The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: TimK2003 on July 27, 2008, 10:30:05 PM
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Just as the subject says, what was WORST game show premiere you have ever seen, to the effect that you never saw the rest of the first run eps.
And to start off, we go with one vote for Card Sharks 2K.
Others?
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-The Rich List...oh wait.
Seriously, "The Chamber". Saw it while at dinner with friends and thought it was the most insipid thing I ever witnessed.
-"Free 4 All", completely uninspired USA Network show from the mid-90s
-"Show Me the Money"...someone posted a 10-minute teaser clip online, and it featured a really effeminate male contestant who carried a "murse". I think I actually tried to watch another, and the best part of the show was William Shatner trying to shuffle and keep up with the rotating camera during the closing.
-"Set for Life", now I see why ABC kept postponing this one.
-"Don't Forget the Lyrics" and "Moment of Truth". I forgot the former was even on, and turned to it to notice they pulled some sort of cliffhanger with the answer. Look, you either know the rest of "867-5309" or you don't.
I also remember being turned off by "Smarter Than a 5th Grader".
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A definite second vote for me with Set For Life ugh...that show makes my skin crawl...:)
Some others:
-Amnesia (Dennis Miller aside, the game had no play-along value and went much more slowly than it needed to)
-How Much is Enough? (Very bland gameplay; execution was terrible compared to what I thought, and hoped, it would be like (I thought it would be a much more psychological game, but it really wasn't))
I can't really think of any others; except for the above ones, I gave them at least a few episodes before I decided whether to stop watching them or not (yes; even CS2K). And, for some sick reason, I actually watched all 3 episodes of the Chamber...thought it was an interesting concept, but The Chair was definitely better...mainly because of McEnroe...;)
Anthony
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[quote name=\'beatlefreak84\' post=\'192316\' date=\'Jul 27 2008, 07:47 PM\']
...thought it was an interesting concept, but The Chair was definitely better...mainly because of McEnroe...;)[/quote]
You canNOT be SERIOUS! :)
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Count me as another for The Chamber.
I also didn't like Meredith's Millionaire when it premiered (as I've said multiple times over)...yet I do watch on occassion and still want to try out. Hypocrite, perhaps?
Call me crazy but I liked CS01 when it premiered originally...took me about a month to get over that.
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In spite of the lovely Betty White's presence, JUST MEN bored the carp out of me. Saw the premiere (took a sick day from high school), then opted not to bother with the rest of the 13 weeks (got my first VCR within six weeks and opted to tape $otC and HIT MAN--sorry, never saved the tapes).
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[quote name=\'PYLdude\' post=\'192327\' date=\'Jul 27 2008, 08:19 PM\']I also didn't like Meredith's Millionaire when it premiered (as I've said multiple times over)...yet I do watch on occassion and still want to try out. Hypocrite, perhaps?[/quote]Nah. We may disagree over that, but I know the feeling.
I can't stand watching Wheel of Fortune, but I'd have no problem being a contestant and taking home a farkton of money.
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I'd have to go with Extreme Gong. When I heard that Gong Show was coming back as a GSN original, I was excited. And then this drek pops up on my TV, trying to pass itself off as a revival of one of the most entertaining shows I've ever watched. Needless to say, I ended up being one of those who provoked Wadell to badmouth us on TV.
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Donnymid - I know I'm in the minority but I never cared for Pyramid overall. I know why it was a good show but this and panel shows never did it for me. However I could stand it when nothing else was on. When the new version came out with Donny at the helm, I got curious. I made it to the first half of the first round. Just horrible. You could tell it was going to turn into a train wreck.
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Shows from the past 20 years-too easy to be disappointed. I'll go old school. "Magnificent Marble Machine" High hopes dashed by boring front game and unrealistic looking machine. "Hot Seat" Too flimsy and no play along. "The Better Sex" didn't seem as fun as it should have been.
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"Temptation".
/not lots of love there
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[quote name=\'davemackey\' post=\'192361\' date=\'Jul 28 2008, 07:37 AM\']
"Temptation".
[/quote]I was tempted to say that, but it took me a while to get turned off.
- Set for Life
- Moment of Truth
- The Chamber
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[quote name=\'fostergray82\' post=\'192314\' date=\'Jul 27 2008, 10:38 PM\']
-"Don't Forget the Lyrics" ... I forgot the former was even on, and turned to it to notice they pulled some sort of cliffhanger with the answer. Look, you either know the rest of "867-5309" or you don't. [/quote]
I recall them doing the same thing with Billy Vera's "At This Moment", which was a $5000 song when they closed the show one episode.
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I remember thinking WTF when seeing the first ep. of the 1990 TJW. I thought "This is NOT TJW" However, I did happen to catch an ep. with the revised format, and I liked it better.
The first time I saw TTD 90, I remember actually liking the computerized tic-tac-dough board, but beyond that, I thought "this is more bare bones TTD"
Video Power... the game show. It started of as an animated series with video game tips, then it suddenly turned into a kiddie game show. I thought the host was OVERLY touchy-feely with the kiddies and it was a turnoff for me.
Monopoly- I don't think I saw much of this show. Michael Reilly was talking so fast, I wondered if he had a bus to catch or something.
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Five that spring to mind from the early to mid 90s.
1. Scrabble '93 - The set was changed, and lacked warmth and coziness that the 1984 version did. I hated that the Bonus Sprint was a piddily $1,000 and bonus squares added to it. As soon as Chuck read the first clue, and it was a long one, I said "This remake isn't going to last very long". Even the set seemed to imply that to me. Just a very disappointing show as compared to the 1984 version which was superior.
2. Family Feud '94 w/Dawson back as host. He mumbled, the "Bankroll" game was terrible, the set was dark and also very "empty" looking, as if to suggest "We're not gonna be here very long probably". The good flippy board was gone, only 4 members per family instead of five. It was terrible.
3. The "New" Price is Right w/Doug Davidson. No Contestants' Row, video walls, much too dark set, theoretically nobody could win a single thing during an episode, assuming all 3 pricing games were lost as well as the showcase. The only semi-interesting thing they had was their own version of the Showcase Showdown "The Price WAS Right", but even those they ran out of and they had to do the "Big Wheel". Personally I don't think they ran out of old clips for The Price WAS Right, I think rather, they wanted to try to have some element of the daytime version, but it was too little too late.
4. The Joker's Wild Pat Finn version. THREE players? DEFINITIONS?!?! Only one slot with a Joker? And those jokers were very creepy and haunting looking to me, something right from the mind of Stephen King! And the bonus round was so/so at best. Another show where they tried to implement some elements of the "old" school program, but it was much too little much too late. Terrible remake. My idea for a remake I believe in my humble estimation is pretty good.
5. Tic Tac Dough 1990. Rapping dragons (although not from the debut), I could tell this too was going to be a flop right away, from the kiddy sounding theme song, to the annoying host, and the "modernized" gameboard which left everything to be desired. I knew it was doomed, but I watched a few eps. As soon as they cleared the pot after a tie game, I said "This show's headed for death". No 5 time car champs either. Another very disappointing remake, and I still cannot believe that THE Henry Mancini penned this garbage theme music!
Bill
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Merv Griffin's Crosswords
Temptation
How Much Is Enough
To be fair, I didn't really plan on watching those daily, but I taped the pilots for the heck of it.
TJW90
Monopoly
Show Me the Money. It wasn't that I wouldn't have watched it at all, but I had decided it wasn't worth looking for. I think I did catch part of another episode.
Moment of Truth. Kind of unfair to include this one. I hated the premise alone so much that I didn't want to watch it in the first place, but my wife and I were playing Scrabble and she wanted to keep it on.
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Quicksilver and Free 4 All lead my list.
Crosswits (vintage 1986 as opposed to The Cross-Wits) would have, but I kept tuning in hoping to get a look at Michelle Roth. After a while, I figured they never showed her because she was a hag so I gave up. Then, while watching FNN one day, I discovered that she was a doll baby and that she was born to share my bed.
Guilty Or Innocent didn't do anything for me, either.
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[quote name=\'SRIV94\' post=\'192335\' date=\'Jul 27 2008, 11:44 PM\']
JUST MEN bored the carp out of me.
[/quote]
So I guess you felt really fishy that day? ;-)
After a while, I figured they never showed her because she was a hag so I gave up. Then, while watching FNN one day, I discovered that she was a doll baby and that she was born to share my bed.
Glad I wasn't drinking anything, that's another win for you (Don't have time to pull up any of the TEH WINNARS pics).
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[quote name=\'fostergray82\' post=\'192380\' date=\'Jul 28 2008, 09:35 AM\']
[quote name=\'SRIV94\' post=\'192335\' date=\'Jul 27 2008, 11:44 PM\']
JUST MEN bored the carp out of me.
[/quote]
So I guess you felt really fishy that day? ;-)
[/quote]
I called in sick from high school. I had a haddock.
/Showtime!
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[quote name=\'SRIV94\' post=\'192383\' date=\'Jul 28 2008, 10:40 AM\']
[quote name=\'fostergray82\' post=\'192380\' date=\'Jul 28 2008, 09:35 AM\']
[quote name=\'SRIV94\' post=\'192335\' date=\'Jul 27 2008, 11:44 PM\']
JUST MEN bored the carp out of me.
[/quote]
So I guess you felt really fishy that day? ;-)
[/quote]
I called in sick from high school. I had a haddock.[/quote]And here I thought you'd stayed home just for the hailbut.
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Holy Mackerel, Kingfish! It's another load 'o seafood jokes!
50 Grand Slam. Just couldn't get into that mish-mash. Set For Life, All-Star Secrets, The Neighbors...and admittedly, I still watched some episodes of dumb or weak shows because there was little better of interest running against them. Battlestars, Blankety Blanks, It's Anybody's Guess, Funny You Should Ask, Time Machine and One In A Million come to mind...
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[quote name=\'Don Howard\' post=\'192371\' date=\'Jul 28 2008, 06:38 AM\']
Then, while watching FNN one day, I discovered that she was a doll baby and that she was born to share my bed.
[/quote]
Don needs a cold shower or a moment to himself right about now...
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[quote name=\'The Ol' Guy\' post=\'192386\' date=\'Jul 28 2008, 11:08 AM\']
The Neighbors[/quote]
Oh, God, yes, that's another one. When I saw the ad for it, I wondered what the heck a Regis was.
But, boy, did I love that show's replacement.
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[quote name=\'The Ol' Guy\' post=\'192386\' date=\'Jul 28 2008, 10:08 AM\']
Battlestars[/quote]
That one didn't bother me so much (the first version did only because it replaced CS, but I didn't mind the game itself).
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I'm sure to some Battlestars wasn't too bad, but it just seemed H-Q/Merrill Heatter was just endlessly milking the question-gag-answer-agree or disagree format, like with All Star Blitz and other producers copies (Break The Bank). Some of us long-timers enjoyed the entire run of the original Squares and looked forward to some different game formats for a while.
While I'm at it...would anyone like to discuss whether or not Battlestars was really a poor title for the format? There was no real strategy, contestants did not compete/better the other for the right to play, the stars were not really in any type of defensive play (unless you want to consider giving a bluff answer a way of possibly protecting yourself from being "captured", - help me with this one - I don't remember whether or not once a star was captured by a contestant, his opponent could do nothing to change ownership of that celeb - and finally, board number choices were totally randomized with the "stop the bouncing lights" plunger. Other than the fact they tried to make it look like some type of an arcade game or whatever, there wasn't a whole lot of "battle" in it!
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Did anyone else here watching Battlestars then wonder what happened to Bob Quigley?
And upon learing that Merrill's company produced it, did you then wonder what happened to Kenny Williams?
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[quote name=\'The Ol' Guy\' post=\'192395\' date=\'Jul 28 2008, 10:26 AM\']
I'm sure to some Battlestars wasn't too bad, but it just seemed H-Q/Merrill Heatter was just endlessly milking the question-gag-answer-agree or disagree format, like with All Star Blitz and other producers copies (Break The Bank). Some of us long-timers enjoyed the entire run of the original Squares and looked forward to some different game formats for a while.
[/quote]
I agree (X gets the square), but considering that the original HSq could've run a couple more years if it weren't for Fred Silverman constantly shifting its time slot then cancelling it altogether to make way for Letterman, having that format on in some way, shape or form wasn't totally a bad thing. As always, YMMV.
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[quote name=\'SRIV94\' post=\'192398\' date=\'Jul 28 2008, 11:33 AM\']
considering that the original HSq could've run a couple more years if it weren't for Fred Silverman constantly shifting its time slot then cancelling it altogether to make way for Letterman, having that format on in some way, shape or form wasn't totally a bad thing. As always, YMMV.
[/quote]
Indeed so. YMMV is what makes this forum a treat.
If The Hollywood Squares had just been left alone at 11:30 ET, I wonder if it would still be on today.
I also wonder how many people tuned in to the first HSq in 1966 {which may have been a bit on the shaky side---I don't remember seeing it so I don't know} and thought it was lame and didn't tune back for many a moon.
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Hi, Don!
Fun going back 'n forth, isn't it?
I'm sure a few others saw the first shows as well, and they were wobbly - and extremely slow. As in Marshall's book, whoever suggested packing the show with questions and picking up the pace made the right decision - otherwise it would have been as draggy as the two shows that were the springboards for Squares - The Celebrity Game and People Will Talk.
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Without Prejudice. Made it through precisely two acts.
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I was quite disappointed with TNPiR '94. I thought it would be more like the Kennedy version (which I loved, and still do) and when it wasn't, that was pretty much it. I tried to watch it and enjoy it, but I couldn't.
Scattergories was another one I thought I would enjoy (a good game with celebrities), instead, it just put me to sleep (literally).
Lastly, MG '98. I've been a MG fan my whole life but the lack of 6 celebrities, no wheel (I do enjoy the Star Wheel episodes much more), and low-cash payouts killed it for me.
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[quote name=\'aaron sica\' post=\'192415\' date=\'Jul 28 2008, 12:22 PM\']
I was quite disappointed with TNPiR '94. Lastly, MG '98.[/quote]
I kept hoping against hope that Match Game ('98/'99) would get better, which is why I continued setting the VCR for Tuesday through Saturday mornings at 5:00 to catch the feed from WGN. And Michael Burger had some good moments. Other than Vicki Lawrence and George Hamilton (who I liked), all he had to work with were wacked contestants and wacked celebs (one of whom curiously kept calling him "Daddy").
As for The New Price Is Right ('94/'95), two words: Lisa Stahl.
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[quote name=\'Don Howard\' post=\'192419\' date=\'Jul 28 2008, 12:41 PM\']
As for The New Price Is Right ('94/'95), two words: Lisa Stahl.
[/quote]
Definitely no Anitra Ford, was she?
/Yeah, like the N, I "went there"
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[quote name=\'aaron sica\' post=\'192422\' date=\'Jul 28 2008, 10:28 AM\']
[quote name=\'Don Howard\' post=\'192419\' date=\'Jul 28 2008, 12:41 PM\']
As for The New Price Is Right ('94/'95), two words: Lisa Stahl.
[/quote]
Definitely no Anitra Ford, was she?
[/quote]
Didn't Lisa have a longer acting career? Why am I thinking Lisa was in "Baywatch Nights"?
Too bad Fathead doesn't do cutouts of former Price Is Right models.
/Don would be first in line
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[quote name=\'joshg\' post=\'192424\' date=\'Jul 28 2008, 01:33 PM\']
Didn't Lisa have a longer acting career? Why am I thinking Lisa was in "Baywatch Nights"?
[/quote]
I thought that was Gena Lee Nolin?
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[quote name=\'joshg\' post=\'192424\' date=\'Jul 28 2008, 01:33 PM\']
Why am I thinking Lisa was in "Baywatch Nights"?
[/quote]
Because she was. And Gena Lee was in Baywatch.
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I agree with all the bad sentiment about TJW'90, and will add this: The title was a fraud because the Joker was never wild. All it did was triple the money wheel total and confine the player to 15 seconds of definitions.
Also, IIRC, a player could string a run of correct answers and win the round rather than be confined to the 15 second Joker. And the Godawful bonus round (First definition...last definition...).
//Anitra Ford...bikini...nuff said!!!
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[quote name=\'Don Howard\' post=\'192396\' date=\'Jul 28 2008, 11:30 AM\']
Did anyone else here watching Battlestars then wonder what happened to Bob Quigley?
And upon learing that Merrill's company produced it, did you then wonder what happened to Kenny Williams?
[/quote]
Kenny Williams died before Battlestars premiered, didn't he? I think Las Vegas Gambit was the last show he announced.
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[quote name=\'whewfan\' post=\'192490\' date=\'Jul 28 2008, 07:07 PM\']
Kenny Williams died before Battlestars premiered, didn't he?[/quote]
I don't believe he passed away until 1984.
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The Neighbors was horrendous. I can't remember anything else that I loathed as much from day one.
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[quote name=\'calliaume\' post=\'192514\' date=\'Jul 28 2008, 09:28 PM\']
The Neighbors was horrendous. I can't remember anything else that I loathed as much from day one.
[/quote]
I saw the Neighbors for the first time last year, at the Museum of TV/Radio in NYC...I had been looking forward to seeing that for a number of years, simply because there just aren't many shows left in the annals of tv that I haven't seen.
Talk about a massive waste of excitement there.
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Mine were:
Body Language
Time Machine
To Tell the Truth (Robin Ward)
A confession: I was never a Hollywood Squares fan until halfway through the Davidson run. Seeing the zaniness and spontaneity of Jm J. Bullock, Joan Rivers, etc. reminded me of the original Match Game run, and by the mid-1987-88 season, I was addicted to the show. Unfortunately, one night in July '88 I tuned in to see the premiere of another show instead: A Current Affair, and I'm wondering what the heck happened.
The irony was that MG 90 functioned more like the original HS run, i.e. trying to get through the show in 30 minutes and the spontaneity in a sense was stifled.
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Without Prejudice? and The Moment of Truth are the only two shows that truly disgusted me immediately. I even have a soft spot for a number of shows named here, particularly Donnymid and Feud94. CS01 just struck me as boring.
I had wanted to see The Magnificent Marble Machine at the Paley Center several years ago, but when I searched it, they did not have it. I looked in both sections too, to no avail.
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[quote name=\'TroubadourNando\' post=\'192536\' date=\'Jul 28 2008, 10:46 PM\']
I had wanted to see The Magnificent Marble Machine at the Paley Center several years ago, but when I searched it, they did not have it. I looked in both sections too, to no avail.
[/quote]
The episode I've viewed (in NYC) is listed under the title of "Marble Machine". There's an episode that's supposed to be attached to a Woolery Wheel of Fortune, but it wasn't the time I tried to view it.
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[quote name=\'RMF\' post=\'192540\' date=\'Jul 28 2008, 11:02 PM\']
[quote name=\'TroubadourNando\' post=\'192536\' date=\'Jul 28 2008, 10:46 PM\']
I had wanted to see The Magnificent Marble Machine at the Paley Center several years ago, but when I searched it, they did not have it. I looked in both sections too, to no avail.
[/quote]
The episode I've viewed (in NYC) is listed under the title of "Marble Machine". There's an episode that's supposed to be attached to a Woolery Wheel of Fortune, but it wasn't the time I tried to view it.
[/quote]
Ah, that would do it. Thanks.
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[quote name=\'Don Howard\' post=\'192396\' date=\'Jul 28 2008, 11:30 AM\']
Did anyone else here watching Battlestars then wonder what happened to Bob Quigley?
And upon learing that Merrill's company produced it, did you then wonder what happened to Kenny Williams?
[/quote]
Bob Quigley had retired, and I think Ken either was ill or retired by the time "Battlestars" came on. (He died in the early 80's; his last show was "Las Vegas Gambit".)
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GSN's Throat and Neck.
More recently: Moment of Truth
Shows from the past 20 years-too easy to be disappointed. I'll go old school. "Magnificent Marble Machine" High hopes dashed by boring front game and unrealistic looking machine. "Hot Seat" Too flimsy and no play along. "The Better Sex" didn't seem as fun as it should have been.
I didn't even see Hot Seat until the premiere episode hit the trade curcuit years ago (my local affiliate didn't carry it at the time). Didn't miss much.
I always thought The Better Sex was a fun show which maybe should have had a longer run; but to each his own.
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[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' post=\'193747\' date=\'Aug 10 2008, 11:41 AM\']
GSN's Throat and Neck.[/quote]
I'll buy this. To this day I would hit Rebecca Grant so hard that my phone keypad would break.
More recently: Moment of Truth
On the other hand, in order to be disappointed here you have to have harbored some semblance of hope for the show in the first place. Which suggests a certain naivete.
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100%. "Oh, this'll be decent, a British import, straight quizzer, Casey Kasum hosting..."
I'd taped it to watch that evening, with the intent of recording it daily off WTTA. That didn't happen. I think I had to burn the tape to exorcise the demons that show hath wrought.
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In the current crop of shows, Temptation turned me off from show #1. Can't believe that Hernandez told me at the time it was actually going to be a good show with all those changes. That was NOT $ale, even to someone like me who wasn't big on $ale in the first place.
Without Prejudice... interesting experiment, but no, too dark. Couldn't get into it after the first show.
Card Sharks '01, yeah, agreed.
And I've never watched Moment of Truth or 5th Grader from the get go. Truth is too evil, and 5th is a mockery of the education system for me, worse than the system sometimes is to itself these days.
Past shows, I'll put in votes for Time Machine and Gong Show with "True" Don Bleu. In the words of the opening theme...
"We're not bad, we ain't tough, but this thing just ain't good enough. We're gonna GONG IT! *GONG*"
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Already mentioned several times: Card Sharks 01. And also TJW 90. I remember being excited for a long time about TJW 90. I was such a huge fan of the original TJW when I was a kid. I looked forward to seeing it for so long. And then it came. And I thought YUCK!
Two game shows that have been mentioned here that I liked: Body Language and Match Game 99.
Justin
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From here in Italy I can't watch any American gameshow besides those aired on CBS5, but I could tell something about a revival of Pyramid we had last December. It was just like the original except the following:
pairs were made out of unaquainted civilians picked from the audience (TPIR style)
if a team was ahead of 4 or more points at the end of a round, the scores were reset to zero and each member of the other team had a 1 in 3 chance to be replaced by someone from the audience. ("Impressive result, team! Now, not only you lose your advantage, but you could even face stronger opponents")
at the end of the front game, each player in the winning team still had a 1 in 5 chance to be arbitrarily replaced by a (very) lucky random person from the audience. ("Congratulations! You won! Now please go away and have that guy over there play for the money")
The first episode was pretty much the last I watched. Thankfully Wheel of Fortune started shortly afterwards on another network.