My mom is probably the definition of a casual game show fan. She will sometimes watch current Wheel/J!/Feud if it’s on, though nowhere near every day. She occasionally watches BUZZR or GSN, but doesn’t necessarily go out of her way to do so. She has a fondness for the older shows, though, and while she’s not nearly as hardcore of a fan as most of us here, she knows a little something about the classics. I showed her the teaser graphic, without mentioning any specific shows. She paused for about three seconds, then said, “Um, is it the Newlywed Game?”
So yeah, either BUZZR is bringing TNG on board, or this is the biggest game show-related bait-&-switch of the last decade.
As for TNG seeming like an odd choice for BUZZR’s first Sony show… I get that. But I could see TNG being something of a “trial balloon.” TNG is probably the most recognizable “1A tier” Sony show to mainstream viewers. And if they’re working on a deal for classic Wheel/J! but one side or the other is hesitant on the terms or asking price, they may have agreed to run TNG, and if it hits the targets both sides want, they’ll be more comfortable signing a bigger deal for the top tier shows. They might even have a deal already in place to run Wheel/J!/possibly Pyramid, contingent on TNG hitting its targets. And this is purely conjecture, but I have my doubts that BUZZR would pursue Sony’s 1A-&-lower tier shows very hard unless they thought they had a good chance at getting the two big guns as well.
Also, if BUZZR is just dying to have a relationship game show, TNG would probably be more palatable to their core audience than Bzzz! was. (I’m not sure why they’d be dying to have one, but I’m also not sure why they singled out that particular genre on that one survey. Maybe there’s a key sponsor that really wants it.)
