The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: whewfan on July 22, 2004, 10:13:45 PM
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7 players, 77,000 at stake, 7 weeks, and a jackpot of 777,000... is 7 lucky?
The premise:
The premise is simple. The players answer questions, one at a time, on current events. If they don't know the answer, they can ask any of the remaining players for help. (this is done by throwing their ring in the "pool of 7" and "It is up to the player to decide if the star is giving a correct answer or bluffing, that's how they get the square"... well, wrong show, same idea.
The round continues until 2 players have answered questions incorrectly. Then the remaining players must vote off whom they consider... THE WEAKEST LINK... er, I mean, the person they wish to eliminate from the game...
Gameplay continues in the same fashion until the memorization round (Round 4), where the remaining 3 players have to memorize verbatim long lists pertaining to a certain subject. Then, in the most boring 5 or 10 minutes, each player tries to recall as much of the list as possible. The person that does the worst is eliminated.
The final round with 2 players involves answering rapid fire questions. The first player must answer 7 questions correctly, trying to set the lowest time, then the other must answer 7 questions in less time.
The host:
Who cares what his name is, but he takes on the "intimidating host with lack of personality" that might be reminiscent of the Inquizitor on Inquizition (only you can see his face), but at least that guy cracked a few jokes here and there.
The set and music:
Well, what can we expect? The set is dimly lit in dark blues and purples, and the lighting and music try to create the tension in the same manner as Millionaire (same producer of course) complete with the "heartbeat" pulsating. Nothing new, but still, it serves its purpose.
Reality meets quiz show:
We do get a sense of each player and how each player feels about another. It doesn't necessarily make the game any more interesting, but it doesn't interfere with the game either.
Overall:
Sorry, but Studio 7 is basically reinventing the wheel. It's nothing more than a retread of The Weakest Link, with borrowed elements from Hollywood Squares and Win Ben Stein's Money (in terms of the final round) and throw in a dash of Cram for the Memorization round.
Not totally awful, but because of a lack of originality, I give Studio 7 on a scale of 1-10..... a 3.
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I think you are being too kind in your review. If I didn't know better, I would think Michael Davies created a parody of reality TV.
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I think it's a halfway decent show which suffers from some problems:
1. Round Order
The question rounds provide the most tention and they are gone right at the top of the show, if the memorization rounds were preliminary rounds to reduce the total number of players to seven they would fit better. This would also require the addition of a pair of rounds (perhaps change it to century -> decade -> sense 2000 -> 2004 -> Last 30 days -> Last Week).
2. Eliminations
Instead of keeping playing until just two are on the block complete the cycle when the first person gets a wrong answer and everyone who doesn't make it is at risk, this may mean that there is no vote in some rounds but it also means that one person may have the whole groups fates in their hands.
3. Hosting
Either make him less stiff or make him more stiff, either make him this entirely mean spirited host or let him laugh with the players a little more.
4. Difficutly
Perhaps the questions shouldn't just be more recent in later rounds but how about harder? Until the memorizations rounds I had a grand total of 1 wrong answer (I wouldn't have known the Top Gun question).
-Joe Kavanagh
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Dear . . . God . . . was . . . that . . . boring. I sat through three interviews and had two meetings today, and those were all more exciting.
--Mike
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Yeah, it was pretty clear that Davies' company was trying to spice up a VERY bland game by sticking in the "flashbacks" and pre-taped interviews. This didn't seem to work.
I kinda liked the set, though.
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This is the kind of show that one of Davies' competitors would have done.... four years ago.
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Did you also see the disclaimer in the credits that stated that the first round questions were multiple choice, though the choices were edited out?
It's an interesting show, especially with the material involved (I think The Challengers was the last show to focus so much on current events), but it can be a little tedious at times. The final round I thought was good with the players getting the same questions, but the reality stuff was kinda meh.
I'll give it a C+....since nothing else is on, I'll watch it, but it will probably make it one cycle of shows and then be done.
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What did I think of this new show?
"I would like to answer the question please."
I was bored to tears, it was too slow paced. It was like watching golf.
Tim :-)
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[quote name=\'Timsterino\' date=\'Jul 22 2004, 10:07 PM\'] "I would like to answer the question please."
[/quote]
Yeah, here's another hint for you budding format developers:
CATCHPHRASES FOR THE SAKE OF CATCHPHRASES ARE WAY LAME.
Picked up a little steam in the last two rounds. The "pods" would mean something if they were an isolation system, or pretty much anything but a tube for them to sit in. That little nod to indicate a correct answer was idiotic. All of the whispering made me wonder if this was M. Night Shamalayan's idea of a game show.
I was underwhelmed. I may watch next week. I may not.
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This show doesn't air in my area until tomorrow at 11PM (WWHO, Columbus Ohio), I was looking forward to watching it but based on all of this it looks like a waste of my time!
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Jane, you ignorant slut.
I liked it. I thought the difficulty of the questions was variable, but for the most part very good-- especially for their target players and audience. I liked the "help me" element, and especially liked the way a player's willingness to help others could affect his fate if he wound up on the block. I liked the fact that the show didn't dwell on the reality aspect of their living together, but referred to it when relevant.
The memorization round seemed both insanely hard and insanely boring television-- a monumental misstep. The format of the other rounds were quite good.
I did NOT like the fact that the first round was multiple choice, but not only didn't the audience see the choices, we didn't even know it was multiple choice unless we stuck around for the credits. Dirty pool old man. Show me what the contestants are choosing among so I can play along.
I thought the host did a fine job for the format.
"The pool of the seven" and "I'd like to answer the question" should both be jettisoned, however. I suspect the latter, just like "final answer," is there as a legal safeguard to allow no room for misunderstanding when a contestant has decided on an answer.
I'll be keeping my season pass active.
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[quote name=\'Peter Sarrett\' date=\'Jul 23 2004, 12:26 AM\'] Jane, you ignorant slut.
I liked it. [/quote]
What, did Michael Davies cut you a check?
Oh, wait.
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I was trying to think of some ways to make this show better...
Some obvious editing had to be done to fit in the game and the reality elements. This means either they need to streamline the game, or cut out some of the reality bits.
The pacing is a little too slow. The "I would like to answer the question" does get a little grating. Perhaps they should just ANSWER THE QUESTION, if they wish to do so.
The round that needs the most fixing... the memorization round!!
Did anyone else get really bored watching that first player recall that list verbatim? He could've gone on, but he stumbled and said "actor" instead of "actress".
Instead of recalling the list from beginning to end, the host should ask questions about various parts of the list, until all the required parts are done. There should perhaps be a time element. Would 2 minutes be a reasonable time?
Still, these suggestions don't make the game anything we haven't seen before.
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[quote name=\'whewfan\' date=\'Jul 23 2004, 04:50 AM\']
Still, these suggestions don't make the game anything we haven't seen before. [/quote]
Yeah, but is that what we're really looking for ?
I'm serious, but haven't we all come to the conclusion that , aside from killing someone on a game show, it's all been done?
Yep, it reeked of Weakest link, Win Ben Stein, Hollywood Squares ,even the last round had hints of Scrabble.....But remember, for the 18-29 set, most of em haven't watched those shows before, let alone know S7 was 'borrowing' ideas from them...
But to me, it achieved what it set out to do...marry a quiz show and a reality show together....Was it interesting tv? not really.... My major complaint was that it was too damn slow...
But it was different enough...IMHO.....
Give Davies credit for at least getting another show on primetime....if the demos are strong enough, there will be more....
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[quote name=\'Peter Sarrett\' date=\'Jul 23 2004, 12:26 AM\'] "The pool of the seven" and "I'd like to answer the question" should both be jettisoned, however. I suspect the latter, just like "final answer," is there as a legal safeguard to allow no room for misunderstanding when a contestant has decided on an answer.
[/quote]
Fine and good, except "Final Answer" is there to prevent the agoziging TPiR moment when Helga can't decide what is less expensive between the Ex-Lax and the Swiffer, and keeps waffling back and forth when Bob is about to yank the price tag, while still allowing the player to ruminate aloud about which answer they want to select.
It's PAINFULLY obvious that "I'd like to answer..." is trying to capitalize on that. A player on the mic (yo yo, one two) has two choices when they're at bat: they either answer or they ask for help. There is no "game need" to inform anyone that they will be answering rather than seeking help, they can just DO IT.
I dunno. Too much ritual, not enough substance, IMO.
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[quote name=\'tvwxman\' date=\'Jul 23 2004, 06:10 AM\'] Yep, it reeked [/quote]
My sentiments exactly. ;)
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[quote name=\'SplitSecond\' date=\'Jul 23 2004, 03:44 AM\'] [quote name=\'Peter Sarrett\' date=\'Jul 23 2004, 12:26 AM\'] Jane, you ignorant slut.
I liked it. [/quote]
What, did Michael Davies cut you a check?
Oh, wait. [/quote]
That made me laugh out loud.
A game needn't be original to be entertaining. I was entertained. The show was far from perfect, and could use some streamlining-- especially that horrid memorization round.
"And now, our contestants will recite a lengthy list you at home have never seen. Not once, but three times. Play along at home, won't you?"
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[quote name=\'Peter Sarrett\' date=\'Jul 23 2004, 10:06 AM\'] "And now, our contestants will recite a lengthy list you at home have never seen. Not once, but three times. Play along at home, won't you?" [/quote]
Kicker was, they KNEW it wasn't interesting television, so they edited the other two attempts to the point where they screwed up.
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[quote name=\'Timsterino\' date=\'Jul 23 2004, 12:07 AM\'] What did I think of this new show?
"I would like to answer the question please."
I was bored to tears, it was too slow paced. It was like watching golf.
Tim :-) [/quote]
Yup....=)
j
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[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Jul 23 2004, 12:22 AM\'] [quote name=\'Timsterino\' date=\'Jul 22 2004, 10:07 PM\'] "I would like to answer the question please."
[/quote]
Yeah, here's another hint for you budding format developers:
CATCHPHRASES FOR THE SAKE OF CATCHPHRASES ARE WAY LAME.
Picked up a little steam in the last two rounds. The "pods" would mean something if they were an isolation system, or pretty much anything but a tube for them to sit in. [/quote]
Perhaps they could "retrofit" the pods with pneumatic tubes, and 'whisk' the losers away, like those canisters at the bank auto-teller lines?
Actually, they said that another ep will be airing on Sunday night. When I saw the promo for it at the end of the show, I wasn't sure if it was to be a rerun of the premiere ep or are they 2 new eps. a week?
Can someone clarify this? Thanx.
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Sunday is a rerun.
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This show has problems..
1) Is it Real World or WWTBAM? I dont think they know. There is not enough of the reality part (please I dont want more), but we have no bonds with these people. So when they decide to screw them over, who cares.
2) The drama was SO forced! It's basically an eimilation Q&A nothing new here.
3) The elimination made no sense to me. You give them a topic and they spend 1 week learning it, first person comes up, answers wrong, and that round is over. Totally made that whole round pointless.
4) The set could have been used better. Those PODS were basically seats. Why have them come out and go into headphones? Just make them all isolation booths, could have been cooler.
5) The only interesting part of the show, and I mean interesting PREMISE is the help me part. Which could be better. All players should have to answer the ques, then if SARAH needs help from MARK, it would have been cool to see a pic of MARK with the CORRECT ANSWER ON THE SCREEN and then when he says, "I HAVE NO IDEA", we as viewers can say, wow what an ass HE KNEW IT. They way it is now, we have no idea if they are BS'in or not, so who cares?!
6) The sound effects! WTF? What show uses a CLICK for right and a UM BELL for wrong?!
7) HMMM....The tie in to 7, gee too bad they didnt use that more! ;)
I didn't see anything new or original here in my opinion.
Sorry guys!
John
P.S. WHO DOESNT KNOW BARKER HOSTS PIR? EVEN IF YOU ARE 18 YEARS OLD...HONESTLY!
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[quote name=\'jrjgames\' date=\'Jul 24 2004, 11:24 AM\']
P.S. WHO DOESNT KNOW BARKER HOSTS PIR? EVEN IF YOU ARE 18 YEARS OLD...HONESTLY! [/quote]
Someone born in 1986 might have only watched cable in their lifetime.
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[quote name=\'jrjgames\' date=\'Jul 24 2004, 09:24 AM\'] This show has problems.. [/quote]
While I agree with your basic point that the show is a poor effort that could be improved, let me point out some things that were pointed out to me when I voiced similar concerns:
3) The elimination made no sense to me. You give them a topic and they spend 1 week learning it, first person comes up, answers wrong, and that round is over. Totally made that whole round pointless.
I suspect that the questions in this round are of an increasing level of difficulty, and that they don't really expect their players to be so foolish as to flame out on the first question like that girlie did.
4) The set could have been used better. Those PODS were basically seats. Why have them come out and go into headphones? Just make them all isolation booths, could have been cooler.
They can't be booths 24/7, because part of the earlier rounds is observing what other people do on their turns to help decide who to chop when it comes to that. But there are better ways to integrate the isolation into the round when it's needed.
and then when he says, "I HAVE NO IDEA", we as viewers can say, wow what an ass HE KNEW IT. They way it is now, we have no idea if they are BS'in or not, so who cares?!
But we do! IIRC, after each Call For Help, they show an interstitial with the person whose help was requested, and that person explained their thought process and whether they knew the answer and/or were deliberately misleading.
6) The sound effects! WTF? What show uses a CLICK for right and a UM BELL for wrong?!
That would be the National Spelling Bee, Bob, which you'll find if you take a second look is pretty clearly the concept on which the game feel and format is designed.
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Here's how a clever computer programmer could make a zillion dollars in the tee-vee bidness: write a program called DERIV-A-GAME.
Go through EOTVGS and put a format description of every game/quiz/reality show ever done into a database. The program would have a list of every show in the database with a checkbox beside the name of each show. To create a new derivative, simply check the boxes next to the shows containing the elements you want in your derivative. The program then prints out a treatment of your new derivative. You might want to change the title the progam comes up with, in the case of Studio 7 probably something like "The Weakest Stein's Squares".
Just think of the fun you could have with the titles alone:
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire + Bumper Stumpers = "Who Wants To Be A Bumper?"
Name That Tune + Hot Potato = "Name That Potato"
To Tell the Truth + Win Ben Stein's Money + Showoffs = "To Tell Ben Stein Off"
It Could Be You + People Are Funny = "It Could Be Funny"
Beat the Clock + Do You Trust Your Wife? = "Beat Your ..." oh, let's not go there
Beat the Clock + Swap Meet = say, was there ever a show or pilot named Swap Meet?
The possibilities are endless.
(I get 10% of that zillion dollars.)
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[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Jul 23 2004, 11:34 AM\'] It's PAINFULLY obvious that "I'd like to answer..." is trying to capitalize on that. A player on the mic (yo yo, one two) has two choices when they're at bat: they either answer or they ask for help. There is no "game need" to inform anyone that they will be answering rather than seeking help, they can just DO IT.
[/quote]
Especially not after one has already asked for help from another player.
It's just nutty.
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[quote name=\'Peter Sarrett\' date=\'Jul 23 2004, 02:26 AM\'] "The pool of the seven" and "I'd like to answer the question" should both be jettisoned, however. [/quote]
I think the real problem is that the pool isn't deep enough.
No, stay with me.
The NY Times critic--and when's the last time you saw a game show reviewed in the Times?--thought it provided the possibility for embarassment if a player misstepped on the way out of his pod. But it's just a wading pool. You'd barely make a splash. Gimme something with a deep end. Or make 'em play the memorization challenge while treading water... Or if you need help from a player a second time, you've gotta dive for your ring.
Oh, please, can't we have Password back?
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[quote name=\'Clay Zambo\' date=\'Jul 24 2004, 12:03 PM\'] [quote name=\'Peter Sarrett\' date=\'Jul 23 2004, 02:26 AM\'] "The pool of the seven" and "I'd like to answer the question" should both be jettisoned, however. [/quote]
I think the real problem is that the pool isn't deep enough.
No, stay with me.
The NY Times critic--and when's the last time you saw a game show reviewed in the Times?--thought it provided the possibility for embarassment if a player misstepped on the way out of his pod. But it's just a wading pool. You'd barely make a splash. Gimme something with a deep end. Or make 'em play the memorization challenge while treading water... Or if you need help from a player a second time, you've gotta dive for your ring.
Oh, please, can't we have Password back? [/quote]
Wait a minute. I didn't see this show. A pool? They have a pool? One with water in it? There is a game show with a pool in it? A question and answer game show? With a POOL?
Forget Password, let's get some cardboard cutouts of Bennett, Dorothy, Arlene and John and prop them up behind some desks.
These shows are starting to make 100 Grand and You're In the Picture sound like masterpieces.
A pool.
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[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Jul 24 2004, 08:11 PM\'] A pool. [/quote]
If I didn't know you better, I'd call you a grumpy old man with no love for game shows any more, but happily I do know you better and so wouldn't do that; just as happily there need be no "canning" of "ass" around here :-)
There was a gently-paced but relatively complex British word game, Turnabout, which had a very jolly little circular pool between the host behind his podium and the three contestants behind theirs. It ran for eight series. The pool was purely decorative, rippling merrily and being simply the right shape and size for the otherwise blank part of the set they had. There were occasional wider shots of the set with contestants, host, pool and game board all in view.
I suspect the pool may have provided excellent Feng Shui
Chris
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It seemed like eevry time the voiceover whispered "Help Me", all of a sudden I was waking up and it was Thursday morning all over again.
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It's PAINFULLY obvious that "I'd like to answer..." is trying to capitalize on that.
Much like "My answer is..." from the 1st-season Russian Roulette bonus round.
Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")
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[quote name=\'ChuckNet\' date=\'Jul 28 2004, 04:48 PM\'] Much like "My answer is..." from the 1st-season Russian Roulette bonus round.
[/quote]
Not really. Like I said, "Final Answer" (and to a lesser extent, "My Answer Is" were necessary to delineate an actual response from out-loud thinking.
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If I didn't know you better, I'd call you a grumpy old man with no love for game shows any more, but happily I do know you better and so wouldn't do that; just as happily there need be no "canning" of "ass" around here :-)
OK Mr. Koon, or if I may, Dic, you have to help out this grumpy old man who hasn't seen the show. Is the pool merely a decorative set element or is it part of the game a la Russian Roulette where contestans who answer incorrectly get their ASSES dunked? More importantly, is the water properly chlorinated for the health of contestants, cast and crew alike?
And to set the record straight, I still love game shows, provided they were, with certain exceptions, produced any time prior to approximately 1990.
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[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Jul 29 2004, 07:46 AM\'] Is the pool merely a decorative set element [/quote]
Every little bit of it, in all its inch-and-a-half-height-rippling-wave glory.
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[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Jul 28 2004, 11:46 PM\'] OK Mr. Koon, or if I may, Dic, you have to help out this grumpy old man who hasn't seen the show. Is the pool merely a decorative set element or is it part of the game a la Russian Roulette where contestans who answer incorrectly get their ASSES dunked? [/quote]
It is for the most part a decorative set element. Players who ask for help from another player are asked to remove the ring-on-a-lanyard around their necks and throw it into the pool in a "wishing well"-style gesture before they do so.
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Players who ask for help from another player are asked to remove the ring-on-a-lanyard around their necks and throw it into the pool in a "wishing well"-style gesture before they do so.
Um ... okay. That's five rating points right there.
But what I want to know is, is the water chlorinated? I'm going to send Harvey Levin over to investigate.
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I missed the premiere episode, but I did catch last night's (July 29th) offering. I made it for 35 minutes before I turned that crap off. That show is a POP=Piece Of Renal Waste.
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[quote name=\'Don Howard\' date=\'Jul 30 2004, 10:56 AM\'] I missed the premiere episode, but I did catch last night's (July 29th) offering. I made it for 35 minutes before I turned that crap off. That show is a POP=Piece Of Renal Waste. [/quote]
See, I thought last night's show was an improvement, at least a little. The memorization round has to go, tho.
I was particularly encouraged by the lightening up of host Pat Kiernan, who was downright FUNNY during parts of last night's game. My favorite moment came when one player who had already denied help to two others found himself at the wrong end of the same rope when his turn came. Player says "Well, after what I just did, I'm effectively without a ring here." Pat deadpans right back "Well, it would be fun to see what would happen." Classic.
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My view on "Studio 7," as someone who has never held to the tenets that all game shows have to have primary-colored sets, peppy music and smiling hosts, is that to me it's a fascinating experiment. It's nowhere near being successful, but it's got some interesting things going for it--and last night's show had a lot more drama to it and did let Kiernan show his subtle sense of humor (which may've gone on the cutting room floor last week).
It needs to be tweaked a lot (we could start with cutting out most of the "I'd like to answer..." responses), but considering how it frittered away the larger-than-normal WB audience that had tuned in to "Blue Collar TV" last night (with, granted, some possible help from "Reba" in between), I have the feeling that it may not get the chance to be tweaked. It looks like a goner come the playoffs on Sept. 9 (or sooner, if The WB wants to take the chance of going hot and heavy against the "Apprentice" season premiere on that date).
Question: Did anyone hear those pieces of music that were supposedly "featured on tonight's show" in the plug at the end durign the show itself? I thought I heard the last cut used as the win cue at the end.
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[quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Jul 30 2004, 01:54 PM\'] See, I thought last night's show was an improvement, at least a little. The memorization round has to go, tho.
[/quote]
Hmmm. OK. I'll try watching tonight's rerun while sober this time. Perhaps that'll give me an improved perspective.
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[quote name=\'Don Howard\' date=\'Aug 1 2004, 08:22 AM\'] [quote name=\'clemon79\' date=\'Jul 30 2004, 01:54 PM\'] See, I thought last night's show was an improvement, at least a little. The memorization round has to go, tho.
[/quote]
Hmmm. OK. I'll try watching tonight's rerun while sober this time. Perhaps that'll give me an improved perspective. [/quote]
Just make sure you get there in time so you don't miss the first three rounds. The players were a fair bit cattier than last week's bunch, and Pat was pretty fun, while staying in his stoic character.