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2024 USA Today Game Show Articles
Joe Mello:
--- Quote from: JasonA1 on July 22, 2024, 06:00:59 PM ---The thing I've been trying to figure out over the years is just who loves all the contestant backstories.
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It's possible that this is all in reaction to Millionaire usually having at least one bit of bio per segment and the early reality shows going in on backstories. I get the original logic (Anyone can be an employee from a town. What makes them interesting? What makes them human?) and I also get the sports angles (Sports has all three of the traditional basic conflicts, often all happening at the same time) but things spiraled beyond where a good equilibrium point is.
More cynically, I think that the same "We're trying to make Art," mindset that resulted in hours in edit bays and hours of reshoots is playing a part, but that could be related to the above.
Even more cynically, someone clued in that the more we focus on the contestant's life, the less we play the game, and for many shows it's a whole lot cheaper long-term to play as little game as possible.
Clay Zambo:
--- Quote from: Kevin Prather on July 21, 2024, 10:44:38 PM ---
--- Quote ---Although Oswalt is funny, the format is pretty dull, with overly complicated questions that aren't fun to play along with at home...
--- End quote ---
I have several friends who have never gotten in to game shows in the past who would disagree. They are absolutely loving playing along with this game.
--- End quote ---
Exactly. I introduced my wife and her parents to a Patton episode, and they all really enjoyed it.
BTW, some time ago I'd showed my wife an early UK episode, where the host's role was much more snark and the contestants less ready to dish it back...and she took a hard pass. Glad to see they've made the non-game parts of the show a little friendlier.
steveleb:
I have friends who work on Tune so I admit I’m kinder on it than most. It gets points for being faithful to the OG to an extent, especially the Golden Medley. They also draw praise for the unique film look that their foreign production makes easier. It doesn’t hurt that the network president is a personal fan of it. Jane and Randy look great and they are earnest. I do wish they had been given leeway to incorporate some element of bid a note, which I always thought was a strong suit. My understanding was Fox wanted a purer, simpler iteration without the “complications”. It falls short of PYL and Password to be sure but it is a better reboot than many others.
JasonA1:
--- Quote from: steveleb on July 23, 2024, 06:20:42 AM ---I do wish they had been given leeway to incorporate some element of bid a note, which I always thought was a strong suit.
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Is this a typo? Because Bid-a-Note is on every episode.
-Jason
Otm Shank:
It is missing the Melody Roulette round which was almost as signature to the brand as the Bid-a-Note round.
Too often the Bid-a-Note solution is too obvious from the wordplay of the clue. It means extra work for the writers, but the trivia element is what really sets the bidding concept in motion. If the clue has something like "this #1 tune from Prince ...." or "Rogers and Hammerstein wrote this...." and you don't have it off the clue, you bid based on your knowledge of Prince or showtunes. I will say the rebound opportunity with all the notes on a failed guess was interesting, but it did break that best-of-5 dynamic.
Unfortunately, I had to ride the fast forward button to get through an episode, and I didn't feel like binge watching, even though I really liked the 1970s and (to a lesser extent) the 1980s versions.
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