OK, so this forum is probably the only place where people will "get" me, so I ask you to forgive me for using the forum to vent related to the topic.
Around 2005, I started to collect some random ideas for a NTT reboot. Nothing serious, and it help to scratch a little of a creative itch at the time. I'd put it down a few months, pick it up again, add a little, edit a little. Every so often, a rumor or blurb would float that someone picked up development rights, and nothing. Over the course of about 8-9 years, I had a really well-polished treatment. It was a truly unique experience in my array of creative side-hustles, in that I would completely deconstruct and rebuild the format at least twice, every so often finding some flaw that had me trashing a lot of work. On the plus side, I was really shoring up the weak points in the format, but it was difficult to blow up your own work multiple times.
I tried pitching to Sandy Frank in 2008, beginning a journey that would be all about avoiding the legal tripwires of unsolicited contributions and selling an invisible product. I remember that first pitch by phone on a lunch break from my car. While I never misrepresented that I was anything more than a freelance writer, Mr. Frank seemed awfully confused and was directing his secretary on other matters during our call. He tried to steer me toward his effort to revive Face the Music, so my recognition helped keep the conversation going. He even said when we set our appointment that he would like to send me a pilot tape of FtM. On the call, I still persisted on my goal, but eventually he screamed "Forget about Name That Tune!" Sensing the option rights were all tied up, and that he wasn't going to direct me to the developer, I inquired about him sending the tape for the FtM pilot. "Why would I do that?" I told him he offered it, but he started to ignore me and go about his other business, and I cordially ended the call.
I somehow also made it into the inner sanctum of Embassy Row to their development head on another unrelated original format, but then threw in that I had a Name That Tune treatment. "Oh, do you have the rights?" At the time I was in the throes of a really-not-funemployment, and was barely able to get the train into Manhattan, let alone have an ownership stake in a marquee brand. Nothing came from that, although I did get to try out for the first Pyramid pilot for CBS daytime a few months later. That potential path dried up when ER really started to exit the game sphere.
Periodically, I would try to connect again, until the Las Vegas stage show ended its run, with the article saying an Atlantic City show was being looked at, and I lived in northwest NJ. Contacting the LV producers, I learned that Frank had sold his ownership to Ralph Rubenstein of Prestige Entertainment. (They also weren't really serious about the AC show.)
A couple of e-mail pokes every year or two ensued, sometimes with a one-word to one-sentence response from Rubenstein, which, to me was great that I was at least receiving a decline as opposed to being ignored.
By this time, I had really started to study any of the NTT episodes that surfaced on YouTube, and thankfully got reacquainted with the Tom Kennedy era from my early childhood, which is obviously when the show really hit its stride. I recognized some of the weak points that were not a problem in the three-network universe but were fatal by modern standards. Watching Jim Lange squirm through 3 minutes of vamping due to an early exit of the Golden Medley was a large part of that problem solving process. The 2016 Summer Fun & Games block on ABC not only lit a fire to get the program treatment buttoned up, but also lead to an overall back-to-basics-with-new-twists approach (and another wrecking ball to the format to this point). Originally using a small stable of minigames that would be rotated into two 30-minute episodes, the final format was simplified to a consistent 5-round, 1-hour game very much anchoring on the popular elements with new features. I had also finally solved the scoring flaw of 10-10-20-1, where a poorly performing contestant who was a lucky bidder just had to name 1 tiebreaker tune in the whole episode to advance.
Now, I was downloading MIDI files and got really into experimenting with soundfonts to fit an orchestra onto a thumb drive. I broke out my soldering iron from its 20-year slumber to wire up some buzzers. I mocked up 5 episodes with everything from doo wop to hip-hop -- yes, including a rendition of "Bad Guy" by Billie Eilish -- and was ready to jump on the next plane to L.A. if needed. All the while, I was fully aware that I really, really did not have a snowball's chance as an unknown outsider. But ... maybe.
In 2017, there was a pilot opportunity with CBS, and so I e-mailed the late John Ferriter who was one of the producers and had a hand in some of the British production. I acknowledged my outsider status, and that they probably had their format locked down. But I let him know there was a turnkey format ready to present, and that I had been honing it for the last 12 years. I sent the e-mail 2 minutes before going into a meeting in my office. Four minutes into the meeting, I can see a reply on my phone. But I can't pick up my phone and look at it, and it is killing me. Finally, without paying much attention to the topic at hand, I got a break and stole a glance. It was still a decline, but we have three sentences this time: "I appreciate it, Ben, and as you can probably guess we've been working on the creative for some time. I will let you know if we have any openings. Thank you. John"
About a week later, I actually did get an offer of an in-road to get the format into a producer's hand, but it was clear they were ready to go. Doing so would lose any control of that format, as I would have breached the firewall of unsolicited contributions. I decided to hold on it, but got word back through my contact that they have something in the bullpen, should they desire. That option apparently expired after the pilot was shot and not greenlighted, and sadly, John had suddenly passed due to a chronic condition.
Now, 2019, our favorite genre was starting to be "on trend" (Ugh! Hate that term.) and I felt the best foot forward was to record a proof of concept/sizzle reel from the living room. Fine, after the Super Bowl ends and my other side project comes to a conclusion, let's get some really knowledgeable contestants from the artistic (wife's) side of the family. All the attempts at run-throughs at this point were not seriously adhered to by my friends, so I needed a good demo tape. Maybe in March-April 2020 we can get together and put something together. Yeah, the pandemic combined with other personal issues just clobbered that idea.
Realizing there is likely very little development going on, I updated the treatment/production bible/style manual (now up to 36 pages) and labeled it the 2023 version. Meanwhile, from the place that gave the genre the likes of Reg Grundy, they were quietly shooting the 10 episodes that would finally break the drought of 35 years worth of attempts by many to bring NTT back to the air.
So, fully realizing that this was just a lottery ticket with a value measured only in hopes and dreams, the 15-year arc finally comes to an end. If you made it this far, you are far more understanding and empathetic than those around me who just wouldn't understand. Thank you, and I owe each of you a nickel for the cleansing therapy session.
