What would work best *Today*

[BrandonFG]

[quote name=\'Modor\' date=\'Apr 28 2005, 03:23 PM\'][quote name=\'Tony\' date=\'Apr 28 2005, 03:17 PM\']Besides, in that 60 years of television, when has any TV trend that was previously abandoned returned to stay for a good long time? (I mean longer than 2 or 3 years)
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Gameshows seemed to disapate in the early 80s....but when Wheel went into syndication in '83; steam was built, running through about 1990.

I hope you don't make your living as a motivational speaker.

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More recently, the last 9 or 10 years have been pretty steady, from about fall 96 up until last fall. Game shows seemed pretty dead c. 1995, when it was just Wheel and Jeopardy in syndication and Price in daytime (I'm not counting reruns of STYD or SS b/c they were just that--reruns). I think games were at their peak around 2002, when it was 8 new shows in syndication.

It's all a cycle, and things will pick back up by the end of the decade.

[Robert Hutchinson]

[quote name=\'calliaume\' date=\'Apr 28 2005, 06:35 AM\']"Welcome back to MTV Blockbusters!  Contestants, what B is an insect that buzzes and stings?"

{sound of crickets chirping}

"Dude, these questions are, like, way too hard."[/quote]

"Ooh, I know!" (buzzes in) "Crickets!"

[chris319]

The industry of today looks down on game shows as a low form of television, plus the segment of the industry that might produce them has shifted near-completely to the so-called "reality" genre. With so few game shows being produced, much less in the pipeline, there is almost no one to teach the next generation of TV producers on how to properly produce one. Given all this, and my own losing the love I once had for game shows, I can't help but believe that the game show may very well become extinct within two decades.

The industry has looked down on game shows for decades but for a different reason than the one you give: game shows don't deliver young demos. That, combined with the facts that a) the networks have forfeited so much of daytime to the affiliates, and b) the entreprenurial game show boutiques of yesteryear no longer exist, fairly guarantee that we will never see another era of a network airing half a dozen game shows each weekday.

[Jimmy Owen]

I would venture to say that most of the syndicated talkers are distributed by entities tied to the networks anyway, so there is no incentive to try and get that time back.

[The Pyramids]

[quote name=\'fostergray82\' date=\'Apr 28 2005, 03:44 PM\'][quote name=\'Modor\' date=\'Apr 28 2005, 03:23 PM\'][quote name=\'Tony\' date=\'Apr 28 2005, 03:17 PM\']Besides, in that 60 years of television, when has any TV trend that was previously abandoned returned to stay for a good long time? (I mean longer than 2 or 3 years)
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Gameshows seemed to disapate in the early 80s....but when Wheel went into syndication in '83; steam was built, running through about 1990.

I hope you don't make your living as a motivational speaker.

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More recently, the last 9 or 10 years have been pretty steady, from about fall 96 up until last fall. Game shows seemed pretty dead c. 1995, when it was just Wheel and Jeopardy in syndication and Price in daytime (I'm not counting reruns of STYD or SS b/c they were just that--reruns). I think games were at their peak around 2002, when it was 8 new shows in syndication.

It's all a cycle, and things will pick back up by the end of the decade.

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I absolutly agree with that.

[Tony]

Okay, I get all of your points.  I haven't lived long enough to really know everything yet .
BTW, I can also take a joke.  I wouldn't want me as a motivational speaker either:D.

[DrBear]

I'll say this for Fremangle; they've at least tried with CS, FF and TTTT2K. It's not their fault that they really aren't very good at it. They've usually managed to screw up one thing that makes the show less watchable - in order above, the gameplay, host and panel. Add the 20,000 Osmond Pyramid (good host, good contestants if unknown celebs, but botched gameplay) from Sony and I think game shows have had a fair shot. What we really need are GOOD game shows, not just retreads with a fresh coat of paint. (Although I will say that my 32-year-old wife, watching some of the 90s TTTT that are running now, thinks that should be given another shot. Find some reasonably intelligent panelists and it could be).

Oh, and one that I'm surprised hasn't been given another shot on some offshoot of the Discovery Channel is College Bowl. After all, there are plenty of high school versions around the country (hey, Matt!) and the format is familiar; I'd think if you're trying to draw college-age kids, show them college age kids.

[Dbacksfan12]

[quote name=\'DrBear\' date=\'Apr 29 2005, 12:11 PM\']Oh, and one that I'm surprised hasn't been given another shot on some offshoot of the Discovery Channel is College Bowl. After all, there are plenty of high school versions around the country (hey, Matt!) and the format is familiar; I'd think if you're trying to draw college-age kids, show them college age kids.

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I doubt it; unless the kids who are watching are parts of the "Geeks R Us" club on campus.  I know of very few people; let alone students who would be interested in such a stagant format.

[aaron sica]

[quote name=\'Modor\' date=\'Apr 29 2005, 01:30 PM\']
I doubt it; unless the kids who are watching are parts of the "Geeks R Us" club on campus.  I know of very few people; let alone students who would be interested in such a stagant format.

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I don't know, Mark....At first, I'm inclined to agree with you, but there still are a lot of local shows at the high school level with the "It's Academic" format.......

[TLEberle]

[quote name=\'Modor\' date=\'Apr 29 2005, 10:30 AM\'][quote name=\'DrBear\' date=\'Apr 29 2005, 12:11 PM\']Oh, and one that I'm surprised hasn't been given another shot on some offshoot of the Discovery Channel is College Bowl. After all, there are plenty of high school versions around the country (hey, Matt!) and the format is familiar; I'd think if you're trying to draw college-age kids, show them college age kids.

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I doubt it; unless the kids who are watching are parts of the "Geeks R Us" club on campus.  I know of very few people; let alone students who would be interested in such a stagant format.

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I don't know how things are in Hickville, Iowa, but Ray is right: there are plenty of smart kids who would love to have a chance to compete in that sort of format, where they might not excel elsewhere.  

I don't know what you mean by "College Bowl" being a stagnant format, maybe that's just your being needlessly negative, but I think one of CB's strengths is that it's very simple, toss-up, bonus, toss-up, bonus, and so on.  The "High-Five Challenge" in Portland is all toss-ups, and gets very boring very quickly.  I'm sure that the right producer can jazz up the format without removing the essence of the game.  I think QB is just the right mix; after a few toss-up/bonus cycles, the show changes gears to something else.  And it all makes for very good watching.

[Dbacksfan12]

[quote name=\'TLEberle\' date=\'Apr 29 2005, 12:43 PM\']I don't know what you mean by "College Bowl" being a stagnant format, maybe that's just your being needlessly negative, but I think one of CB's strengths is that it's very simple, toss-up, bonus, toss-up, bonus, and so on.
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Tepid and repetitive. Wouldn't work here--not saying that it wouldn't someplace else. Just not here.

[ilb4ever2000]

[quote name=\'Modor\' date=\'Apr 29 2005, 03:22 PM\']Tepid and repetitive. Wouldn't work here--not saying that it wouldn't someplace else. Just not here.

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I didn't realize Iowa was a hip, trendsetting hotspot...

[TLEberle]

[quote name=\'Modor\' date=\'Apr 29 2005, 01:22 PM\']Tepid and repetitive. Wouldn't work here--not saying that it wouldn't someplace else. Just not here.

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Y'know, I never thought of the "College Bowl" format as lukewarm tap water...

That said, not everything has to be flash and pizazz these days: Jeopardy?  Still on? And Aaron's right: the basic quiz bowl format can be found all over the country, if you know where to look.  Iowa must be a special case.