We may have had the worst Bonkers contestant in history today. On her first attempt at the game, she took 10 seconds to just get to the board, then put only one marker up and stopped. Mercifully, Bob reset the clock for her and explained the rules again, to which she asked, "Now which one is lower, the top or the bottom?" Not surprisingly, she lost, but amazingly was only off by one and actually was pretty speedy once she finally got into the game.
Every so often I get the urge to blog while I'm watching a game show. It last happened with The Rich List and we saw what happened with that. Let's give Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader the old college try.
* Theme song is annoying, no problem with lyrics in a theme but they have to be catchy. * I have to admit I like the set. Got the elements of a school down very well (the backpack cubby holes are a nice touch) and having the audience above everything is nifty. * Odd money tree...$100K, $175K (??), $300K * Since when is "animal science" a subject that kids study? * The calling of grade number and subject is very Make the Grade * Are we eventually going to run out of synonyms for "lifeline"? We have "helps" and "cheats"--what's next? * I refuse to believe the average 1st grader knows when Columbus Day happens. * The annoying catch phrase that contestants have to say into the camera will get old by episode number...oh wait, by *this* episode. * 3rd Grade Measurements? That just sounds bad. * The berating of the contestants and basically calling them dumb all episode, that's just lame. It's not meant to be a comedy roast, it's a game show. * Jeff isn't as bad as I thought he would be, but I thought he would be *really* bad, so it's saying very little. * 4th Graders are learning about the REM cycle? Is this Julliard Elementary School? * The kids are less annoying than I thought they'd be, which is a relief, because I thought they were going to be precocious know-it-all types (though I can't imagine they made the audience fall in love with them either)
Anyways, my main beef with the show is the contestants, mainly because for the show to work, they have to pick dumb people. A standard game show shouldn't do that, and it seems like you could easily Larson the show by going to the audition, half-assing it and pretending you're dumb, and then show up for your taping and say, "Surprise! I know what the Mayflower is."
The game is set up to basically humiliate the contestants, and that shouldn't be the premise of any show.
It's a 4 out of 10, probably not worth watching again, but curious to see if some odd tract of Middle America gets into it and makes it a hit. The level of drop it takes from AI will be interesting to track.
Back in my Price taping attending days (late '90s, finally got picked in 2000), I would say getting to CBS at 4-5am pretty much guaranteed you a seat (you of course need tickets). In fact, 4-5am usually got me at the very front of the line (a potential disadvantage in getting picked, IMO).
Well, my good friend Jason attended a taping today and boy have times changed. Monday is the only two-taping day, which means a show tapes at 1 and 4pm. The 4pm show (that's the one I attended when I was picked), you used to be able to show up at 7am or so and get in. With Bob retiring, apparently the demand for tickets has skyrocketed. People are now camping out the night before for a spot in line (that means up to 1/3 of the line for tomorrow's show is already there at 10pm). Jason got there at 4am for the 4pm show and just barely got in, tickets #295-#300 or so.
So by all means, if you haven't seen Bob in action, I urge you to see TPIR tape in these last 4 months before he retires. But get there EARLY, far earlier than they tell you to on the website. You will be tired the next day, but it will be worth it.
People criticize GSN for rerunning the same Press Your Luck episodes constantly. While that criticism may be valid, you can still find gems in there on the 4th or 5th viewing. Case in point, Yogi, an older contestant on today's episode, launched into an awkward and completely impromptu poem in the middle of the final round, which shockingly related to the Whammy cartoon that had just aired. It got some good laughs and was a nice break from a bizarre episode which very nearly could have ended in a non-$0 tie.
Is 1 vs. 100 the best new game show in the last 3 or 4 years? I have to say yes. Last night's episode totally clicked. We had two stunning losses, the 2nd was a true heartbreak, and a good win at the end. The question writing is outstanding, they got the pacing down finally, Bob is in his element (no more shouting!), and the contestants are, for the most part, likable. It's truly the full package.
So with all that being said, why on EARTH are they taking it off the air next month to show, sigh, Identity? Identity is an *OK* game, but it really gets old quick and it moves like molasses. It almost seems like it would be good as an element in an overall bigger game; it really can't sustain itself for 60 minutes. Plus Penn just doesn't do it for me as a host. Great comic, great stage show, not a game show host though.
Here's hoping it's only a momentary break from the schedule and will come back in full force soon.
Must have been theme day on TPiR today, the theme being "Gold". First off we had a monstrous Golden Road win, first time I've seen that game won in a while. Even more interesting was the fact that the winner (a guy) gave Bob a peck on the cheek right before the reveal. That's always an awkward moment. The late Rod Roddy used to specifically instruct the audience prior to the audience, in regards to kissing, "But no tongues...and no guys." Bob didn't seem to mind too much though.
Then in the next IUFB, the dreaded gold bar one-bid prize, complete with that awkward disclaimer "The retail value is determined at the opening of business on the day of taping." They've been giving away gold forever it seems and I just can get why. The show's prizes and copy are scripted weeks in advance, so it seems awkward to have a prize where the value is unknown until right before the show starts.
The male kisses kept on coming in game 2, with the contestant (Cody) asking Bob to kiss his Plinko chip and then surprised Bob with another one on the cheeks.
Cody wound up being one of the most memorable contestants in recent memory. As over the top as his antics were, keep in mind (for all you prospective contestants out there), a lot of that is exactly what they are looking for in a contestant.
Today's Price was a keeper (except I deleted it off my Tivo, for some reason). The first perfect show in a while. Nearly was a huge win but a $71,000 showcase went unwon at the end.
Also, a strange bidding moment in one of the later IUFBs, bids in order:
New pricing game premiered on Friday's Price, but it didn't totally blow me away. It's called More or Less and it basically combines elements of at least 8 other pricing games. The higher or lower concept has been played out pretty thoroughly by Price in its classic games, so I was a bit disappointed to see them go back to that for a new game. The staging is good however, I like the set pieces, and the fact that you get to keep some prizes if you lose mid-game is a bonus.
Bottom line, as new games go, it's not as bad as Coming or Going, but it's no Pocket Change either.
Sometimes when you FF through most of Deal or No Deal, you miss some context. So as breezed through the first 20 minutes of last night's episode, I found myself wondering:
1) Why is someone encased in a game show jail? 2) Why is there a gigantic red Grimace-like puppet on stage?
The answers to those questions wound up being less interesting than the questions themselves, and luckily the woman played the game somewhat smart and took home $100K+.
There's a time when a show Jumps the Shark, and then there are times when a show enters a parallel universe. I believe Deal or no Deal did the latter tonight with a contestant who was literally wearing an American flag, hoping to live out his apparently far-out dream of "seeing America" now that 9/11 happened...6 years ago.
Yes we should never forget the horrors of that day and there is certainly nothing wrong with patriotism. However, I'm not exactly sure why it would inspire someone who didn't seem to be directly impacted by the tragedy to compete on a game show wearing glittery shoes.
If that's not enough, at some point a cartoon character named Bobby came out to give him one of the deals in the middle of his game. I'm sure there was some context that would explain that to me, but after I rewound a few times and didn't really figure it out, I just accepted it. Luckily the contestant, who wasn't particularly annoying outside of his flamboyant attire, managed to secure a great offer despite hanging on the razor's edge for a few rounds.
On a side note, kudos to the producers for doing a tie-in with the model's dresses for charity. The thing I have to say about the models on this show is that, besides their obvious beauty, I'm very impressed with the way they ad-lib and keep the tension as high as possible during the reveals. They really are the stars of the show in many ways.
Another serviceable GSN special last night. They're all kind of blending together for me, but I still watch them right when I get back from bowling, so something about them must be good. I was happy to see some rare Cullen Pyramid clips (where on earth did they get that episode??) and it was good to see Nipsey and Charles Nelson Reilly get the credit they deserve.
My only nitpick matches the one of the Greatest Moments special a few weeks ago, in that Chuck need not introduce each clip individually right before it happens, it's just a bit much. Most of the clips could be grouped in ways that he wasn't butting in every 15 seconds. That's not an issue with him, but more with the pacing of the special. It was also a little heavy on the Dating Game clips, but at least it wasn't the same warmed over Newlywed Game clips we've all seen 100 times.
On one of the marathon Password Plus episodes tonight (Tony Randall vs. Marcia Wallace, ep. 7 or 8 of the series I think), Tony (and then later, his contestant partner) raised up a stink about Marcia using the clues "Loner" and "Alone" for "Lonely". It was a bit awkward to say the least. Allen eventually got them both to shut up.
Those early episodes had some really far out (and cool) wide camera shots of the full main game set which sadly didn't last long. Also, for some reason, the short-lived ceiling-hanging Alphabetics board just looks scary to me.
Good 1 vs. 100 last night. I really like the Last Man Standing format. Not as a permanent change, but as something they can pull out of their back pocket for a special episode. Last night's episode was definitely exciting, and I was pretty ticked because I had every answer right up until that Larry King question. He's been married seven times? What the heck is going on there?? Crazy.
If I had any beef with the format, it's the fact that the King of the Hill (it really does seem a lot like Jackpot!, no?) is chosen at "random", and the "random" person happened to be Annie Duke? In this format the "1" doesn't have as much of an advantage as they normally do, but they do get a lot more time to answer than the mob members, so the choosing of this person should be based on something a little less subjective. Maybe the results of a quiz given prior to the show, with the highest scorer given the chance to be the "1"?
Welcome to another episode of Deal or no Deal 2007: The Heartbreak Year. 40 minutes we spend with a contestant who, to her credit, is not very annoying at all. Smart, friendly woman with a great cheering section and a darling little boy. With the board values doubled, the offers are good, and then better, and then, just as her safety net goes out, a fantastic offer: $170,000.
Enough money to put her son through college and start a business of her own, her lifelong dream. But hold on--we have her mother of all people telling her to go on?
Well, you can imagine how it turned out. Next offer is $7,500. Bye bye college, little boy!
Is anyone doing a psychological case study of this show? Are foreign viewers who see this show laughing at an American culture of greed? Am I spending too much time analyzing this?
For the first time (at least that I heard), a contestant acknowledged Bob's leaving the show, telling him sweetly "We're going to miss you!" He said it was a nice thing for her to say. Also in the audience were some contestants with shirts saying "Bob, I'll take your job!" Perhaps they were Doug Davidson's cousins?
Not much else to report on today's episode, except that Bob severely damaged the button that reveals the Flip Flop answer. That game has had its share of issues lately.
I'm taking a new tack with Deal or no Deal contestants I don't like. I'm just not watching their games entirely. So after the first contestant, who was infinitely likeable, finished her game, it moved on to the Italian stereotype guy, and I just deleted the episode off my Tivo.
They had this guy hopping around in commercials with gaudy Italian music playing in the background. Give me a freakin' break NBC. Why is the contestant selection process so uneven? There are so many candidates to be on this show, it has to be possible that they can consistently pick people who aren't caricatures.
Well I solved my video issues (I should have realized that Ulead Video Studio is still one of the best products out there), and there's finally a new clip up in the Game Show Theatre page. Check it out!
I'd like to add some more video clips to my webpage, but for the life of me I can't find a good video editing product out there.
Here's what I'm looking for:
--Something that will allow me to take portions of video from a DVD and rip it to .mpg file format --Ability to add effects, wipes, etc. to the ripped files
I can't find any products that support taking video directly from DVD. I realize that's supposed to be illegal, but since my video collection is stuff taped off air, it's all legit in my case.
Once I get a hold of the software I should be able to start putting some new video clips up. If anyone can suggest some software packages, let me know. Thanks!
I had mixed feelings about the first game in last night's 1 vs. 100. The contestant was by far the most annoying guy they've ever had on there. Even the all-kid mob thought he was lame (some of the looks he got from the kids were priceless). I did like that they evened the tables on him by asking him some questions that kids are far more likely to know the answers to (like the Rugrats question).
I wanted to root for the kids throughout, but it started off rough, with that 11-year old "mogul". He was nearly as annoying as the contestant. Kids that pissy and rude usually get beat up a lot by their classmates, and I can imagine that kid will probably endure some wedgies when he gets back to class. In the end I'm glad he was eliminated rather early on. And what makes pencil toppers in the shape of bugs really an invention worthy of calling one a "mogul"?
I was surprised the first contestant missed the scouting question and even more disappointed because he would have been left with just five kids and we really would have gotten to a level we haven't progressed to in the game. Instead the 5 remaining kids wound up winning the largest individual jackpots (by far) of any previous mob, so kudos to them.
One thing that irked me...did they get rid of the effect where each eliminated mob member is counted out one by one? I'm all for speeding up game play but that was really one of my favorite effects on the show, and it doesn't really save them much time. Plus it reduces the drama level that much. All about balance, folks.
