The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: DrJWJustice on October 09, 2003, 12:12:22 PM
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If you want to see one reason why MG'98 was such a dismal failure, all you have to do is tune into Hollywood Squares this week (Bergeron version). The answer is two words long: Judy Tenuta. Every time she gets a question, I have to turn down the volume before she gets done answering. Truth be told, I think she's more subdued on HS than she was on MG'98.
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[quote name=\'DrJWJustice\' date=\'Oct 9 2003, 11:12 AM\']If you want to see one reason why MG'98 was such a dismal failure, all you have to do is tune into Hollywood Squares this week (Bergeron version). The answer is two words long: Judy Tenuta. Every time she gets a question, I have to turn down the volume before she gets done answering. Truth be told, I think she's more subdued on HS than she was on MG'98.[/quote]
Haven't watched so far this week--has Bergeron tried to zing her like he sometimes does with Richard Simmons?
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What a coincidence, I also have 2 words that can sum up why MG '98 didn't last very long...
It Sucked.
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One Reason Why MG'98 Failed
\"100 GSF readers surveyed, top 652 answers on the board... give a reason, in two words, why MG98 stunk.\"
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[quote name=\'uncamark\' date=\'Oct 9 2003, 02:58 PM\'] Haven't watched so far this week--has Bergeron tried to zing her like he sometimes does with Richard Simmons? [/quote]
I don't think he can get her to shut up long enough to zing her. Besides, like I said, I have to turn down the volume while she gives her long, drawn-out answer because I get so irritated with her crap! Remember, we're talking about someone who would routinely dance on top of the desk on MG'98. Sure, it occasionally happened on Rayburn's version, but it was funny whenever they did it. I had to resist the urge to punch the TV in a futile effort to knock her off the desk on MG'98 was on.
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[quote name=\'whampyl03\' date=\'Oct 9 2003, 06:26 PM\'] What a coincidence, I also have 2 words that can sum up why MG '98 didn't last very long...
It Sucked. [/quote]
Well put.
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[quote name=\'DrJWJustice\' date=\'Oct 9 2003, 06:59 PM\'] I don't think he can get her to shut up long enough to zing her. Besides, like I said, I have to turn down the volume while she gives her long, drawn-out answer because I get so irritated with her crap! Remember, we're talking about someone who would routinely dance on top of the desk on MG'98. Sure, it occasionally happened on Rayburn's version, but it was funny whenever they did it. I had to resist the urge to punch the TV in a futile effort to knock her off the desk on MG'98 was on. [/quote]
Stop holding back. Tell us how you really feel. :-)
Brandon Brooks
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Such are the perils of trying to bring back a classic game show in this age of hopelessly-fragmented viewing audiences with their personal-favorite niche channels on cable. Those of us who remember the old version make inevitable comparisons and usually end up longing for the old version, while those too young to remember the old version look at the new one and think, \"so what?\".
\"Match Game\" worked in the '70s because it was such a step upward in humor from the original show, and it came from a time when the envelope was just starting to be pushed as far as what could be said on TV was concerned. A contestant or panelist would say \"boobs\" for an answer and get screams of laughter (or maybe just screams from some individuals). You couldn't say \"ass\" then unless you were talking about a beast of burden...now late-night talk shows are rampant with use of the word in the \"other\" context. I'm glad \"Hollywood Squares\" has enjoyed some success in its current revival, but most revivals of the \"classics\" just don't seem to work (except J!), whether it's a game show or a sitcom that once ruled prime time. They tried a new \"Monkees\" and a new \"Family Affair\"...both flopped.
And no matter how many times someone tries to bring MG back, the'll never get Gene Rayburn to host. Same with Monty Hall and Let's Make A Deal.
That's why, whenever I get the urge to try and bring back something from the past--even if I can only imagine it in my head since I'm far from likely to get anyone in the TV biz interested in it--I tend to go with something that failed the first time and try to fix what was wrong in the original so it might work better this time. The original is only remembered by a few select people and never reached the status of a beloved, long-running classic, but in my opinion it wasn't a dog either, it was just weak in some part and needs tweaking to make it better as a whole. The industry should consider this sort of revival and forget Maxene Fabe's narrowminded advisory that a game (or other type of show) is only worth reviving if it worked the first time.
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[quote name=\'DrJWJustice\' date=\'Oct 9 2003, 07:59 PM\'] [quote name=\'uncamark\' date=\'Oct 9 2003, 02:58 PM\'] Haven't watched so far this week--has Bergeron tried to zing her like he sometimes does with Richard Simmons? [/quote]
I don't think he can get her to shut up long enough to zing her. Besides, like I said, I have to turn down the volume while she gives her long, drawn-out answer because I get so irritated with her crap! Remember, we're talking about someone who would routinely dance on top of the desk on MG'98. Sure, it occasionally happened on Rayburn's version, but it was funny whenever they did it. I had to resist the urge to punch the TV in a futile effort to knock her off the desk on MG'98 was on. [/quote]
Couldn't agree with you more. But, I'm sure she has no idea how annoying she really is. Either way, she's laughing all the way to the bank with her damned accordion.
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[quote name=\'DjohnsonCB\' date=\'Oct 9 2003, 10:24 PM\'] And no matter how many times someone tries to bring MG back, the'll never get Gene Rayburn to host.
[/quote]
Good point. I hope that there aren't too many people holding their breath over him hosting the next revival. Dead people often have a hard time hosting shows.
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[quote name=\'DjohnsonCB\' date=\'Oct 9 2003, 09:24 PM\'] Whenever I get the urge to try and bring back something from the past--even if I can only imagine it in my head since I'm far from likely to get anyone in the TV biz interested in it--I tend to go with something that failed the first time and try to fix what was wrong in the original so it might work better this time.
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The industry should consider this sort of revival and forget Maxene Fabe's narrowminded advisory that a game (or other type of show) is only worth reviving if it worked the first time. [/quote]
OK, interesting theory ... now, can somebody give me an example other than Second Chance/Press Your Luck? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?
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[quote name=\'DrJWJustice\' date=\'Oct 9 2003, 11:12 AM\'] If you want to see one reason why MG'98 was such a dismal failure, all you have to do is tune into Hollywood Squares this week (Bergeron version). The answer is two words long: Judy Tenuta. Every time she gets a question, I have to turn down the volume before she gets done answering. Truth be told, I think she's more subdued on HS than she was on MG'98. [/quote]
Only saw one episode, which was part of yesterday's. And was scared to see her still with the ACCORDION OF DOOM. Did she utilize this weapon of mass destruction any other time this week?
And guess which blond comedienne from Canada whom Tenuta was invited before she was re-invited that I am thinking of and thusly am steamed over?
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JMFabiano Posted on Oct 9 2003, 10:15 PM Only saw one episode, which was part of yesterday's. And was scared to see her still with the ACCORDION OF DOOM. Did she utilize this weapon of mass destruction any other time this week?
She did use it before, and after this week, I'm suprised I'm still alive! That lady is like the black widow of game shows or somethin'.
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[quote name=\'Strikerz04\' date=\'Oct 9 2003, 11:06 PM\'] That lady is like the black widow of game shows or somethin'. [/quote]
Of Space Ghost, actually.
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And guess which blond comedienne from Canada whom Tenuta was invited before she was re-invited that I am thinking of and thusly am steamed over?
Do people still diagram sentences anymore? Because this one would be more like a flow chart.
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[quote name=\'Card Shark\' date=\'Oct 9 2003, 09:27 PM\']But, I'm sure she has no idea how annoying she really is. Either way, she's laughing all the way to the bank with her damned accordion.[/quote]
Oh, she knows--that's been part of her act from the beginning, when she was hitting all of the stand-up clubs in Chicago.
The problem is that she's ineffective outside of a stand-up setting, where her act makes sense in a nonsensical way--and where she can more freely interact with the audience, since it's her world and she's controlling it. (Also, of course, if you don't like her style, you don't have to pay money to go see her or you can change the channel if her stand-up special comes on Comedy Central or a premium channel.) In an environment where she's not in control, like a television game show (or a talk show, for that matter, particularly a panel format like \"PI\"), she becomes an annoying fifth wheel.
Also, I've heard it said that outside of her persona, she is notoriously shy--which is why she stayed firmly in her persona when she went on Bob Costas' much-missed \"Later\" show (much to Costas' dismay, because there was simply no way he could get her to stop doing her schtick). For whatever reason, she feels she cannot be Judy Tenuta the reasonably-intelligent, soft-spoken serious practicioner of her craft in an unrehearsed television situation--she must be Judy the accordian-wielding Love Goddess at all times. (However, I seem to remember that her appearances on \"PI\" were less Love Goddess and more herself--Maher got her to drop the accordian and wear normal clothes, but she couldn't shake the persona completely.)
And the \"H2\" bookers were completely aware of this when they booked her--the best thing the contestants could do is try to avoid picking her. (Was she a Secret Square this week and did she, in the words of Peter Marshall, \"serious up\" for that?)
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I made the dumb mistake of cutting a tape of MG98 from WGN back in 1999...and, having regretted doing so, wiped it clean with a new recording.
Mark Goodson and Bill Todman must've been whirling dervishly in their crypts when Match Game 98 came out.