Talk About Buzzr

[chris319]

I saw Talkabout for the first time yesterday.

Sorry, there's no other way to put it: it's an unmitigated piece of shit.

Where is the play-along in the main game? You have contestants blabbering away with select words intermittently appearing on the screen. Is there some play-along element that I'm missing? No play-along translates to no audience involvement.

If I had proposed this game either at G-T or at any of the networks, my ass would still be smarting from being given the boot.

How did this show ever see the light of day?

[nowhammies10]

Where is the play-along in the main game? You have contestants blabbering away with select words intermittently appearing on the screen. Is there some play-along element that I'm missing? No play-along translates to no audience involvement.

Speaking strictly ex post rectum, the play-along factor is shouting your own ideas at the screen, trying to hit what you might think are the "obvious" words that the contestants on screen are missing. A modern-day equivalent might be America Says.

How did this show ever see the light of day?

I imagine it's because Outburst was such a hit board game at the time and the core gameplay mechanic is the same (hit key words about a given topic against the clock).

[chris319]

The subject is "hen". I shout "cluck" at the screen and it doesn't appear.

So much for audience involvement.

[SwohS Emag]

It was pitched for Canadian television and later picked up in US syndication but was never picked up straight to US television.  I agree it's not great, but compare it to some of the other samples from BonusRound.  I'd rather Talkabout any day of the week over Love Handles, Acting Crazy, or (shudder) The Next Line. 

[nowhammies10]

The subject is "hen". I shout "cluck" at the screen and it doesn't appear.

I guess where I see the difference is if the contestants aren't saying "cluck" and it comes up after the fact, the home viewer feels superior for hitting one of the "right" answers that the contestants didn't think of.

I'd rather Talkabout any day of the week over Love Handles, Acting Crazy, or (shudder) The Next Line. 

Agreed, although I give credit to Love Handles for featuring same-sex couples with no big noise or fanfare in 1996, a year before Ellen came out on, uh, Ellen.

[Strikerz04]

I agree it's not great, but compare it to some of the other samples from BonusRound.  I'd rather Talkabout any day of the week over Love Handles, Acting Crazy, or (shudder) The Next Line.

Totally innocuous, this show.
And as a 4 year old that watched this when it was paired with Jackpot, this was good (but weird) word-association game. I owe a little bit of appreciation of the genre to Talk About.

[BrandonFG]

I’m probably biased because at 6 or 7 all game shows looked great to me, but this one holds a special place in my heart for some reason. I look at it the same way I do GSN’s originals: simple but maybe undercooked, but it still has the ability to make you yell answers at the screen.

There’s some Canadian charm here that you don’t see on other shows.

[Jeremy Nelson]

The subject is "hen". I shout "cluck" at the screen and it doesn't appear.

So much for audience involvement.

You can get the Password Puzzle off one clue and it still doesn’t show up right away either- what’s the difference?

I don’t see anything glaringly wrong with this one, though I think the bonus round could use an overhaul. It’s a lower stakes game show that has a lot of charm and a good host. Not every show is going to be Filet Mignon, but there’s nothing wrong with being a juicy hamburger.

[jjman920]

The subject is "hen". I shout "cluck" at the screen and it doesn't appear.

So much for audience involvement.

Yeah, jumping off of what Jeremy said, I'm trying to understand the difference between this and constantly yelling what you think is a good clue at your screen during a game of Password? People are invested in waiting to see if the people in the box will validate how smart they think they are and how dumb they think the people in the box are.

I absolutely love watching Talk About for that very reason. Finding myself just as mystified waiting to see what other words they came up with to describe whatever subject was chosen by the contestants. It's like trying to figure out the rest of the words in a Password puzzle.

[TimK2003]

The subject is "hen". I shout "cluck" at the screen and it doesn't appear.

So much for audience involvement.

You can get the Password Puzzle off one clue and it still doesn’t show up right away either- what’s the difference?

I don’t see anything glaringly wrong with this one, though I think the bonus round could use an overhaul. It’s a lower stakes game show that has a lot of charm and a good host. Not every show is going to be Filet Mignon, but there’s nothing wrong with being a juicy hamburger.

Buried in the game is the unique idea of the scoring system.  Your team can knock off 9 of the 10 clue words, but the opponents can still earn/steal a hefty payday of all those points by correctly guessing the subject with one lone unknown clue.  Kind of like original Password in reverse.

In the bonus round, playing double or nothing for smaller winnings in less time is a unique twist as well.

[SuperMatch93]

According to Wiki, GameTek made a home version in addition to Pressman's box game. Is this legit, or can I safely edit it out of the page for the show? I figured it might have simply not been released, but I can't find any other references to it online.

[snowpeck]

According to Wiki, GameTek made a home version in addition to Pressman's box game. Is this legit, or can I safely edit it out of the page for the show? I figured it might have simply not been released, but I can't find any other references to it online.

I've never seen a copy of it either, but the first reference I remember seeing mention it was Matt O.'s home game compendium.

[Adam Nedeff]

Where is the play-along in the main game? You have contestants blabbering away with select words intermittently appearing on the screen. Is there some play-along element that I'm missing? No play-along translates to no audience involvement.

I would say you're missing it. This post made me curious and I happened to be visiting my parents (who aren't really game show lovers) this week, so I just played an episode without saying why I was interested in watching it with them. Mom was hooked immediately and talked at the TV through the whole thing. Pretty much the same play-along element as Family Feud. You want to see if they'll say the answer you think of.

[clemon79]

The subject is "hen". I shout "cluck" at the screen and it doesn't appear.

Dem's da berries.

[MSTieScott]

In one of the earliest episodes, Wayne offered a team the option to talk about Cocoon, clarifying that he meant the movie. To which I reacted, "Oh, that's probably where the 'I'll put this in quotes' thing came from. Because if one of the words is 'movie,' you just gave them help." The team chose the other subject, so I don't know what words were on the list.

The series is at the point where Wayne is telling contestants when he's putting things in quotes now. But in yesterday's Buzzr episode, he once again offered a team the option to talk about Cocoon in the main game, once again clarifying that he meant the movie.

At which point I realized that no one updated that particular host card. But I was more surprised that the show is recycling unused subjects in the main game. In the bonus round, sure, no problem, but given that half of the front game is identifying the subject, it seems like a bad idea to give a team the opportunity to think, "Say, wasn't Cocoon one of the available subjects in that episode we watched recently?"