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Author Topic: New show coming to Buzzr on February 17...  (Read 35998 times)

aaron sica

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Re: New show coming to Buzzr on February 17...
« Reply #45 on: February 05, 2019, 08:14:49 AM »
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.

Very good point. Casuals will see it as "Hey cool! They're adding Hollywood Squares!" and completely overlook the fact that it's played for the game and not for laughs.

Matt Ottinger

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Re: New show coming to Buzzr on February 17...
« Reply #46 on: February 05, 2019, 11:29:42 AM »
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".

I would not have let him escape without hearing them.   Honestly, there might have been rope involved.
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JMFabiano

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Re: New show coming to Buzzr on February 17...
« Reply #47 on: February 05, 2019, 11:55:14 AM »
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...  :o

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.

This.  Mostly.  I mean, we've seen other hosts come down the pike much worse than Bauman.  I'll take him over Patrick Wayne, Pat Bullard, Rossi Moreale, Louie Anderson, and if we count pilots, CHARLENE TILTON. 

Yeah it's fine to give a rookie host an opportunity, but when you put him in a task such as a revival of an iconic show like Squares...out of nice, cool ground, and straight into the fire.  As for Peter fixing everything...to use yet another wrestling comparison, I liken it to the people who still insist that Goldberg, Sting, Flair, Nash, Steiner, etc. would have saved the inVasion angle.  Sure it would be more interesting than the midcarders they got, but you know WWF is winning in the end still.  (You can also see how most of the big WCW stars were booked when they DID come afterwards, but that's another topic and another message board...)  Point is, how good would Peter be in masking that this was a watered down version of "his" show? 

As for Goodson not understanding it, I don't think he wanted to put effort into understanding it as it originally was.  Wasn't his idea, after all.  But just speculation there.

I do like the idea of Tom Kennedy hosting Squares.  Hey it's not like he never faced a panel of nine stars contestants had to agree with about answers.

But generally, there's worse shows out there than MG/HS.  I wear the nostalgia colored glasses, yes, but I do highly look forward to seeing this. How it works out for Buzzr?  Well as I said, they get another, rare form of Match Game hosted by Gene Rayburn.  They get HS there at last, and really, the casual viewer isn't going to obsess over it being the Goodsonized version.  If Fremantle is on good terms with MGM, it may open the way to one day introduce the "real" Squares series.  I also can't help but wonder...is MG/HS a trial to see how hour-long shows fit on the schedule...hint, hint? 
I'm a pacifist, and even I would like to see a little more action.

TLEberle

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Re: New show coming to Buzzr on February 17...
« Reply #48 on: February 05, 2019, 12:31:06 PM »
Would it be possible for you to write a post here that doesn't shoehorn in wrestling references? Pretty please?
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BrandonFG

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Re: New show coming to Buzzr on February 17...
« Reply #49 on: February 05, 2019, 01:06:38 PM »
This.  Mostly.  I mean, we've seen other hosts come down the pike much worse than Bauman.  I'll take him over Patrick Wayne, Pat Bullard, Rossi Moreale, Louie Anderson, and if we count pilots, CHARLENE TILTON. 
I think with the exception of Louie and Charlene, this is more of a case of rookies hosting a show produced by people who don't know what made the originals work, and instead thought making them loud and extreme worked because it was the '90s and 2000s. IMO, it was also an era where game shows were treated mostly as daytime fluff, whereas now they're taken more seriously.

Jim Perry himself wouldn't have made the most current Card Sharks or Temptation any more watchable, the way they were produced. With the latter, they wanted a young, attractive host who could win over the female viewers. Therefore, the game took a backseat to the prizes/home shopping and attractive people.

With a more experienced crew, the hosts probably shine a little more. They may not have won an Emmy, but they wouldn't be (unfairly) placed on the Worst Of lists either.
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JMFabiano

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Re: New show coming to Buzzr on February 17...
« Reply #50 on: February 05, 2019, 02:49:36 PM »
Would it be possible for you to write a post here that doesn't shoehorn in wrestling references? Pretty please?

I get that one a lot....

/So 80s cartoon analogies it is! 
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« Last Edit: February 05, 2019, 03:17:11 PM by JMFabiano »
I'm a pacifist, and even I would like to see a little more action.

JMFabiano

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Re: New show coming to Buzzr on February 17...
« Reply #51 on: February 05, 2019, 02:51:08 PM »
This.  Mostly.  I mean, we've seen other hosts come down the pike much worse than Bauman.  I'll take him over Patrick Wayne, Pat Bullard, Rossi Moreale, Louie Anderson, and if we count pilots, CHARLENE TILTON. 
I think with the exception of Louie and Charlene, this is more of a case of rookies hosting a show produced by people who don't know what made the originals work, and instead thought making them loud and extreme worked because it was the '90s and 2000s. IMO, it was also an era where game shows were treated mostly as daytime fluff, whereas now they're taken more seriously.

Jim Perry himself wouldn't have made the most current Card Sharks or Temptation any more watchable, the way they were produced. With the latter, they wanted a young, attractive host who could win over the female viewers. Therefore, the game took a backseat to the prizes/home shopping and attractive people.

With a more experienced crew, the hosts probably shine a little more. They may not have won an Emmy, but they wouldn't be (unfairly) placed on the Worst Of lists either.

Yes, which is why I don't think Peter would have been the quick fix some people think he was. 

(something something banned wrestling analogies...)
I'm a pacifist, and even I would like to see a little more action.

tvwxman

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Re: New show coming to Buzzr on February 17...
« Reply #52 on: February 05, 2019, 04:26:26 PM »
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".

I would not have let him escape without hearing them.   Honestly, there might have been rope involved.
He was there to promote Bowzers Doo-wop Party...which he hosts here at the casino ...every year. In fact, he's been a guest on our show before (but never with me as the co-host). We had an opportunity to have him again last month - and passed - to give it space.

He gave me his card to keep in touch and I reached out but he never responded . Oh well. I figured i'd keep the game show fan-boy stuff off camera - and keep it for a budding friendship.

If you'd like to see the interview , here it is :
-------------

Matt

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Steve Gavazzi

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Re: New show coming to Buzzr on February 17...
« Reply #53 on: February 05, 2019, 10:10:34 PM »
Would it be possible for you to write a post here that doesn't shoehorn in wrestling references? Pretty please?

I get that one a lot....

Seems to me you don't get it at all.

That Don Guy

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Re: New show coming to Buzzr on February 17...
« Reply #54 on: February 09, 2019, 03:43:35 PM »
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
I think that was part of the problem - MGHS was during the brief period in his career when he tried to disassociate himself from Bowzer. The next time I saw him on TV was a year or two later, at a Washington DC concert (either Memorial Day or Independence Day), in full Bowzer mode; I want to say his band was called Bowzer and the Jive-Tones, but I can't find any reference to that name anywhere.

JasonA1

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Re: New show coming to Buzzr on February 17...
« Reply #55 on: February 18, 2019, 06:56:14 AM »
Goodson Squares was going to stumble no matter what, based on their approach to the jokes...but they did themselves no favors with Bauman's hosting style. Whether it was the producers' idea, or Bauman's alone, handling every question with the gravitas of a Barry & Enright game-winning-answer doesn't fit Hollywood Squares. Bowser's complete re-reading of each question after the agree/disagree decision, coupled with the "You were RIGHT to agree!"-type reveals make it all seem...melodramatic compared to similar games of the era.

Even excusing those two specific things, which were probably given to him to say, his delivery on the material was rarely as breezy as the material itself. When MGHSH comes up, it's a running gag among more than a few of us to shout a declarative statement like "You're an astronaut!!!" which was a frequent gambit by the writers on this show.

Break the Bank with Tom Kennedy wasn't a barrel of laughs, but Tom's way of handling the proceedings was just right. I liked Jon as a panelist on this show, and others, and ultimately think he could have left a better impression under other circumstances.

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BillCullen1

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Re: New show coming to Buzzr on February 17...
« Reply #56 on: February 18, 2019, 08:21:46 AM »
Now after seeing this, I have one burning question . . . Phil Proctor and Skip Stephenson, where are they now?

gamed121683

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Re: New show coming to Buzzr on February 17...
« Reply #57 on: February 18, 2019, 08:46:32 AM »
Now after seeing this, I have one burning question . . . Phil Proctor and Skip Stephenson, where are they now?

Stephenson is six feet under while Proctor is making a nice living doing voice acting work.

MikeK

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Re: New show coming to Buzzr on February 17...
« Reply #58 on: February 18, 2019, 10:56:14 AM »
No Twyla Littleton?  I was amused her final roles 30+ years ago were as a hooker in a movie and as Lingerie Customer in a Feb. 1989 episode of Matlock.  Talk about typecasting...

That Don Guy

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Re: New show coming to Buzzr on February 17...
« Reply #59 on: February 18, 2019, 11:07:39 AM »
Now after seeing this, I have one burning question . . . Phil Proctor and Skip Stephenson, where are they now?

Stephenson is six feet under while Proctor is making a nice living doing voice acting work.

Proctor's "biggest" role was probably Phil & Lil's father on Rugrats.