Things you like that everyone seems to hate

[Chief-O]

Meh...I liked "Shop 'til You Drop" a lot as a kid, too.  When I watch it now...well, it's not as bad as its reputation suggests, but it's still a cheesy cable game show from the '90's...with all the elements that such a description implies.

Me too. I guess that being a kid at the time, I enjoyed the stunts. Nowadays, I like the set, the bonus round, the music [too bad the dude that stole the "Legends" cues from TVPMM ruined our chances of hearing it!]. And Pat Finn wasn't all that bad. As for the JD Roberto revamp---I'll pass!

I've recently mentioned elsewhere on this board that I liked TNPiR '94 back in the day. Most everything about the show was a breath of fresh air compared to Bob's show.

Speaking of Pat Finn----I didn't mind TJW '90 all that much. Then again, it was my introduction to the format.

And I'd stand firm on declaring "Supermarket Sweep" the best game show of the 90s.

[BrandonFG]

As a child, I enjoyed Peer Pressure and Pressure 1.

Same here. I actually wanted to be a contestant, seeing as how they actually gave away some pretty cool prizes.

[Sonic Whammy]

I will back Joker 90, particularly when they brought the categories back. I always liked the idea of running a bunch of questions if you really knew your subject. Also made for good comebacks sometimes. And I have always preferred the Match 3 bonus game to Face the Devil. Only thing that was a trouble after they converted was their constantly getting stuck in bonus game straddling. I have a fix to that, though.

I don't know if this has ever gotten flak, but I also like the short-lived first bonus game from the CBS Tic-Tac better. I like puzzles, so the find the 3-in-a-row is fun for me. TTD 90 messed it up a little by making you decide which symbol to play (and we know the rest). I did like 90's ability to let you stop the category shuffle, though.

And while we know that PYL was superior to Whammy!, I will always hold my stance that it was as great a revival as we could have asked for. I admit that GSN going so prize-heavy was odd, but I still love it.

[TLEberle]

And while we know that PYL was superior to Whammy!

Who is this "we" you speak of?

[SRIV94]

It's no secret that I liked GONG (the original--not the Bleu, "Extreme" or Attell versions).  A lot.  Hard for me to tell whether that opinion is shared by the majority--it seems those who love it are very vocal, and those who hate it are just as vocal.

[Sonic Whammy]

And while we know that PYL was superior to Whammy!

Who is this "we" you speak of?

Are you suggesting that your favor is with Team Whammy?

I'll be honest, if there is anyone out there who actually did prefer Whammy! to PYL, I've never been around at the right time to see them speak up. Not that I've heard anyone say Whammy! was junk, just that PYL was always better.

[clemon79]

So a Spoiler who spends the entire game trying to break through to the front finally manages to do so on what happens to be the last question of the game and all of a sudden the whole show is ruined?  I still don't understand how timing and a bit of luck sprinkled into an otherwise straight-forward quiz game completely destroys the format.

Then I suspect you won't.

Are you suggesting that your favor is with Team Whammy?

No, he's suggesting you shouldn't speak for the rest of the world, even when you think it's obvious.

[tvwxman]

I 'love' topics like this one. They never go bad. Ever.

[Jimmy Owen]

Well, I liked Second Chance better than PYL.  The focus was on the winning the game rather than losing.

[DrBear]

I know there are others who agree with me, but it seems to be the majority opinion that Password Plus/Super Password was preferred to the original CBS/ABC Password.

Call me old, or maybe it's the fact that I've worked with words all my life, but the original versions to me were more challenging. With the puzzles, the words are, if not predictable, at least aimed toward a common theme, which leads to a smaller universe of possible correct answers. In the original, the words were random, and required a much wider vocabulary. The words also seemed a bit more challenging by themselves - try thinking up clues for "flail."

(An aside - that's one reason why "no opposites" may be a better rule for the puzzle vs. nonpuzzle versions. If, say, the first two puzzle words were "cat" and "dog", after getting "cat" on the first, the obvious choice for the next one would be "cat.....")

I understand that going through 10 clues when it's clear nobody is getting anywhere near the word can be a slog, and I once proposed (back in the ATGS days, I think) just having three clues each, going from 6 points to 1, and playing to 15.

Ab out the only change I liked was the bonus - the Lightning Round (5 words in 60 seconds) was a nice little bonus for $250, but with players used to the format, it became disappointing when the contestant didn't get all five. In Alphabetics/Super Password, 10 in 60 worked, especially with the "start with M, end with V"  format giving you at least a handle on the first word to get going.

Anyway, long opinion is long.

[MTCesquire]

So a Spoiler who spends the entire game trying to break through to the front finally manages to do so on what happens to be the last question of the game and all of a sudden the whole show is ruined?  I still don't understand how timing and a bit of luck sprinkled into an otherwise straight-forward quiz game completely destroys the format.

Then I suspect you won't.

Funny, I thought I was going to get an actual reply to my comment.  I mean, if you don't have an answer and that's the best you can come up with, I understand.

[Kevin Prather]

Allow me.

So a Spoiler who spends the entire game trying to break through to the front doing nothing finally manages to do so win on what happens to be the last question of the game and all of a sudden the whole show is ruined?

Correct.

[MTCesquire]

Allow me.

So a Spoiler who spends the entire game trying to break through to the front doing nothing finally manages to do so win on what happens to be the last question of the game and all of a sudden the whole show is ruined?

Correct.

By that logic, "Wheel" is ruined then because a player can stand there and do nothing for almost three rounds, knock off the Prize Puzzle and cruise to the bonus round.  It sucks when that happens but it doesn't kill the whole format.  Same thing for "Crosswords".  You call it a big deal that messes up everything, I call it "how the game works".  Not every format is going to be perfect.

[TLEberle]

By that logic, "Wheel" is ruined then because a player can stand there and do nothing for almost three rounds, knock off the Prize Puzzle and cruise to the bonus round.  It sucks when that happens but it doesn't kill the whole format.  Same thing for "Crosswords".  You call it a big deal that messes up everything, I call it "how the game works".  Not every format is going to be perfect.

Given Wheel, Jeopardy, Monopoly and Crosswords you could make the case that Merv didn't care overmuch about having an exciting, dramatic or even interesting finish to the game.

[parliboy]

By that logic, "Wheel" is ruined then because a player can stand there and do nothing for almost three rounds, knock off the Prize Puzzle and cruise to the bonus round.  It sucks when that happens but it doesn't kill the whole format.  Same thing for "Crosswords".  You call it a big deal that messes up everything, I call it "how the game works".  Not every format is going to be perfect.

The Prize Puzzle is my absolute least favorite part of the show because it turns the risk/reward factor of the show on its ear.  A major appeal is the "risk your luck" element, and element damaged by the prize puzzle.  And yeah, frankly, it kills the format for me.