The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: carlisle96 on August 07, 2024, 08:54:23 PM
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I don't know if this has been brought up before, gang, but what do you nominate as a great show that bombed in the ratings or was yanked after 13 or 26 weeks for other reasons? My nomination is the Bill Cullen "Pass the Buck" with Trebek's "Double Dare" as a runner-up.
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Three little words: The Big Showdown
Cordially,
Tammy
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I remain shocked to learn that Cullen's Chain Reaction only lasted one season, and was the shortest-lived version of all of them.
As for shows that never came back, Greed comes right to mind.
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Always wished for more of idiot savants
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Break the Bank for certain. A modern choice for me is The Rich List, and was glad to see GSN try to bring it back. Too bad it just didn't catch on here.
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Three little words: The Big Showdown
This is the way.
It ran a little longer than 26 weeks, but Talk About is a pretty underrated show IMO.
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Break the Bank for certain. A modern choice for me is The Rich List, and was glad to see GSN try to bring it back. Too bad it just didn't catch on here.
I'll go along with Break the Bank. It make be a takeoff on Hollywood Squares, but I think it's a cleverly conceived and endlessly interesting show that didn't get a fair shot.
Fred Silverman cancelled it prematurely, despite strong ratings, because he was hell-bent on expanding soap operas. Both One Life To Live and General Hospital were expanded from 30 to 45 minutes after the departure of Break the Bank. I remember reading some time ago that it took the ratings a long time to climb back to what they were before the cancellation.
What they should have done was delay the premiere of Hot Seat - that was a waste of a half-hour - and move Break the Bank into that slot. It probably would have had at least a few more months if that had occurred.
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I always had a soft spot for That’s The Question. I liked the combination of questions with hangman-style puzzles.
I felt Now You See It deserved a better fate, especially the later version.
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1. Chain Reaction (1980 Bill Cullen version)
2. Dream House (1983-84 Bob Eubanks version)
3. Talkabout (Wayne Cox)
4. Trivial Pursuit (1993 Wink Martindale version)
5. My Generation (1998 VH1 game show)
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I don't know if this has been brought up before, gang, but what do you nominate as a great show that bombed in the ratings or was yanked after 13 or 26 weeks for other reasons? My nomination is the Bill Cullen "Pass the Buck" with Trebek's "Double Dare" as a runner-up.
It's been noted many times before, but PtB's major flaw was that it relied on categories whose answers were subjectively judged. If they had just stuck to objective trivia lists and/or surveys with pre-defined answers a là Hot Potato, it would've been far more enjoyable, though probably not any more long-lived.
As for DD '76, co-sign.
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I don't know if this has been brought up before, gang, but what do you nominate as a great show that bombed in the ratings or was yanked after 13 or 26 weeks for other reasons? My nomination is the Bill Cullen "Pass the Buck" with Trebek's "Double Dare" as a runner-up.
It's been noted many times before, but PtB's major flaw was that it relied on categories whose answers were subjectively judged. If they had just stuck to objective trivia lists and/or surveys with pre-defined answers a là Hot Potato, it would've been far more enjoyable, though probably not any more long-lived.
As for DD '76, co-sign.
You may be right, but Bob Stewart didn't seem too partial to Q&A type shows. A trivia contest may have dragged things down. This was a "think fast" game ... just keep throwing out answers and you'll hit the right ones, as long as you don't get flustered. The "name something" categories gave the contestants the chance to be a bit creative and it also gave Bill Cullen the chance to do what he does best: be Bill Cullen.
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Bob Stewart didn't seem too partial to Q&A type shows. A trivia contest may have dragged things down. This was a "think fast" game ... just keep throwing out answers and you'll hit the right ones, as long as you don't get flustered. The "name something" categories gave the contestants the chance to be a bit creative and it also gave Bill Cullen the chance to do what he does best: be Bill Cullen.
This is my co-sign. Naturally, it was better with the more inventive categories, but to fill 13 weeks of shows, you need material of all stripes. There are ways to mitigate the subjectivity -- having more than one judge, and making a meal out of that fact, would soften the blow of a "wrong" answer. But if just one person is the arbiter and decides, "nope, you don't bring beer to a picnic," you're bound to make somebody at home mad.
-Jason
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You're in the Picture
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Musical Chairs, once they added the end game. Ambitious and entertaining. Never had a chance as a sporadically scheduled island
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Having watched the pilot, I'll add Blackout. Maybe it needed a little more streamlining because Wolpert and maybe not inherit the time slot of a show like Pyramid, but there was a decent show in there somewhere.
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I'll add Catch Phrase to the list.
Art James was a decent host, the gameplay was somewhat challenging, and for the Mid 80's, the graphics were about as good as you could get then.
What killed it was that Syndie Wheel and J! were the really hot newer shows while the other popular game shows of the time were known franchises. Didn't give much of a chance for a new concept like Catch Phrase to get good timeslots that did not go up against Merv's shows here in the States.
Meanhile, East of the Atlantic, though, the format had a chance to get legs and grow into a decently rated show.
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This is my co-sign. Naturally, it was better with the more inventive categories, but to fill 13 weeks of shows, you need material of all stripes. There are ways to mitigate the subjectivity -- having more than one judge, and making a meal out of that fact, would soften the blow of a "wrong" answer. But if just one person is the arbiter and decides, "nope, you don't bring beer to a picnic," you're bound to make somebody at home mad.
-Jason
when you say make a meal of it, do you mean having a judge on camera to deliver verdicts? I think if you’re not doing Caught n the Act have a jury like on Scattergories and if two out of three flash a red light then that’s wrong.
I don’t know if we can call PTB great but Bill makes it jolly fun even if it comes off as a bit of a potboiler.
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Three little words: The Big Showdown
Seconded. I also nominate:
The Moneymaze
To Say The Least
Rhyme and Reason
Trebek Double Dare
Catch Phrase
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I mentioned Greed earlier, but I'll also put in a good word for Winning Lines. It's a tragedy that such an amazing end game got stuck with such a broken play-in round.
My idea of a solution would be anyone who doesn't make it to the Wonderwall goes back to the 49ers to play again. It takes a little bit of the stink off of getting jobbed in Sudden Death if you at least get another shot at it.
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I'll also put in a good word for Winning Lines. It's a tragedy that such an amazing end game got stuck with such a broken play-in round.
My idea of a solution would be anyone who doesn't make it to the Wonderwall goes back to the 49ers to play again. It takes a little bit of the stink off of getting jobbed in Sudden Death if you at least get another shot at it.
For years I've said the show could scrap the first 20 minutes in favor of either a Ring of Fire play-in with seven to 10 players, or an elimination contest similar to 1 vs. 100 or The 1% Club, keeping the original 49 players.
With the former concept, you could prolly get two games in a self-contained half-hour. It may requires a name change tho...
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I believe the title came from the winning line on a lottery ticket. France called it The Winning Number.
I think each of 2k21, Lines, Greed and Paranoia all had something to recommend.
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Greed
Million Dollar Password
Sports Jeopardy
Whammy
Gsn The Pyramid was pretty good.
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For years I've said the show could scrap the first 20 minutes in favor of either a Ring of Fire play-in with seven to 10 players, or an elimination contest similar to 1 vs. 100 or The 1% Club, keeping the original 49 players.
With the former concept, you could prolly get two games in a self-contained half-hour. It may requires a name change tho...
Just spitballing an idea here: Basic show structure of Winning Lines (Horde Act 1, Big Seven Act 2, Wonderwall Act 3), except as an hour, and ditching most of the number-based conceits that started in the UK.
The 1 vs. 100 elimination bit for the opening 49ers. Start with the horde. Narrow it down to 7.
Each player that makes it to the seven wins a small cash payout. Maybe $100, maybe $500. Instead of "eliminate your opponent's number" you basically crib something akin to a multiplayer version of the Trivia Race from Trivia Trap. First to five or seven or whatever times well in run-throughs wins five grand that's theirs to keep (bumping up from the $2500 from the old series for inflation) and goes to the Wonderwall, played almost verbatim.
At the bottom of the hour, the top seven go back to the pool, and we do it again. If the same player makes it to the Wonderwall both games, they get an extra $5,000 bonus on top of the previous $5K x2 for the clean sweep, regardless of what happens at the Wonderwall either time.
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I know the longer-lived Cullen run is beloved by many, and the UK edition went on for eons, but I've always had a massive soft spot for Bill Rafferty's version of Blockbusters. Rafferty was fantastic on both series he hosted around that time (along with Card Sharks), and although this is controversial, I actually liked both the switch to the 1v1 quiz and the way they solved the problem of the "advantage" (flip sides in round 2, 4x4 tiebreaker). It's a fundamentally different show than both Bill's run and the UK iteration, but I have the entire thing now and have had so much fun revisiting it.
Switching to the player-linked progressive jackpot mid-run was a fundamentally solid idea as well (if you haven't seen: A player's first trip to the bonus was worth $5K. If they lost, it was worth $10K next time, then $15K, etc...BUT unlike Super Password, etc. if that player lost, the jackpot automatically reset. (IE no profiting off past players failures).
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Switching to the player-linked progressive jackpot mid-run was a fundamentally solid idea as well (if you haven't seen: A player's first trip to the bonus was worth $5K. If they lost, it was worth $10K next time, then $15K, etc...BUT unlike Super Password, etc. if that player lost, the jackpot automatically reset. (IE no profiting off past players failures).
I respect your opinion plenty…so I have to ask…what makes this a “solid idea”? Win three straight times, you win $15,000. Lose two and then win…you’ve actually made out better, as you got the $100/correct answer in the losses plus the $15k.
My preference would have been playing for $5000 on the first win, $10k for the second, etc.
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Switching to the player-linked progressive jackpot mid-run was a fundamentally solid idea as well (if you haven't seen: A player's first trip to the bonus was worth $5K. If they lost, it was worth $10K next time, then $15K, etc...BUT unlike Super Password, etc. if that player lost, the jackpot automatically reset. (IE no profiting off past players failures).
I respect your opinion plenty…so I have to ask…what makes this a “solid idea”? Win three straight times, you win $15,000. Lose two and then win…you’ve actually made out better, as you got the $100/correct answer in the losses plus the $15k.
Just my own--you get the excitement as a champion stays on and tries to knock off the end game for $25,000 instead of $5,000, but also if the champion loses the accountants are happy as that's at least $20,000 that goes back into the prize budget. Chelsea also made the point about free riding and showing up at the right time. If you can play ten gold runs the most you can win is $52,000 plus the consolation cash, not swoop in and win a monster bank.
I thought Jeopardy '78 and Sale of the Late 1980s were fine with their growing jackpots irrespective of a win or loss but Sale was absolutely rendered inert with so many smaller steps.
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Switching to the player-linked progressive jackpot mid-run was a fundamentally solid idea as well (if you haven't seen: A player's first trip to the bonus was worth $5K. If they lost, it was worth $10K next time, then $15K, etc...BUT unlike Super Password, etc. if that player lost, the jackpot automatically reset. (IE no profiting off past players failures).
I respect your opinion plenty…so I have to ask…what makes this a “solid idea”? Win three straight times, you win $15,000. Lose two and then win…you’ve actually made out better, as you got the $100/correct answer in the losses plus the $15k.
My preference would have been playing for $5000 on the first win, $10k for the second, etc.
I think Wordplay solved for this perfectly by only adding $2,500 to the jackpot for each unsuccessful run. You can still knock off a big jackpot if you win after a couple unsuccessful tries, but you ultimately make out way better if you just win every time you go up to the bonus.
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Money Maze (which should come back in prime time)
Alex Trebek’s Double Dare
Bruce Forsyth’s Hot Streak (I may be the only one here who liked it)
The Now You See It solo game was so exciting. I wish they’d added racing a clock to a front game round (a la Million Dollar Password where it wasn’t so welcome).
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I respect your opinion plenty…so I have to ask…what makes this a “solid idea”?
In this case, it largely hews to what Travis said, about fulfilling the "show" end of "game show" (the optics of an increasingly large jackpot) while at the same time being significantly easier on the budget over the long haul than a true progressive jackpot that doesn't encourage a free ride. The prime example is one of Blockbusters' contemporaries, Super Password. The preceding week could easily have the customary 5-6 games per week all end in a shutout in the end game, new player walks on the next week with a new celebrity, cashes out the game for $30K-$35K, then goes home next game. With Blockbusters, you still keep the occasional "our champion is playing for $35,000!", but if they fail out seven straight then lose on the eighth, the show just saved $35K (as the new player plays for $5K instead of $40K).
I agree with Jeremy's general thesis about Wordplay incentivizing repeat winners at the lower total by making the start more than the increment, however, totals like $7,500, $12,500, etc. are clunky in execution in ways that multiples of $5K/$10K aren't. (Similar to how Wheel of Fortune's whole "$37,000 for season 37!" thing was always weird).
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Money Maze (which should come back in prime time)
You know what? I had never thought about it before, but in the wake of The Wall, The Quiz With Balls and their ilk, I could see this working. The only problem is that we'd now be treated to a 5-minute video blurb about how badly the couple needs the money and a 30-second "suspenseful" pause before revealing the value of every prize column.
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Each player that makes it to the seven wins a small cash payout. Maybe $100, maybe $500. Instead of "eliminate your opponent's number" you basically crib something akin to a multiplayer version of the Trivia Race from Trivia Trap. First to five or seven or whatever times well in run-throughs wins five grand that's theirs to keep (bumping up from the $2500 from the old series for inflation) and goes to the Wonderwall, played almost verbatim.
I do like the idea of the cutthroat battle, but it's "blink and you miss it" so I would keep it, but I would change two things:
1. Everyone is defending an answer, but we get rid of them being number specific. Every game begets a different theming, so each cutthroat round everyone gets one of the seven colors of the rainbow, or the name of a country, or a Best Actress winner, etc.
2. You get a point for defending your answer, you steal a point from a player who owns the correct answer you give, and you lose a point for a wrong answer. Play til the klaxon sounds.
At the bottom of the hour, the top seven go back to the pool, and we do it again. If the same player makes it to the Wonderwall both games, they get an extra $5,000 bonus on top of the previous $5K x2 for the clean sweep, regardless of what happens at the Wonderwall either time.
I don't think you have to incentivize winning both games with an extra cash prize, since the bonus round is the incentive and has such a high payout for even an average effort. Assuming we're keeping everything the same, only going halfway up the stack is still worth $50,000.
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Three little words: The Big Showdown
Seconded. I also nominate:
The Moneymaze
To Say The Least
Rhyme and Reason
Trebek Double Dare
Catch Phrase
To Say the Least wasn't bad, but there wasn't much viewer participation. unless you leave the room and come back just at the right moment to solve the puzzle
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Money Maze (which should come back in prime time)
You know what? I had never thought about it before, but in the wake of The Wall, The Quiz With Balls and their ilk, I could see this working. The only problem is that we'd now be treated to a 5-minute video blurb about how badly the couple needs the money and a 30-second "suspenseful" pause before revealing the value of every prize column.
Actually, the game closest in comparison would be Raid the Cage, even down to how to show is staged with trivia in the crow's nest and action on the floor. I'd actually be interested to see that team take on the Moneymaze- jsut copy themselves and call it "Raid the Maze".
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I thought Jeopardy '78 and Sale of the Late 1980s were fine with their growing jackpots irrespective of a win or loss but Sale was absolutely rendered inert with so many smaller steps.
For clarification, Jeopardy! '78 worked more like Mark described - a first-time champ played Super Jeopardy! for $5,000 on their first trip, then $7,500 for their second regardless of the first one's result, $10,000 for their third, and so on, going up in $2,500 increments.
-Jason
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Correct, i was saying its fine, and also "irrespective of a win or a loss."
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I do like the idea of the cutthroat battle, but it's "blink and you miss it" so I would keep it, but I would change two things:
1. Everyone is defending an answer, but we get rid of them being number specific. Every game begets a different theming, so each cutthroat round everyone gets one of the seven colors of the rainbow, or the name of a country, or a Best Actress winner, etc.
2. You get a point for defending your answer, you steal a point from a player who owns the correct answer you give, and you lose a point for a wrong answer. Play til the klaxon sounds.
I like this idea, but if I may, I'll suggest a small tweak.
Every player starts with 3 points. If you defend your own answer, you gain a point. If you pip someone else's answer, they lose a point. If you're wrong, you're out no matter how many points you have. Players are eliminated when they hit zero.
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Bruce Forsyth’s Hot Streak (I may be the only one here who liked it)
I've thought for a couple years that this would be a fantastic revival for a network like GSN. Casting doesn't have to find related groups of 4, there's really no need to create material other than the words, and it's been off for so long that the rights to create a new version couldn't cost much.
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Personal favorites ...
-- Greed
-- Sports Geniuses
-- Ultimate Fan League
-- Idiot Savants
-- Cullen Chain Reaction
-- Talkabout
-- Paranoia
JD
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I mentioned Greed earlier, but I'll also put in a good word for Winning Lines. It's a tragedy that such an amazing end game got stuck with such a broken play-in round.
I don't know how this can work out logistically (since there's multiple production companies involved), but if Now You See It is ever somehow revived, a $100K top-prize Wonderwall would make for a damn good Solo Round.
Both The Wonderwall and NYSI involve finding the answers right in front of you.
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This is my co-sign. Naturally, it was better with the more inventive categories, but to fill 13 weeks of shows, you need material of all stripes.
The wilder topics also help make Pass The Buck stand out from Family Feud or Card Sharks and feel much more like a party game, something that I'd probably lean into if I had the power to revive it as a modern game show.
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Play the Percentages, the first format with the 2 married couples especially.
I realize this show was perhaps none too popular but how about The Magnificent Marble Machine?
And one more, the short-lived, precursor to Press Your Luck, "Second Chance" from ABC, hosted by Jim Peck.
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Each player that makes it to the seven wins a small cash payout. Maybe $100, maybe $500. Instead of "eliminate your opponent's number" you basically crib something akin to a multiplayer version of the Trivia Race from Trivia Trap. First to five or seven or whatever times well in run-throughs wins five grand that's theirs to keep (bumping up from the $2500 from the old series for inflation) and goes to the Wonderwall, played almost verbatim.
An idea that just came to me...a smaller Wonderwall-type game similar to Quicksilver, but straightforward trivia instead of dad joke answers. Four to six choices which are replaced anytime a contestant picks a correct answer. First to five gets 5K and goes on to the Wonderwall; everyone else goes back to the pool with their $500.
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"Whew!".
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My list would definitely be Talk About, Greed, and the Mike Richards-hosted Pyramid on GSN.
Aren't they bringing Talk About back? The show is a great concept, but the end game could use a little work.
Greed was a great spin on the WWTBAM trend in the 2000s and it had decent payouts versus other trivia shows like Weakest Link.
And finally, the Richards-hosted Pyramid was actually pretty good. It was true to the original format, which has always been a good one.
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This may be an unpopular choice, but I'm going to say Give-N-Take. I like the blend of trivia and pricing, and the setting in-the-round was unique for the era. I get why it didn't last, but I feel like it should've gotten another try in the mid-80s.
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This may be an unpopular choice, but I'm going to say Give-N-Take. I like the blend of trivia and pricing, and the setting in-the-round was unique for the era. I get why it didn't last, but I feel like it should've gotten another try in the mid-80s.
Carruthers did indeed try in the mid-80's... he mounted a run-through for a show called Up N' Over. Except instead of a large arrow, he used dice.
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I keep hoping for mor of To Say the Least to pop up. It's such a fun premise that I think would have gotten better as more strategy was discovered.
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I keep hoping for mor of To Say the Least to pop up. It's such a fun premise that I think would have gotten better as more strategy was discovered.
The hiccup of "if you leave just one word the guess defaults to your partner" is just interesting enough that Tom didn't have to dwell on it, but it's a sword of Damocles as the editors do their dashing.
Maybe that could be the title of a revival: Dash it All!
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A vote for Every Second Counts. Rafferty was a great host, obviously having fun with the material. There was the vote earlier for Rafferty's version of Blockbusters. Personally didn't care for the computer generated board and the change in player setup, but loved both the new theme and how Bill would often riff on the question material, sometimes poking fun at the network. He's like Dennis Miller, surprising us with obscure comments and connections. Gone way too soon.
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A vote for Every Second Counts. Rafferty was a great host, obviously having fun with the material. There was the vote earlier for Rafferty's version of Blockbusters. Personally didn't care for the computer generated board and the change in player setup, but loved both the new theme and how Bill would often riff on the question material, sometimes poking fun at the network. He's like Dennis Miller, surprising us with obscure comments and connections. Gone way too soon.
I agree with you, its a shame none of his shows never took off. I thought he was great on Card Sharks, I watch him over Bob Eubanks
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A vote for Every Second Counts.
With GSN unafraid of reviving obscure but fondly-remembered shows, this is one that fits their style perfectly. You could replace the married couples with simply pairs who know each other. Much as I liked the bonus round with all the prizes, they could just as easily do the standard $10K top prize, where completing a tier simply stops the clock a la America Says. While I have better ideas, I get that GSN has a template to follow.
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Money Maze (which should come back in prime time)
You know what? I had never thought about it before, but in the wake of The Wall, The Quiz With Balls and their ilk, I could see this working. The only problem is that we'd now be treated to a 5-minute video blurb about how badly the couple needs the money and a 30-second "suspenseful" pause before revealing the value of every prize column.
Somehow somewhere someone is trying to turn "Perplexus" into a game show.
(I'd watch.)
(Once.)
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Another vote for "Double Dare". Didn't someone say recently that it was retuned as "The Spoilers" for a pilot? (I think some game play cards were found?)
Blockbusters should be on somewhere. And yes, I love the Big Showdown in terms of strategy.
Here's one I haven't read yet : "Knockout" . Great little show.
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Another vote for "Double Dare". Didn't someone say recently that it was retuned as "The Spoilers" for a pilot? (I think some game play cards were found?)
Correct, sir!
I think there are tweaks to the game that could make it work as a daily half hour, maybe to focus completely on the Spoiler Minds, but the drip-drip-drip puzzle isn't exactly a lost art anymore.
It's something of a shame that Game Show Network, via Sony, has accrued so many different rights to formats and such, and they just sit, unused, so we can get more internally developed shows that tread familiar ground. Maybe we can get a game where players are shown the top card of a Euchre pack and have to guess whether the next one off the top will be red or black.
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Blockbusters should be on somewhere. And yes, I love the Big Showdown in terms of strategy.
Here's one I haven't read yet : "Knockout" . Great little show.
It’s interesting how many examples I’ve seen listed in this thread that came and went in the US, but went on to varying degrees of success in the UK. Blockbusters and Knockout come to mind, along with Every Second Counts.
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My pick for this topic is “Sports On Tap.” They did two 13-week tournaments. I loved the entire format, and thought the concept of using a stepladder for finding the day’s winner was genius.
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I will throw "Wipeout" into the ring. Fun, simple, relatively low stakes game that they threw a ton of chrome on to make it look big budget. Another game that was much more successful overseas too.
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This may be an unpopular choice, but I'm going to say Give-N-Take. I like the blend of trivia and pricing, and the setting in-the-round was unique for the era. I get why it didn't last, but I feel like it should've gotten another try in the mid-80s.
That would have been a good Lifetime original game show as a companion piece to Supermarket Sweep in the early 90s.
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1. History IQ
2. TV Land Ultimate Fan Search
3. Wipeout
4. Couch Potatoes
5. GSN Pyramid
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My list would definitely be Talk About, Greed, and the Mike Richards-hosted Pyramid on GSN.
Aren't they bringing Talk About back? The show is a great concept, but the end game could use a little work.
Greed was a great spin on the WWTBAM trend in the 2000s and it had decent payouts versus other trivia shows like Weakest Link.
And finally, the Richards-hosted Pyramid was actually pretty good. It was true to the original format, which has always been a good one.
bot to mention Mike Richards did a good job hosting. Bring a protege of Dick Clark's he sire did him proud. Both Dick Clark and Bob Stewart would have been proud of that version along with the current one.
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bot to mention Mike Richards did a good job hosting. Bring a protege of Dick Clark's he sire did him proud. Both Dick Clark and Bob Stewart would have been proud of that version along with the current one.
I thought he was fine and ok. Out of the six or seven people who have hosted the show, he would not only not make the medal podium but he wouldn't even be in the top five.
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FWIW, I thought Mike Richards was a better host for Pyramid than John Davidson. But yeah, I know.
Here's another short-lived show that I thought was good. Stumpers, hosted by Mr. Password himself, Allen Ludden.
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FWIW, I thought Mike Richards was a better host for Pyramid than John Davidson. But yeah, I know.
Here's another short-lived show that I thought was good. Stumpers, hosted by Mr. Password himself, Allen Ludden.
Ludden was great as always, but the problem I had with Stumpers was the players could only choose from the clues provided to them...they couldn't be flexible, creative, or funny like on Password...but what do I know? I loved Pass the Buck with its absurd judging.
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FWIW, I thought Mike Richards was a better host for Pyramid than John Davidson. But yeah, I know.
Here's another short-lived show that I thought was good. Stumpers, hosted by Mr. Password himself, Allen Ludden.
Ludden was great as always, but the problem I had with Stumpers was the players could only choose from the clues provided to them...they couldn't be flexible, creative, or funny like on Password...but what do I know?
I'm willing to bet the creators of Stumpers asked themselves this question while creating the show, "How can we be Password without the Goodson/Todman people suing the pants off us?"
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I think the Stumpers mechanic—give your opponent clues to a puzzle in the order you think will be least helpful—would be a great mid-match round (replacing Ca$hword) in a Super Password-style revival.
Stumpers itself wasn’t perfect, but what a cool set!
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I'm willing to bet the creators of Stumpers asked themselves this question while creating the show, "How can we be Password without the Goodson/Todman people suing the pants off us?"
I’m sure Lin Boleyn was concerned, Ray.
/i think I’ll leave that alone too.
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Stumpers itself wasn’t perfect, but what a cool set!
Absolutely. In the years between me being a young kid in the late 70s, and getting to see the show thanks to tape trades (what are those? asked the youngins') - I remembered that set being tremendous.
What I didn't remember , was that the game was weak. Interesting idea, poorly executed.
But again, what a set!
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Another thing about Stumpers was its cool theme song, written by Alan Thicke. There's a bunch of Thicke themes that came after the famous vinyl LP that haven't surfaced yet, including Stumpers. There were cues used on Wheel of Fortune in the later '70s that came from this group, including one that was used as the theme to Thicke's CTV talk show in the early '80s. I wonder if there's another LP out there waiting to be discovered...
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Another thing about Stumpers was its cool theme song, written by Alan Thicke. There's a bunch of Thicke themes that came after the famous vinyl LP that haven't surfaced yet, including Stumpers.
Did I read this right? There is (was) an LP out there featuring Thicke's theme song work? I'd love to know more about this.
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Did I read this right? There is (was) an LP out there featuring Thicke's theme song work? I'd love to know more about this.
Pretty well all of the Thicke themes that you hear on TVPMM came from an original vinyl LP. They include themes that were used on Joker's Wild, Celebrity Sweepstakes, Wheel of Fortune, etc. IIRC, I think the Wheel theme on the second GSN CD was sourced from that.
There were a bunch more themes Thicke wrote after which are unaccounted for. I don't know for sure if there's another LP but none of them have surfaced - with the exception of Whew!
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Any Jay Wolpert show
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Any Don Lipp show
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Did I read this right? There is (was) an LP out there featuring Thicke's theme song work? I'd love to know more about this.
Pretty well all of the Thicke themes that you hear on TVPMM came from an original vinyl LP. They include themes that were used on Joker's Wild, Celebrity Sweepstakes, Wheel of Fortune, etc. IIRC, I think the Wheel theme on the second GSN CD was sourced from that.
There were a bunch more themes Thicke wrote after which are unaccounted for. I don't know for sure if there's another LP but none of them have surfaced - with the exception of Whew!
Not sure how I missed this, but a copy turned up on ebay recently. It went for $400 so I'm actually kind of relieved I didn't find it while the auction was active: https://www.ebay.com/itm/285953300519?
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I realize this show was perhaps none too popular but how about The Magnificent Marble Machine?
They would have MORE of a shot with it today, with 2024 technology as opposed to 1978:
Tech: "We built a thirty-foot tall pinball machine for a game show!"
Network Exec: "Cool! How did you manage to find flipper coils that big?"
Tech: "What's a flipper coil?"
Then, the other problem: if your centerpiece is a thirty-foot tall pinball machine, you are either spending ALL your time in front of it, or you are strapping a totally unrelated front game onto it for the right to play it and your audience is bored, because they tuned in to see The Magnificent Marble Machine, not The Random-Ass Tedious Word Game.
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I'm not watching a reboot of The Magnificent Marble Machine unless the contestants are in Zorb-like inflatable balls.
Hang on, I have a pitch deck to create...
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Match Game (1990)
Russian Roulette
Hollywood Showdown
The Hustler
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I'd like to offer Million Dollar Mind Game.
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I'd like to offer Million Dollar Mind Game.
At first I thought you were talking about “Million Second Quiz”, which I thought was clever but a few years too early. It had several technical issues IIRC that overshadowed everything else. I think it could work today with Zoom and mobile technology being much more advanced.
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I'd like to offer Million Dollar Mind Game.
At first I thought you were talking about “Million Second Quiz”, which I thought was clever but a few years too early. It had several technical issues IIRC that overshadowed everything else. I think it could work today with Zoom and mobile technology being much more advanced.
Well, I’d be thrilled to revive MSQ if I got to work on it again. ;)
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A few years ago I got into Bobby Van's Make Me Laugh and watched a few episodes on Youtube. I also enjoyed the Comedy Central version and am surprised it hasn't been revived since, outside of a proposed version about a decade ago. With so many comics finding fame through social media, it's not like there's a shortage of funny people willing to work for scale and get their name out there, just like Bob Saget, Howie Mandel, Patton Oswalt, and so many others did back in the day.
Adjust the scoring to $5 for every second you don't laugh, and of course the game ends when you crack. Three contestants, and the high scorer comes back for the "tag team" bonus round that Comedy Central used. If you last a minute without laughing, you win a trip and let's say $5,000. Otherwise, $10 for every second you didn't laugh.
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The Hustler
I liked the BBC's version better: The Enemy Within - five players, a total of 50 questions, each player earns money for a correct answer, but one of the five is given all of the questions and answers in advance; at the end of the game, the players (and the audience, if the players are tied) vote on who the "enemy" is - if they're right, the enemy gets nothing and the other four keep what they've won plus 1/4 of the enemy's money, but if they're wrong, they lose everything to the enemy.
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A few years ago I got into Bobby Van's Make Me Laugh and watched a few episodes on Youtube. I also enjoyed the Comedy Central version and am surprised it hasn't been revived since, outside of a proposed version about a decade ago. With so many comics finding fame through social media, it's not like there's a shortage of funny people willing to work for scale and get their name out there, just like Bob Saget, Howie Mandel, Patton Oswalt, and so many others did back in the day.
I remember enjoying what I saw of it as a high schooler, but there was a betting element that felt out of place. I'm fine with it as sort of an adjunct to an evening of comedy, and would cap winnings at a couple grand so as to not overshadow the acts.
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A few years ago I got into Bobby Van's Make Me Laugh and watched a few episodes on Youtube.
Which inevitably leads to the next topic : Which hosts should have had longer careers ? I was, and will always be a huge fan of Bobby Van - died WAY too early in his life.
3 game shows with less than decent formats , that he made entertaining. Add to him filling in as host of Tattletales, and I'd say he was one of , if not the number one, most underrated hosts in the genre.
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A few years ago I got into Bobby Van's Make Me Laugh and watched a few episodes on Youtube.
Which inevitably leads to the next topic : Which hosts should have had longer careers ? I was, and will always be a huge fan of Bobby Van - died WAY too early in his life.
3 game shows with less than decent formats , that he made entertaining. Add to him filling in as host of Tattletales, and I'd say he was one of , if not the number one, most underrated hosts in the genre.
Larry Blyden (whom Van coincidentally replaced on Showoffs) is definitely up there as well. Outside of his stint on WML?, very little of his work has been preserved, which is a shame as he had an infectious energy and personality (no pun intended). I could easily see him being considered to host Body Language or Super Password had he survived into the '80s.
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Which inevitably leads to the next topic : Which hosts should have had longer careers ? I was, and will always be a huge fan of Bobby Van - died WAY too early in his life.
I would've liked to have seen Kevin O'Connell get a few more shots at some games... how did he only get 1 13-week gig? I think his hosting style would've been great on Super Password or Scrabble.
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A few years ago I got into Bobby Van's Make Me Laugh and watched a few episodes on Youtube.
Which inevitably leads to the next topic : Which hosts should have had longer careers ?
I’ve always thought Kevin O’Connell deserved more than 13 weeks. Seemed like he had good stage presence from the get-go.
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Which inevitably leads to the next topic : Which hosts should have had longer careers ? I was, and will always be a huge fan of Bobby Van - died WAY too early in his life.
The two most obvious are probably Todd Newton and Jim Peck. I know Ricki Lake and Billy Gardell are the more recognizable names, but the fact that Todd got relegated to second banana on a bunch of interstitials on Game Show Marathon and Monopoly Millionaires Club is a joke. As for Jim Peck, I dunno if Joker lasts longer than two years with him, but he deserved a more solid career as well.
I would like to see Dylan Lane get another show that gives him a chance to actually show off his chops. I liked him on the most recent Chain Reaction, but I also think he was handcuffed by a structure that wouldn't let him be looser and joke around more with contestants who gave a bad answer the way JMH or Leah do on America Says or People Puzzler.
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Technically Go! ran 16 weeks but yeah, Kevin deserved another shot.
Jim McKrell is the one that stands out most to me since "Celebrity Sweepstakes" did have a decent run and you would have thought he'd have gotten another shot at a network game show.
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Which inevitably leads to the next topic : Which hosts should have had longer careers ? I was, and will always be a huge fan of Bobby Van - died WAY too early in his life.
The two most obvious are probably Todd Newton and Jim Peck. I know Ricki Lake and Billy Gardell are the more recognizable names, but the fact that Todd got relegated to second banana on a bunch of interstitials on Game Show Marathon and Monopoly Millionaires Club is a joke. As for Jim Peck, I dunno if Joker lasts longer than two years with him, but he deserved a more solid career as well.
I would like to see Dylan Lane get another show that gives him a chance to actually show off his chops. I liked him on the most recent Chain Reaction, but I also think he was handcuffed by a structure that wouldn't let him be looser and joke around more with contestants who gave a bad answer the way JMH or Leah do on America Says or People Puzzler.
Was Jim Peck ever considered as a candidate to take over TTD after Wink left, or was he wanting to get out of the business by that time and go back to Milwaukee? He would've done a way better job than Jim Caldwell did.
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Divorce Court kept him busy.
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Divorce Court kept him busy.
Forgot about that show...By choice!
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Was Jim Peck ever considered as a candidate to take over TTD after Wink left, or was he wanting to get out of the business by that time and go back to Milwaukee? He would've done a way better job than Jim Caldwell did.
Divorce Court kept him busy.
I wasn't so sure he was ready to bail on game shows at *that* point....there was this......
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CNEl5i_NsTI
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Which hosts should have had longer careers ?
I would've loved to have seen Jim Perry get another gig in the 90s. In a perfect world, he did The Challengers and Dick Clark hosted $100KP that season instead of John Davidson.
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Four words: "Let's Play Post Office." I was lucky enough to view the pilot with awful video. The show was still compelling.
BTW, if you liked "Stumpers" you will probably enjoy "Pass-ack Words" by R&R Games.
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A few years ago I got into Bobby Van's Make Me Laugh and watched a few episodes on Youtube.
Which inevitably leads to the next topic : Which hosts should have had longer careers ? I was, and will always be a huge fan of Bobby Van - died WAY too early in his life.
3 game shows with less than decent formats , that he made entertaining. Add to him filling in as host of Tattletales, and I'd say he was one of , if not the number one, most underrated hosts in the genre.
Peter Tomarken could have been a classic journeyman host in the Art James-Tom Kennedy-Bob Eubanks tradition (one show flops, but here comes another one...and another...and another) if daytime game shows hadn't dried up by the early 90s and, of course, if he had lived
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Neumms mentioned Bruce's Hot Streak, and I was hoping that Get a Clue would have tread that ground rather than just no-danger Catch Phrase.
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Neumms mentioned Bruce's Hot Streak, and I was hoping that Get a Clue would have tread that ground rather than just no-danger Catch Phrase.
Bruce Forsyth’s Hot Streak (I may be the only one here who liked it)
I've thought for a couple years that this would be a fantastic revival for a network like GSN. Casting doesn't have to find related groups of 4, there's really no need to create material other than the words, and it's been off for so long that the rights to create a new version couldn't cost much.
Great minds and all.
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Apologies! But also if the three of us agree on something, that is in itself something.
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After going thru many of the Reletively Speaking episodes on Tubi, even though John Byner was annoying at the start of each show -- from his cue card greeting to his rule-reading characters at the same Universal Studios locales (he got better later in the episodes) there is a decent format in there that deserves a second look.
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It is getting a second look as Claim to Fame.
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Apologies! But also if the three of us agree on something, that is in itself something.
I agree!
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Neumms mentioned Bruce's Hot Streak, and I was hoping that Get a Clue would have tread that ground rather than just no-danger Catch Phrase.
Also a Hot Streak fan - and surprised it hasn't been done again, since it was a worldwide success.
Always thought Austrailias version was fantastic. - right down to the music and set. Find some on youtube if you havent' seen
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I'd like to offer Million Dollar Mind Game.
Seconded. Didn't like the host but really fun.
Speaking of cerebral games, I wonder if anybody watched Trebek Double Dare on Prime.
How did the pilot work with just the Spoilers? Now, I loved the Spoilers, the unintentionally hilarious nerds. The game seemed flawed, though. Pop culture answer, you win. Humanities stuff, no way. Maybe all luck is okay for a bonus game--rolling giant dice as fast as you can was brilliant--but not the whole thing.
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Apologies! But also if the three of us agree on something, that is in itself something.
I agree!
Oh, absolutely! My reply wasn't in the vein of "here, I said the thing first", more "insert meme of Spider-Men pointing at each other"
I thought Caesars Challenge was a nifty word game (and I'm one of the few that thought the second bonus round was better).
Trivial Pursuit (sans the touch tone lead in half hour) was also a fun 30 minutes, and went through more content in half an hour than I originally thought- roughly 40 questions in the front game. Really hoping that the new version resembles that pace versus the 2007 version.
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I'd like to offer Million Dollar Mind Game.
Seconded. Didn't like the host but really fun.
Speaking of cerebral games, I wonder if anybody watched Trebek Double Dare on Prime.
How did the pilot work with just the Spoilers? Now, I loved the Spoilers, the unintentionally hilarious nerds. The game seemed flawed, though. Pop culture answer, you win. Humanities stuff, now way. Maybe all luck is okay for a bonus game--rolling giant dice as fast as you can was brilliant--but not the whole thing.
IIRC, the only thing that changed from pilot to series is that you had to get 5 questions through 10 possibilities rather than 4 from 8.
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I thought Caesars Challenge was a nifty word game (and I'm one of the few that thought the second bonus round was better).
I have to imagine it was a case of "we're giving away too many cars."
Also if you can't clear the first three words in five seconds what are you doing on an anagram show?
Trivial Pursuit (sans the touch tone lead in half hour) was also a fun 30 minutes, and went through more content in half an hour than I originally thought- roughly 40 questions in the front game. Really hoping that the new version resembles that pace versus the 2007 version.
The first two rounds were functional and OK but I loved the final race to the finish where you can jump in and sprint to victory. And yes, we were getting tons of content on a cable network. Truly we did not know how good we had it. Interactive Game is an amazing soporific after a day of contestant stimulation. Try it at home!
As to the unintentionally hilarious nerds from Double Dare, I think Ralph Doty knew his role, to phrase a coin. And hell yes I plowed through the Amazon Prime bundle. I had some recuperating to do for a month and Alex Trebek in daytime is comfort food for me as much as mom's mashed potatoes and pork chops.
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I thought Caesars Challenge was a nifty word game
I'll go along with that. I always enjoyed Caesar's Challenge.
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I thought Caesars Challenge was a nifty word game (and I'm one of the few that thought the second bonus round was better).
I’ve said this before numerous times, but CC is one of my textbook examples of a show that was either five years too late or too early, and deserved better regardless.
Trivial Pursuit (sans the touch tone lead in half hour) was also a fun 30 minutes, and went through more content in half an hour than I originally thought- roughly 40 questions in the front game. Really hoping that the new version resembles that pace versus the 2007 version.
This might be another example. When this and Wink’s other interactive games dropped in 93-94, I was excited because we had very little on the networks and in syndication. Unfortunately, none of those shows lasted long either but it was fun while it lasted. I think the problem with the games of 94 was that, while they had play along value, who wants to see people push buttons to answer questions for 30 minutes?
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I thought Caesars Challenge was a nifty word game (and I'm one of the few that thought the second bonus round was better).
I have to imagine it was a case of "we're giving away too many cars."
Also if you can't clear the first three words in five seconds what are you doing on an anagram show?
Actually, I think having the letter shuffler include all letters, not just the ones in the word, was a crazy devious way to trip people up.
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Also if you can't clear the first three words in five seconds what are you doing on an anagram show?
It's important to point out that the contesti were taken straight out of the audience with little to no vetting, and likely the audience in large part came straight from the casino floor. I'm sure the primary criteria was a lack of inebriation, and their only internal confidence needed was "hell, I'm great at Wheel of Fortune, I can do this!"
My only issue with the second bonus game was that it largely relegated Testicles to the back burner, and the mo' Testicles on that show, the mo' better.
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Well, testicles is a nine-letter word, so you have to solve the first four words first.
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I thought Caesars Challenge was a nifty word game (and I'm one of the few that thought the second bonus round was better).
I have to imagine it was a case of "we're giving away too many cars."
We never got the show in this area, so all I saw happened on a summer vacation in Dallas or the occasional USA rerun. But from what I remember, they rarely gave away cars in the original format. If it was once a week I'd be surprised.
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Couple thoughts on that:
Their main eye-catching prop being the slot machine, the second one was the bingo cage, which is something they can't control. You can have someone win on the word HOGTIEING, (and Chrome indicates a spell-check, so yeah.) where I imagine the producers were hanging hopes on a loss, or a four-time winner gets the word ELEGANCES, and moves most of the consonants into place and rides off in the car. You just never know what the lucky letters will be, and I don't think a production team wants their grand prize to be out of their tight control.
What they could have done is start a new champion with the jumble and say "it's your first day, if you can solve it like that you win the car," but after weeks of move one letter per day as champion, you can't really backtrack.
So you now play the bonus round on a computer generated gameboard that gets wheeled into place and producers get to stack the words, but instead of a seven-or-eight day winner piling up tons of loots and then a car, the show institutes a three day limit. Nobody can ever get too comfortable before they are back to the casino floor.
Fun idea and even with the benign questions it's a fun watch helped by the host team chemistry, but it's not a fantastic game.