"College Bowl" returning to network TV

[nowhammies10]

NBC aired a brief clip during its Kentucky Derby coverage. That show is a lot of things...but it is not "College Bowl."

Having participated in a run-through before air, I can tell you that while the show isn't College Bowl of old (or Reach For The Top, University Challenge, etc.), the format is solid and the people running the show care very much about the legacy of the name and the prestige it holds. Give it a chance.

[BrandonFG]

NBC aired a brief clip during its Kentucky Derby coverage. That show is a lot of things...but it is not "College Bowl." It looks a lot like they took the revised rules for Honda Campus All-Star Challenge (which itself switched from traditional College Bowl rules to the format of a show called Africa Challenge); I saw three-player teams, and they were choosing categories from a board of four.

In all fairness, when’s the last time “College Bowl” aired on TV? The format is more or less Q&A amongst college teams. The execution isn’t that important.

[Jeremy Nelson]

That show is a lot of things...but it is not "College Bowl."

In all fairness, when’s the last time “College Bowl” aired on TV? The format is more or less Q&A amongst college teams. The execution isn’t that important.

Even if it isn’t College Bowl as you remember it, it’s still College Bowl adjacent, which means it’s an absolute miracle you’re getting new episodes in 2021, on network television no less. I don’t agree witrh every decision made, but they’ve got a great staff producing this and I think it could be a really fun watch if they can avoid some of the NBC primetime game show tropes.

[PPatters]

Yeah, honestly, my profession is higher education, my doctorate is in higher education, my passion is game shows — the actual format just isn’t so important. The respect for the name is, though.

[urbanpreppie05]

Hi...as a fellow Higher Ed Professional, former College Bowl Coach (during the days of ACUI), and Game show fan- I am more concerned in getting more students to participate in College Bowl and it’s visibility- and stuff like this will at the least help programs get more participation, TBH.

[JasonA1]

With the Pat Finn pilot on YouTube, the notion that Joker's Wild would have fared better in 1990 with a different title came up again. I think, if a show is good enough, the link to the past simply gets viewers in the door, but the execution keeps them there; The New Price is Right, Match Game '73 and Password Plus say hello.

-Jason

[TLEberle]

Does anybody care about a Q&A show titled Cash Machine? Or, more adjacently, Bracket Genius?

[That Don Guy]

NBC aired a brief clip during its Kentucky Derby coverage. That show is a lot of things...but it is not "College Bowl." It looks a lot like they took the revised rules for Honda Campus All-Star Challenge (which itself switched from traditional College Bowl rules to the format of a show called Africa Challenge); I saw three-player teams, and they were choosing categories from a board of four.

In all fairness, when’s the last time “College Bowl” aired on TV? The format is more or less Q&A amongst college teams. The execution isn’t that important.

Network TV? 1984, when NBC aired a one-off hour-long show of the national championship semi-finals and final.

Before that, the first two national championship semi-finals and finals aired in syndication in 1978 and 1979 (the 1980 through 1982 tournaments were on CBS Radio); before that was the NBC weekly series that I think ended in 1970.

Cable TV? Disney Channel ran the complete (15-game) national championship tournament in 1987.

Oh, and I think there's a problem with the forum; a URL of a YouTube video forms a link properly in the preview, but inserts the video when saved.

[ChrisLambert!]

That was a rhetorical question.

[chris319]

Do we need another hard quiz? Someone I know refers to them as "televised SAT tests".

If the material is hard enough to challenge a team of college students, they may end up leaving the home viewer behind. The home viewer can't really play along because the material is too difficult.

[jlgarfield]

https://www.nbc.com/capital-one-college-bowl - A month later, and the Capitol One College Bowl will premiere on NBC June 22nd.