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Author Topic: Puzzlers - Pilot review with pictures...  (Read 10099 times)


Vahan_Nisanian

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Puzzlers - Pilot review with pictures...
« Reply #1 on: July 15, 2012, 12:40:14 PM »
Nice to know that a copy of the pilot has found its way in the collecting circuit. I remember seeing bits and pieces of it in one of the Game Show Moments Gone Bananas specials.

tvwxman

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Puzzlers - Pilot review with pictures...
« Reply #2 on: July 15, 2012, 02:01:07 PM »
That was great! Who is behind this blog? Would love to see more!

And, is the video available?
-------------

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Vahan_Nisanian

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Puzzlers - Pilot review with pictures...
« Reply #3 on: July 15, 2012, 02:02:58 PM »
Jamie Locklin is behind the blog I think.

Blanquepage

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Puzzlers - Pilot review with pictures...
« Reply #4 on: July 15, 2012, 02:56:42 PM »
Quote

Jamie Locklin is behind the blog I think.

Guilty.

Quote
Nice to know that a copy of the pilot has found its way in the collecting circuit.

Sorry, I'm pretty sure it's not. I was just able to screen it, review it, and provide some screenshots.

Quote
And, is the video available?
Sorry, but not anytime in the foreseeable future. At least not from me.
Other sources with it, with the liberty to share video, may feel like posting it at some point.
Until then, some screen grabs and a review are really it for now!

--Jamie
« Last Edit: July 15, 2012, 03:09:19 PM by Jimmy Fiono Coyne »
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dazztardly

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Puzzlers - Pilot review with pictures...
« Reply #5 on: July 15, 2012, 03:14:27 PM »
Thank you for sharing this information on the show. It's nice to see Steve Ryan's handywork in action :)

whewfan

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Puzzlers - Pilot review with pictures...
« Reply #6 on: July 15, 2012, 04:59:10 PM »
Based on the description, the game itself seemed to be a puzzler. Certainly not a game that can be described in a single sentence, as Mark Goodson said was the key to a good game.

dmota104

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Puzzlers - Pilot review with pictures...
« Reply #7 on: July 15, 2012, 05:04:25 PM »
Nice to know that a copy of the pilot has found its way in the collecting circuit. I remember seeing bits and pieces of it in one of the Game Show Moments Gone Bananas specials.

Yeah, good thing they didn't include "tuck" in the missing initials category.

Sucker for word games and word puzzles that I am, I've wanted to know more about "Puzzlers".

From the looks of things, they might have been better off without the semi-final round ("series of Double Puzzles") and just had the champion play against a new challenger in the best of three-out-of-five series.

alfonzos

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Puzzlers - Pilot review with pictures...
« Reply #8 on: July 15, 2012, 05:12:14 PM »
Stopping the action to explain a new puzzle worked for TPiR so I can see why Goodson would give word puzzles a try. Perhaps a more interesting format or scoring system would be in order.
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chris319

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Puzzlers - Pilot review with pictures...
« Reply #9 on: July 16, 2012, 08:33:54 AM »
The puzzles were largely Steve's creation but it was Bobby Sherman and Ira Skutch who rather made a jumble out of the format. There was some concern that the range of material might be limited if they didn't have an assortment of puzzles. There was talk of using puzzles involving maps, where players would identify the state they were in after seeing certain cities, and picture puzzles where players would identify an object after seeing various close-up views of it. I came up with a puzzle called "Hieroglyphics" where words would appear by gradually revealing fragments of the characters, kind of like Camouflage in reverse, but it was not used in the pilot.

After we did the pilot, NBC passed on it. We had to wait 30 days until we could show it to another buyer. CBS came in, looked at a live run-thru and passed. That was the end of Puzzlers. I then asked Ira if we would be showing it to ABC. His answer was, bluntly, "We don't deal with ABC." He went on to explain that there was a rift between Goodson and ABC which originated with Family Feud. ABC objected to the "steal" part of the game. Goodson wanted it kept in. ABC wanted it out. After a bit of back and forth, Goodson said that either the "steal" stayed in or he would take the show to another network. ABC relented and Family Feud made lots and lots of money for them.

 If they had made Puzzlers a little more like TPIR with one type of puzzle per act and an inventory of rotating puzzles, it would have been an improvement.
« Last Edit: July 16, 2012, 08:36:55 AM by chris319 »

SamJ93

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Puzzlers - Pilot review with pictures...
« Reply #10 on: July 16, 2012, 09:32:18 AM »
After we did the pilot, NBC passed on it. We had to wait 30 days until we could show it to another buyer. CBS came in, looked at a live run-thru and passed. That was the end of Puzzlers. I then asked Ira if we would be showing it to ABC. His answer was, bluntly, "We don't deal with ABC." He went on to explain that there was a rift between Goodson and ABC which originated with Family Feud. ABC objected to the "steal" part of the game. Goodson wanted it kept in. ABC wanted it out. After a bit of back and forth, Goodson said that either the "steal" stayed in or he would take the show to another network. ABC relented and Family Feud made lots and lots of money for them.

Wow, what a strange thing to object to.  Did they have a problem with the moral implications of promoting "stealing" on a daytime show?  If the mechanism was called something else, would the objection have been as strong?
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chris319

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Puzzlers - Pilot review with pictures...
« Reply #11 on: July 16, 2012, 11:00:56 AM »
They didn't like that one family could do the bulk of the work, strike out, and the opposing family could "steal" it away with just one correct answer. Of course Goodson was right because it gives the game drama and irony.
« Last Edit: July 16, 2012, 11:01:27 AM by chris319 »

clemon79

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Puzzlers - Pilot review with pictures...
« Reply #12 on: July 16, 2012, 02:17:40 PM »
They didn't like that one family could do the bulk of the work, strike out, and the opposing family could "steal" it away with just one correct answer. Of course Goodson was right because it gives the game drama and irony.
Sooooooo....what were they suggesting as a replacement?
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MikeK

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Puzzlers - Pilot review with pictures...
« Reply #13 on: July 16, 2012, 02:19:05 PM »
Good story.  I have wondered why most G/T shows ended up on NBC or CBS in the late 70s/early 80s.

chris319

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Puzzlers - Pilot review with pictures...
« Reply #14 on: July 16, 2012, 04:05:54 PM »
It doesn't explain The Better Sex, but NBC was the first port of call during the Fred Silverman era and CBS the second.