[quote name=\'Skynet74\' date=\'Nov 11 2004, 05:45 PM\']With regard to Pyramid, Sony is guilty of every single one of these transgressions that you villify Fremantle for.
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You are absolutely correct Chris.... and I have never personally cared for this version of Pyramid because of it. So I guess Fremantle is not solely responsible for tinkering with shows now that you mention it. However Sony's tinkering seems to have more success.
John
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Let's do a quick analysis, shall we?
SONY
Wheel - Pretty much the same with some updates, of course the classic days are the best though.
Jeopardy! - Pretty much the same, moreso than WOF, actually
HS/H2 - Pretty much the same, jumped the shark with the 60 minute lightning round bonus (and the loss of Caroline, but that's just my opinion), but jumped back during the H2 era. The "louder" complaint given by people such as Peter Marshall himself should be considered too.
Pyramid - Same game/structure, but too many jarring changes, including the apparent hiring of simians for the judging; of the players, pushing the celebs more than the contestants (outside of gameplay, did we hear from them for more than 30 seconds?!!?); watered down game (somehow the challenge and excitement were gone); stupid subject names and subjects in themselves; and soulless set and music. John Davidson can rest easy, as his isn't the all time low point of Pyramid history. Aside from the host and cosmetic front game changes, it was still the '80s era Pyramid we all know and love.
Newlywed Game - 1996 revamp should have been called N.GINO (I take it you're familiar by now with the -INO suffix?) Better from 1997 on with Eubanks' return, until the end of series set changes, which seemed weird. Decent revival which won't have as much respect because of GSN's post-Dark Period, pre-some time before the name change NG overdosing. Even for this version, which didn't have as many eps. in the can.
Dating Game - Same thing...1996 = D.GINO, 1997 = better.
FREMANTLE (PEARSON)
Match Game - Basic game, but the rest was just done wrong. Kind of had the FF94 syndrome, as the reduction of the panel, the game (want a contained MG? Look at MGPM's glory days of 3 rounds, people!), and yes, the prizes too. (Insert Mo' Money comment here) Stars were nowhere as good, and too many questions that should have just read, "Please, please, please, use the word 'penis' to fill in this BLANK!"
Family Feud '99-'02 - A little better, but still seemed more routine and predictable than the glory days. Louie really wasn't all that great either, of course. I have also since come to realize, like many others, the evils of the 1-1-1-3 format.
Family Feud current - Look and feel is much better, they eventually fixed the round problem and added returning champions too. Richard K. isn't the best, but acceptable. Also has the "H2 Loud" syndrome, apparently, especially when they DOUBLE THE POINTS!!!!
100 Mexicanos Dijeron - I realize that Fremantle's only involvement here is giving Televisa the format. But I still must mention it as the REAL way FF should have been updated.
To Tell The Truth - Same show and format, but certain stars who put themselves over game play and purists' disdain over the challengers' topics hurt it.
CaSINO - I refuse to call it by the name of the show it was intended to be a revival of. Need I say more?
Whammy! - A lot of what was wrong with it can probably be blamed on Mo' Money Syndrome, actually. 2nd season was better...still it didn't ever feel the same.
The Price Is Right - I admit I don't watch it regularly...most of the quibbles, though, seem to have been around changes in Beauties, the Rod not on camera issue, not hiring Randy ;-), and the "behind the scenes" stories about Bob. At least that's what I gather. Still a good taste of old school gaming.
So, as far as mostly positive shows/revivals go, Sony is at 4 (I count DG and NG to be half points), and Fremantle is at 2.5 - 3.5 (Whammy, TTTT, Karn FF get the halves here. And it's 3.5 if you count 100MD) Seems close, but consider that Fremantle/Pearson had more shows to consider, so I'd still say Sony is pretty much the winner.
