GSN, R.I.P.?

[cmjb13]

(Which brings up a new question for me...why did GSn get this?)

GSN is looking for cheap programming.

[PeterMarshallFan]

Ya know what? I think I got why I'm extra-bitter about this video game stuff. The piss-poor* response on the GSN Boards is what did it for me.



[Insert off topic rant]

I think Gene Platt hit the nail on the heard when he said \"They couldn't handle the heat so they deleted the thread. thericker is welcome to insert his head into his ass.\"

I wholeheartedly agree. Thericker's first mistake was saying \"This is one part of a bigger plan.\" A plan for what, per se? Replacing half the schedule with VG's to become the next G4?

His second mistake, the one that sealed my suspicions about GSN's wanting to become GN: \"You think games on TV you think ? Wouldn't it be nice to think Game Show Network?\" Ummm, No. \"Games\" and \"Game shows\" are 2 different things. If I want to think Games on TV, I'll think GAS, G4, etc.

And then the killer was when I posted what the FlashGames2 [How do I make superscript?] moderator who said \"GSN wants to scale itself away from the GAME SHOW genre and aim for GAMES in general.\" I followed that up with \"Someone at GSN f**ked up big this time.\" 10 minutes later I was banned. I guess they figured, why only take care of the thread when you can get rid of an outspoken opponent to your move at the same time? I'm surprised there wasn't mass banning.

[end off-topic rant]

Now I'll go back to the How Do You Like Your Eggs room.

[parliboy]

First of all, while I stand by my original statement of anal gymnastics in regard to thericker (especially since I had a rather length post on that thread), I was at least smart enough to make that statement over here, not on their board.  You made a direct attack on their board, nothing more, and they were pretty darn clear what that would lead to.  You shot yourself in the foot there, and you're dealing with the consequences.

I don't hold it against you for feeling bitter about their actions.  It was very, very clearly a negative response from all but the most die-hard apologists over there, and GSN's response was typical of many businesses, with the ramifications typically being disasterous both for future sales and for P.R. (see Ultima IX)  At the same time, with so many responses approaching the ... \"level of insight\" ... you used in the one that got you banned, I can see why they considered deletion.  (ricker, stay where you are, continue to assume the position)

Now then, the \"bigger plan\" is to move toward a more general games network.  It won't happen.  You won't pick up G4's audience, and you will lose what you have now.  I'm sorry, but why in the world would I sit through two hours of video game programming -- just to see reviews?  I can already do that now at a hundred different sites.

One issue we won't have to worry about so much is \"reruns\".  Gamer.tv is actually a 5-a-week show, of which we'll get two.  Game Sauce is actually twice-a-week, and we'll get one of those.  This means GSN will (save holidays) get something it has failed to have with any other show since the age of dial-in interactives -- year-round original programming.

So the gambit is laid down -- will they get enough young eyeballs to justify dirt-cheap, internationally-produced, syndicated programming which requires an overt change in their programming mission?  What's more, can they actually get them to sit for a 2-hour block (that's the part that makes me ultra-cynical).

[Chelsea Thrasher]

[quote name=\'parliboy\' date=\'Jul 12 2003, 11:52 AM\'] So the gambit is laid down -- will they get enough young eyeballs to justify dirt-cheap, internationally-produced, syndicated programming which requires an overt change in their programming mission?  What's more, can they actually get them to sit for a 2-hour block (that's the part that makes me ultra-cynical). [/quote]
 And I can answer all that with one word:  No.

As GSN *should* be remembering from October 1997-April 1998 is that you can only push your viewer base so far before they push back (I've read a good deal of the ATGS archives of the time...for those who've never seen the DP-era posts......It's good reading, and chock full of chock-full-ness!)

[PeterMarshallFan]

While we're on it, I think the IQ of GSN has dropped at least 20 points since yesterday. I now know A) someone who kisses ass to Belinkoff, and B) what a true, full blooded Tomarkenite is.


ObGameShow: Bullseye had a great set. Cram sucks.

[Chelsea Thrasher]

It's Uncle Penguin's Compare Current GSN to the Dark Period Show (Episode 3....check ATGS for Ep 1, and ezBoard for Ep 2)

I present a quote from 1997, and notes relating to something recent.  
1997: From a form letter from GSN re: the removal of all non-TPiR/FF94 G-T shows

It is time to advance to the next level by offering more variations on the game show product to keep pace with our rapidly growing audience. The new schedule reflects the next phase of our programming strategy which is to roll-out a more diverse schedule that will expand our audience to include younger viewers. \"

\"thericker\", in response to the firestorm of backlash about the VG block, said something almost identical, if not slightly reworded, not 2 weeks ago.

Back a year ago, I was wrong to say that the GSN of the time (June 2002) was worse than the Dark Period.   Now, it's worse.    I looked at a schedule from the time, and, swapping out the then-originals for the now-originals...I'd love to have that sched ($20K Pyramid, $25K Pyramid, all 4 seasons of $100K Pyramid, 80s J!, Chain Reaction, Go!, TPiR, TJW, TTD, Treasure Hunt, Gong Show,  need I continue?)

Cronin should have been fired in 2002.   Belinkoff never should have been hired.      I got no problem with Bob Boden

[PeterMarshallFan]

[quote name=\'Seth Thrasher\' date=\'Jul 14 2003, 11:28 AM\'] It's Uncle Penguin's Compare Current GSN to the Dark Period Show (Episode 3....check ATGS for Ep 1, and ezBoard for Ep 2)

I present a quote from 1997, and notes relating to something recent.  
1997: From a form letter from GSN re: the removal of all non-TPiR/FF94 G-T shows

It is time to advance to the next level by offering more variations on the game show product to keep pace with our rapidly growing audience. The new schedule reflects the next phase of our programming strategy which is to roll-out a more diverse schedule that will expand our audience to include younger viewers. "

"thericker", in response to the firestorm of backlash about the VG block, said something almost identical, if not slightly reworded, not 2 weeks ago.

Back a year ago, I was wrong to say that the GSN of the time (June 2002) was worse than the Dark Period.   Now, it's worse.    I looked at a schedule from the time, and, swapping out the then-originals for the now-originals...I'd love to have that sched ($20K Pyramid, $25K Pyramid, all 4 seasons of $100K Pyramid, 80s J!, Chain Reaction, Go!, TPiR, TJW, TTD, Treasure Hunt, Gong Show,  need I continue?)

Cronin should have been fired in 2002.   Belinkoff never should have been hired.      I got no problem with Bob Boden [/quote]
 Yeah. It's Dark Period II coming up. When's the renewal time for the G-T's? I got a hunch they're gonna be gone soon. thericker is welcome to continue his position.


Damn......the last three days at GSN have been weird.....

[ilb4ever2000]

Yeah. It's Dark Period II coming up. When's the renewal time for the G-T's? I got a hunch they're gonna be gone soon. thericker is welcome to continue his position.

I thought the Perfessor reported a while back that it had been renewed already.

[whampyl03]

I guess I'll toss my opinion in the till as well...

First, a little background on me...

The year was 1989. I was only about one, but I was quite a smart baby. I could talk, I could walk (Well, waddle), I could read, but most important to me, I could press buttons, I could count to 20, I could tell time with a digital clock, and I knew how to turn on the TV. I really crashed into my first game show. One day I was playing around with the remote, and found a show called \"Double Dare\". This type of show was very new and foreign to me, and I really loved it. After the show was over, I really wanted more. I looked around like crazy to find more shows like this, and through about 3 days I crashed into Family Feud, Press Your Luck (On USA), Scrabble, TPIR, and A TON of others. It was always like that, even now. I've been singing the praise of Game Shows all through my life, and through most of that singing, people have been plugging their ears. I actually CRIED on my first day of Kindergarten because I was going to miss TPIR. (God, I feel stupid saying that) Around 1997, during the credits of Jeopardy!, I seen what looked like a godsend. A in credits promo for Game Show Network. (I've already posted that story in another post). I FINALLY Got GSN in the early spring of 2002, and it was real good. From Body Language to Super Password, I was very hooked. Unfortunately, all good things had to come to an end, as classic after classic was axed for new (and for the most part, OK originals)
I always assured myself that no matter how bad of times are on GSN, there would never stray away from the Game Show genre. Then the January Sched of 2003 came. LOVE CONNECTION? I remembered Love Connection from my childhood, it was one of those dating shows, now I thought it was a OK program, BUT IT NEVER HAS BEEN, OR NEVER WILL BE A GAME SHOW!  Then the Naturally Stoned announcement was finally verified. I wasn't too mad, because it at the very least loosely related to game shows. Then the video game announcement came. It was extremely heart breaking. To me, it was the near equilivent of losing a family member. My favorite television channel was beginning to go down the toilet (If it wasn‘t already).

I'm flashing the GSN apocalypse card. It's either going to do great, and pull in gamer related programming, or hideously, and lead to the death of the channel. Game Show Network for quite a while made me the happiest person on the face of the earth. Now I know that I will never feel that same feeling again, thanks to this programming.

[Chelsea Thrasher]

At least, for thosse of us who get the channel, there's Nick GAS still.   GSN of old, it ain't, but it's good for what it is (Double Dare, Finders Keepers, the list continues)

[Matt Ottinger]

I'm flashing the GSN apocalypse card. It's either going to do great, and pull in gamer related programming, or hideously, and lead to the death of the channel.

I've really been trying to stay out of this and let you guys vent, but that statement, in a nutshell, is exactly what's wrong with this entire thread.  EVERY time GSN makes an announcement that means one less precious rerun will be on the schedule, you guys \"flash the GSN apocalypse card\".  I've seen people predicting the death of the channel ever since the channel's been on, and the simple fact is that it's stronger than it's ever been.  This is one minor programming change, a lot more minor than most, and you're treating it like the end of civilization as we know it.

In the shortest post ever, SplitSecond made a great analogy between what's happening now and what happened to fX.  That channel started around the same time as GSN with a lot of 60s and 70s reruns and clever original stuff in between.  It's now something completely different.  I liked the original, and I enjoyed seeing old shows that I hadn't seen in a long time, but life -- and cable programming -- moves on.

GSN is moving on.  Like it, don't like it, whatever.  But don't treat it like it's the end of the world, or even the end of GSN.  'Cause it's just not.

[ilb4ever2000]

If GSN would just bring back TJW and leave B&WO alone, I could care less what they did with the rest of their schedule.

To me, it's a shame I'll never get to see some of those rare classics (I got the channel in 2000). A number of you have at least gotten that chance, whether it was through GSN or actually watching when they were on-the-air. But as was said, life goes on.

[jalman]

Matt O:

In the shortest post ever, SplitSecond made a great analogy between what's happening now and what happened to fX. That channel started around the same time as GSN with a lot of 60s and 70s reruns and clever original stuff in between. It's now something completely different. I liked the original, and I enjoyed seeing old shows that I hadn't seen in a long time, but life -- and cable programming -- moves on.

Me:

Yeah, and we should be thankful that the \"180-turn\" of fX didn't cause so much whining like the changes at MTV.  I don't recall fX ever boasting themselves as \"The Rerun Station\" whereas MTV will forever be burned in the minds of those who grew up in the Martha Quinn era as \"Music Television\" (read: music videos, kids...that's all we'll ever air...ever).  I guess the older MTV viewers are disgusted about the lack of \"truth in advertising:\" just about any message board on the 'Net has someone crying \"where are the music videos\" when some non-video programming on the channel is discussed.

I was curious about and even liked the old fX.  To my young eyes, they were a rare example of a \"happy-go-lucky\" channel.  The bright box logo.  The NYC flatiron studios and their neat programming scattered throughout the day.  BACKCHAT~!  (Before I had Internet access, Backchat was a cool show for trivia.  I didn't even know a \"In Living Color Dossier\" book existed before I watched it.).  I'd stopped watching fX before its current incarnation started though.  I don't weep and throw my keyboard at the sight of the current fX logo.  There'll be always better things to do than reminisce about \"Nanny & the Professor,\" \"The Ghost & Mrs. Muir,\" and \"Wonder Woman\" reruns or complain about the mutilation of \"Breakfast Time\" upon moving to the Fox network.

I'd have more to say, but I'll hold back.  Hopefully, my thoughts didn't make me a whiny \"original mission statement/status quo\" zealot.

Clarence

[SplitSecond]

In the shortest post ever, SplitSecond made a great analogy between what's happening now and what happened to fX.

I strive for pith.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'SplitSecond\' date=\'Jul 14 2003, 10:44 PM\']

In the shortest post ever, SplitSecond made a great analogy between what's happening now and what happened to fX.

I strive for pith. [/quote]
 Perhapth you thould find a bathroom, then.