GameTV - 3 Cullen shows coming in September

[Blanquepage]

Glad to see them refreshing the schedule a bit with shows like Split Second coming back.  I wonder though...we know that 800 episodes of Definition exist...it would be great to have a run of that on Game TV.  Maybe it's too costly to license (?)

Do we know if they are in the same warehouse as the unmarked Pitfall tapes?

Might be a question for Craig from Bonusround. He managed to obtain 2 master tapes from somewhere that weren't part of our original 8 in circulation.

[Ian Wallis]

Interesting ending on Hot Potato today...during the end credits, the GSN logo popped up with the announcer saying that its "truly interactive" and the Sony website plugged.  Obviously GameTV is using the same copies of these episodes that GSN ran back in the '90s.  You'd figure they'd check for these kind of things before they run the episode.

[Allstar87]

Interesting ending on Hot Potato today...during the end credits, the GSN logo popped up with the announcer saying that its "truly interactive" and the Sony website plugged.  Obviously GameTV is using the same copies of these episodes that GSN ran back in the '90s.  You'd figure they'd check for these kind of things before they run the episode.

I didn't see the Hot Potato one, but I did see that the exact same thing happened with Chain Reaction that day too. I guess by this point, 1997 GSN plugs are just as nostalgic as 1980s game shows.

[Ian Wallis]

Interesting ending on Hot Potato today...during the end credits, the GSN logo popped up with the announcer saying that its "truly interactive" and the Sony website plugged.  Obviously GameTV is using the same copies of these episodes that GSN ran back in the '90s.  You'd figure they'd check for these kind of things before they run the episode.

I didn't see the Hot Potato one, but I did see that the exact same thing happened with Chain Reaction that day too. I guess by this point, 1997 GSN plugs are just as nostalgic as 1980s game shows.

Whoops...my bad.  I think it was Chain Reaction.  We'll see if it pops up on any future airings.  I was surprised to see it anyhow!

[Chelsea Thrasher]

The degree to which plugs are being edited out of the three shows is wildly inconsistent.  Hot Potato has aired several contestant plugs for example, yet fee plugs are routinely edited (more contestant plugs than fee plugs have aired in Hot Potato as of right now)

GSN burned in the "Contact Us" plugs onto their master copies over the ticket/contestant plugs whenever one occurred in the middle of a segment until the early 2000s. In some cases they appear to have gone back to the original master tapes (quite a few Hot Potato episodes for instance) while in other cases it's definitely GSN's copies that are airing - most particularly Chain.

The main tip-off as to whether the airing print is sourced from GSN or the original amsters appears to be whether the show ends with a newer Sony Pictures Television logo or not.

This isn't the first time these old GSN covers have aired - they showed up several times during Buzzr's airings of the seventy Cullen TPiR eps GSN ran.

And personally, as someone who is intensely nostalgic for the early years of GSN, every single time some little surviving bit of that turns up I am delighted. Stations and networks, especially in those days, tended to junk outdated promotional assets (and a LOT of stuff from GSN before the 2000s is gone - not just promos), so randomly seeing a '97 GSN promo in high quality in 2025 is a genuine treat almost as much as the episode (though I also know game show fans will complain about anything).

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The only thing I'm baffled and concerned by is the massive skips going on with Chain.  There doesn't appear to be any curation to them suggesting intent (lease size or not) - and especially with October data now available I'm now strongly wondering if either there's just no copy available or there's otherwise something wrong/damaged with Sony/GSN's copies of the Chain run. Probably a mix of the two. There's no way content or clearance issues would be knocking shows out in the volume or pattern that shows are being skipped though.

GSN kept three episodes to a single digital betacam tape - and after airing the first three tapes (shows 1-9) and the first show on tape 4 (10), GameTV skipped to the first show on tape 5 (13)....then jumped exactly three whole tapes straight to the first show of the 8th tape (#22), where they're now running all three shows before jumping to the last show of the 9th (27). From there, the show is now running mostly in order save the occasional one or two episode skips.

(As of the last date in October data is available on, Chain Reaction skips twenty shows. For comparison, Hot Potato skips zero shows and Pass the Buck just one). The main lesson: If you taped the show when it was on USA or GSN and that episode is skipped, hold onto it and back it up - it just might be the best surviving copy.

And on the episodes that are airing, to be honest the episodes look like ass quality-wise even compared to other shows of the era, other surviving NBC stuff of the period, and even other rarely-rerun series like Pass the Buck airing on the same channel. Looking at the "highest quality possible" copies of what is airing, I would absolutely believe there is stuff that can't be aired.

[snowpeck]

I emailed my contact at GameTV and she said the skips were mostly due to poor quality tapes but a few were for content that's inappropriate for today's audience.

[thomas_meighan]

And on the episodes that are airing, to be honest the episodes look like ass quality-wise even compared to other shows of the era, other surviving NBC stuff of the period, and even other rarely-rerun series like Pass the Buck airing on the same channel. Looking at the "highest quality possible" copies of what is airing, I would absolutely believe there is stuff that can't be aired.

This is something I’ve noticed too over the years — “Chain Reaction” just never looks as good as it ought. Compared with episodes of “Card Sharks” or “Password Plus” from the same period (or for that matter, “Hollywood Squares” from years earlier), there’s a lack of crispness. It was shot at the same facility with the same TK-44 cameras. Granted, the textured background of the set in the main gameplay area is a lot for cameras of that era to pick up, but I don’t think that explains everything.

Is there a possibility that Bob Stewart was using recycled tape stock on this show and maybe “Pyramid”? That’s the only explanation I can think of. Not necessarily the masters of his own shows, just anything he was able to acquire.

“Pyramid” episodes from that period can look atrocious, with Caucasian skin tones veering towards jaundice. But home recordings of late 70s “Pyramid” have that same general appearance — tape aging can’t be the sole explanation. Nor can the GE cameras used in the Elysee Theatre; some masters of $25K from 1974-75 look great.

[JasonA1]

I'd be willing to bet on your cheaper/recycled tapes theory, given all the variables you just listed.

-Jason

[TimK2003]

I'd be willing to bet on your cheaper/recycled tapes theory, given all the variables you just listed.

-Jason

Seconded.  I believe this the first Bob Stewart NBC show that was saved in it's entirety. 

And wasn't it around this same time that a couple of cable networks began experimenting with airing older game show reruns?   Perhaps Bob saw a potential in squeezing more revenue out of old reruns and recorded these shows on recycled tapes as a low-risk  investment.

[Bobby B.]

ISTR reading (on Wikipedia, so take that for what it’s worth) that people had complaints about the video quality of The Tonight Show back in the early 70’s, when they were still taping over old episodes.  That would seem to back up what you guys are saying.