ABC revives TTTT

[BrandonFG]

"Refreshing" might be the wrong word. It is a cut and dry show: interrogate imposters for :30...lather, rinse, repeat, then vote. By "modernize", just off the top of my head, invoking more of a panel discussion as opposed to just a :30 interrogation and casting a vote.

There was a show a few years back called Wanna Bet? I think it was hosted by Ant and Dec...it was a fun little summer panel show. Something more along those lines, a lighthearted game with a little humor that's not all about high stakes.

I dunno why, but the instant I read "facing a punishment", I immediately thought of having them do the opposite of what the "winner" does at the end of Whose Line is it Anyway...maybe look into the camera and say "To tell the truth, I am terrible at picking out the real _____..."

[TLEberle]

there are ways you can modernize TTTT and make it refreshing.

How so?

New set. New musical score. New host. Different kinds of stories. New mini-games. Allowing the audience to vote.

On the British version of Wanna Bet? there was a "punishment" aspect as host Bruce Forsyth would be on the side of success or failure as determined by an audience vote. If he lost the bet he would have to do something silly and a clip of same would be shown next week. Big Brother routinely doles out punishments over the course of various challenges, to where contestants are dressed up in an odd costume, or shackled together for a day and so on. Hell's Kitchen has a punishment for the losing team of the first challenge of every episode, and the losers are preparing for dinner service, cleaning the flatware, cleaning up roadside trash, gutting squid and so on. Punishment doesn't have to mean covered in glop.

(Lord Hyphen was correct; the American version seen about ten years ago was hosted by Ant&Dec.)

[BrandonFG]

Piggybacking off Travis's idea of "different kinds of stories", definitely tell stories that allow for visual demonstrations in studio or via a pre-recorded story, after "the real ___" is revealed. I imagine this show will be an hour; I wouldn't mind seeing demonstrations fill the time as opposed to drawn-out dramatic reveals.

Maybe the dreaded celebrity "punishment" could involve being part of the demonstration, as long as it's not too dangerous.

[jjman920]

One of the ideas I had mulling around in my head was $5,000 per wrong vote. Audience also gets a vote. If the impostors fool everybody, $30,000 is split among the three. However, if the audience correctly picks the right person, they get to split $5,000.

[TLEberle]

To Tell the Truth is basically show and tell day for grownups. I don't think that whether the top prize is $1,000; $30,000 or One Million Damn Dollars will make a lick of difference. The world is full of people who have interesting stories to tell--that's why Robert Ripley and the McWhirter twins were able to carve out careers in the book business. Find someone who can shoot a bow and arrow with his toes. Or someone who creates prosthetic eyes for horses. Or who breeds giant millipedes. Go find Bill Watterson, Sonja Christopher, Nancy Zerg, or a stage hand for Penn and Teller, or other people who are out of the limelight and bring them back in.

There are lots of people who would be willing to appear on the show just for the chance to be on television and to talk a little bit about what makes them special. The money takes away from the fun stories and creates a problem in where your rooting interest lies.

[clemon79]

One of the ideas I had mulling around in my head was $5,000 per wrong vote. Audience also gets a vote. If the impostors fool everybody, $30,000 is split among the three. However, if the audience correctly picks the right person, they get to split $5,000.

This demonstrates quite the lack of understanding as to what TTTT is all about. You might consider reading Travis's post above.

[jjman920]

One of the ideas I had mulling around in my head was $5,000 per wrong vote. Audience also gets a vote. If the impostors fool everybody, $30,000 is split among the three. However, if the audience correctly picks the right person, they get to split $5,000.

This demonstrates quite the lack of understanding as to what TTTT is all about. You might consider reading Travis's post above.

Oh, I know what TTTT is all about. I love all panel shows including this one. I'd love to see a resurgence in them as they were, simple fun games that subsisted on a funny panel and engaging stories. But as alluded to on this board before, there's next to no chance an untouched version of the show makes it to air nowadays. My idea, and moreso the audience winning money part rather than the whole lot of cash part, is an attempt to find perhaps the least innocuous way to engage an ever increasingly difficult to engage audience besides just demonstrations.

We've had this conversation before, but it's just no way TTTT comes back and isn't solely about the gameplay, as it should be. I don't know what's going on with that What's My Line? they're shopping around, but I'll be very surprised if that makes it to air with no changes to the original or syndicated gameplay. And that's a shame.

[PSUGSContestant]

Now hold on, the BuzzerBlog link is gone. So did something happen?

[TLEberle]

We've had this conversation before, but it's just no way TTTT comes back and isn't solely about the gameplay, as it should be.

To Tell the Truth is only notionally about the gameplay anyway: it's the reason that the panel and host get together.

After I got over the idea that the winners would take home $500 split three ways plus the sponsored merchandise and that the game could be played seriously or not at all at the discretion of the panel I started to enjoy what each person brought to the group: Garry Moore was a comedic genius, Peggy Cass would eat the challengers in three bites, Gene Rayburn would be a goof and Bill Cullen would show off his breadth of knowledge without showing off. And gee whiz, it's so fun and watchable. After the game was over I wanted to dive right back into another one. I had already forgotten who got what votes because it didn't enter into my enjoyment.

The talk of forfeits for wrong guesses and how big should the prize money should be is flatly stupid. They need to find five people who can carry the show for a half hour in such a way that nobody notices who wins.

[jjman920]

The talk of forfeits for wrong guesses and how big should the prize money should be is flatly stupid. They need to find five people who can carry the show for a half hour in such a way that nobody notices who wins.

It is stupid, but they don't think that can work. It's the reason Million Dollar Password exists.

I agree with you wholeheartedly about what made the shows fun to watch. One of my favorite TTTT moments was a contestant who was a former Soviet spy or somesuch. To protect his identity, he and the impostors had their faces covered with a bag. The panel all picked the wrong one and the reveal of the impostors was probably one of the funniest in the history of the show. And the only reason I remember who won was because the actual guy had to keep his bag on.

[Matt Ottinger]

In a story clearly not written by one of us (more about that in a second), TMZ is reporting that NeNe Leakes will be on the panel, and that it will be a three-person panel.

http://www.tmz.com/2015/07/01/nene-leakes-joins-abc-game-show-to-tell-the-truth-betty-white-anthony-anderson

The article also offered that TTTT was "once a huge '60s game show", which at least indicated a nice awareness that the show has a history.  But they went on to say:

Fun Fact: one of the panelists of the original "To Tell the Truth" was Allen Ludden ... Betty's late husband, who went on to host "Password."

As if to prove that, there is then a brief clip stolen from YouTube (itself stolen from GSN)...with Hy Gardner.

/Seems it wouldn't have been too difficult for them to have found a clip with Betty White herself.

[JMFabiano]

In a story clearly not written by one of us (more about that in a second), TMZ is reporting that NeNe Leakes will be on the panel, and that it will be a three-person panel.

http://www.tmz.com/2015/07/01/nene-leakes-joins-abc-game-show-to-tell-the-truth-betty-white-anthony-anderson

The article also offered that TTTT was "once a huge '60s game show", which at least indicated a nice awareness that the show has a history.  But they went on to say:

Fun Fact: one of the panelists of the original "To Tell the Truth" was Allen Ludden ... Betty's late husband, who went on to host "Password."

As if to prove that, there is then a brief clip stolen from YouTube (itself stolen from GSN)...with Hy Gardner.

/Seems it wouldn't have been too difficult for them to have found a clip with Betty White herself.

Annoying "celebrity"?  Panel reduced by one? 

Holy Match Game '98 flashbacks, Batman! 


/Though I sent a tryout to a certain site about the history of All-American-through-Fremantle, and concluded that MG98 wasn't THAT bad. 
//And TBF, Judy Tenuta, being a comedienne, was still more credible than a reality star.
///DID Allen ever appear on any version of TTTT? 

[MikeK]

Annoying "celebrity"?  Panel reduced by one? 

Holy Match Game '98 flashbacks, Batman!

[Matt Ottinger]

///DID Allen ever appear on any version of TTTT?

Sure, a handful of times.  As early as 1962 and as late as 1977.

http://www.ttttontheweb.com/ttttnighttime.html

[chad1m]

The official press release is out. The order is for six episodes, with Betty and NeNe seeming to be the regular panelists among the panel of four each episode, along with Anthony's mom (seen on Celebrity Family Feud) as the "scorekeeper." The "embarrassing punishment" is having to tweet a lie. The show will also feature a live house band and demonstrations of the stories.