Any more Time Capsule shows coming?

[tvwxman]

Or have they given up? Just curious.

[Matt Ottinger]

I don't know anything official, but given that the ratings were pretty lousy despite decent publicity, my gut feeling is that they wrote this off as a noble failure.  Which is too bad, because I'd heard from multiple sources that they'd gotten access to some unusual shows.

[gamed121683]

I don't know anything official, but given that the ratings were pretty lousy despite decent publicity, my gut feeling is that they wrote this off as a noble failure.  Which is too bad, because I'd heard from multiple sources that they'd gotten access to some unusual shows.

Are you allowed to share the titles of those unusual shows they got access to or are you sworn to secrecy?

[Matt Ottinger]

I don't know anything official, but given that the ratings were pretty lousy despite decent publicity, my gut feeling is that they wrote this off as a noble failure.  Which is too bad, because I'd heard from multiple sources that they'd gotten access to some unusual shows.

Are you allowed to share the titles of those unusual shows they got access to or are you sworn to secrecy?

The latter, unfortunately.  Well, OK, You Don't Say was one of them.  It was possibly stuff from the UCLA holdings that hadn't made it into wide circulation among collectors.  Some of them might have been in sketchy video quality, like the All-Star Secrets they ran. 

[MSTieScott]

Well, OK, You Don't Say was one of them.

Aw, that's too bad. I would have needed a Tylenol after watching that.

[WarioBarker]

I think the issue was that they used qualifiers of "Before they were stars!" first and "good show" a distant second. Babble was kind of a mess, All-Star Secrets was fine, The New Cross-Wits had a bad host who made sitting through the show an ordeal (at least for me), and then they finally put on something actually recognizable by the public in Tattletales.

The promotion for the Time Capsule was decent, sure, but maybe if GSN put on shows that were more well-known or recognizable than three short-lived games that ranged from mediocre to lame, then perhaps things might not have been as bad.

Are you allowed to share the titles of those unusual shows they got access to or are you sworn to secrecy?

The latter, unfortunately.

Why were you sworn to secrecy in the first place, though? Doesn't really make sense to me, since you'd think GSN would want to promote what they got ahold of for the Time Capsule specials.

[TLEberle]

Why were you sworn to secrecy in the first place, though?

Because people who said "Hey, can you keep a secret?" wanted to involve him or wanted his help, and didn't want other people to know about it.

Doesn't really make sense to me,

I suspect that ultimately you're just going to have to accept this.

[Dbacksfan12]

I think the issue was that they used qualifiers of "Before they were stars!" first and "good show" a distant second. Babble was kind of a mess, All-Star Secrets was fine, The New Cross-Wits had a bad host who made sitting through the show an ordeal (at least for me), and then they finally put on something actually recognizable by the public in Tattletales.

You think the general public recognizes Tattletales?  Tge general public recognizes Price and Jeopardy.  They might recognize something like PYL but I think even that is pushing it.

[WarioBarker]

You think the general public recognizes Tattletales? Tge general public recognizes Price and Jeopardy. They might recognize something like PYL but I think even that is pushing it.

I think the general public is more likely to recognize Tattletales than they would All-Star Secrets or the mid-1980s Cross-Wits, at least.

Because people who said "Hey, can you keep a secret?" wanted to involve him or wanted his help, and didn't want other people to know about it.

I get they may have wanted to surprise people like us with whatever they had (You Don't Say! would've been a pleasant surprise, and I remember reading a rumor that they had Second Chance), but one problem was that they started off with some lackluster shows and so there really weren't too many reasons to get excited about it.

The whole thing also kinda has the smell of John Ricci on it.

Doesn't really make sense to me,

I suspect that ultimately you're just going to have to accept this.

Trust me, I get that. Doesn't mean I have to like it, but yeah.

[jjman920]

You think the general public recognizes Tattletales? Tge general public recognizes Price and Jeopardy. They might recognize something like PYL but I think even that is pushing it.

I think the general public is more likely to recognize Tattletales than All-Star Secrets or the mid-1980s Cross-Wits, at least.

Honestly, that distinction is very small. Tattletales was the far more successful show than the others you've mentioned, but that's about it. For modern audiences they aren't remembering any of the three you mentioned. Tattletales, while it lasted for a while and was revived, didn't really have a hook to make people remember it in the long run. I'm not thinking of Tattletales as recognizable as I would a Price, Wheel, Jeopardy, or even Press Your Luck or Pyramid.

[PYLdude]

The whole thing also kinda has the smell of John Ricci on it.

What in the blue hell does any involvement by John Ricci have to do with whether or not the Time Capsule was a success? Would it really have made any difference?

[WarioBarker]

That was more in reference to the whole thing about super-rare stuff and secrecy, and I should've been more clear on that. I am not blaming the Time Capsule's failure on John in any way -- as I said, I more blame the choice of shows.

[PYLdude]

I was more referencing the whole thing about super-rare stuff and secrecy. I am not blaming the Time Capsule's success or failure on John -- as I said, I more blame the choice of shows.

Then why even bring Ricci up?

[BrandonFG]

You think the general public recognizes Tattletales? Tge general public recognizes Price and Jeopardy. They might recognize something like PYL but I think even that is pushing it.

I think the general public is more likely to recognize Tattletales than they would All-Star Secrets or the mid-1980s Cross-Wits, at least.

Not necessarily. The show hasn't aired new episodes in more than 30 years, and it's not like GSN has aired it consistently the way they do Match Game, Feud or Pyramid. It was a modest hit in the 70s and 80s, but nothing more. I doubt airing it first would've caused significantly higher ratings.

Because people who said "Hey, can you keep a secret?" wanted to involve him or wanted his help, and didn't want other people to know about it.

I get they may have wanted to surprise people like us with whatever they had (You Don't Say! would've been a pleasant surprise, and I remember reading a rumor that they had Second Chance), but one problem was that they started off with some lackluster shows and so there really weren't too many reasons to get excited about it.

The whole thing also kinda has the smell of John Ricci on it.

Honestly...I love the obscurities. The problem is, viewers like me are rare, so it's prolly not going to light up the charts, regardless of who the future star was. At the end of the day, very few outside of this forum have heard of Crosswits, and if they have, then it's a faint memory. Even fewer people are aware of Babble. It doesn't help that the shows were mediocre at best, so GSN pretty much has the "Before They Were Stars" factor and not much else. It'll either work or it doesn't...and we saw what happened.

And honestly, I know John rubs a lot of people here the wrong way, but he deserves some credit for getting some of the stuff on GSN.

Doesn't really make sense to me,

I suspect that ultimately you're just going to have to accept this.

Trust me, I get that. Doesn't mean I have to like it, but yeah.
[/quote]
What exactly are you saying here? Matt said he was sworn to secrecy. Is it a bummer? Maybe, but there's not much you can do. I doubt he risks burning a bridge (and maybe that's excessive, who knows) just to let us in on what is now a moot point.

[clemon79]

The whole thing also kinda has the smell of John Ricci on it.

Actually, that was me. Must have been the gazpacho.