The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: LA the DJ on January 29, 2011, 09:45:43 PM
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Style-wise GSM (sort-of) tried it with mixed results, but I'm curious what the consensus is around here:
What if a tried-and-true game show format was resurrected exactly as it was? I'm talking sets, monetarily, rules, identical to the original (or most popular version). I know most of us here prefer the originals, but I think with the amount of nostalgia out there something like this could work, possibly well.
We all know that the powers-that-be who own the rights to these formats just love to tinker with everything, but realistically, (and we know most of the GSF crowd would watch) do you think a show like this could be viable?
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[quote name=\'LA the DJ\' post=\'255904\' date=\'Jan 29 2011, 06:45 PM\']but I think with the amount of nostalgia out there something like this could work, possibly well.[/quote]
I think you are grossly overestimating the amount of "nostalgia out there."
but realistically, (and we know most of the GSF crowd would watch)
...which means approximately jack over shiat in terms of overall ratings...
do you think a show like this could be viable?
Depends on the show, but by and large, no.
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Well, they sort of did that with the live version of What's My Line? here in L.A. It drew audiences and they enjoyed it. I don't think there is a TV outlet that would dare touch such a thing, though.
There was also the recent Password segment on Jimmy Fallon's show.
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Didn't the failure of the recent "IGAS" revival kinda proved that the "throwback" show doesn't really work anymore?
Shame really, I thought it was pretty good myself.
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There was also Gameshow Marathon, which had all the novelty of the past decades, but still never really caught on. Then again, Ricki Lake was miscast as a host (yet Todd Newton does prize delivery...huh?) and a lot of things were overlooked.
The retro stuff is irrelevant to me. Give me a solid game, with minor tweaks that enhance gameplay, not create a gaping hole in the format.
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[quote name=\'J.R.\' post=\'255912\' date=\'Jan 29 2011, 07:21 PM\']Didn't the failure of the recent "IGAS" revival kinda proved that the "throwback" show doesn't really work anymore?[/quote]I think it proved more that the panel game as format ran out of gas.
Producers should worry less about cramming their sets full of vibrant shag carpeting, ping-pong ball light bulbs and Z-Brick overlay, and having a good game that is fun to watch.
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[quote name=\'TLEberle\' post=\'255914\' date=\'Jan 29 2011, 07:40 PM\'][quote name=\'J.R.\' post=\'255912\' date=\'Jan 29 2011, 07:21 PM\']Didn't the failure of the recent "IGAS" revival kinda proved that the "throwback" show doesn't really work anymore?[/quote]I think it proved more that the panel game as format ran out of gas.
Producers should worry less about cramming their sets full of vibrant shag carpeting, ping-pong ball light bulbs and Z-Brick overlay, and having a good game that is fun to watch.
[/quote]
Isn't that what IGAS is?
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[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'255906\' date=\'Jan 29 2011, 09:52 PM\'][quote name=\'LA the DJ\' post=\'255904\' date=\'Jan 29 2011, 06:45 PM\']but I think with the amount of nostalgia out there something like this could work, possibly well.[/quote]
I think you are grossly overestimating the amount of "nostalgia out there."
but realistically, (and we know most of the GSF crowd would watch)
...which means approximately jack over shiat in terms of overall ratings...[/quote]
As a DJ, I've seen a lot of 80's nostalgia lately. I know music nostalgia doesn't necessarily convert to television nostalgia, but one of the most popular shows on TV right now, Family Guy throws 80's references around all the time.
I never said that the GSF crowd was a driving force in anything, that comment was there more to exclude us. I wasn't asking if we'd watch it individually, rather if mass audiences would.
This was just a thought I had while getting nostalgic over some TTD clips on YouTube, and thinking about producers fiddling with everything resulted in the cluterfuzz what was TTD90.
I think IGAS maybe threw back a little too far, to a show many don't remember. I also think panel shows are a different animal, and haven't really had much of any success in quite some time.
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[quote name=\'LA the DJ\' post=\'255919\' date=\'Jan 29 2011, 08:05 PM\']As a DJ, I've seen a lot of 80's nostalgia lately. I know music nostalgia doesn't necessarily convert to television nostalgia, but one of the most popular shows on TV right now, Family Guy throws 80's references around all the time.[/quote]Whoever that gal is that's sampling Video Killed the Radio Star in her song? Someone should tell her that just because you sample a great song doesn't mean your new song is gonna be any good.
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[quote name=\'TLEberle\' post=\'255922\' date=\'Jan 29 2011, 11:16 PM\']Whoever that gal is that's sampling Video Killed the Radio Star in her song? Someone should tell her that just because you sample a great song doesn't mean your new song is gonna be any good.[/quote]
That would be "Check it Out" by Nicki Minaj (feat. will.i.am), and I concur.
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I would watch, as I thoroughly enjoyed "Sunday Nights in Black and White," but that makes one of me.
I suspect that we have come so far away from what TV specifically, and pop culture in general, was during that time that it just wouldn't work now.
Imagine, for example, how "blank" some Match Game questions could be now...
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[quote name=\'LA the DJ\' post=\'255904\' date=\'Jan 29 2011, 09:45 PM\']Style-wise GSM (sort-of) tried it with mixed results, but I'm curious what the consensus is around here:
What if a tried-and-true game show format was resurrected exactly as it was? I'm talking sets, monetarily, rules, identical to the original (or most popular version). I know most of us here prefer the originals, but I think with the amount of nostalgia out there something like this could work, possibly well.
We all know that the powers-that-be who own the rights to these formats just love to tinker with everything, but realistically, (and we know most of the GSF crowd would watch) do you think a show like this could be viable?[/quote]
I think it's pretty simple, and something we've said many times. A good format is a good format. They are still playing Jeopardy, Wheel, Price and Feud more or less the same way that they did in the seventies. And for Jeopardy, since the sixties. It's not a matter of slavishly hewing to the original in order to attract a "nostalgia" audience. There aren't enough of us for that to work. The issue is when people who don't understand these games (i.e. a significant number of people working in the industry today) make changes to something so that it's "new" without realizing how badly they're screwing up what made it work in the first place.
Thing is, you're always going to have "mixed results", and the powers that be are always going to have their arguments and we're going to have ours. People say that GSN's IGAS was a stab at a straight panel show <joke here> that failed. I would point to half a dozen things they didn't do right, but even if they'd done it my way, it still might have failed. Was Whammy a significant departure or a still pretty faithful remake? Would it be considered successful? What about Lingo? It's their most successful, but purists like me still wish they hadn't changed some things. And frankly, I find Catch 21 all but unwatchable (unless Adam's on it), but others find it to be a decent modernized remake of Gambit.
Everybody's going to have a different view, but if your question is no more complicated than whether or not we should recreate an exact replica of an original show to draw a nostalgia audience, then the answer is no.
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[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'256070\' date=\'Jan 31 2011, 01:51 PM\']think it's pretty simple, and something we've said many times. A good format is a good format. They are still playing Jeopardy, Wheel, Price and Feud more or less the same way that they did in the seventies. And for Jeopardy, since the sixties...The issue is when people who don't understand these games (i.e. a significant number of people working in the industry today) make changes to something so that it's "new" without realizing how badly they're screwing up what made it work in the first place.[/quote]
True, all that. I'd still love to see Match Game come back. Game Show Marathon showed how and how not to make it work. Same-ish "retro" set and music. Pretty good panel. Avoid the questions that involve the male anatomical parts. All they needed were better contestants and a good host.
The retro goofiness might help attract an audience (and prevents some bad choices), but it takes capable producing to keep them.
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[quote name=\'J.R.\' post=\'255912\' date=\'Jan 29 2011, 10:21 PM\']Didn't the failure of the recent "IGAS" revival kinda proved that the "throwback" show doesn't really work anymore?
Shame really, I thought it was pretty good myself.[/quote]
Did it really fail due to low ratings? I thought I remember hearing it was actually doing pretty well on GSN, and there was another reason why it was cancelled. Correct me if I'm wrong, though. Agreed, it's a shame that it's gone. That was one of GSN's best revivals.
[quote name=\'LA the DJ\' post=\'255919\' date=\'Jan 29 2011, 11:05 PM\']As a DJ, I've seen a lot of 80's nostalgia lately. I know music nostalgia doesn't necessarily convert to television nostalgia, but one of the most popular shows on TV right now, Family Guy throws 80's references around all the time.[/quote]
I do see your point, but to me, the reason why it works so well on "Family Guy" is because people watch it, and go, "oh, COOL!! G.I. Joe!! I remember G.I. Joe!! That show was AWESOME!!" I don't think it means they suddenly get the urge to want to watch it on their TV right then and there, it just makes them remember a time when they were younger. Granted, sometimes we've seen certain things that would be considered "retro" gain a spike in popularity, but not if it meant a full revival. The only show that comes to mind that could do well as a full straight revival in my eyes is "Press Your Luck".
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I believe that in this day and age, for a panel show to work, you'd need people who people care for to be on the panel, a late night network spot, and interesting contestants. You don't need all three for a GOOD show, but for a ratings success? Absolutely.
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[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'256070\' date=\'Jan 31 2011, 01:51 PM\']And frankly, I find Catch 21 all but unwatchable (unless Adam's on it), but others find it to be a decent modernized remake of Gambit.[/quote]
I had this same thought while trying to watch C21 yesterday. I cannot stomach this show. It's so unnecessarily loud and obnoxious. The constant repetition of "Twenty--five--THOUSAND DOLLARS!" and "Mickey....DEAL THE CARD!" are so grating to me. It has potential, but the execution is just all wrong.
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[quote name=\'ITSBRY\' post=\'256094\' date=\'Jan 31 2011, 06:51 PM\'][quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'256070\' date=\'Jan 31 2011, 01:51 PM\']And frankly, I find Catch 21 all but unwatchable (unless Adam's on it), but others find it to be a decent modernized remake of Gambit.[/quote]
I had this same thought while trying to watch C21 yesterday. I cannot stomach this show. It's so unnecessarily loud and obnoxious. The constant repetition of "Twenty--five--THOUSAND DOLLARS!" and "Mickey....DEAL THE CARD!" are so grating to me. It has potential, but the execution is just all wrong.
[/quote]
For me, Catch 21 has become a guilty pleasure. There's a lot of it that I don't like (unanswered/incorrect answered questions get edited out, the occasional idiotic contestant, the aforementioned twenty.....five.....THOUSAND.....DOLLARS!!1!, which they seem to think is a catch phrase since the audience says it along with Alfonso). But there are several things I do enjoy; it's pretty much streamlined Gambit with a solid bonus round, Alfonso is decent when he's not reading cue cards, and, of course, Mikki Padilla......
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[quote name=\'tyshaun1\' post=\'256097\' date=\'Jan 31 2011, 08:18 PM\']it's pretty much streamlined Gambit[/quote]
This is 180 degrees away from my view. I find it to be a sluggish, bloated version of Gambit. One of the big reasons is what somebody else said: Alonzo screaming DEAL THE CARD!!!! as if Mikki didn't know that was her job. Then there's that forced delay, and her coy little peek, all of which just slows everything down. Imagine how much more game could be played if some nitwit didn't think that every turn of the card had to be drawn out for maximum suspense, when it really just sucks the momentum out of the game.
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[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'256110\' date=\'Jan 31 2011, 11:20 PM\'][quote name=\'tyshaun1\' post=\'256097\' date=\'Jan 31 2011, 08:18 PM\']it's pretty much streamlined Gambit[/quote]
This is 180 degrees away from my view. I find it to be a sluggish, bloated version of Gambit. One of the big reasons is what somebody else said: Alonzo screaming DEAL THE CARD!!!! as if Mikki didn't know that was her job. Then there's that forced delay, and her coy little peek, all of which just slows everything down. Imagine how much more game could be played if some nitwit didn't think that every turn of the card had to be drawn out for maximum suspense, when it really just sucks the momentum out of the game.
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I figure that they seem to believe that it's supposed to be some sort of catch phrase for him, as Mikki waits for him to say it every. single. time. But yeah, I see that streamlined is a bad choice of word, as they could easily get more than one match in per show if they cut out a lot of the dramatics...... but that's the current post-Millionaire/DOND game show world we're in.
Tyshaun
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[quote name=\'tyshaun1\' post=\'256112\' date=\'Jan 31 2011, 11:27 PM\']but that's the current post-Millionaire/DOND game show world we're in.[/quote]
Which gets back to what I was saying earlier about people who don't really understand games just copying what they saw work on other games. The delay was part of the fun of Millionaire, which even became a parody of itself after a while. Still, now we have it to blame for all these ridiculous shows (looking at you, Money Drop) made by people who think that teasing a reveal is the same thing as building suspense. And unfortunately, that mindset has trickled down to lower-stakes shows like Catch 21 that would really, really benefit from a faster pace.
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[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'256110\' date=\'Feb 1 2011, 12:20 AM\']Then there's that forced delay, and her coy little peek, all of which just slows everything down. Imagine how much more game could be played if some nitwit didn't think that every turn of the card had to be drawn out for maximum suspense, when it really just sucks the momentum out of the game.[/quote]
Absolutely. It amazes me how slow modern game shows are, and slow in the wrong places. On Millionaire, you actually met the contestants, you had time for entertaining banter with Regis and the pauses didn't feel so forced. Now that's been thrown out the window, even on Millionaire.
Catch 21 observation--it seems to me the main game works better than Gambit, especially when all three players are playing. It makes more sense when you see each card. Fewer freezes on hands like 13. And I like that they scrap the questions after someone freezes. The bonus round is pretty good, too, especially if hosted better. I'm not crazy about how they score the matches, and they could lose the Rumpshaker after every game play, but the game seems improved. I'd be interested to hear Matt's view and others.
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[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'256110\' date=\'Jan 31 2011, 11:20 PM\']Then there's that forced delay, and her coy little peek, all of which just slows everything down. Imagine how much more game could be played if some nitwit didn't think that every turn of the card had to be drawn out for maximum suspense, when it really just sucks the momentum out of the game.[/quote]
Yes...what Matt said. While the loudness is what annoys me most, this forced delay for what I can only assume is an attempt to try and create tension, is very irritating to me also. I found myself saying "just deal the f'ing card" to the TV. The bonus game takes up half the dang show because of this.
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[quote name=\'Neumms\' post=\'256136\' date=\'Feb 1 2011, 10:26 AM\']Absolutely. It amazes me how slow modern game shows are, and slow in the wrong places. On Millionaire, you actually met the contestants, you had time for entertaining banter with Regis and the pauses didn't feel so forced. Now that's been thrown out the window, even on Millionaire.[/quote]
Even Regis Millionaire eventually stopped the "dramatic pause" thing for more game play and contestant time. (With Regis doing things like announcing the outcome immediately after the contestant locked it in the final answer, even if it was on the $500,000 question)
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[quote name=\'J.R.\' post=\'256147\' date=\'Feb 1 2011, 04:22 PM\']Even Regis Millionaire eventually stopped the "dramatic pause" thing for more game play and contestant time. (With Regis doing things like announcing the outcome immediately after the contestant locked it in the final answer, even if it was on the $500,000 question)[/quote]
Good point. They realized that the decision-making is the dramatic tension, not the wait for the reveal.