2011, 04:34:27 PM »

Quote from: clemon79 on November 17, 2011, 11:16:49 AM

Quote from: tpirfan28 on November 17, 2011, 10:43:42 AM
Disappointed that it's not on PBS, but happy it's making it on to TV.
I dunno about you, but I'd rather see it have the chance to prove itself viable as a commercial affair.

NPR's version of Wait, Wait... has had ~~sponsors~~underwriters like Motel 6 [whose spokesman, Tom Bodett, is a frequent Wait, Wait.. panelist] and Progressive Insurance, so might it stand to reason that those two companies, who advertise often on TV, would get to sponsor the BBC America version?

alfonzos · « **Reply #4 on:** November 17, 2011, 06:50:13 PM »

This is the one NPR quiz that's ready for prime time. I look forward to visiting someone who has cable so I can watch it.

narzo · « **Reply #5 on:** November 18, 2011, 08:13:56 AM »

while I'm thrilled this show is getting some television exposure, the thing that angers me is the fact BBC America is the network doing it. The network couldn't be less relevant these days to someone like myself who loves British programming. It's nothing more than the Sci-Fi channel with "Top Gear" and more Gordon Ramsay then should be allowed by law.

parliboy · « **Reply #6 on:** November 18, 2011, 11:23:02 AM »

That's not fair, Narzo. You can't watch wrestling on BBC America.

clemon79 · « **Reply #7 on:** November 18, 2011, 12:21:14 PM »

Quote from: narzo on November 18, 2011, 08:13:56 AM

and more Gordon Ramsay then should be allowed by law.

No such thing.

/it's RAW!!!
//you donkey!

Unrealtor · « **Reply #8 on:** November 19, 2011, 06:45:23 PM »

Quote from: narzo on November 18, 2011, 08:13:56 AM

while I'm thrilled this show is getting some television exposure, the thing that angers me is the fact BBC America is the network doing it. The network couldn't be less relevant these days to someone like myself who loves British programming. It's nothing more than the Sci-Fi channel with "Top Gear" and more Gordon Ramsay then should be allowed by law.

Considering that Wait Wait is as close as the US gets to a genre that's thriving in the UK but has (with the exception of TTTT) been more or less dead here for decades (the panel show, especially one where the game is secondary to the humor of the panel), I'd say that it's a good fit for them.

I don't think something like Have I Got News for You would transfer well over here, but there are some non-current-events ones that I think would work over here even if we don't have any idea who half the people are.

TLEberle · « **Reply #9 on:** November 19, 2011, 07:10:51 PM »

Quote from: Unrealtor on November 19, 2011, 06:45:23 PM

I don't think something like Have I Got News for You would transfer well over here, but there are some non-current-events ones that I think would work over here even if we don't have any idea who half the people are.

When I realized that the amount of gameplay had been shortened by half to allow Jimmy Carr more time to riff at the top of the show, I lost interest in 8 Out Of Ten Cats, but I think Would I Lie To You? could be carried off hilariously.

JCGames · « **Reply #10 on:** November 19, 2011, 09:15:17 PM »

I've never understood why JUST A MINUTE hasn't been adopted for a US version(aside from the 1954 DuMont version ONE MINUTE PLEASE). That show is one of the funniest programs I've ever heard.

That Don Guy · « **Reply #11 on:** November 19, 2011, 09:38:20 PM »

Quote from: JCGames on November 19, 2011, 09:15:17 PM

I've never understood why JUST A MINUTE hasn't been adopted for a US version(aside from the 1954 DuMont version ONE MINUTE PLEASE). That show is one of the funniest programs I've ever heard.

Celebrity panel games have been tried relatively recently - remember Harry Shearer's The News Hole?

There just isn't the interest for it, except for those of us who watched/listened to the BBC version (speaking of which, I have heard (choose one: reports, rumors) that the BBC is trying to make most of its radio archives available online by the end of 2012; hopefully this will include not only JAM but past years of Brain of Britain (David Letterman's favorite BBC show at one time, IIRC) as well).

Matt Ottinger · « **Reply #12 on:** November 19, 2011, 10:59:47 PM »

Quote from: That Don Guy on November 19, 2011, 09:38:20 PM

Celebrity panel games have been tried relatively recently - remember Harry Shearer's The News Hole?

There are certainly more recent examples you could have used, including remakes of TTTT and IGAS. Seventeen years ago is a pretty generous definition of "relatively recently".

RMF · « **Reply #13 on:** November 21, 2011, 10:10:35 PM »

Quote from: JCGames on November 19, 2011, 09:15:17 PM

I've never understood why JUST A MINUTE hasn't been adopted for a US version(aside from the 1954 DuMont version ONE MINUTE PLEASE). That show is one of the funniest programs I've ever heard.

Those with a greater familiarity can answer this, but haven't the British spent over forty years trying to adapt Just A Minute to television without much success? That would be a red flag, especially given that, as far as the US goes, I'm not sure that radio is an option.

Unrealtor · « **Reply #14 on:** November 22, 2011, 02:50:38 PM »

Quote from: RMF on November 21, 2011, 10:10:35 PM

Quote from: JCGames on November 19, 2011, 09:15:17 PM
I've never understood why JUST A MINUTE hasn't been adopted for a US version(aside from the 1954 DuMont version ONE MINUTE PLEASE). That show is one of the funniest programs I've ever heard.

Those with a greater familiarity can answer this, but haven't the British spent over forty years trying to adapt Just A Minute to television without much success? That would be a red flag, especially given that, as far as the US goes, I'm not sure that radio is an option.

ISTR that the first attempt at TV was within the last 20 years or so and TV producers have tended to monkey around with the format.

I'll admit that there isn't really anything about JAM that requires visuals, but I'd say that the same thing applies to basically all talk shows and a lot of game shows--you could cover up the screen and not really lose anything. If the BBC called me up today and asked for my advice for a new TV version, I'd say to get people with a background in performing and not just wits, and arrange the staging so that the person with control of the subject is standing at center stage with a little bit of room to move around, rather than keeping everyone behind a desk the whole time.