The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => Game Show Channels & Networks => Topic started by: xavier45 on November 08, 2011, 10:41:37 AM
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Buzzerblog posted on their twitter the following:
On Sunday, November 27th, GSN will air a daylong marathon of Family Feud with Richard Dawson.
Then on December 12th, B&W programming returns to overnight once again. GSN will be airing I've Got A Secret and What's My Line? from 3:00am-4:00am. This is the third year in a row that GSN has aired B&W shows in December.
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Then on December 12th, B&W programming returns to overnight once again. GSN will be airing I've Got A Secret and What's My Line? from 3:00am-4:00am. This is the third year in a row that GSN has aired B&W shows in December.
Any word whether this is a temporary seasonal thing, or if it's a more or less permanent schedule change? Because if it's the latter, then I end up watching a ton more GSN. As I've said before, my TiVo gets the IGAS show, so more often than not, my TV is sent to GSN when I turn it on the next day.
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As I've said before, my TiVo gets the IGAS show, so more often than not, my TV is sent to GSN when I turn it on the next day.
Hmm. That's an interesting bit of splashover that you would think GSN would consider capitalizing on. That never occurred to me, and I've had a Tivo for...eight years now?
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As I've said before, my TiVo gets the IGAS show, so more often than not, my TV is sent to GSN when I turn it on the next day.
Hmm. That's an interesting bit of splashover that you would think GSN would consider capitalizing on.
I doubt that there are too many people in my boat, plus I'm outside the demographic that they're shooting for anyway. Just happens to be how it works out in my household. Also, the impression I'm getting is that this will be another temporary thing anyway. I can cross my fingers and hope that they'll be shows I don't have -- in a perfect world, they could dust off some of those Winston episodes -- but my fear is it'll be exactly the same ones they showed last year.
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I doubt that there are too many people in my boat, plus I'm outside the demographic that they're shooting for anyway. Just happens to be how it works out in my household. Also, the impression I'm getting is that this will be another temporary thing anyway. I can cross my fingers and hope that they'll be shows I don't have -- in a perfect world, they could dust off some of those Winston episodes -- but my fear is it'll be exactly the same ones they showed last year.
Maybe some people just can't get enough of those twelve brothers with their newborn baby sister or the four sisters who all play trombone for a Salvation Army band or even Henry being dressed up as Santa (while blindfolded) so he can deliver presents to kids who wrote letters to Santa (asking mainly for things like clothing)
Actually, those might be on Winston episodes - what is the current policy on those? First it was "no", then it was "okay, but you have to use a modified version of the opening that doesn't mention the sponsor", then I think it went back to "no".
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Actually, those might be on Winston episodes - what is the current policy on those? First it was "no", then it was "okay, but you have to use a modified version of the opening that doesn't mention the sponsor", then I think it went back to "no".
Well, GSN usually butchered the openings so as to avoid the sponsor message regardless of whether it was a cigarette company or not.
It was "no" at first, then, still pretty early in the network's run, they made a big deal about them as "lost episodes" and included some nifty vintage anti-smoking PSAs. Then for a while, it was very quietly "yes" on their overnight schedule. At some point, it went back to "no", which is where it's been for the last few years. A story circulates that they pulled the cigarette shows after a single viewer complaint caught the attention of Sony lawyers who decided, to paraphrase an old cigarette slogan, that they'd rather switch than fight.
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Would pixilating the offending cigarette logos be too hard to do, or maybe cover-up old sponsors with new ones-(a Shamwow logo on the IGAS desk through the magic of television)
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Would pixilating the offending cigarette logos be too hard to do, or maybe cover-up old sponsors with new ones-(a Shamwow logo on the IGAS desk through the magic of television)
WAY too much bother for miniscule reward. They've already got hundreds of others that are fine to air, there's no reason to go to that sort of trouble.
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Funny thing is that they've banned cigarette-sponsored episodes back in the 90s, hence the short-lived "Lost Episodes" series with various hosts.
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Would pixilating the offending cigarette logos be too hard to do, or maybe cover-up old sponsors with new ones-(a Shamwow logo on the IGAS desk through the magic of television)
The better option would be to give the middle finger to the babies out there crying about tobacco.
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Would pixilating the offending cigarette logos be too hard to do, or maybe cover-up old sponsors with new ones-(a Shamwow logo on the IGAS desk through the magic of television)
The better option would be to give the middle finger to the babies out there crying about tobacco.
Because tobacco and smoking hurts nobody!
(My grandfather smoked for 57 of his 67 years before he succumbed to lung cancer in 1989.)
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Let's just face it... cigarette ads and many of the shows they sponsored are a part of television history (and a rather ugly one at that) that will forever remain in the past.
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As I've said before, my TiVo gets the IGAS show, so more often than not, my TV is sent to GSN when I turn it on the next day.
Hmm. That's an interesting bit of splashover that you would think GSN would consider capitalizing on.
I doubt that there are too many people in my boat, plus I'm outside the demographic that they're shooting for anyway. Just happens to be how it works out in my household. Also, the impression I'm getting is that this will be another temporary thing anyway. I can cross my fingers and hope that they'll be shows I don't have -- in a perfect world, they could dust off some of those Winston episodes -- but my fear is it'll be exactly the same ones they showed last year.
Buzzerblog now has dates for the first week (although some of them are off--I've corrected them below). Based on old PDFs, these were not aired last year (many of them are within a week or two of what aired last year).
12/12: 6/4/61 (WML--last year they showed 5/28/61), 6/3/63 (IGAS--last year they showed 5/20/63)
12/13: 5/8/60 (WML--last year they showed 5/15/60), 2/1/61 (IGAS--last two years they showed 2/15/61)
12/14: 10/4/64 (WML--last year they showed 10/11/64), 10/16/61 (IGAS--looks like this hasn't been shown recently)
12/15: 2/1/66 (WML--looks like this hasn't been shown recently), 10/8/62 (IGAS--last year they showed 9/17/62)
12/16: 6/26/55 (WML--last year they showed 6/19/55), 12/4/61 (IGAS--last year they showed 12/18/61)
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Because tobacco and smoking hurts nobody!
(My grandfather smoked for 57 of his 67 years before he succumbed to lung cancer in 1989.)
It's America, Mike. Deal with it.
Seriously. When I tried to explain to Mark why MLB is paying any attention at all to the Congress about tobacco laws (hello antitrust exemption!), that's what he told me. We're in America, we can do what we want. He's the mbclev of tobacco. Which is terrible, awful and kills hundreds of thousands of people a year.
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Which is terrible, awful and kills hundreds of thousands of people a year.
People choose to smoke, Travis, in case you didn't know. Excuse the hell out of me for not liking the government sticking their nose in one more place it doesn't belong. You're the mbclev of snark lately. Which is really saying something.
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Returning to the real subject at hand, I think it wouldn't hurt GSN to air some Beat The Clock episodes for New Year's weekend; preferably, those Best Stunts Of The Year episodes. It would be appropriate for that time of year.
Oh wait just a sec, this is the current GSN we're discussing here.....
Cordially,
Tammy
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Which is terrible, awful and kills hundreds of thousands of people a year.
People choose to smoke, Travis, in case you didn't know. Excuse the hell out of me for not liking the government sticking their nose in one more place it doesn't belong.
I gotta disagree on that one. I am totally for the (state) government deciding whether someone should or shouldn't be allowed to smoke. Lung cancer can and does affect people who don't smoke as well, and I, for one would rather not have to put up with someone else's smoke while I'm trying to enjoy my dinner.
I'm a pretty liberal guy and not too many things get me to complaining, but that's one that most certainly does. And it shouldn't come down to "If you don't like it, don't eat there." You want to smoke in public, fine, but not to the point of being indignant and infringing upon others' right to enjoy themselves. It goes both ways.
Keeping this on-topic, I don't mind the cigarette ads being kept on the shows; they're not telling kids it's okay to smoke, not that a kid should be up when the shows air.
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I'm a pretty liberal guy and not too many things get me to complaining, but that's one that most certainly does. And it shouldn't come down to "If you don't like it, don't eat there." You want to smoke in public, fine, but not to the point of being indignant and infringing upon others' right to enjoy themselves. It goes both ways.
And I'm rather staunchly Libertarian: as long as you're not up in my business, I say do what you want with who you want. But man alive, tobacco is that wild card of "Why is that allowed to exist?" for me. The idea that a product exists that will eventually kill you when you use it in the way you're supposed to just seems wrong.
Keeping this on-topic, I don't mind the cigarette ads being kept on the shows; they're not telling kids it's okay to smoke, not that a kid should be up when the shows air.
Here's the thing of it for me: we're in a different time. It has been forty-some years since cigarette ads were off TV entirely. We're not watching something from after 197x, it is from the fifties or sixties. To judge something from a bygone era by todays mores and norms is silly.
/This from the proud son of three ex-smokers.
//Roll that around in your head a while. :)
///But don't put it in your pipe and smoke it.
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Keeping this on-topic, I don't mind the cigarette ads being kept on the shows; they're not telling kids it's okay to smoke, not that a kid should be up when the shows air.
Here's the thing of it for me: we're in a different time. It has been forty-some years since cigarette ads were off TV entirely. We're not watching something from after 197x, it is from the fifties or sixties. To judge something from a bygone era by todays mores and norms is silly.
We're not going to solve America's twisted history with tobacco on a game show forum, but let's do be clear on a couple of things. GSN wasn't ever going to run the cigarette ads, just like they don't run the ads for Dream Whip, Clairol, Hertz, Polaroid or any other IGAS sponsor. The issue was merely that the Winston logo appeared on the desks, and that cartons of the stuff were given away as prizes. Still, the way the FCC works is that they won't issue you a ruling and tell you whether or not something is OK (THAT would be censorship!), they just respond to complaints and potentially fine you after you've done the bad thing. Sony's lawyers have many much more important things to worry about, so the easiest thing for them to do is not run them anymore and move on to the next burning issue. So while logically, we can see these episodes as being almost totally harmless, there's no reason for Sony to risk even the slightest potential of getting in trouble for it, so they're out.
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Just to be clear, I am, of course, aware of the FCC's cigarette ads ban (after all, Words Have Meanings). I was referring to the mere logos for cigarette companies.
/Again, Words. Meanings. They have them.
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Agreed that cigarette advertising (or even the mere mention of brands) violates the rules. I just thought that with the ease that sports broadcasts can make a superimposed scrimmage line look natural, they might be able to apply that to old game shows and monitize it by selling new sponsors on the show. Only hope for these shows is if they fall into public domain and the boutique DVD pressers can get their hands on them. No real incentive for the Sony's and Fremantles of the world to put them out.
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I just thought that with the ease that sports broadcasts can make a superimposed scrimmage line look natural, they might be able to apply that to old game shows and monitize it by selling new sponsors on the show.
The difference is that those lines and markings and such are largely dependent upon static shots and electronics on the field of play telling the equipment where they need to go. We can't go back in time and put sensors in the IGAS desk. :)
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This is absolutely wonderful. I'm so happy they're bringing this back. What's My Line and I've Got A Secret were the last remaining programs left on my DVR list from GSN.
It's funny that GSN is so iffy with non-cigarette IGAS sponsors and not WML's. During the last daily run of WML, GSN only resorted to editing for a few episodes (cutting to commercial and then cutting back), and those episodes were from Line's last two seasons IIRC.
I wonder why What's My Line didn't have that many cigarette sponsors once Stopette was gone?
One of the best "lost episodes" of IGAS in my opinion would be the episode that featured the last surviving witness of Lincoln's Assassination and Philo T. Farnsworth. There are so many others that I miss from that era, but that one by far has stood out to me since I first saw it some ten years ago.
/Now if GSN could only bring back Password Plus and Super Password, they'll be back on my real good side.
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One of the best "lost episodes" of IGAS in my opinion would be the episode that featured the last surviving witness of Lincoln's Assassination and Philo T. Farnsworth. There are so many others that I miss from that era, but that one by far has stood out to me since I first saw it some ten years ago.
If you want that episode and don't have the Lincoln witness ep., a DVD which I have seen at Half Price Books contains that episode, another IGaS ep., and 2 Beat the Clock eps. The Lincoln's assassination witness ep. is the most fascinating IGaS IMO, and I'm not much of a fan of panel shows.
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One of the best "lost episodes" of IGAS in my opinion would be the episode that featured the last surviving witness of Lincoln's Assassination and Philo T. Farnsworth.
Those are actually two different episodes, about a year and a half apart. You're right, those are wonderful episodes, and fortunately, both historic segments are available for viewing on YouTube. As long as we're making wishes, there are still dozens of IGAS epiosdes that GSN has never run. Some may truly be lost or unwatchable, but I'm guessing others are cigarette-sponsored shows they just never got around to showing. Those would be the ones I'd like to see unlocked.
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On the subject of personal favorite episodes, mine is probably a Winston show from 10/24/56, which GSN has run and segments of which are on YouTube. Guest Don Ameche (http://"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cwn5VV9FNdw") plays the IGAS home game with the panel, and although the segment itself isn't very good, it's fascinating that they devoted that much time to a home game plug. Later in the show, Professor Clyde Tombaugh (http://"http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cwn5VV9FNdw")'s secret was that he discovered the planet Pluto. And if you're lucky enough to have the episode with original ads (it's widely available), one of the Winston spots was done by a young, pre-Jeopardy Art Fleming.
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By the way, FCC programming rules don't apply to cable channels, only over the air broadcasters. Secondly, IIRC, the Lawrence Welk Show repeats on PBS has had a couple of broadcasts where the cigarette company's logo was prominent. From a 50's or early 60's broadcast. It's television history, not first run. If it's treated as such, big whoop. Run the show as is.
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It's television history, not first run. If it's treated as such, big whoop. Run the show as is.
Spoken like a man who doesn't have to answer to advertisers.
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It's television history, not first run. If it's treated as such, big whoop. Run the show as is.
Spoken like a man who doesn't have to answer to advertisers.
At 3 or 4am, what advertisers? Those spots are filler. If they result in any revenue, GSN gets a commission.
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Do we know yet if this B&W hour is lasting more than one week on GSN?
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I think I read that they're doing it for two weeks, same as last year. (A check at Buzzerblog shows that they're behind on the schedules.)
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I think I read that they're doing it for two weeks, same as last year. (A check at Buzzerblog shows that they're behind on the schedules.)
And I'm sure poor Alex has been hounded relentlessly about it. :(
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Following up: Per Buzzerblog, the shows do indeed continue the following week.
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It's television history, not first run. If it's treated as such, big whoop. Run the show as is.
Spoken like a man who doesn't have to answer to advertisers.
At 3 or 4am, what advertisers? Those spots are filler. If they result in any revenue, GSN gets a commission.
...the same advertisers you find at 3 PM?
Those spots may be filler but if they get pulled, that's a loss of revenue that might not be easily replaced.
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...the same advertisers you find at 3 PM?
Those spots may be filler but if they get pulled, that's a loss of revenue that might not be easily replaced.
In general, the advertisers that you have at 3am are NOT the same as the ones you have at 3pm. For sure, they're not paying the same rates. Having said that, none of us are in a position to know what GSN charges for its time, and yes, even 3am infomercials must generate SOME revenue for the channel, or else why not just leave the old shows on? There is also a difference between a fleeting glimpse of a logo on one show and the omnipresence of such a logo on the IGAS desks. I also question seeing it on the Lawrence Welk reruns, since Welk publicly vowed not to accept cigarette advertising around 1970, and the PBS packages tend to come from later in the show's run. Toddyo's "big whoop" attitude is naive at best.
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The Larry Welk rerun was from the 50's/early 60s. The "Big Whoop" attitude is from when working for a television station. The Sunday nights were informercials and 2 minute "paid" spots. The attitude then, and from what I hear now, is that it served(s) as both filler and revenue maker. If that Marty Allen Chia Head offer or The Best of Chuck Connors record offer makes a sale, the station/channel made/makes a commission. Likewise, the ad rates for 3am have got to be a bottom feeder.
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Interesting: The final WML of this run has William Shatner, pre-Trek, and Kitty Carlisle on the panel. I have to imagine that's a combination that didn't happen very often!