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"The little things" you miss on shows

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BrandonFG:
Forgot one…I miss seeing shows airing in order, and the host welcoming you to a new show or telling you to tune in tomorrow/Monday for the next exciting episode. You get to see the kinks ironed out in real time. With the exception of the season premiere, most shows air in whatever order so that we see a big win first.

SuperMatch93:
I miss the days when a slightly out-of-the-ordinary moment didn't warrant endless clickbait articles written by people who don't even understand the rules of the game.

Chelsea Thrasher:

--- Quote from: Ian Wallis on September 22, 2022, 06:00:27 PM ---One thing I really miss is the spontaneity

--- End quote ---

I'm 90% sure this is a key reason why, out of everything out of the GSN factory of originals, People Puzzler is the show I cherish most. The show is still leaving a decent bit in edit from what I've seen and heard, but even under the modern era constraints of just 20 minutes of content time, the game is light enough that you still get a significant amount of ad lib time, Leah playfully mocking the contestants or going off on a tangent, etc.  With the increasingly antiquated fixation on stuffing as many ads as possible into a half hour, that's been countered by a lot of producers with a desire to stuff either the most game or the most show into the remaining time, usually sacrificing one for the other (either a lightning-focus on the game at the expense of the "show" elements, or an utter lack of game in order to focus on the ~drama~)

With the sole exception of Press Your Luck, People Puzzler walks that line the best of any new or revived show I've seen produced in at least the last decade.


--- Quote from: BrandonFG --- what are the "little things" you miss from shows that don't exist as much, either due to changes in technology or because TV shows just aren't done that way anymore?

--- End quote ---

Silence makes sound more meaningful and most modern shows have no idea (nor have the time) to know when to shut the hell up. On myriad older shows, you'd have the dramatic pause of a contestant thinking over a clue. The little note of stillness before a trilon goes {thunk}. That beat before the laughter on older Family Feud when you're trying to accept that they just said whatever they just said.  The little still pause after a dubious clue or before that last answer before a big win. Everything from Millionaire on - and especially from Weakest Link on, which producers proudly noted in interviews was never silent, there's always *something*.  Steve Harvey and the audience immediately react. There's think music beds underneath everything. Some chime or sting. Some fake audience laughing once more from the dead because there's no time to take your time.   The lack of physical set pieces and the end of human operators means someone in the back pushes a button and you never hear it and you never wait for it.

Going back again to People Puzzler, there are moments that the show almost revels in it's moments of silence.  The one shot of Leah staring at the contestant trying to decide whether to mock them or console them. The contestant's nervous laughter that goes on a moment too long so it feels JUST a little awkward and so makes it human. A comparatively rare GSN original that doesn't even pretend to have an audience in it's production design, so everything you don't hear makes everything you do feel just that 10% more interesting.

KrisW73:

--- Quote from: Chelsea Thrasher on September 23, 2022, 07:02:00 AM ---Silence makes sound more meaningful and most modern shows have no idea (nor have the time) to know when to shut the hell up. On myriad older shows, you'd have the dramatic pause of a contestant thinking over a clue. The little note of stillness before a trilon goes {thunk}. That beat before the laughter on older Family Feud when you're trying to accept that they just said whatever they just said. 

--- End quote ---

On the same note those rare occasions that the category dropped off the trilon which made a big bang during the silence of the Winner's Circle on Pyramid.

BrandonFG:

--- Quote from: Chelsea Thrasher on September 23, 2022, 07:02:00 AM ---Going back again to People Puzzler, there are moments that the show almost revels in it's moments of silence.  The one shot of Leah staring at the contestant trying to decide whether to mock them or console them. The contestant's nervous laughter that goes on a moment too long so it feels JUST a little awkward and so makes it human. A comparatively rare GSN original that doesn't even pretend to have an audience in it's production design, so everything you don't hear makes everything you do feel just that 10% more interesting.

--- End quote ---
It took a little time to grow on me, but People Puzzler is a very charming show. Kinda like a throwback to an era when shows had a chance to breathe. Leah’s sarcasm works here, and the contestants are that mix of regular people who are a little quirky. Same goes for Chain Reaction, although I wouldn’t mind seeing Dylan open up a little more.

To your other point, I wish more producers realized you can have a couple seconds of silence and it won’t turn your show into a train wreck.

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