When did you first hear about GSN?

[edholland83]

I wanted to find out when you first had found about GSN and what your first impression of it was. I remembered the first time I
had heard about Game Show Network was sometime in '92 or '93 when Entertainment Tonight did a brief story on the plans to start the network, I thinnl the video clip had Wink Martindale in it, anyway, That was just my story of how I first found out about it, I finally got the channel when my family got primestar in 1997 and didn't start watching it often until 2000.

I guess some people have more interestng stories about how they found out about it.

[joey7879]

I saw a description for GSN in the brochure for digital cable around 1999 and was intrigued. I had a slight interest for game shows since I grew up watching The Price Is Right, Combs' Family Feud, Wheel of Fortune, Bumper Stumpers and some others. I decided to look GSN up on the internet and was excited to see there was actually such thing as a 24-hour network that played my favourite kind of show and saw that they even aired older episodes of my favourites! (I'm really missing the classic TPIR) Anyways, I was also hooked on to some of the originals when I first watched, but as my interest in game shows grew I learned the network has aired much, much better quality stuff in the past and now I've turned into the semi-hardcore fan I am today... lol

And that's my boring story. :-p

[jalman]

I first knew about GSN through those plugs they had during the end of J! and WOF.

Then my aunt started raving about it.  Soon after, digital cable came to the house, I enjoyed GSN for five years.

Clarence

[aaron sica]

[quote name=\'edholland83\' date=\'Jul 4 2003, 01:15 AM\'] I wanted to find out when you first had found about GSN and what your first impression of it was. I remembered the first time I
had heard about Game Show Network was sometime in '92 or '93 when Entertainment Tonight did a brief story on the plans to start the network, I thinnl the video clip had Wink Martindale in it, anyway, That was just my story of how I first found out about it, I finally got the channel when my family got primestar in 1997 and didn't start watching it often until 2000.

I guess some people have more interestng stories about how they found out about it. [/quote]
 I had first found out about GSN via the \"Broadcasting and Cable\" magazine....They were running ads for it as launch time neared, with pictures of playing cards with some pictures of the hosts on them....... The ad said something like \"With 50,000 episodes....we came to play!\" Naturally, I was excited...I remember going into a bookstore and looking at \"OnSat\" so I could check out the schedule to see what all kind of shows they had, and naturally, I WANTED IT.

I was about 1 1/2 years removed from HS at that point, so I still had some ties to it...As past president of the A/V Club, I got one of my old teachers to tune the school's satellite dish to tape GSN for me, and so I have a couple tapes of GSN's early days to go on...

As for getting GSN permanently, that finally happened on 11/5/96 when we got DISH Network, and aside from moving a few times and not puting up the dish right away, it's been smooth sailing ever since.

[Ian Wallis]

I first heard about it in a TVGuide Fall Preview edition.  A couple of editions from the early '90s mentioned it as a new network, but it didn't hit the air until a couple of years later.

A few weeks before the premiere,  OnSat magazine mentioned the startup of 7 p.m. on Dec. 1, 1994.  I couldn't wait.  In its early days it was not scrambled, so I was there from the startup.  My only regret is that I didn't tape the startup.  I know there is a 6-minute opening clip in the trading circuit, but I hadn't yet gotten into game show trading at that time and didn't figure there was a need to save it (if only I'd known!)

In the early years my dish was on it almost 24/7.  These days I might watch only two or three hours a week at most.

It's just too bad they couldn't have gone through there entire stash of 50,000 episodes before they started to go in the direction they have.  I'd be willing to bet there's close to 20,000 they've never aired.  Oh well...

Even with the state of GSN now, I'm glad it's been around for the last 9 years.  At least it's given us video collectors a lot of stuff we probalby wouldn't have had otherwise, and for that I'm grateful.

[Matt Ottinger]

Certainly those of us who were the earliest Usenet users were keeping up with plans for the launch of TGSC (That's right, \"The Game Show Channel\") about a year before it debuted.  Anyone who's interested could go back through the Google Group archives for late 1993 all the way through the December, 1994 launch and see many of us (including the Mackeys and Chris Lambert) quoting every trade magazine article and press release we could get our hands on.  There are also many (and quite lengthy) posts where we gave our first impressions of what was then pretty much an all-classic lineup.

Remember the time as well.  Before GSN, and in the very earleist days of the internet, nobody had the huge tape libraries that so many of you have today.  Personally, I was lucky to have hooked up with David Hammett, who had five grainy tapes with about 20 different episodes of shows from the 70s I thought I would never see again.  Today, of course, not only do we have the riches of the GSN archive but what used to be \"rare\" tapes pass through collectors' hands much more quickly via internet trades.

Younger fans (or those late to the game) who are clammoring for a \"GSN2\" might be interested in knowning that originally, there were two rival companies jockeying for position.  The interactive shows Wink Martindale hosted on the old Family Channel were going to be the flagship originals for the rival effort, which was trying to be much heavier on original programming right out of the box (they didn't have nearly the archive that GSN could boast).  

Also, pre-Fremantle and pre-Pearson, Mark Goodson Productions was originally going to be a partner in what became GSN, but they pulled out more or less at the last minute and instead leased their archive to the network.  The end of that original lease is what led to The Dark Period, and the fact that GSN doesn't own those episodes outright is one of many reasons that you seem them concentrating on developing their own programming.

OK, history lesson is over.  Take a fifteen minute recess.

[beatlefreak84]

The first time I heard about the network was when my mom brought it up one morning over breakfast (that was when they did an article in the Sun-Times on Wink's Game Show Channel).  Obviously, since nothing materialized from that, I thought that that was it for game show channels.

Then, one day while my dad was on vacation (we got a satellite dish up at our cottage), he was scrolling through the channels to see what was being offered, and one of the channels was indeed \"Game Show Network.\"  Naturally excited, I clamored with my parents to get it, and they eventually caved.

So, that was mainly my vacation:  watching GSN in the good ol' days full of classics (1997-2001).  In 2001, though, we got digital cable, which included GSN, so the vacation-time for GSN was no longer necessary.

In terms of my viewing times, oh, boy, have they decreased!  Initially, I watched the network for about eight to ten hours a day; one day, I watched it for eight straight hours and actually complained when my parents changed the channel!  Nowadays, I watch maybe a couple hours of it (mainly Card Sharks and PYL).  I haven't changed how much I watch TV, but I've just found different shows and channels to replace what used to be completely filled by GSN.

Maybe I'm just a fan of the classics, but I really liked to watch GSN better in the '90s:  no speed-ups, much less reruns, more variety, and much rarer shows.  I didn't mind when the focus shifted to originals, but I hated how they gave the classics the heave-ho, for the most part.

All I can say is this:  If they brought back the 1997 schedule, I'd probably still watch it for eight hours a day and say that wasn't enough!

Anthony

[aaron sica]

[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' date=\'Jul 4 2003, 07:52 AM\'] I first heard about it in a TVGuide Fall Preview edition.  A couple of editions from the early '90s mentioned it as a new network, but it didn't hit the air until a couple of years later.

 [/quote]
 You read about it in the 1993 Fall Preview Edition, when it, as Matt O. pointed out, was known as \"The Game Show Channel\"...

At the risk of sliding a bit off topic, it's always interesting to look back at the Fall Preview Editions when they're touting future cable channels to see which ones made it to launch and which ones didn't....

[SRIV94]

[quote name=\'edholland83\' date=\'Jul 4 2003, 01:15 AM\']I wanted to find out when you first had found about GSN and what your first impression of it was. I remembered the first time I
had heard about Game Show Network was sometime in '92 or '93 when Entertainment Tonight did a brief story on the plans to start the network, I thinnl the video clip had Wink Martindale in it, anyway, That was just my story of how I first found out about it, I finally got the channel when my family got primestar in 1997 and didn't start watching it often until 2000.

I guess some people have more interestng stories about how they found out about it.[/quote]
Interesting subject.  My answer--probably nowhere near as interesting.

I recall the Family Channel block and heard somewhere around that time about the potential plans for what became GSN.  I'm not exactly sure when I heard about the official launch but do recall visting GSN's old website to take a looksee at the schedule, at which point I immediately called my cable system and lobbied for them for them to add the channel.  After they stopped laughing. . .

At any rate, my service was upgraded to the digital tier in June 1998 and that was my official first exposure to GSN.  Among the things happening at GSN around the first few weeks:

Crazy contestant Eva (older lady who invoked religion but wasn't afraid to flirt with Jim Perry) on CS
Bill Cullen and Mary Tyler Moore were guests on P+
A pretty good Jimmy Durante impressionist as the opening act on GONG
My reexposure to \"the Banana section\" on TT (took me back about 25 years), not to mention watching MG7x for the first time in ages
An episode of FF which featured NBA referee Hue Hollins (soon to be a thorn in the side of Chicago Bulls fans everywhere)
The few originals were really hokey (TRIVIA TRACK wasn't worth any of the effort, and obviously there wasn't much effort put into it to begin with)

Maybe I'm just a fan of the classics, but I really liked to watch GSN better in the '90s: no speed-ups, much less reruns, more variety, and much rarer shows. I didn't mind when the focus shifted to originals, but I hated how they gave the classics the heave-ho, for the most part.

Well said.  That first year and change was probably the ultimate for me--and although I didn't realize it at the time, looking back on it I really wish my cable system had acted quicker in adding the channel (seems like there were great things that I missed over the first 3˝ years of GSN's existence that have not been reaired since and most likely never will again).

Doug

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'edholland83\' date=\'Jul 3 2003, 11:15 PM\'] I wanted to find out when you first had found about GSN and what your first impression of it was. [/quote]
 Mine's not at all interesting...as Matt said, those of us who were longtime ATGS-ers knew about the network when it was merely a rumor.

I can tell you the first day I actually SAW it, though: Sunday morning, September 20th, 1998. Somewhere in the 10:00am hour. My first apartment here in the Seattle area, I knew I'd be getting it, since it was available on the digital cable. Guy hooked us up, and was testing it, and I immediately told him to try Channel 161. And there was Jim Perry and Card Sharks, in all its glory. It was followed by a Jack Barry Joker's Wild. Just wonderful.

[Chelsea Thrasher]

I'm trying to remember when the WoF/J! ads started (96?)....

I know, the earliest I can think of, is when I just happened to be flipping channels at my Aunt's house during a visit up there in 1995 [I was 9 then] (They had primestar, before it was absorbed by DTV), and I just happened to stumble onto GSN (They were airing an ep of Jeopardy at that point)

I spent 6 years wanting that channel, finally got it in 2001 w/ digital cable, and kept it when we switched to dish network back in Jan

[Casey Buck]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Jul 4 2003, 11:20 AM\']Guy hooked us up, and was testing it, and I immediately told him to try Channel 161.[/quote]
Yikes, Portland and Seattle seem to have the same digital cable channel lineup; GSN is also on Channel 161 here!

Anyways, I seem to remember hearing about GSN while I was looking at a satellite TV brochure (that shows all the channels it has).

My parents briefly had digital cable from January to May of 2000 with GSN, before getting rid of it, because it was too expensive (I still remember watching the old eps of TPiR that GSN used to show, and I also remember the day when Newlywed Game replaced TPiR; boy was I mad!).

Finally, my parents got digital cable again just two weeks ago (my family has since moved into an apartment with expanded basic cable already included, so they only pay an extra 10 bucks a month!), and I've been enjoying every minute of it.

Until two weeks ago, I was probably the only person on this board to have not seen an episode of PYL at all! The only show I watched on USA in the mid-90s was Knight Rider, of all things! If only I would have turned on USA a few hours earlier...

[Dan Sadro]

My story is from 1997, when I was young and bored.  I was flipping through the channels, and thought \"What would happen if I go past the 'last' channel?\"

So I hit up.  37A, nothing.  38A, nothing.  39A, nothing.  40A, nothing.  41A, The Price is Right.

How times have changed... that was back when the Playboy Channel was scrambled on 14B... we scrapped the A/B system in 1998, I think, at the same time that the cable operator decided to scrap the Playboy Channel, too.  (Hey, I was 14, this was relevant to me back then).

[aaron sica]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Jul 4 2003, 01:20 PM\']

I can tell you the first day I actually SAW it, though: Sunday morning, September 20th, 1998. Somewhere in the 10:00am hour. My first apartment here in the Seattle area, I knew I'd be getting it, since it was available on the digital cable. Guy hooked us up, and was testing it, and I immediately told him to try Channel 161. And there was Jim Perry and Card Sharks, in all its glory. It was followed by a Jack Barry Joker's Wild. Just wonderful. [/quote]
 To expand upon when I got GSN, like Chris did...

As I'd stated earlier, I got DISH Network on Monday, November 5, 1996. As soon as we'd called and ordered our programming, right off to 1-1-6 my fingers went, and showing on GSN was \"Now You See It\" (it was around 6:40 p.m.). It was awesome seeing GSN in real-time in my own home. Equally exciting at the time, was that this was the time GSN was randomly placing TPiR in the schedule. So, some nights I'd tune in expecting to see MG '77 and see either an hour-long or Kennedy TPiR.

[TV Favorites]

I don't remember the exact time I first got exposed to GSN, but I do remember that I was on a family vacation.  It was probably some time around 1999-2000.  I remember that every time we were in our hotel room and the TV was free, I'd turn it to GSN to watch Family Feud and Match Game.  I finally got GSN here at my house when Comcast added it to the cable service in February 2001.