"To Tell The Truth" coming back?!

[tvwxman]

Yay!

http://www.deadline.com/2014/07/to-tell-the-truth-fremantlemedia-north-america-jeff-gaspin-producing/

[Matt Ottinger]

"...with a surprising new twist that adds action and suspense and raises the stakes."

Pardon me if I withhold my "Yay!" for the time being.  Still, it's intriguing.

[jjman920]

"...with a surprising new twist that adds action and suspense and raises the stakes."

Pardon me if I withhold my "Yay!" for the time being.  Still, it's intriguing.

Exactly. When I was told about it, I was excited at first. Then I read that exact sentence and went from excitement to tepid joy.

Definitely still interested, especially since they're going for a primetime version on a broadcast network and not a syndicated daytime affair. If they get it on the air, wouldn't this be the first primetime version of Truth since the 60s?

[BrandonFG]

And if it makes it to air, I believe this and TPiR will be the only two shows to air in seven decades (1950s-2010s), no?

[TLEberle]

I can't imagine that the show would be revamped to where if the team can fool all four panelists that they divide a million dollar payout.

Maybe the panelists who guess wrong are dropped over the side of a 100 foot skyscraper.

[clemon79]

Maybe the panelists who guess wrong are dropped over the side of a 100 foot skyscraper.

If they get Chris Jericho to host this, I am *totally* in.

[SuperMatch93]

Looking forward to possibly having a panel show on American TV again.

I also remember hearing last year that Whoopi Goldberg was working with Fremantle to possibly mount a revival of WML. Wonder if anything else will come out of that...

[Matt Ottinger]

Anything  that "raises the stakes" for any of the big three panel shows, or really, for ANY panel show, pretty much ruins it right there.  If there's actual money at stake, the viewer's rooting interest is thrown completely out of whack, because you're either hoping that the celebrities play their own game badly, or you're hoping the contestant doesn't win the big money. 

[Vahan_Nisanian]

The only regulars from the original series still alive are Polly Bergen and Orson Bean.

[PYLdude]

The only regulars from the original series still alive are Polly Bergen and Orson Bean.

Not according to the 'pedia...

[BillCullen1]

It was just a matter of time before they tried to bring back TTTT from the dead. I'm wondering who they're going to get as panelists for this go round.

[byrd62]

Anything  that "raises the stakes" for any of the big three panel shows, or really, for ANY panel show, pretty much ruins it right there.  If there's actual money at stake, the viewer's rooting interest is thrown completely out of whack, because you're either hoping that the celebrities play their own game badly, or you're hoping the contestant doesn't win the big money.

John Charles Daly was purported to have contemplated quitting WML? after Mark Goodson was pitched an idea from CBS to increase its stakes, arguing that the show was about people, not prizes.  I agree with Matt that if Gaspin/Moll/Fremantle's remake of TTTT were to go the big-money route, that would, on the surface, take away from the "people" aspect of it right there.

If the $1000 top prize on the old CBS primetime TTTT from 50 years ago were to be adjusted for inflation, it would be equal to well over $7500 today.  Thus, if the TTTT remake were to stick to it being about people more than prizes, my idea of how to give away the money (divided amongst the 3 challengers) would simply be $750 per wrong guess, $7500 if all the guesses are wrong, or a consolation $300 if all the guesses are right.

[TLEberle]

Why bother with such small sums? $300 split ways (or is it two ways and the central character gets something else) isn't going to excite the viewers: it's the game that the viewers should care about. I have various ides about how they could handle it sanely but it deviates from the fact that the interrogation and vote is what we should focus on, not whether the impostors can win some big prize for a shutout. (If the game is being played for blood it should go to the panel every time and what fun is that.)

[JMFabiano]

Views on comments page for the article:

If you want to bang your head against a wall, look at the comments fill with HIGH-larious jokes about politicians or Obama not appearing on the show.  I am against both major parties, but really, we GET IT already.

Who is this SoCalGuy who mentions working on the 2000 version and how him and others "wished it would die"?  I haven't followed the behind the scenes workings of that version, are there any nightmare stories I am missing?

Agree that Million Dollar Truth is a bit extreme (see also: a certain other Goodson revival from 5 years ago, one that would have in turn been better as a revival of another Bob Stewart creation).  And as we saw from the 2K version, it's too easy to adjust the content to be in line with the "successful" Family Feud changes. 

Also, (un)official ban for Paula Poundstone, please?

OTOH, wouldn't mind John O'Hurley returning if he's not busy. 

[clemon79]

Thus, if the TTTT remake were to stick to it being about people more than prizes, my idea of how to give away the money (divided amongst the 3 challengers) would simply be $750 per wrong guess, $7500 if all the guesses are wrong, or a consolation $300 if all the guesses are right.

The second you started caring about adjusting the prize money for inflation is the second you contradicted the idea of it being "about the people".

It's a token amount of money for a reason, and that it doesn't buy as much today is really immaterial.