Author Topic: GSN Announces TCA Shows (Read 12159 times)

itiparanoid13 · « **on:** July 15, 2005, 08:47:40 AM »

Seven new shows are being made. This is just a summary. Indepth plus interview with Ian Valentine is at Buzzer.

First one is Annie Duke Takes On The World. It will feature four amateur poker players competing against each other each show. The sole survivor after the entire thing gets to face off against Annie head to head.

Second is I've Got A Secret. Most recently revived by Oxygen, this remake will have an all-gay panel. Ian Valentine told Buzzer that there will at least be one woman each show.

Show three is "24 Hours In Vegas". Contestants will have to do jobs in Vegas to earn money. Then, that money will be used to gamble on Vegas games. The person with the most money at the end of 24 hours wins.

Chokers is the 4th one. This show is seeming mostly like "Anything To Win" originally comissioned for GSN. The weekly documentary series will feature people who fell apart at critical moments.

The fifth show is a pilot originally for CBS that failed. Your Worst Nightmare pits two people in a very scary situation (not weird food eating scary. Location scary) trying to escape. The first one out wins. GSN is planning on this to air around Halloween.

The sixth is Phil Hellmuth poker. This is more along the line of an instruction show showing people how to play poker by physical and mental challenges that will somehow help them. The creators did not pitch this as a poker show.

Finally, this one is really weird. It's called "Wet". It will literally be water competitions between Man VS Man and/or Man VS Dolphin. I'm absolutely serious.

Full story is at Buzzer in the link in my sig.

Ian Wallis · « **Reply #1 on:** July 15, 2005, 08:53:43 AM »

Hmmm...outside of "I've Got a Secret", none of them are "traditional" game shows are they? Despite recent schedule changes, I guess they haven't given up on the new direction.

Robair · « **Reply #2 on:** July 15, 2005, 10:03:27 AM »

Oh, here's the Press Release -- isn't this the way we usually do this?

http://www.prnewswire.com/cgi-bin/stories....04067916&EDATE=

itiparanoid13 · « **Reply #3 on:** July 15, 2005, 10:04:53 AM »

Anyway I can get people to my site. I had this story last night. It was just embargoed until today.

NickintheATL · « **Reply #4 on:** July 15, 2005, 10:12:22 AM »

[quote name=\'itiparanoid13\' date=\'Jul 15 2005, 10:04 AM\']Anyway I can get people to my site. I had this story last night. It was just embargoed until today.
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So, hapless self-promotion instead of just linking to the press release? Hmmm.

(Yes, I know I've plugged my website here before)

itiparanoid13 · « **Reply #5 on:** July 15, 2005, 10:20:25 AM »

I was not aware that they put out a press release when Cory posted this. He put this out at 3AM last night. I like to sleep and said I'll tell the different message boards in the morning.

On a side note, when we talked to Ian Valentine last night, he said TAR is doing very well on GSN and is improving by "multiple percents" each night. I should be able to get the ratings for it sometime this weekend.

davemackey · « **Reply #6 on:** July 15, 2005, 10:22:51 AM »

What Nick said.

GSN also announced a couple new Poker Royales, one featuring teams headed by James Woods and Phil "The Unabomber" Laak (Phil's team naturally includes Jennifer Tilly, who just won her first World Series bracelet), and one that is called "Battle Of The Ages."

Full story here..

CaseyAbell · « **Reply #7 on:** July 15, 2005, 11:35:43 AM »

The Annie Duke and Phil Hellmuth shows had been written about for a while. Annie's show sounds something like No Limit Card Sharks, with amateurs getting their fifteen minutes. I don't quite latch onto the idea of Hellmuth's show. A poker lesson from the poker brat? Um, okay.

The Vegas reality series sounds like the Darva disaster minus the marriages and, well, Darva. Which may be addition by subtraction, but this effort doesn't look much different from most any other reality show. Same with Nightmare (an embarrassing name if the show flops), Chokers (another less than brilliant moniker if things go south) and Wet. All seem depressingly usual...standard reality fodder. Why not sell these ideas to Bob Boden?

I realize the all-gay gimmick on the IGAS remake is designed to hook viewers repelled by traditional panel shows. But I can't see the gimmick working for long if the panel stinks. Why not just get the best panelists you can find regardless? Relaunching one of these shows is enough of a gamble without artificially limiting your choice of talent.

DrBear · « **Reply #8 on:** July 15, 2005, 12:36:12 PM »

[quote name=\'CaseyAbell\' date=\'Jul 15 2005, 09:35 AM\']I realize the all-gay gimmick on the IGAS remake is designed to hook viewers repelled by traditional panel shows. But I can't see the gimmick working for long if the panel stinks. Why not just get the best panelists you can find regardless? Relaunching one of these shows is enough of a gamble without artificially limiting your choice of talent.

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This is, of course, compared to the macho Oxygen version with JmJ. Bullock...

If they were going to revive a panel show, they might have had a better shot with doing a TV version of the current on-stage WML? But, as Peter Marshall once said, this may work out...

Oh, and I really doubt limiting the panelists to those of the same-sex persuaison is really going to limit your talent much.

Matt Ottinger · « **Reply #9 on:** July 15, 2005, 01:05:26 PM »

[quote name=\'DrBear\' date=\'Jul 15 2005, 12:36 PM\']Oh, and I really doubt limiting the panelists to those of the same-sex persuaison is really going to limit your talent much.[/quote]
It is, however, going to needlessly limit your audience. There is going to be a significant chunk of your audience that is just not going to be interested in a fabulous version of IGAS. Some will simply be homophobes, sure, but it's also a gimmick that severely limits the stories you can use.

This is to the original version of IGAS what You Lie Like A Dog or No Relation were to the original TTTT. (For those of you with longer memories, it's also what Relatively Speaking was to the original WML?) Panel shows are an iffy enough proposition as it is. I don't see what's being served by deliberately splintering your potential audience from the outset.

And yes, from all indications, a TV version of what J. Keith & Company are doing on stage would be the right way to revive WML?

cmjb13 · « **Reply #10 on:** July 15, 2005, 01:14:05 PM »

Quote from Valentine:

"I think that it is a hook, but once you start watching the show, you'll appreciate the panelists on their own without being concerned about what their sexuality is."

Why not hook people in with a panel regardless of sexuality?

Hey, if it get's people talking, right?

clemon79 · « **Reply #11 on:** July 15, 2005, 01:37:29 PM »

[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' date=\'Jul 15 2005, 10:05 AM\']It is, however, going to needlessly limit your audience. There is going to be a significant chunk of your audience that is just not going to be interested in a fabulous version of IGAS. Some will simply be homophobes, sure, but it's also a gimmick that severely limits the stories you can use.
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For me, I don't think it's a matter of not being interested, so much as I simply don't care. Gay, straight, purple, green, it doesn't matter a damned bit to me so long as the people and the panel are interesting.

And frankly (and maybe one of our gay members can correct me if I'm missing something here) if they market the show with a position like "Watch this show because everyone is GAY!" instead of "Watch this show because it's GOOD!", I think they're gonna be in trouble in a hurry.

CaseyAbell · « **Reply #12 on:** July 15, 2005, 01:45:43 PM »

The real problem with the IGAS remake is what killed the panel shows in the sixties when Nielsen started doing demos...the dreaded (creepy movie music) Old Skew. As Bennett Cerf remarked for all time: "The kids don't watch 'em."

I realize Valentine is trying to avoid this ugliness with the all-gay hook. He thinks it gives him a shot at a median age under 80.

Well, maybe. But I can't see the young'uns getting all sexed up about a remake of a fifties panel show regardless of who's on the panel. So just get the best talent you can find and content yourself with the traditional game show audience. Or stop doing traditional game shows altogether.

Don Howard · « **Reply #13 on:** July 15, 2005, 01:55:16 PM »

[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Jul 15 2005, 12:37 PM\']if they market the show with a position like "Watch this show because everyone is GAY!" instead of "Watch this show because it's GOOD!", I think they're gonna be in trouble in a hurry.

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And if this venture fails, I can hear the screaming already. "America's not ready for a show prominently featuring gays", "The homo haters killed this show", "The homophobes never gave the show a chance". I was never a fan of the classic version of this program anyway but if it sees air, I'll give it a whirl and gay or no, if I like it, I'll watch subsequent episodes.

clemon79 · « **Reply #14 on:** July 15, 2005, 02:12:47 PM »

[quote name=\'Don Howard\' date=\'Jul 15 2005, 10:55 AM\']And if this venture fails, I can hear the screaming already. "America's not ready for a show prominently featuring gays", "The homo haters killed this show", "The homophobes never gave the show a chance".
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Fortunately, with Queer Eye being the runaway hit that it is, arguments like this simply won't hold water.