GSN fans from the early days of '97 and '98 remember "The Dark Period" quite well. So dubbed by members of the alt.tv.game-shows (sigh) newsgroup, it was the six or so months where GSN inexplicably let the rights to the Goodson library lapse. With the notable exception of Price is Right (and the not so notable exception of the horrid '94 Feud with Dawson), no G-T shows aired. Instead, we got a hodge podge lineup that any fan would have considered a joke had it been shown to him earlier. Go at 8pm? 90 straight minutes of various Pyramid episodes? Hollywood Connection on the air period? Yep.

The funny thing is, while fans were ready to burn down GSN, I quietly began e-mailing contacts who actually had the network (Tulane did not then and still does not have it in their dorms, 9 years later) to start taping anything and everything for me. I guess I had the foresight to know that this would be a once-in-a-lifetime chance to see Pass the Buck, Break the Bank, and Go, knowing that GSN couldn't go without Match Game and the other G-T shows for long. I also hoarded a ton of $20,000 Pyramid episodes, a show to this day I don't know why isn't rerun on GSN (while the same year of $100,000 Pyramid continues to repeat endlessly).

Anyways, all this rambling leads to the next entry in my Great Tape Giveaway. Most of the tapes in this set are indeed from that "Dark Period", so if you're a fan of Go and win this set, you can enjoy over 50% of the show's entire run. Hopefully not in one sitting.

 

posted by Brad @ 1:50 AM   2 comment(s)