Street Smarts and Vegas Weddings On, Spy TV Gone?

[CaseyAbell]

A couple of p.r.'s from the wonderful world of the web:

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories....02159795&EDATE=

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories....02159781&EDATE=

This wipes out Spy TV's current slots, so it may be bye-bye to spy-spy. Or maybe the show will limp on somewhere in the crooks and nannies of the schedule. Rumors are that the show is bombing like a B-1.

I can't believe they'll let Darva actually talk much, except from a heavily rehearsed script. She seemed, well, not the most eloquent guest on various talk shows. Street Smarts is getting stripped at what looks like the right time to me.

Once again, it's nice to see the reference to a new series of blackjack. Maybe the Prof was right about its relatively good numbers. Now that I mention it, I'm really looking forward to the finale tonight.

[Jimmy Owen]

I haven't had a chance to see Spy TV yet, so I guess I should roll tape.  Surprised GSN hasn't entered the home improvement show sweepstakes yet.

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' date=\'Apr 26 2004, 02:19 PM\'] I haven't had a chance to see Spy TV yet, so I guess I should roll tape. [/quote]
 For curiosity value, possibly, but remember there's zero game to it.

As for Vegas Weddings, now even I'm motivated to bash GSN.  As far as I'm concerned, Darva Conger is the lowest of the bottom-dwelling reality wannabes.  My favorite moment on Today in a long time was when Matt Lauer dismissively told her to "have a nice life" after interviewing her for the third time and having to hear her say over and over how she just wished all this attention would go away so she could concentrate on her nursing career.  

Radio comics Bob & Tom also have a very funny routine where Darva is talking about how she doesn't want all this notoriety -- while on the set of her Playboy shoot madly fielding other offers and answering her cell phone "Darva Conger Enterprises".

Add to that the fact that, as Casey adroitly points out, she has zero personality on-camera, and this looks like an even-more-disappointing-than-usual GSN offering.

[CaseyAbell]

Well, I don't prejudge. But my guess is that Darva will be used in pretty small doses. Maybe not quite as tiny as the jobs Melana gets on blackjack.

Truth to tell, this sounds like what could be a very guilty pleasure. It can't be less entertaining than Spy TV, which lumbered through what I thought were excruciatingly dull stunts. The one bit I honestly got interested in was the Clinton impersonator luring girls in a bar. But it was impossible to believe that the way-too-heavy actor could really fool anybody.

EDIT: In what could be further confirmation of the Prof's comments - and other notes on MediaLifeMagazine and the GSN boards - the non-trad stuff doesn't seem to be expanding yet into the rest of the prime time schedule. Also, the latest pickup is a traditional studio gamer (albeit with tape from the outside planet).

Guess we'll have to see where they put Average Joe, Dog Eat Dog, the Greek Games thingie, Dodgeball, etc. It wouldn't amaze me to see the 10:00 slots on Wednesday and Thursday get new occupants, because the current incumbents allegedly are doing less than boffo business.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'CaseyAbell\' date=\'Apr 26 2004, 11:05 AM\'] Once again, it's nice to see the reference to a new series of blackjack. Maybe the Prof was right about its relatively good numbers. Now that I mention it, I'm really looking forward to the finale tonight. [/quote]
Alas, the finale runs opposite the Sharks game for me, but fortunately it's rerun about five times in the next couple days, so finding an airing that did not conflict with hockey (unless we have overtime tonight, I guess, but even then it would have to go two full OT and into a third) was a pleasantly trivial task.

[tvwxman]

On a side note , does anyone have info regarding "Celebrity Blackjack" ? Since the first series was shot at Mohegan Sun in CT, I'd love to pay a visit to the set if and when the return engagement is taped...

[adamjk]

Regarding the pickup of 640 episodes of Street Smarts. does this mean that they aren't gonna get the entire season 4 run?

[TraderRob]

Assuming there were 32 weeks of shows per season:

32 * 5 = 160 shows per season
160 * 4 = 640 total episodes...

If the show was 39 weeks per season, then who knows what they got :-)

Rob

[catnap1972]

I wouldn't be surprised if GSN just moves Spy TV back a half hour (to 10:30 on Friday).

Don't get your hopes (or Spy TV effigy doll) up quite yet.

[Jimmy Owen]

Isn't it interesting that to get a gig hosting these days you have to be notori....I mean have some notoriety (Monica L., Evan M, Darva...)

[tvwxman]

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' date=\'Apr 26 2004, 06:34 PM\'] Isn't it interesting that to get a gig hosting these days you have to be notori....I mean have some notoriety (Monica L., Evan M, Darva...) [/quote]
 Not so much interesting, but yet bound to happen...

The trickle down theory of reality show contestants as D list celebs began with Survivor...once it became an immediate hit, talent agencies started scooping them up....

First it was movie and tv acting careers...remember Colleen Haskell costarring with Rob Schnieder in "The Animal" ?

Then it was guest star/cameos..... like Big Brother winners occupying squares on "Hollywood Squares"

Now, they've realized what a vast cable universe they have to play with, and so they're finding niche shows for them to guest star/host on....GSN, Lifetime... Hell, Rachel Campos , formerly of "Real World" almost got the co=host gig on "The View"...and Kit Hoover of "Road Rules" is fumbling her way through ESPN's "Cold Pizza" and that anchor reality show who's name i've already forgotten...

It's the wave of the future, and the fast forwarding of the dumbing down of America.

Matt

[Fedya]

If you really miss SpyTV should GSN cancel it, you can always watch its equivalent, Scare Tactics, on the Scifi Channel.

Does this mean that GSN is becoming the Scifi channel, or that Scifi is becoming GSN?

[tommycharles]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Apr 26 2004, 02:14 PM\']
Alas, the finale runs opposite the Sharks game for me, but fortunately it's rerun about five times in the next couple days, so finding an airing that did not conflict with hockey (unless we have overtime tonight, I guess, but even then it would have to go two full OT and into a third) was a pleasantly trivial task. [/quote]
 Well, no overtime. And on behalf of Colorado, you suck :-p

[ChrisLambert!]

[quote name=\'tvwxman\' date=\'Apr 26 2004, 07:46 PM\'] Hell, Rachel Campos , formerly of "Real World" almost got the co=host gig on "The View"... [/quote]
 and she would've been miles better than my former sweetheart, Bessie Hasselbeck, has proven to be. She's wretched.

[SplitSecond]

Darva Conger aside, doesn't anybody find it funny that Rich Cronin can't even stick to his network's new, expanded brand?

Maybe someone can convince him that the Magic 8 Ball he uses to run the network ran out of batteries.