Celebrity Charades

[Neumms]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Jun 22 2005, 10:50 PM\']But if you like parlor games, or you like movies enough that you recognize F-list names, or can figure out that a list of movies all have female directors, then it's an interesting watch. But it's _not_ a game show.

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I just wish the parlor game was Password.

I do enjoy guessing the theme, but some of the movie titles, let alone the themes, are really obscure. Not necessarily old but good, often they're recent and mediocre. "Mystery, Alaska" was one such spellbinder, then someone mentioned that one of the celebrities was in it!

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'Neumms\' date=\'Jun 23 2005, 08:44 PM\']"Mystery, Alaska" was one such spellbinder
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One, it didn't do THAT badly in theatres, and two, it really wasn't that bad of a movie.

Though your point is well taken. One of my fellow viewers is quite the movie buff and he didn't recognize some of the titles. I do think, though, that much of AMC's viewership would at least smile at some of the titles they chose.

[Neumms]

Let me also agree with you or Matt's praise of Bob Balaban. Somehow he can give really smug hints to amusingly impossible themes and it comes off hilariously. Maybe he should host a Pyramid revival. I'd love to see him offer the perfect clue that, say, Vicki Lawrence couldn't come up with.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'Neumms\' date=\'Jun 23 2005, 08:59 PM\']Let me also agree with you or Matt's praise of Bob Balaban. Somehow he can give really smug hints to amusingly impossible themes and it comes off hilariously. Maybe he should host a Pyramid revival.
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Wow.

The sad thing is, this isn't the most agnonizingly horribly completely and utterly awful idea that I've seen posted here.

But, wow.

[WhammyPower]

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Jun 23 2005, 12:35 PM\']I don't like the giveaway "hints" they show us; either we're playing along at home or we're not.

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Well, then just tape a piece of cardboard to your TV.... like you'd do for Password.

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'WhammyPower\' date=\'Jun 24 2005, 08:39 AM\'][quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Jun 23 2005, 12:35 PM\']I don't like the giveaway "hints" they show us; either we're playing along at home or we're not.[/quote]
Well, then just tape a piece of cardboard to your TV.... like you'd do for Password.[/quote]
Thought of that...problem is that I DO like most of the other information they put down there. Besides, most of the time it's more fun to know the title and see the players struggle with it -- that was the fun behind any of the old panel games.

I'm just saying that if they WANT us to not know the charade and play along, the "hints" that they give are so obvious as to make the whole exercise a waste. On the first charade of one of the rounds Tuesday, just as they're getting started, up comes "Hint: STELLA!" That's not a "hint", it's either a giveaway to those who know it or it's pointless to those who don't. Therefore it's useless.

[Neumms]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Jun 23 2005, 11:41 PM\']
Wow.

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Well, okay, let me amend that. Maybe if Pyramid came back in a Manhattan loft with movie actors and no civilians, and with a folded-up piece of paper rather than monitors and trilons, then he might be an amusing host, if only when compared to John Davidson.

[TLEberle]

No, it would still bite.  Which is a shame, because it seems really hard to screw up Pyramid.

[tvwxman]

[quote name=\'TLEberle\' date=\'Jun 26 2005, 06:00 PM\']No, it would still bite.  Which is a shame, because it seems really hard to screw up Pyramid.

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And yet, it was done for two years in syndication recently.

[Jimmy Owen]

[quote name=\'tvwxman\' date=\'Jun 26 2005, 07:22 PM\'][quote name=\'TLEberle\' date=\'Jun 26 2005, 06:00 PM\']No, it would still bite.  Which is a shame, because it seems really hard to screw up Pyramid.

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And yet, it was done for two years in syndication recently.

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That's true, but it took a lot of people working long hours at high rates of pay to mess it up.

[uncamark]

Final thoughts on "Celeb Charades":

Diverting, but it does need to be cleaned up a little.  I don't mind if they keep it as a party in an apartment, but there still needs to be some sort of an authority figure at the center.  In the other recent attempt to provide an alternative to host-as-providing-through-line, "Studio 7"'s use of reality-show-style confessionals (and the video bios instead of "tell us about yourself") worked.  Those graphics at the bottom of the screen didn't (and the fact that they were standard AMC font was equally distracting).  "Celeb Charades" needs a host and Balaban would be it, in this instance, if only because he made the most gestures towards being a host in the shows I saw.

Also, I would like to see them include the players for the night in the titles sequence, just we so have an idea right off the top who's playing (and doing a red/blue background color scheme would help us figure out which team they're on).  Also, I'd have after the establishing shot of the loft Balaban turning to the camera and doing an intro to the show and then the rules, just to keep things grounded.

Otherwise, I wouldn't mind seeing more eps--but the silence from AMC's corner gives me the feeling that the numbers weren't good enough to even spin in their favor.