"Words With Friends" TV adaptation in the works

[BrandonFG]

"It's the crossword game you've played all your life, but not exactly this way?"

https://www.cnet.com/news/words-with-friends-will-be-turned-into-a-tv-show-with-mgm/

I could've sworn this was proposed a few years ago when Words With Friends was much bigger.

[TLEberle]

I could've sworn this was proposed a few years ago when Words With Friends was much bigger.

It was.

FTFA: "Exactly how a Scrabble-style game will translate into TV remains to be seen."

From my recollection of Scrabble Challenge: poorly.

[Matt Ottinger]

I'm going to think that the dismal failure of Candy Crush is going to grind the gears of any of these app-to-TV games.  Yes, WE know they're completely different, and WWF may even offer some playalong value, but that won't be how most buyers see it.

[Fedya]

"It's the crossword game you've played all your life, but not exactly this way?"

It's the app you've played all your live, but never quite like this!

[BrandonFG]

I could've sworn this was proposed a few years ago when Words With Friends was much bigger.

It was.

Reminds me of when that and Draw Something were pitched a few years ago. Those were shows I would watch, not Candy Crush. Honestly, I'm still willing to at least give WWF a chance, but it's gotta be something other than a Scrabble knockoff, whether it's the board game or the TV show.

Honestly, I don't see Hollywood being clever enough to pull off the latter, and I'm surprised Hasbro didn't cry foul on the former years ago.

[clemon79]

and I'm surprised Hasbro didn't cry foul on the former years ago.

They did, remember Scrabulous / Wordulous? It was determined there exactly what aspects of a board game could be protected (basically, the design aspects) and which ones couldn't (the rules). Which is why the distribution of the letters in the tile set, the point values, and the arrangement of the special squares is different in WWF, and why the point value is in the upper right corner of a tile instead of the lower right.

Zynga has pretty much made their fortune on knowing the absolute minimum they have to change from someone else's already successful concept to avoid getting sued.

/then they turned around and spent it all on Draw Something
//lol

[gamed121683]

I recall a couple of years ago, their were plans to turn "Draw Something" into a game show. At the time, the running joke was "I remember when this called Win, Lose or Draw". Don't recall that one getting too far either.

[BrandonFG]

and I'm surprised Hasbro didn't cry foul on the former years ago.

They did, remember Scrabulous / Wordulous? It was determined there exactly what aspects of a board game could be protected (basically, the design aspects) and which ones couldn't (the rules). Which is why the distribution of the letters in the tile set, the point values, and the arrangement of the special squares is different in WWF, and why the point value is in the upper right corner of a tile instead of the lower right.

Zynga has pretty much made their fortune on knowing the absolute minimum they have to change from someone else's already successful concept to avoid getting sued.

It's all coming back to me, now that you mention Scrabulous. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to to bastardize some other popular board games and profit.

[MikeK]

I recall a couple of years ago, their were plans to turn "Draw Something" into a game show. At the time, the running joke was "I remember when this called Win, Lose or Draw". Don't recall that one getting too far either.

It did last 40 episodes in the UK under the name Draw It!

[Sodboy13]

and I'm surprised Hasbro didn't cry foul on the former years ago.

They did, remember Scrabulous / Wordulous? It was determined there exactly what aspects of a board game could be protected (basically, the design aspects) and which ones couldn't (the rules). Which is why the distribution of the letters in the tile set, the point values, and the arrangement of the special squares is different in WWF, and why the point value is in the upper right corner of a tile instead of the lower right.

Zynga has pretty much made their fortune on knowing the absolute minimum they have to change from someone else's already successful concept to avoid getting sued.

It's all coming back to me, now that you mention Scrabulous. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm off to to bastardize some other popular board games and profit.

Connect Five, you say?

[clemon79]

Connect Five, you say?

On an 8x7 board, dropping balls instead of checkers. Ship it.

[TLEberle]

Only if the contestant correctly agrees or disagrees with the answer to a question posed to a celebrity.

[clemon79]

"It is their task to figure out if the celebrity is giving the right answer or fabricating one; that's how they earn the ball."

/clang
//charge