Grand Slam pilot approved by ABC

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'scully24\' date=\'Mar 3 2004, 07:43 PM\'] No other U.S. game show besides Jeopardy is quite so rigorous in its knowledge requirements.  I mean I can't imagine a tournament in which a top winner from WOF or PYR or FF beats a winner from Jeopardy.  You might find some decent players from WWTBAM or WL, (or possibly Ben Stein's Money), but not even champions from those shows are likely to be of the caliber of a decent Jeopardy player. [/quote]
 Well, that's precisely what a show like this would be designed to test.  In general, I'd probably agree with you that multi-game Jeopardy winners would have "proven" themselves more than a Millionaire or WBSM player who only had to perform the one time.  Still, I'd have to say that anyone who can win the big money on Millionaire or take Ben down for $5K would have to be reasonably decent and competitive, and I'm sure every single one of them would like to prove themselves in this other arena.

But...uh, yeah.  The all-time money winner on The Price Is Right probably won't be invited to this party.

[zachhoran]

[quote name=\'Starkman\' date=\'Mar 3 2004, 05:43 PM\'] hmmm could be intresting, anyone know if John Hatten or Thom McKee are still around?

 [/quote]
 Since GSN is currently showing their Blockbusters run, how about the McCarthy duo? And TTD's Kit Salisbury was a one-time J! champion, besides his classic TTD run.

[Jimmy Owen]

[quote name=\'scully24\' date=\'Mar 3 2004, 06:43 PM\'] I've been thinking about this, and since this is a pure quiz format and you've got former game show champions competing, won't that mean that all the winners are going to be former Jeopardy champions? [/quote]
 Here's one way to level the playing field:  Immediate disqualification of anyone who accidentally answers in the form of a question.

[Dbacksfan12]

[quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'Mar 3 2004, 07:19 PM\'] [quote name=\'Starkman\' date=\'Mar 3 2004, 05:43 PM\'] hmmm could be intresting, anyone know if John Hatten or Thom McKee are still around?

 [/quote]
Since GSN is currently showing their Blockbusters run, how about the McCarthy duo? And TTD's Kit Salisbury was a one-time J! champion, besides his classic TTD run. [/quote]
 What does it matter what GSN is, or isn't showing?  That doesn't place any hindrance on how much of a champion they are.

[zachhoran]

[quote name=\'Dsmith\' date=\'Mar 3 2004, 11:40 PM\'] [quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'Mar 3 2004, 07:19 PM\'] [quote name=\'Starkman\' date=\'Mar 3 2004, 05:43 PM\'] hmmm could be intresting, anyone know if John Hatten or Thom McKee are still around?

 [/quote]
Since GSN is currently showing their Blockbusters run, how about the McCarthy duo? And TTD's Kit Salisbury was a one-time J! champion, besides his classic TTD run. [/quote]
What does it matter what GSN is, or isn't showing?  That doesn't place any hindrance on how much of a champion they are. [/quote]
 It don't matter all that much. But it would be nice to see people from other shows requiring a bit of knowledge to play(not just J!).

[SplitSecond]

[quote name=\'CaseyAbell\' date=\'Mar 3 2004, 11:03 AM\'] With Deal or No Deal apparently in limbo, I was expecting some other game show idea to surface on the ratings-starved alphabet. [/quote]
 "Deal or No Deal" isn't truly in limbo.  It looks to be moving forward; there's just a very key element that's holding up the production.  Sorry to be intentionally vague; I'm just not sure how much can be said right at the moment.

[Dbacksfan12]

[quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'Mar 3 2004, 11:54 PM\'] [quote name=\'Dsmith\' date=\'Mar 3 2004, 11:40 PM\'] [quote name=\'zachhoran\' date=\'Mar 3 2004, 07:19 PM\'] [quote name=\'Starkman\' date=\'Mar 3 2004, 05:43 PM\'] hmmm could be intresting, anyone know if John Hatten or Thom McKee are still around?

 [/quote]
Since GSN is currently showing their Blockbusters run, how about the McCarthy duo? And TTD's Kit Salisbury was a one-time J! champion, besides his classic TTD run. [/quote]
What does it matter what GSN is, or isn't showing?  That doesn't place any hindrance on how much of a champion they are. [/quote]
It don't matter all that much. But it would be nice to see people from other shows requiring a bit of knowledge to play(not just J!). [/quote]
 Thanks for skipping lightly around the edges; Zach.  You are the one that brought up the GSN aspect.  My hunch now tells me it was so you could share your [ESPN2 voice]"knowledge."

[zachhoran]

[quote name=\'Dsmith\' date=\'Mar 4 2004, 01:02 AM\']
It don't matter all that much. But it would be nice to see people from other shows requiring a bit of knowledge to play(not just J!). [/QUOTE]
Thanks for skipping lightly around the edges; Zach.  You are the one that brought up the GSN aspect.  My hunch now tells me it was so you could share your [ESPN2 voice]"knowledge." [/QUOTE]
THe point of the group is to share "knowledge" , right

[Clay Zambo]

From the Hollywood Reporter:

Added ABC's Andrea Wong: "My feeling is it could potentially bring the game show to another level."

Well, okay, so long as it doesn't take it into another DYEEE-mension...

-Clay
(as delighted as the rest of you to see another show in development)

[Clay Zambo]

By the way, since this is a format I knew next-to-nothing about, I did a little checking.  Y'all probably have seen this already, but I hadn't: Channel 4 has a lot of Grand Slam info here.

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'Clay Zambo\' date=\'Mar 4 2004, 08:06 AM\'] -Clay
(as delighted as the rest of you to see another show in development) [/quote]
 I agree (X gets the square!). If ABC can make respectable ratings (in their case, probably anything above 10.0 and/or Top 30 or just winning their timeslots, we can get 1) a resurgance of primetime shows that lasts longer than 7 months, or b) more syndie shows. Or I can hold my breath hope that ABC puts their three new shows in daytime...but I'd pass out within 30 seconds. :-)

[Don Howard]

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' date=\'Mar 3 2004, 07:19 PM\'] [quote name=\'scully24\' date=\'Mar 3 2004, 06:43 PM\'] I've been thinking about this, and since this is a pure quiz format and you've got former game show champions competing, won't that mean that all the winners are going to be former Jeopardy champions? [/quote]
Here's one way to level the playing field:  Immediate disqualification of anyone who accidentally answers in the form of a question. [/quote]
 Here, here. Some girl from Bowling Green kept doing that during the regional College Bowl tournament last month and I wanted to smack her.

[CaseyAbell]

"Deal or No Deal" isn't truly in limbo. It looks to be moving forward; there's just a very key element that's holding up the production. Sorry to be intentionally vague; I'm just not sure how much can be said right at the moment.

Well, it sounds like limbo to me when a "very key element" ain't working right. Come on, give us a little hint. Pretty please?

Here's one way to level the playing field: Immediate disqualification of anyone who accidentally answers in the form of a question.

They could bring back Ben Stein's dunce cap.

If ABC can make respectable ratings (in their case, probably anything above 10.0 and/or Top 30 or just winning their timeslots...

Nowadays a double-digit rating puts you comfortably into the top twenty, if not the top ten. That's a lot more than respectable. Last week only sixteen shows made it into double digits, and we're still in the highest-viewing part of the year.

By the way, the final numbers on Super Millionaire showed that it won its timeslot twice, finished second twice, and took a truly "respectable" third once behind two top-twenty shows. That's got to look mighty good to ABC execs, especially because the 18-49 and 18-34 demos were more than acceptable.

[ChuckNet]

Here, here. Some girl from Bowling Green kept doing that during the regional College Bowl tournament last month and I wanted to smack her.

Hear hear...I wanted to do the same thing to Jim Finn after he was answering in the form of a question during the Winner's Circle on Pyramid(!)...couldn't wife Rosa Blasi have slipped in something along the lines of "this isn't J!" to get him back on track?

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")

[Jimmy Owen]

Does Ralph Andrews know about this show?