New "I've Got a Secret" piloted with host Katie Nolan

[ChrisLambert!]

http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2023/03/16/embassy-row-werner-entertainment-and-game-show-enterprises-studios-join-forces-to-produce-ive-got-a-secret-pilot-hosted-by-katie-nolan-523515/20230316gsn01/

Discuss! 

Of note: Katie worked on Embassy Row's "Crowd Goes Wild" back in the early days of FS1, so this isn't totally out of left field.

[Dbacksfan12]

An hour?  One wonders if it’s the same panel for 60 minutes or if they’ll split it into two halves.

[Bob Zager]

Wonder if they'll ever bring back WML?  There have been at least TWO pilots done in the last 20+ years!

[BrandonFG]

Wonder if they'll ever bring back WML?  There have been at least TWO pilots done in the last 20+ years!

That’s a show I’m surprised hasn’t had an actual reboot, esp. with TTTT and IGAS having two in the last 25 years. Feels like there could be a social media tie-in of some sort that could work.

[snowpeck]

Who owns the I've Got a Secret format anyway? This would be the third version that didn't involve any of Goodson's successor companies.

[Neumms]

I really enjoyed the GSN’s version. The panel was largely unknown but had great chemistry with Bil and each other, and it had a good amount of game.

This time, it’d sure help if they had a host with more star power. Heck, Garry Moore ran five or six popular hours of TV a week when they tabbed him. I’ve heard good things about Katie Nolan, but making an hour of this work will be a huge job. Tom Bergeron would be great, having handled people in so many different formats since the Fox breakfast show.

Gosh, I’d love to see Andy Richter on a panel show. Quick with a hilarious line, and if there’s panel hi-jinx as on the original, his personality would be great to play off.

[Matt Ottinger]

Who owns the I've Got a Secret format anyway? This would be the third version that didn't involve any of Goodson's successor companies.

The ownership thread is definitely confusing, but it sure looks like Tom Werner (formerly of Carsey-Werner) is your guy.  A lot of this is guesswork, but Carsey-Warner had a major hand in the launch of Oxygen, which was the home of the Stephanie Miller version.  They may have acquired rights to the show then, because Carsey-Warner was pushing a new syndicated version in the early 90s, which may or may not (depending on which article you read) have been intended to pair with Bill Cosby's You Bet Your Life.  Best as I can tell, they never even made a pilot for that. The press kit for the 2006 GSN version doesn't mention Werner at all, but it's possible GSN licensed that version from him without his direct involvement.  Because now, the 2023 press release includes "Werner Entertainment" among the producers.  (There's still a company named Carsey-Werner, but the two haven't worked together since the early 2000s.)

EDIT:  Actually, it specifically says in the press release, "based on the format owned by Werner Entertainment, Inc."  So there you go.

I have more than a passing interest in this subject, for reasons I will reveal shortly.  (I have nothing to do with this remake.)

[snowpeck]

Who owns the I've Got a Secret format anyway? This would be the third version that didn't involve any of Goodson's successor companies.

The ownership thread is definitely confusing, but it sure looks like Tom Werner (formerly of Carsey-Werner) is your guy.  A lot of this is guesswork, but Carsey-Warner had a major hand in the launch of Oxygen, which was the home of the Stephanie Miller version.  They may have acquired rights to the show then, because Carsey-Warner was pushing a new syndicated version in the early 90s, which may or may not (depending on which article you read) have been intended to pair with Bill Cosby's You Bet Your Life.  Best as I can tell, they never even made a pilot for that. The press kit for the 2006 GSN version doesn't mention Werner at all, but it's possible GSN licensed that version from him without his direct involvement.  Because now, the 2023 press release includes "Werner Entertainment" among the producers.  (There's still a company named Carsey-Werner, but the two haven't worked together since the early 2000s.)

EDIT:  Actually, it specifically says in the press release, "based on the format owned by Werner Entertainment, Inc."  So there you go.

I have more than a passing interest in this subject, for reasons I will reveal shortly.  (I have nothing to do with this remake.)

You inspired me to conduct my own research and per this article from a 1992 issue of Broadcasting, you're right that Carsey-Werner bought the format from Goodson that year:

[Matt Ottinger]

There was a lot of buzz in the media when the 1992 project was first announced, and buzz again when it was revealed that Carsey-Werner was looking at Larry King as a potential host.  However, Ted Turner apparently had an exclusive contract for Larry's services (this was at the peak of his popular CNN talk show) and Ted wouldn't let Larry host the new game.

And honestly, that's pretty much the last thing anybody ever heard about that version.

[Sodboy13]

http://www.thefutoncritic.com/news/2023/03/16/embassy-row-werner-entertainment-and-game-show-enterprises-studios-join-forces-to-produce-ive-got-a-secret-pilot-hosted-by-katie-nolan-523515/20230316gsn01/

Discuss! 

Of note: Katie worked on Embassy Row's "Crowd Goes Wild" back in the early days of FS1, so this isn't totally out of left field.

I believe Embassy Row also did "Garbage Time with Katie Nolan," which was basically the only time Fox looked like it knew what it was doing with her while she was under contract with them.

[Stackertosh]

I hope it gets picked up, an hour is a bit too long.


I would love to see Andy Richter host a game show. I remember hosting the Pyramid pilot for tbs.

[BillCullen1]

If it is an hour, I think it would work better as a weekly than a daily show. Some game shows wear thin as a daily show. Name That Tune proved that.

They spelled Garry's name wrong in the Casey-Werner article.

I would also like to see a revival of WML, but please, no reality stars as MGs On the panel I'll accept. I believe I read that Garry Moore owned at least partial rights to that. I wonder if his estate still has it.

[chris319]

I never heard that Goodson re-acquired IGAS. G-T sold it to Garry Moore some time in the 1960's. Those shows give "Telecast Enterprises" as the producer in the credits. The property changed hands again after that. Gil Fates discusses this to some extent in his book. Who is credited as the packager in the syndicated version with Steve Allen and Edd Kalehoff's MOOG accompaniment?

IGAS was not fundamentally a comedy show. The only panelist with a comedic bent on the original show was Henry Morgan, and the guessing game was played entirely straight.

Now they're going to have four comedians on the panel. I have visions of four hack wannabe comedians doing Krusty the Klown, each trying to outdo the other. Think Richard Simmons after having swallowed a bottle of methamphetamine pills. High-larious.

But who knows? I could be wrong and the producers could exercise some good judgement and it won't be that bad.

I kind of doubt it, though.

[BrandonFG]

Who is credited as the packager in the syndicated version with Steve Allen and Edd Kalehoff's MOOG accompaniment?

"Distributed by Goodson-Todman Telecasts Inc. thru Firestone Program Syndication Co." The copyright said  "Goodson-Todman Telecasts, Inc."

[snowpeck]

A Hollywood Reporter article from the same week as the one I posted above mentioned that Carsey Werner bought the rights from a Philadelphia-based charity, so maybe that's who ended up with Garry's portion of the show?