The Game Show Forum > The Big Board
Have Game Shows Jumped the Shark?
chris319:
--- Quote ---we'd be complaining about the crappy synthesized theme to Concentration
--- End quote ---
If anyone thinks Milton Kaye playing his organ was superior to Edd Kalehoff's music, I admire them for the courage of their convictions.
Some of the shows you mentioned run on GSN to this day and we don't hear complaints. A certain TPIR staffer tells me audiences love that show's "retro technology".
--- Quote ---(What show were you referring to about the Radio Shack synthesizer bit?)
--- End quote ---
Louie Anderson Family Feud. Care to hear my rendition?
Bump - ba - da - bump - ba - da - bump - ba - da - bump - ba - da - bump - ba - da - bump - ba - da - bump
(repeat ad nauseam)
Robert Hutchinson:
[quote name=\'TheInquisitiveOne\' date=\'Oct 22 2003, 01:42 AM\']The FCC should seriously consider this because the quality and charm of today's game shows have been severely compromised. Yes, we are ad driven. At the same time, however, I deserve some decent television![/quote]
I'm trying very hard not to burst out laughing. Is the "seriously" in that first sentence intended to carry all the way through to the last sentence?
Compare ratings from 20, 30, 40 years ago with ratings today. See all those 30 and 40 shares lots and lots of shows were getting back then? See how, in 2003, getting a 20 share is considered absolutely outstanding? That's cable and the Internet doing its wonderful siphoning. If a show is not significantly cheaper to produce today than it would have been in decades past, and it can't get even half the viewers today that it would've gotten in the past, Where's The Money Going to Come From?
Oh, and regarding the Whoopi Squares episode where only one round was played? That should not be blamed on commercials, but rather on the change to the rules that disallowed default wins even in 5-square-win situations. Take that change away, and that show would've gotten in two rounds, perhaps even part of a third.
Ian Wallis:
--- Quote ---Oh, and regarding the Whoopi Squares episode where only one round was played? That should not be blamed on commercials, but rather on the change to the rules that disallowed default wins even in 5-square-win situations. Take that change away, and that show would've gotten in two rounds, perhaps even part of a third.
--- End quote ---
To tell you the truth, I like that rule. Not just because I think it was one of the funniest game show episodes of all time, but because the default rule never made sense to begin with.
If a contestant couldn't win three-in-a-row by default, why could they get a 5-square win by default? It's still winning the game by default so what difference does it really make?
dheine1971:
I guess GSN jumped the shark with speedups on some classic game show parts and replacing of fee plugs for 1 more commercial break since 1998. Not to mention the non game show related late night informercials and the 2 hour 3 times a week video games block that's not fitting!
inturnaround:
Yeah, I too agree that game shows never jumped.
I just don't think it can. It's too wide a genre and something that's proven to time and again rise from the ashes. Just when you think game shows have bitten the dust, you realize that you were foolish and there's always a place for them.
The game show style you see now is temporary. It will forever be attached to this era and, I think, will stay there. Game shows of the future will have their own styles just like game shows of the past.
We're currently in a game show lull sure, but this too shall pass. We will have a new or remade show hit and hopefully it will lead to more quality shows being made. Of course this will also lead to a lot of bad shows being made, too, but since when hasn't that happened?
Do they make them like they used to? Of course not. They don't do anything the way they used to. If they did, Andy Rooney would be out of a job.
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