Author Topic: "The 'Supertrain' of game shows"? (Read 5628 times)

gamed121683 · « **on:** December 14, 2008, 11:51:54 PM »

I'm sure that most of you has seen the video clips in this blog entry already, but I find it neat (and surprising) that this writer is actually giving it some mention. You would think that outside of our "clique", this show would become just another forgotten piece of obscure TV Trivia like Jennifer Slept Here or I Married Dora.

http://www.tvsquad.com/2008/12/14/this-70s...-those-arent-r/

Jimmy Owen · « **Reply #1 on:** December 15, 2008, 01:53:11 AM »

Well, it did take YouTube to jog his memory; it's not like he thinks about it more than once every thirty years.

Craig Karlberg · « **Reply #2 on:** December 15, 2008, 03:31:24 AM »

MMM the "Supertrain" of game shows? I thought Fox's The Rich List for sure fit that category because only one episode actually aired in 2006. Maybe there's more to it for a game show to even be considered or given that relic status. Oh well.

Loogaroo · « **Reply #3 on:** December 15, 2008, 07:40:10 AM »

Nah, at least Supertrain lasted more than one episode. I'd consider The Rich List the Turn-On of game shows.

Don Howard · « **Reply #4 on:** December 15, 2008, 10:24:08 AM »

[quote name=\'Loogaroo\' post=\'203620\' date=\'Dec 15 2008, 07:40 AM\']
I'd consider The Rich List the Turn-On of game shows.
[/quote]
It certainly turned me on. An unfinished turn-on is unfinished business.

BrandonFG · « **Reply #5 on:** December 15, 2008, 02:15:34 PM »

[quote name=\'Loogaroo\' post=\'203620\' date=\'Dec 15 2008, 08:40 AM\']
I'd consider The Rich List the Turn-On of game shows.
[/quote]
Except not nearly as offensive.

/Unless the tedium offended you
//It had potential though
///And where's that "Money List" GSN had in mind?
////And TBS's "Match Game"?

calliaume · « **Reply #6 on:** December 15, 2008, 08:21:22 PM »

[quote name=\'gamed121683\' post=\'203616\' date=\'Dec 15 2008, 12:51 AM\']
I'm sure that most of you has seen the video clips in this blog entry already, but I find it neat (and surprising) that this writer is actually giving it some mention. You would think that outside of our "clique", this show would become just another forgotten piece of obscure TV Trivia like Jennifer Slept Here or I Married Dora.
[/quote]
My site says MMM should be revived right after NBC does Supertrain 2000 (yeah, it's been awhile since I've written anything new) -- maybe they kept the connection.

Hey, NBC thought it was a good idea to update Knight Rider, so who's to say?

irwinsjournal.com · « **Reply #7 on:** December 15, 2008, 08:34:11 PM »

Ah, Knight Rider just wasn't the same without William Daniels... sorry, Val.

I think more people remember MMM than might be first thought, but would they admit it? Pinball was pretty popular then, before Pong, et al stomped it.

Don Howard · « **Reply #8 on:** December 15, 2008, 09:09:54 PM »

[quote name=\'irwinsjournal.com\' post=\'203650\' date=\'Dec 15 2008, 08:34 PM\']
Pinball was pretty popular then, before Pong, et al stomped it.
[/quote]
Pity they never tried The Magnificent Pong Machine. Or was that one of the games used on Starcade?
NBC certainly tried like the dickens to save MMM, didn't they? Changing the time period, going to all-celebrities, allowing two weeks of downtime for retooling, plus the bonus weeks the show received when The Fun Factory got off to a late start.

uncamark · « **Reply #9 on:** December 18, 2008, 12:44:42 PM »

[quote name=\'Don Howard\' post=\'203655\' date=\'Dec 15 2008, 08:09 PM\']
[quote name=\'irwinsjournal.com\' post=\'203650\' date=\'Dec 15 2008, 08:34 PM\']
Pinball was pretty popular then, before Pong, et al stomped it.
[/quote]
Pity they never tried The Magnificent Pong Machine. Or was that one of the games used on Starcade?
NBC certainly tried like the dickens to save MMM, didn't they? Changing the time period, going to all-celebrities, allowing two weeks of downtime for retooling, plus the bonus weeks the show received when The Fun Factory got off to a late start.
[/quote]

Seemed to me that Lin wanted to save her baby in the worst possible way. Instead, she got canned.

The "bonus weeks" were because Madeline David had not much else that she could do while the technicians were on strike. I don't blame them for not wanting to get either "Fun Factory" or "Gong" going without the union guys (although the technical bobbles would've fit with "Gong" perfectly).

trustno1 · « **Reply #10 on:** December 18, 2008, 02:05:36 PM »

[quote name=\'Loogaroo\' post=\'203620\' date=\'Dec 15 2008, 07:40 AM\']
Nah, at least Supertrain lasted more than one episode. I'd consider The Rich List the Turn-On of game shows.
[/quote]

I think what he means is that "The Rich List" only lasted one episode in the US.
Here in Australia, we have had 30 episodes over 2 seasons.

clemon79 · « **Reply #11 on:** December 18, 2008, 02:21:20 PM »

[quote name=\'trustno1\' post=\'204021\' date=\'Dec 18 2008, 11:05 AM\']
I think what he means is that "The Rich List" only lasted one episode in the US.
Here in Australia, we have had 30 episodes over 2 seasons.[/quote]
Trust me, even Karlberg doesn't know what the hell he means.

Don Howard · « **Reply #12 on:** December 18, 2008, 03:29:36 PM »

[quote name=\'trustno1\' post=\'204021\' date=\'Dec 18 2008, 02:05 PM\']
I think what he means is that "The Rich List" only lasted one episode in the US.
Here in Australia, we have had 30 episodes over 2 seasons.
[/quote]
What's the record for $$$$ won on that version?

TLEberle · « **Reply #13 on:** December 18, 2008, 06:53:08 PM »

[quote name=\'Don Howard\' post=\'204028\' date=\'Dec 18 2008, 12:29 PM\']What's the record for $$$$ won on that version?[/quote]$575,000, for seven-time champions.

That Don Guy · « **Reply #14 on:** December 19, 2008, 11:42:59 PM »

[quote name=\'Don Howard\' post=\'203655\' date=\'Dec 15 2008, 06:09 PM\']
[quote name=\'irwinsjournal.com\' post=\'203650\' date=\'Dec 15 2008, 08:34 PM\']
Pinball was pretty popular then, before Pong, et al stomped it.
[/quote]
Pity they never tried The Magnificent Pong Machine. Or was that one of the games used on Starcade?
[/quote]
Actually, at first Pong was pretty much considered a "sideshow" game (i.e. something to add some variety to arcades besides just pinball machines), especially as you needed two players to play it. It was Space Invaders that really started pinball's downward trend, even though they cost more to play than pinballs at first (25c/game as opposed to 2 games/25c in 1980), and you couldn't win free games on most video machines (then again, it's still against the law in New York City to have a pinball machine that gives away free games).

Quote

NBC certainly tried like the dickens to save MMM, didn't they? Changing the time period, going to all-celebrities, allowing two weeks of downtime for retooling, plus the bonus weeks the show received when The Fun Factory got off to a late start.

Not to mention continuously changing the rules. First, the goal started at 15,000; then, it started at 13,000; then, they replaced the goal with the "Moneyball Marathon" (the high score out of each group of seven players got the money ball) (somewhere in there, they replaced "200 points for anything that makes a sound" with "500 points for hitting a bumper"); then, they got rid of the points and the moneyball entirely, but added a car (or a trip around the world) for hitting all seven bumpers; then, they got rid of the bonus prize - the bonus round became anticlimactic at that point.

As for The Rich List, wasn't the real problem that Fox realized that the early tapings had a number of winners of over $250,000, and the ratings weren't good enough to make it worth covering the costs of paying out if the episodes aired (something they didn't have to do to the "winners" of the unaired episodes)? That hardly makes it a bad show.

-- Don

Author Topic: "The 'Supertrain' of game shows"? (Read 5628 times)

uncamark