My post had some unfavorable remarks about the show. On the other hand, it wasn't unrelieved bashing. I'll check later today to see if my review has been deleted.
By the way, the idea that anybody important at GSN cares about that board - or should care about it - is a really bad joke. It's a nice place for a few posters like me to express some opinions. But any exec who bases programming decisions on opinions from self-selected and non-representative Internet posters is, to put it delicately, nuttier than Emeril's fruitcake.
While we're on the subject, a loose paraphrase of my review of American Dream Derby's first ep from the GSN board...
THE PREMISE: A dozen contestants vie in various horsey challenges for a quarter-million and a bunch of horses to eat the money.
THE GOOD: Sparkling visuals. Pretty horses, pretty race track, pretty scenery, pretty mansion, a pretty model among the contestants, even the stable doesn't look too tacky. Some honest-to-goodness horseracing gets into the show, including a one-on-one match race, which is a nice change from the sport's usual format. The handicapping challenges require brain use, and the show features a trainer who seems to know his business. The ep leads up to a concluding race, which helps maintain suspense through the hour. The contestants don't spend every minute bad-mouthing each other.
THE BAD: Digging through horse poop with your bare hands? Way too Fear Factor for me. Steve Santagati gets on my nerves with his constant grin. Unless you're at least somewhat interested in the ponies, the show's appeal is inherently limited.
THE REST: No less than Rich Cronin himself is credited with the concept, so GSN's expenditure of serious coin on the show is no surprise. Will the payout pay off?
THE VERDICT: The emphasis on the sometimes arcane world of horseracing gives this effort some product differentiation from the usual reality fare. But that's a two-edged sword (or a two-pronged pitchfork) because not everybody is fascinated by this particular arcane world. In fact, the decline of interest in horseracing over the past several decades argues that the potential audience for the show - especially among GSN's usual viewers - may be all too limited. I might watch a few more eps, and I might not.
