ESPN Trivial Pursuit

[jrjgames]

Many of you may remember that I was involved with TP when it started out...just so there is no confusion...i had NOTHING to do with this version!

And Ill keep my opinions to myself!



John

[dmota104]

I remember you had a note about TP on your site -- and wondered if you had any input.

My two cents -- hopefully without offending you or Randy West, announcer from the previous TV version of TP -- I was really impressed.  ESPN TP is much more faithful to the board game than The Family Channel's (now ABC Family) version ever was.  Gameplay in ESPN TP is fast-paced and leads itself to straddling.  

Without spoiling, I'll note time ran out in the episode before the second game of the show could be completed.  So, tomorrow's show should pick up right where today's show left off.  Memo to producers of future games show: Fans such as myself want more straddling.  What better way to have viewers "tune in tomorrow"?

I do hope ESPN TP gets picked up as a regular series after this trial run week.  But, I haven't seen any promos for this.  Only way I knew about it was on this board.  Given the fact they've aired lots of promos for I'd Do Anything and the just-aired Pete Rose movie HU$TLE and (seemingly) no promos for TP, that's not good.

John, in case ESPN TP doesn't work out, here's hoping you can pick up the show.  Other than, obviously, replacing the sports references with general trivia, it needs little adjustment.

[Vgmastr]

While I enjoyed the show in general, I do have a couple of gripes.

1. Rotating categories.  The object of the board game is to get a pie piece in six different categories.  In the board game, you can't say, "I only need a yellow, hopefully I get a movie question this time."  What's wrong with having Football, Baseball, Basketball, Hockey, Other Sports, and Pop Culture as the six categories?

2. The bonus round is way too easy when they give you unlimited guesses, especially when there are questions like naming the baseball team with "BJ Birdy" as their mascot.  How difficult is it to name the three teams named after birds?  You should be rewarded for knowing the answer, not for being able to rattle off every possible option.

[SamJ93]

I hope that if the show gets picked up, they add some sort of final question that a team who fills their pie has to answer to win the game...right now, it's just way too easy for a team to run the board without the opposition getting a word in edgewise.  Plus, that's how the board game works, too.

Liked the sports-bar feel of the set, though, and the host (sorry, missed the first few minutes, so didn't get his name) is a little shaky, but I feel as if he will improve.

--Sam

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'SamJ93\' date=\'Sep 27 2004, 07:53 PM\'] Liked the sports-bar feel of the set, though, and the host (sorry, missed the first few minutes, so didn't get his name) is a little shaky, but I feel as if he will improve.
 [/quote]
 Roger Lodge, from "Blind Date."

[itiparanoid13]

I actually enjoyed the show a lot.  It was very good for a pilot first episode.  Roger did pretty good, but someone needs to remind him that its only $2500 in the bonus, and don't get the Todd Newton complex of screaming at the top of your lungs when someone gets a crappy total.  The set is nice, a lot like a sports bar/arena, even with servers.  If the show gets picked up, they need more decoration on the set, however.  It is just a tiny bit barren right now.  Also, for god sakes, get better theme music.  The current one is annoying.  Hopefully they will do a 2 Minute Drill-esque theme change from a crappy song to a great and memorable theme, at least for me.  The rules were pretty nice also, but they could use a tiny bit of touch ups.  How about some solid categories?  I don't like the rotating categories.  The steal function is OK, but if the team misses, and the other team doesn't need that wedge, how about offering like $100 or something for a right answer?

One thing that irked me was the toss-up, however.  A team can easily win by getting that and running the board.  If a team runs the board, possibly the other team show gets 1 attempt at it.  Maybe even throw in a bonus for running the board, like $500 or something.  Then is the bonus.  It's decent, but maybe add a 3 strikes and your out type rule.  Miss a question 3 times and your round is over, and the other person gets to go.  It leads to more strategic passing and guessing. Oh, how about raising the payouts just a little bit?  $2500 for a bonus win isn't much.  How about making that $5,000, and $10,000 for the double or nothing question.  Oh, if a team wins the game, they should be able to come back the next game no matter what, not just if they get all 6 wedges in the bonus.  

Overall, its not bad for a first episode at all.  I expected Roger Lodge to be a bit rough around the edges, but honestly, he went from a scripted reality show to an unscripted game show just like that.  He did just fine for his first try.  All in all, this was every bit as good as I expected it to be.  It still doesn't hold a flame to what is, in my books, the best sports game show ever (and one of the top 20 game shows of all time in my list) , 2 Minute Drill, but it certainly kicks the crap out of Stump The Schwab and most other newer game shows that have just come out.  I can't tell you how nice it is to see a straddling and returning champ game show.  It's not a major portion of the show, but at least it's something.  Here's hoping it does get picked up after it's 5 game run.  And I think it might, because they are running contestant searches apparently via email.

PS- Did anyone find it slightly humorous that ESPN won't let them use their E-mail service?  They have to use Hotmail instead.

[goongas]

The episode shown today was the third one taped, according to Tim H. who was at the taping.

[thgames65]

[quote name=\'itiparanoid13\' date=\'Sep 27 2004, 09:12 PM\']It was very good for a pilot first episode. 

The set is nice, a lot like a sports bar/arena, even with servers.  If the show gets picked up, they need more decoration on the set, however.

Oh, if a team wins the game, they should be able to come back the next game no matter what, not just if they get all 6 wedges in the bonus.   
[/quote]
This was the 3rd of 5 shows taped on 9/18.

If the show is picked up, there are some possibilities being explored for major upgrades to the setting.

The rules were tweaked a few times from initial auditions to the current form.  Initially, teams had to "bank" their wedges or risk losing them with a wrong response.  After "banking", the other team would get control of the board.  Questions weren't multiple-choice in the audition version, but the questions were even easier than the current ones.   Also, an early version of the game required the team getting 6 wedges to answer a 7th question picked by the opponents from any of the 6 current categories in order to finish the game.

The winning team was not required to win the Money Round in order to come back initially.  That rule change was made late in the process, but was announced before taping began.

Tim H.

[ChrisLambert!]

An inoffensive and fairly enjoyable 30 minutes. Quick thoughts:

* Lodge's sports-based banter ("they looked almost as dead as the '62 Mets") was painfully forced and obviously scripted. I doubt he has more than the most superficial of sports knowledge. That doesn't seem to affect his hosting ability, so he should just drop the charade.

* What a lousy bonus round. Either the questions are going to be so easy that it's over with in a hurry; the players will have no idea on one question and bark endless wrong guesses for 45 seconds each; or a combo of both, where they bark endless dumb answers and luck into getting the right one. I'd suggest having the players share the 45 seconds - say, have Player 1 freeze the clock when he's stumped and pass off to their partner, who gets the rest of time. I think the money available here is way too high for the knowledge necessary to win: maybe give the team $500 for winning the match, then play the bonus for $1000 with a triple-or-nothing question instead?

That being said, I'm a sucker for sports game shows (as anybody who's ben to my site knows well), and I'll keep watching. I also like that the pop culture questions had a tendency to be fairly arcane, which was a nice fail-safe against a team running the board.

My sane idea: get a real announcer, and have him do some audience quizzes for $5 or $10 per question. Fills some time, allows them to maybe use some harder questions than in the front game, and breaks the monotony of game-bonus-game-bonus...

My crazy idea: after the bonus round, split the winning team up and give them new partners from the contestant pool. It'd be unique, and could allow for some fun, sports-esque "See, I carried that team" trashtalking.

[tommycharles]

[quote name=\'thgames65\' date=\'Sep 27 2004, 11:51 PM\'] Also, an early version of the game required the team getting 6 wedges to answer a 7th question picked by the opponents from any of the 6 current categories in order to finish the game.
 [/quote]
 Anybody have a guess as to why this wasn't kept? Sounds like a great idea to me.