Your hottest game show takes

[JasonA1]

I actually liked the original format of Trivia Trap where they had to avoid picking the correct answer. I didn't see anything wrong with that.

Agreed. I've said it before, but it's the whole game of Danger Price on TPIR, and it doesn't seem to irk people there. The issue is trying to book questions where far fewer people know the correct answer outright. I just skimmed two episodes, and only knew 1 out of the 10 first round questions, so that's good. But we can see from the show's lack of success that enough viewers didn't like it, regardless. Maybe they found it tedious in a pre-WWTBAM time where no shows hung on any one question for that long. Maybe the material was TOO esoteric for the audience, lending to a "who cares?" vibe.

-Jason

[MSTieScott]

But we can see from the show's lack of success that enough viewers didn't like it, regardless. Maybe they found it tedious in a pre-WWTBAM time where no shows hung on any one question for that long. Maybe the material was TOO esoteric for the audience, lending to a "who cares?" vibe.

To be fair, enough viewers also didn't like the more traditional Q&A rounds when the show switched to those.

If we're trying to pinpoint why Trivia Trap failed, there are plenty of reasons, and probably more than one of them are correct. I could point out the show's formidable competition in that time slot or the fact that pure trivia before noon is a tough sell in general.

But seeing as Trivia Trap failed equally quickly on Buzzr, my best guess is that a trivia game show needs something more than just Q&A to succeed. Jeopardy! has categorization and rapid-fire material; Millionaire has high stakes. I agree that "eliminate wrong answers" was the better format and the better chance the show had to survive, but without speed or high stakes, it isn't engaging enough.

[Clay Zambo]

A hotter hot-take than the one about host language:

TPiR was a better game before it became an hour-long show. The Showcase Showdown wheel may be iconic, but it is a game of chance having nothing to do with pricing. Let the top winner and the runner-up play the Showcase and be done with it.

[aaron sica]

A hotter hot-take than the one about host language:

TPiR was a better game before it became an hour-long show. The Showcase Showdown wheel may be iconic, but it is a game of chance having nothing to do with pricing. Let the top winner and the runner-up play the Showcase and be done with it.

I agreed with this, until I really stopped and thought about it....By doing it the way they do, they really cut down on the amount of cash and prizes given out in one day if say, the top winner's won a car or something else expensive, and then turns around and wins the showcase.

[JasonA1]

TPiR was a better game before it became an hour-long show. The Showcase Showdown wheel may be iconic, but it is a game of chance having nothing to do with pricing. Let the top winner and the runner-up play the Showcase and be done with it.

I never had a strong feeling one way or the other, because the half-hour format has a big dose of luck when it comes to which IUFB you win, and which pricing game you get to play as a result. Not to mention all the variance in when you're called, where you get to stand, and where you fall in the bidding. Price (1972-on) was never a great game for the people in the studio, but it's sure great to play along with from home.

-Jason

[MSTieScott]

I agreed with this, until I really stopped and thought about it....By doing it the way they do, they really cut down on the amount of cash and prizes given out in one day if say, the top winner's won a car or something else expensive, and then turns around and wins the showcase.

But wouldn't it be better for the show (in the sense of spectacle) if the contestant who won a car then won an expensive showcase as opposed to a contestant who won very little winning an expensive showcase? It costs the show the same amount either way, but in the former case, they get to flash a higher number on the screen at the end. I don't think too many home viewers are paying close enough attention for the entire hour to think, "Ah, good, more than one person won more than $20,000 in prizes today." To Jason's point, most viewers don't analyze the show enough to realize how imbalanced winning opportunities are.

[BrandonFG]

Inspired by the premiere of Scrambled Up, most GSN(-adjacent) originals* are actually pretty solid. Dunno if that's really a hot take, but it feels like the originals are kinda polarizing amongst fans when they don't set out to be any more than they are: daytime shows that don't offer a lotta money and also don't take themselves too seriously.

Yes SU is very much in the mold of a GSN original even if it's not one. But even with the cliches and tropes the shows use, most of them still have an old-school charm that would make it right at home with whatever NBC would've aired at 10 or 10:30 am in 1985. I'll take undercooked and generic instead of an overproduced spectacle any day.

*/Not you, TTD
//So undercooked it gave me food poisoning

[Chief-O]

Inspired by the premiere of Scrambled Up, most GSN(-adjacent) originals* are actually pretty solid. Dunno if that's really a hot take, but it feels like the originals are kinda polarizing amongst fans when they don't set out to be any more than they are: daytime shows that don't offer a lotta money and also don't take themselves too seriously.

Yes SU is very much in the mold of a GSN original even if it's not one. But even with the cliches and tropes the shows use, most of them still have an old-school charm that would make it right at home with whatever NBC would've aired at 10 or 10:30 am in 1985. I'll take undercooked and generic instead of an overproduced spectacle any day.

I guess I can compare this to some of the USA Network fare of years past, e.g. their reboots of "Chain Reaction" and "Jackpot", plus (I dare say!) "Quicksilver" and "Free 4 All". Not the most or greatest of substance, and maybe not so much shine either, but still a passable way to burn a half-hour.

/interesting that both USA and GSN have gotten their money's worth from "Chain Reaction"
//well, I guess "Hollywood Showdown" was sorta close to a "Jackpot" reboot
///I guess my response might be a hot take in itself

[BrandonFG]

I guess I can compare this to some of the USA Network fare of years past, e.g. their reboots of "Chain Reaction" and "Jackpot", plus (I dare say!) "Quicksilver" and "Free 4 All". Not the most or greatest of substance, and maybe not so much shine either, but still a passable way to burn a half-hour.

I think I mentioned this in the Scrambled Up premiere thread, but cable came to mind for me as well. Could see Stone Stanley or Wink coming up with a similar concept in 1993.

To this point, GSN's originals from about 2022 reminded me of the USA Network originals block of the late-80s.

/Crazy how 80s USA originals were all made in Canada

[TLEberle]

Not that crazy—USA and Wink/Bob got to split costs with Global, and for Chain, Love Me, Jackpot and Bumper Stumpers, prizes were paid in the Canadian dollar,

Veteran producers get content out, networks and stations get vetted product from known quantity companies and viewers got to enjoy.