Author Topic: Thoughts on Lingo (Read 6087 times)

TLEberle · « **on:** March 29, 2005, 12:23:09 AM »

I finally caught a Season Three episode of Lingo this weekend, and noticed a few things:

* Stacey's job could easily be filled by an offstage judge. She's no Vanna, and she was distracting to me while the game played out.

* Was the big screen game board necessary? They didn't do that earlier, and I didn't miss it.

* The set seemed to have a lot more chrome than before. I thought the second season set was just right.

For what it's worth, if it was my money, the bonus round would be set up thusly:

Bonus Letters from S2 and S3
Words worth $100 no matter what, and $5,000 more for a Lingo
Season one board setup, so you need at least two balls to win it.

The best of all worlds, in my opinion. My dreams, I know, but that's what they are. If this starts a discussion, great. If not, off to the dustbin of history.

JasonA1 · « **Reply #1 on:** March 29, 2005, 12:43:12 AM »

While most of us hated the changes at first, I think a fair amount, including myself warmed up to them. Watching, you really see the old Chuck because he doesn't have to say all kinds of things by rote and mention what makes Lingo. He can joke about words, wrong guesses, etc and banter with Stacy. I thought the video screen was cool.

-Jason

Jimmy Owen · « **Reply #2 on:** March 29, 2005, 01:31:49 AM »

I like having Stacey there myself and I have always preferred a game display that was actually part of the set, so for me, those changes were for the better.

ClockGameJohn · « **Reply #3 on:** March 29, 2005, 05:58:03 AM »

I thought Stacey was a total joke.

She clearly wasn't "controlling" the board and she took away from Chuck's hosting.

I liked the format, but it went right down the crapper.

davemackey · « **Reply #4 on:** March 29, 2005, 06:30:50 AM »

[quote name=\'ClockGameJohn\' date=\'Mar 29 2005, 06:58 AM\']I thought Stacey was a total joke.

She clearly wasn't "controlling" the board and she took away from Chuck's hosting.

I liked the format, but it went right down the crapper.

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I think she was just there to give Chuck something to grab on to at the end of the show. When you get into your sixties, you get a little unsteady on your feet.

<smirk>

dmota104 · « **Reply #5 on:** March 29, 2005, 06:54:58 AM »

[quote name=\'davemackey\' date=\'Mar 29 2005, 06:30 AM\']I think she was just there to give Chuck something to grab on to at the end of the show. When you get into your sixties, you get a little unsteady on your feet.

<smirk>

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At the least, Stacey's there for eye candy and to appease to male demos.

I still say the addition of Stacey to the cast of the show was ill-timed. Not long before S3 debuted, there was news Chuck's marriage to Teri Nelson was on the rocks (an issue addressed for most of the series finale to his short-lived reality series "Naturally Stoned").

Last I knew, Chuck and Teri were separated. Speaking as someone who is two months away from hearing the wedding bells toll, I hope they can reconcile.

itiparanoid13 · « **Reply #6 on:** March 29, 2005, 07:02:03 AM »

Only thing that I don't like about Lingo is the look of it now. It's a simple, really non-dramatic, word game, and yet it has a set that sort of looks like Winning Lines. Doesn't fit at all.

joshg · « **Reply #7 on:** March 29, 2005, 08:34:10 AM »

S2 had a big screen game board as well, they just never showed it as much on screen as in S3.

Josh

zachhoran · « **Reply #8 on:** March 29, 2005, 08:38:26 AM »

[quote name=\'ClockGameJohn\' date=\'Mar 29 2005, 05:58 AM\']I thought Stacey was a total joke.

She clearly wasn't "controlling" the board and she took away from Chuck's hosting.

I liked the format, but it went right down the crapper.

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They were channeling the original US Lingo when they bought in an eye candy co-host. Dusty Martell was the co-host in the original. I don't know, having not seen the original Lingo, if she and Michael Reagan(or she and Ralph Andrews) had as much on-screen banter.

Neumms · « **Reply #9 on:** March 29, 2005, 12:04:30 PM »

Don't you see?! Stacey's not just eye candy, she speaks with a British accent! That makes her really smart!

I like the third set a lot. Stacy serves to make the game bigger for TV sake, which isn't a bad thing. I'm not wild about her specifically, and maybe we could hear less of her--maybe just to introduce the players, describe the prize and announce judge's rulings. It was sort of weird when Chuck would somehow divine the definitions of obscure words.

Jeremy Nelson · « **Reply #10 on:** March 29, 2005, 01:24:09 PM »

Well, i don't particularly care for Stacy too much. I watched Lingo whether she was on or not, so it doesn't make much of a difference. The third season set is the best, in my opinion, although the second wasn't half bad.

The other day, I saw a team solve 10 words in Bonus Lingo. It seemed like a total waste when they won the cash with only 2 balls. I think that a team should either win extra cash for each leftover ball, or they keep playing Bonus Lingo boards until they run out of balls.

Anybody else agree?

Don Howard · « **Reply #11 on:** March 29, 2005, 01:34:46 PM »

[quote name=\'Neumms\' date=\'Mar 29 2005, 12:04 PM\']Don't you see?! Stacey's not just eye candy, she speaks with a British accent! That makes her really smart!

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As proven when she ruled that LYNX "is not a word".

Matt Ottinger · « **Reply #12 on:** March 29, 2005, 02:56:22 PM »

[quote name=\'rollercoaster87\' date=\'Mar 29 2005, 02:24 PM\']The other day, I saw a team solve 10 words in Bonus Lingo. It seemed like a total waste when they won the cash with only 2 balls. I think that a team should either win extra cash for each leftover ball, or they keep playing Bonus Lingo boards until they run out of balls.[/quote]
Yes, that is one of many things that is wrong with the structure of the show. Any time anybody gets more than five or six words in Bonus Lingo, it's a foregone conclusion that they're going to win the $5K, so except for that single draw for the extra prize, it's totally anticlimactic.

The "No Lingo" round of the original was wonderful, and the $64K win that circulates is one of the most breathtaking bonus rounds I've ever seen in game shows (a shame they never actually got their money). However, it doesn't run a predictable length, and I'm resigned to the fact that GSN feels these things have to be self-contained.

gameshowguy2000 · « **Reply #13 on:** March 29, 2005, 08:22:32 PM »

I'm glad that they chose not to use the No Lingo round. Using that on the GSN version would've made no sense whatsoever.

As for the show itself, Stacey isn't too bad. Aside from her accent, I like the way she introes Chuck at the beginning of each show (like Burton does on Feud), with things like, "The fifth face on Mount Rushmore" or "The catch of the day".

And I liked the 3rd season set, with the on-screen game board, and lights. Heck, even the show's 3rd season logo was more colorful than the first 2 seasons (as was the set, more neon makes for a better set).

The 2nd season was good, too, especially the April Fools' version with Marc Summers (WinTuition) and Mark L. Wa(h)lberg (Russian Roulette) vs. Kennedy (Friend Or Foe?) and Graham Elwood (Cram), with Todd Newton (Whammy!) in the announcer role (good thing they put him on camera). Only bad thing on this season was that Randi Thomas didn't get to be shown on camera, but her voice, nonetheless, was good.

Matt Ottinger · « **Reply #14 on:** March 29, 2005, 08:36:14 PM »

[quote name=\'gameshowguy2000\' date=\'Mar 29 2005, 09:22 PM\']I'm glad that they chose not to use the No Lingo round. Using that on the GSN version would've made no sense whatsoever.[/quote]
We're all entitled to our opinions, and I can certainly think of many perfectly good reasons why you might not like the No Lingo Round. But I don't understand why you say it would make "no sense whatsoever". Why would it make any more or less "sense" on the GSN game than on the original, except for the issue of straddling which I already brought up?