New show coming to Buzzr on February 17...

[That Don Guy]

I wonder how many of the die-hard Squares fans are going to go sour on this show when the discover:
(a) Each contestant gets paid for each square won, and not just in an interrupted game; and
(b) You can win a game on an opponent's miss, rather than "you have to earn the square yourself"?

[gamed121683]

THIS JUST IN: We have a promo! (Really, one of the most anticipated shows in BUZZR's history?)

[Adam Nedeff]

What was the reason for not bringing back Peter Marshall along with Rayburn for this, by the way? Was Peter not interested, or was Goodson/NBC not interested in Peter?

Chapter 17.

Peter had actually been planning to pitch a revival of Squares himself (he owned a stake in it) at the time. He made a bad business deal and ended up losing his share of the show, and at the same time, two NBC executives got good and angry with him for kind of a stupid reason and made the deal for MG/HS behind his back.

[RMF]

I wonder how many of the die-hard Squares fans are going to go sour on this show when the discover:
(a) Each contestant gets paid for each square won, and not just in an interrupted game; and
(b) You can win a game on an opponent's miss, rather than "you have to earn the square yourself"?

Given how short-lived the GSN reruns of the Marshall version were, are there really that many die-hards who'd care about such matters?

[Sodboy13]

Chapter 17.

I know this isn't actually you saying "Buy my book;," but I really should buy your books, now that you've reminded me. And thanks for the detailed answer.

[Matt Ottinger]

Bowzer: "Understand that this was the only completely honest version of Hwd Squares ever where no Squares were sitting there with the punch lines of the jokes in front of them."

The rest of us: "Yes, that was the problem."

[MSTieScott]

Putting myself in the mindset of a hypothetical viewer in 1983: If they're not going to bring back Peter Marshall to host the second half of the game, then why have a second host at all? Why not just let Gene emcee both halves of the show? (That would also have eliminated the jarring shift back to Gene for one final act in order to play the bonus round.)

[aaron sica]

Putting myself in the mindset of a hypothetical viewer in 1983: If they're not going to bring back Peter Marshall to host the second half of the game, then why have a second host at all? Why not just let Gene emcee both halves of the show? (That would also have eliminated the jarring shift back to Gene for one final act in order to play the bonus round.)

After thinking about that for a few minutes, my mind started to wander to another question - how was Bauman come upon for this show? In looking at the timeframe...."Sha Na Na", which he was arguably best known for at the time, was already off the air for two years when MG/HS came along. Aside from an appearance on a special called "Magic With The Stars", and a Heroes vs. Villains week on Feud (both 1982), he hadn't done anything since. I know he simultaneouly hosted Pop 'n Rocker Game, but that one makes slightly more sense since it's tied to music.

[Adam Nedeff]

Putting myself in the mindset of a hypothetical viewer in 1983: If they're not going to bring back Peter Marshall to host the second half of the game, then why have a second host at all? Why not just let Gene emcee both halves of the show? (That would also have eliminated the jarring shift back to Gene for one final act in order to play the bonus round.)

Goodson and company really, really fought for that, but for whatever weird reason, NBC insisted on two hosts.

After thinking about that for a few minutes, my mind started to wander to another question - how was Bauman come upon for this show?

According to Robert Sherman, Jon Bauman was NBC's call.

[BrandonFG]

At the risk of bombarding you with questions, Adam, do you know who else other than Bowzer (including Peter) was considered? I'm guessing NBC wasn't sure what show would be canceled for this, leaving Fantasy up in the air and making Peter a question mark.

/Also guessing I need to get the Rayburn book

[Adam Nedeff]

At the risk of bombarding you with questions, Adam, do you know who else other than Bowzer (including Peter) was considered? I'm guessing NBC wasn't sure what show would be canceled for this, leaving Fantasy up in the air and making Peter a question mark.

/Also guessing I need to get the Rayburn book

I dug up my notes from my interview with Robert Sherman (no audio). From what I'm seeing in my notes, Jon Bauman was pretty much foisted on Goodson for the job by NBC. It looks like some executive at the network saw some potential in Jon and wanted to give him that opportunity.

[TLEberle]

This is the problem. From watching episodes we can look back and say "Man, they chose poorly," and we can't get in the heads of those executives to figure out just why a fairly unknown when out of character could hold court on a level playing field with Gene Rayburn.

* still think Tom Kennedy would have been a decent if not spectacular choice.

[chargeradiocom]

This show has always intrigued me. Maybe out of morbid curiosity more than anything. But I thought it was at least a decent enough watch, rather than out-and-out terrible.

Regarding Bauman, he wasn’t good here, but I have a hard time crapping on him too much for that. Goodson just didn’t seem to get what made Squares work, and Bauman was thrown into a situation that I believe even Peter Marshall would have found difficult. The fact that he was without his Bowzer persona, in which he’d made most of his game show appearances, likely didn’t help. I can see where something like Pop N Rocker would have probably been more in his wheelhouse.

As for his Twitter comments, I have to think he’s just spinning, maybe to make this look better to casuals who may be viewing it for the first time. But if he really believes that... 

And yeah, I think BUZZR getting MGHS was about getting some form of Squares into their library as much as anything. In theory, having another title like Hollywood Squares that casuals will recognize will look good to prospective advertisers and programming carriers.

[TLEberle]

Just a thought--

The writers on Match Game were able to come up with questions where there were two decent answers. If they had written Hollywood Squares where every question didn't demand a zinger but someone could choose between two reasonable options (so imagine Battlestars without the secret screen) then even if the game wasn't a laugh-a-minute at least it wouldn't be a horrible slog.

[tvwxman]

Regarding Bauman, he wasn’t good here, but I have a hard time crapping on him too much for that. Goodson just didn’t seem to get what made Squares work, and Bauman was thrown into a situation that I believe even Peter Marshall would have found difficult. The fact that he was without his Bowzer persona, in which he’d made most of his game show appearances, likely didn’t help. I can see where something like Pop N Rocker would have probably been more in his wheelhouse.

As for his Twitter comments, I have to think he’s just spinning, maybe to make this look better to casuals who may be viewing it for the first time. But if he really believes that... 

Met and interviewed Bauman on my show last year. Down to earth, nice, and ridiculously intelligent. On the way out, mentioned casually "I have stories of why that wasn't a great experience for me".