[quote name=\'Terry K\' date=\'Jul 7 2003, 11:08 AM\'] I think a lot of the problem with panel shows is that the producers aren't thinking out of the box. They're looking for names or people who will work cheap. The original WML made celebs out of Bennett Cerf, Kilgallen, and Arlene. They had the big name every so often (who often played WML because they enjoyed dropping by), but didn't rely on them to get people to tune in.
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Agreed to a point... but you can go too far the other way, and you have a response like ABC got for \"I'm A Celebrity...\" In short, who ARE these people. If you're doing, say, WML, you need at least two people a good chunk of the audience will have heard of, and let the others grow on you. By the time TTTT 7X was put together, the Big 3 of Carlisle-Cass-Cullen were all pretty well known, either from the old TTTT or Bill being on every third game show in existence (plus, syndication, NBC sports and so on).
Taking Oxygen's IGAS as an example, you had two pretty well known panelists in Teri Garr and Jim J. Bullock. OK, so they're both airheads. But they're FAMOUS airheads. Of course, there, they were stuck on a network with lousy clearance, so who knew?
Paula Poundstone would have worked on an IGAS, which doesn't take itself seriously. TTTT always did, and she didn't work there, nor did Brad Sherwood or any other comic-only panelist.
To bring this back to WML, the humor always came from misunderstandings, so you need people who are a bit serious about the game, but able to laugh at themselves for asking a stripper \"Is a special outfit required for your work?\"