Hidden gems?

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'SRIV94\' date=\'Oct 15 2005, 09:56 PM\']Close second for me would be BATTLESTARS.  In my heart, I never forgave the 1981-82 version for taking CS' place in the line-up--a decision that I would regret.  So I watched the 1983 version with relish (opening for a cheap joke here).  Sorry it didn't stick around (but like GO and HP, the time slot was kind of the issue).

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I liked Battlestars too, although I did like the old one more than the '83 version. Watching Trebek try to run a celebrity game was pretty interesting, and I don't think he was nearly as bad at it as some were. And there's something about ginormous people-filled gameboards.

[Craig Karlberg]

I'd go with Catch Phrase simply because of the animations & the synthezized music on there.  The scoring was kinda strange.  Some puzzles were easier & had higher ammounts while the cheaper ones were kinda tough(even though the ammounts were determined by the player in control of the "randomizer" to stop it befrore a round begins).  The bonus game was a good one though they took a page out of the 1978 J! bonus round where 5 in a row anywhere wins a prize package(perhaps a car if the player solved the middle square, the most difficult one).

[Dbacksfan12]

[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' date=\'Oct 15 2005, 06:57 PM\']....but if Go had gone on, there might not have been a Hot Potato. [/quote]
Umm...too bad?
Hot Potato is nothing more than a rip on "Feud"...and poorly executed at that.

[tyshaun1]

[quote name=\'SRIV94\' date=\'Oct 16 2005, 12:56 AM\']I'll second it.  HIT MAN actually did more for me than the $otC revival at that time in terms of me getting excited about NBC's return to the genre (ask no questions about JUST MEN).

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I'll third the vote for Hit Man. Great set, theme, solid host, smart contestants. The only real problem with that show was that it required you to have a good attention span to be able to play along with the game (and all but made you watch the entire show to play along in the bonus round), yet it had a setting which (at that time) appealed generally to people with short attention spans.

Tyshaun

[Ian Wallis]

From the '80s, I'd go with "Hit Man" and "Battlestars".  I loved the set and lighting effects on "Battlestars", which is probably one of the reasons I liked the show so much.  Reportedly, ratings were still pretty decent when it was cancelled the first time.  The rule changes on the second run lessened the game, IMHO.

[Matt Ottinger]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Oct 15 2005, 04:43 PM\']Matt: How do you feel the endgame was an afterthought? It tweaks the maingame a little, while still keeping the main gimmick of the show. Sounds pretty standard to me. And it's certainly engaging.[/quote]
It's just personal preference, but I just don't think they tweaked the maingame enough for the bonus.  As Adam said, the "one...word...back...and...forth" thing could get tiring, so I would like to have seen Stewart's fertile imagination come up with something different.  Most of his bonus games were only tangentially related to their main games.  Take Chain Reaction, for example.  That had an awesome end game.

Um...wait a minute...

[TimK2003]

Catch Phrase IMHO was a great show.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but that was one of the first shows in a while (The Cross-Wits??) where the set was mostly dark in terms of the background, compared to most shows of the time that were brightly lit everywhere.

The graphics, for that time, were state of the art and different.  If Catch Phrase was ever to fly again, you gotta admit that the way they can do the puzzle graphics now could not only speed up the gameplay (you dont have to wait for the computer to slowly 'draw' the puzzle), but you could institute/animate real images into the mix.

And since it had a decent run overseas, this show really deserves another revival in the US, as I really think it was a bit ahead of it's time in 1985.

[TheGameShowGuy]

[quote name=\'TimK2003\' date=\'Oct 16 2005, 07:38 PM\']Catch Phrase IMHO was a great show.  Correct me if I'm wrong, but that was one of the first shows in a while (The Cross-Wits??) where the set was mostly dark in terms of the background, compared to most shows of the time that were brightly lit everywhere.

The graphics, for that time, were state of the art and different.  If Catch Phrase was ever to fly again, you gotta admit that the way they can do the puzzle graphics now could not only speed up the gameplay (you dont have to wait for the computer to slowly 'draw' the puzzle), but you could institute/animate real images into the mix.

And since it had a decent run overseas, this show really deserves another revival in the US, as I really think it was a bit ahead of it's time in 1985.

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After seeing that (now famous) clip from UK's version... I totally agree "Catch Phrase" deserves another US shot... (Look at "Lingo") "Catch Phrase" is habit forming and the puzzles ,while brain-stimulating are presented in a fast-paced format I really think can work .   I got hooked on these type of puzzles in Games Magazine since 1980 (where they appear under a different name) and was thrilled when I saw ads for Catch Phrase in 1985.

I also feel- as was mentioned - that if it wasn't for that "insurance policy" Telepictures had (with all their shows) "Catch Phrase" would have had atleast the season to prove itself.
I can't think the lame, Newlywed Game   ripoff "Perfect Match" did any better.

[zachhoran]

[quote name=\'TheGameShowGuy\' date=\'Oct 16 2005, 08:04 PM\']

I can't think the lame, Newlywed Game   ripoff "Perfect Match" did any better.

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There was a book on syndicated television, the title of which escapes me, that PM did well enough to get renewed for a second season, but Barris threatened to sue PM's producers due to the similarities between it and NG.

[gwarman2005]

I'm a die hard Dream House fan.  I loved the drama of the Golden Doors, you can't get much more of a nail biter than the lights around the doors lighting up.  If they had only made a better main game to go with it, I think it could've been around a long, long time.

I always enjoyed watching Hit Man, Catch Phrase, and ESC when I could.  But another one that hardly anyone mentions is Super Pay Cards.  Ok, ok, I know a bunch of you say that the chick was creepy and the audience game prizes sucked balls (ie crock pot & fire escape ladder) but the game was solid and flowed smoothly, not to mention the bonus round was tough enough to know that whomever won $5,000 earned it.  Personally I think it could fit in with the Crash TV style nowadays... just up the bonus amounts to $250, $2,500, & $25,000 with a one day champion.  It could work.

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'gwarman2005\' date=\'Oct 16 2005, 07:52 PM\']I'm a die hard Dream House fan.  I loved the drama of the Golden Doors, you can't get much more of a nail biter than the lights around the doors lighting up. 
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Except it wasn't really that dramatic, since the endgame was so freakin' hard (and it should have been, for a house) that it was a safe assumption they were gonna lose more often than not. A good endgame, you go into thinking "hey, they could win this!"

If they had only made a better main game to go with it, I think it could've been around a long, long time.

I can't say I agree.

[SRIV94]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Oct 16 2005, 10:09 PM\'][quote name=\'gwarman2005\' date=\'Oct 16 2005, 07:52 PM\']I'm a die hard Dream House fan.  I loved the drama of the Golden Doors, you can't get much more of a nail biter than the lights around the doors lighting up. 
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Except it wasn't really that dramatic, since the endgame was so freakin' hard (and it should have been, for a house) that it was a safe assumption they were gonna lose more often than not. A good endgame, you go into thinking "hey, they could win this!"

If they had only made a better main game to go with it, I think it could've been around a long, long time.

I can't say I agree.

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The only quibble I would add is it's hard for me to call a show that ran more than a year "hidden."  Minor nitpick, I know, but it did enjoy a pretty good run (although the show that replaced it had a much better run).

Doug

[clemon79]

[quote name=\'SRIV94\' date=\'Oct 16 2005, 09:01 PM\']The only quibble I would add is it's hard for me to call a show that ran more than a year "hidden."  Minor nitpick, I know, but it did enjoy a pretty good run (although the show that replaced it had a much better run).

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Which was....Scrabble?

[SRIV94]

[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Oct 16 2005, 11:18 PM\'][quote name=\'SRIV94\' date=\'Oct 16 2005, 09:01 PM\'](although the show that replaced it had a much better run).

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Which was....Scrabble?

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Yethir.

Doug

[megamanj1986]

[quote name=\'Modor\' date=\'Oct 16 2005, 03:30 AM\'][quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' date=\'Oct 15 2005, 06:57 PM\']....but if Go had gone on, there might not have been a Hot Potato. [/quote]
Umm...too bad?
Hot Potato is nothing more than a rip on "Feud"...and poorly executed at that.

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Not exactly. Hot Potato added a few extra elements of strategy and more variety to the questions than Feud did. Not to mention in that fact that if a player gave a wrong answer, they sat out and not get a strike.

Yes, HP, Go!, ESC, Hit Man were all great 80's gems that deserved longer runs.