Yeah, we're getting GSN back :)

[Jimmy Owen]

Orbis was a syndicator that distributed TJW90 and the Davidson Pyramid.  The Davidson Squares was distributed by Orion.

[CaseyAbell]

if only i had game show network before 2002

You could have watched great moments in teevee like Extreme Gong, Love Buffet, All New Three's a Crowd, Throut & Neck...

Okay, it's unfair to tar the whole network with these godawfulnesses. But there were some real hunks of junk on GSN back then. Much worse than any of the originals currently on the network.

[Pyramid80]

[quote name=\'CaseyAbell\' date=\'May 7 2004, 09:42 AM\']

if only i had game show network before 2002

You could have watched great moments in teevee like Extreme Gong, Love Buffet, All New Three's a Crowd, Throut & Neck...

Okay, it's unfair to tar the whole network with these godawfulnesses. But there were some real hunks of junk on GSN back then. Much worse than any of the originals currently on the network. [/quote]
 Yep, there was a lot of junk on the network then, but not as much as now!  You had more of a variety of classics prior to 2002.

[CaseyAbell]

Disagree. No show on the network right now is as bad any of the four shows I mentioned. It's not even close, in fact.

[sshuffield70]

Right now, Casey?

What?  You're not counting Crappy vs. Sappy, Fake-A-Mate, and ****-TV?

God, and now we have Idol Wannabe and Beating the crap out of people with balls

Perhaps I was very fortunate to get GSN after the mess that was the first generation originals, but they can't be half as bad as the crap I listed.

[CaseyAbell]

Kenny vs. Spenny, Spy TV and Fake-a-Date are mediocre offerings, no doubt. But they're downright wonderful compared to the revolting Extreme Gong, the obnoxious Love Buffet, the braindead Throut & Neck and the putrid All New Three's a Crowd. The bad old days at GSN were really BAD sometimes. You're lucky you missed them. Unfortunately I had some toxic exposure to all these pools of crud.

Not to dump on GSN excessively, they did produce a few decent originals back then. Inquizition, for instance, was a competent quizzer with a cute gimmick, though it sometimes got a little dry and repetitious.

As for the dodgeball show, I'm looking forward to it. Sounds like a fun, fast-paced stunt show. Talent contests aren't my fave, but Star Search certainly offers far more entertainment value than the Foul Foursome. I can't imagine any of those four shows surviving for three weeks on network prime time, much less a couple seasons.

[sshuffield70]

I did get to see Thickehead and "Inquizition".  They were pretty good.  My only complaint with Thickehead's show was that there wasn't enough questions.  And of course, the problem with "Inquizition" was it's cheapness.....Then again, Thickehead was cheap, too.

[CaseyAbell]

I thought Thicke looked and sounded stoned most of the time on All New Three's a Crowd. Not that I blame him. The show screened out contestants with IQ's above single digits, the questions were embarrassingly unfunny, and the whole concept reeked of idiotic prurience.

Except for that, it was a great show. For more enthusiastic viewer comments:

http://www.jumptheshark.com/t/allnewthreesacrowd.htm

The jump-the-sharkers are about right, only they're too kind.

[aaron sica]

I agree with Casey....

Throut and Neck, AN3AC, Extreme Gong, and Inquizition definitely were four of the worst. The commercials to promote them stank up the joint, too..

if I was exhausted, I'd use Inquizition to fall asleep because it was just so boring to watch....

[uncamark]

[quote name=\'aaron sica\' date=\'May 7 2004, 12:12 AM\'][quote name=\'Dsmith\' date=\'May 7 2004, 12:44 AM\'] Who the hell is Orbis Communications? [/quote]
I believe they were associated with HS86...[/quote]
Nope--Davidson "Pyramid" and that game of definitions.  Yeah, that one.

[David Lawrence]

Though it couldn't match the freak-show entertainment value that made the original worth watching, I enjoyed AN3AC. I thought Thicke did a good enough job for what it was. I agree that there needed to be a few more questions, esp. since they often had to slow the closing credits to a snail's pace to fill out the time.

I wasn't a regular viewer of Inquizition, but I thought it was okay as cheap Q&As go. Now Throut & Neck and the Love Buffet didn't even qualify as "so bad it's good". I didn't like Mall Masters, but I'd now rather see reruns of it than new episodes of Spy TV or Kenny vs. Spenny. (I'm not fond of the blackjack show, but that's just because I'm not interested in any of the various poker/gambling shows; I can still see that it's pretty good if you like that kind of show.)

Since they brought back reruns of Who Dares Wins, I'm surprised thay haven't also tried to bring back the wretched DJ Games, which seems like it would better fit the network now than it did then.

At least Lingo is still around. Fun to watch even if I've already seen the episodes.

[uncamark]

[quote name=\'David Lawrence\' date=\'May 7 2004, 03:39 PM\']Though it couldn't match the freak-show entertainment value that made the original worth watching, I enjoyed AN3AC. I thought Thicke did a good enough job for what it was. I agree that there needed to be a few more questions, esp. since they often had to slow the closing credits to a snail's pace to fill out the time.

I didn't like Mall Masters, but I'd now rather see reruns of it than new episodes of Spy TV or Kenny vs. Spenny. (I'm not fond of the blackjack show, but that's just because I'm not interested in any of the various poker/gambling shows; I can still see that it's pretty good if you like that kind of show.)

[/quote]
Not my kind of show, but for the most part, it was a well-crafted effort and Gurin did fix most of the holes in the original's format.  And the announcer was good.  

I wasn't a regular viewer of Inquizition, but I thought it was okay as cheap Q&As go.

I had to admire just for the fact that Sande Stewart could boast that he did the show that broke most of the rules of what is perceived as a game show (no flashy set, no catchy music, no cordial host, no screaming audience).  Nothing great, but a decent little half-hour time-waster.  In an extreme way, it's a little like what Hugh Downs wanted "Concentration" to be like (he supposedly kept pushing the producers to drop the audience, screaming announcer and organ music and was consistently rebuffed--he believed that the game itself could stand up without any of those).

Now Throut & Neck and the Love Buffet didn't even qualify as "so bad it's good".

"Love Buffet" was a great concept that was just poorly executed, IMHO.  (Funny that the same producers were able to pull off the much more difficult "Night Stand," since how can you parody something like daytime single-topic talk shows that are already parodies?)  Somebody should try it again sometime--just do it better.

Since they brought back reruns of Who Dares Wins, I'm surprised thay haven't also tried to bring back the wretched DJ Games, which seems like it would better fit the network now than it did then.

"WDW" is simply the better show--"Fear Factor" with a smile.

[JayC]

You know, I still don't understand why people complain that GSN is trash and crap now when just their primetime lineup is!  The rest (and some of primetime) is STILL game shows!

[Jimmy Owen]

"Throut and Neck" was a pleasant time-waster, with the good-natured rivalry of a "Kenny vs. Spenny."  The host was good.   I'm not sure if I prefer today's originals to the old ones.  It's sort of a draw to me.

[Dbacksfan12]

[quote name=\'sshuffield70\' date=\'May 7 2004, 02:46 PM\'] I did get to see Thickehead and "Inquizition".  They were pretty good.  My only complaint with Thickehead's show was that there wasn't enough questions.  And of course, the problem with "Inquizition" was it's cheapness.....Then again, Thickehead was cheap, too. [/quote]
 Hey...$250 is *always* better than the GSN 30-minute phone card!