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Alternate realities when it comes to game shows
Adam Nedeff:
So, in all the years that we've been tape trading, have you noticed that a TON of unsold pilots were shot in 1990?
Michael Brockman was in charge of ABC at that point and he made it known that he wanted to dump Home and make 10:30 am-12:30 pm a two-hour block of game shows. A bunch of those 1990 pilots were shot for ABC's consideration. Brockman was shown the door right before he brought this to fruition. Considering that the network game shows were starting to die at this point, I'm curious to know what would have happened if ABC had unleashed four new game shows in the fall of 1990. No difference? Ratings dilution because of all the syndicated game shows along with the ABC block? A few hits are in there and the life of network games gets extended a little bit?
rebelwrest:
--- Quote from: Adam Nedeff on June 20, 2023, 07:41:01 PM ---Michael Brockman was in charge of ABC at that point and he made it known that he wanted to dump Home and make 10:30 am-12:30 pm a two-hour block of game shows.
--- End quote ---
I think Michael Brockman would have faced some strong headwinds from affiliates not from putting game shows on, but for wanting to take back 10:30 eastern. Pretty much since ABC's beginnings, 10AM to 11AM was for the local affiliates. Considering that a lot of the popular syndicated daytime programming was one hour instead of 30 minutes, I don't think he would have won that battle.
Jamey Greek:
Imagine if both Pyramid and CS are cancelled the same day and Top Secret premiered the same day as Feud.. Both Independence Day 1988.
Joe Mello:
--- Quote from: SamJ93 on June 20, 2023, 07:29:15 PM ---I think the major lynchpin for us would have to be if Chief Justice Earl Warren had ruled the opposite way in 1954, finding that "giveaway shows" constituted gambling and were therefore not allowed on the airwaves.
Given the trajectory of media and society, it seems almost inevitable that they would've been allowed on the air at some point anyway. But when would that have happened? How would long-running favorites like TPiR and Wheel have developed--if they even existed at all? Would the scandals still have occurred at some point?
--- End quote ---
I think you may have some weird instances like what Britain did for Wheel and Price, but I think quiz shows and other skill-based games would still happen unaltered. Otherwise, you're saying sports like golf or tennis could not be televised because there's a prize for the winner.
chris319:
Another thought exercise:
Pick a better emcee for Mindreaders than Dick Martin. Though the format was fundamentally flawed, Dick didn't help. He was better in office run-thrus but once he got into the studio he was never smooth at it. He was always a bit awkward.
I'm not sure exactly when Brockman departed NBC, but even though he was a client of the company there were those in the office who didn't hold him in particularly high regard. In watching his interview, the games he plays with his fingers remind me of the Simpsons' Mr. Burns character.
By the time we brought up Mindreaders in 1979, ISTR we were dealing with Noreen Conlin.
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