The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => Game Show Channels & Networks => Topic started by: SuperMatch93 on December 03, 2022, 12:46:46 PM
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https://www.buzzerblog.com/2022/11/28/game-show-network-casting-for-revival-of-split-second/ (https://www.buzzerblog.com/2022/11/28/game-show-network-casting-for-revival-of-split-second/)
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Wow, this one came out of nowhere. I wonder if Monty Hall's estate still own the rights.
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Wow, this one came out of nowhere. I wonder if Monty Hall's estate still own the rights.
They do not. Here's the story from last year about the sale of Hatos-Hall's assets.
https://variety.com/2021/tv/news/lets-make-a-deal-marcus-lemonis-nancy-glass-1235038015/
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Can Your First Impression, Chain Letter 3 for the Money or It's Anybody's Guess be revived for low stakes?
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Can Your First Impression, Chain Letter 3 for the Money or It's Anybody's Guess be revived for low stakes?
(https://6amcity.brightspotcdn.com/dims4/default/fd8a0e3/2147483647/strip/true/crop/580x327+0+0/resize/1000x563!/quality/90/?url=https%3A%2F%2Fk1-prod-sixam-city.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fbrightspot%2F43%2F0a%2F56ab3d80457e837d8d4e674fde6d%2Fbuoythetroll.jpg)
"Game respects game."
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Can Your First Impression, Chain Letter 3 for the Money or It's Anybody's Guess be revived for low stakes?
Of the four, I could see 3 For The Money working best on GSN; a solid trivia game that I feel didn't get a fair shake in '75. If you want to keep the same-players-all-week angle, swap the car out for a trip and you're good to go.
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Split Second seems a good fit for GSN. It's a 3-player game where values are doubled in round 2, the 3rd round is more or less on the clock, and it has room for a bonus round. All that's needed is to eliminate a player in round 2 and they're all set.
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Can Your First Impression, Chain Letter 3 for the Money or It's Anybody's Guess be revived for low stakes?
Of the four, I could see 3 For The Money working best on GSN; a solid trivia game that I feel didn't get a fair shake in '75. If you want to keep the same-players-all-week angle, swap the car out for a trip and you're good to go.
3 For The Money would need a complete rules revamp, especially in the final 2-minute round when the clock stops every time the lead changes hands.
Maybe if there were three rounds - the first two are played like the first round on the original (one player at a time on one team against 1, 2, or 3 players on the other), but each team is "in control" for a round, and the third round is more or less a straightforward 3-on-3 buzz-in round.
Or, make the first two rounds more like what they did on Genius Junior; two minutes - one player is asked a question; if correct, the next player on the team is asked the next question, but if incorrect, the next player has to try to answer the same question, and a question isn't changed until either answered correctly or all three players on the team miss.
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Your First Impression depended on celebrities. Could GSN's numbers pull any weighty celebs to stop by? According to Monty's book, the show just barely squeaked by every renewal period for two and a half years until finally letting it drop. None of the other shows reached 26 weeks. I liked Chain Letter, but you'd need player categories that have a very wide list of subjects. Unlike most category games, Chain Letter called for contestants to come up with an answer where the first letter of the new answer has to be the same as the LAST letter of the previous answer (category: vegetables. Potato-Okra-Asparagus-Snow peas-Spinach - etc, etc). Makes one wonder how long it could go before repeating categories. My four cents, anyway... (due to inflationary trends)
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And now we have a host: John Michael Higgins from America Says. I like this choice.
https://www.buzzerblog.com/2023/02/27/gsn-announces-revival-of-classic-game-show-split-second/ (https://www.buzzerblog.com/2023/02/27/gsn-announces-revival-of-classic-game-show-split-second/)
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As long as John stops reading when the first person buzzes in, I'm there.
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JMH has really grown on me. I like that he’s no longer the Mr. Game Show caricature from the first couple seasons, and has really grown into the role. I could see this working…the 4-8-6 Countdown Round intrigues me.
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I'm glad they thought of a different bonus round than a variant of "pick the right box."
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I'm glad they thought of a different bonus round than a variant of "pick the right box."
.....and especially nice that it somewhat resembles the maingame.
Wouldn't mind seeing how this turns out.....sadly, the cord's been cut in this house.
/not the first time (http://www.gameshowforum.org/index.php/topic,32890.msg387088.html#msg387088) he's ruminated about SS's bonus rounds not fitting the rest of the show
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Wouldn't mind seeing how this turns out.....sadly, the cord's been cut in this house.
YoutubeTV is a decent alternative, although I’m sure GSN will post a preview episode at some point in April.
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I just hope that they don't use the Monty Hall version method of asking the question first, then revealing the 3 answers. That took out all the risk of buzzing in first and simply created a race to hit the buzzer as fast as you can.
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Im cautiously optimistic. Did we have a premiere date i glossed over?
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Im cautiously optimistic. Did we have a premiere date i glossed over?
GSN just ran a promo listing April as the premiere date. Nothing more specific yet.
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I just hope that they don't use the Monty Hall version method of asking the question first, then revealing the 3 answers. That took out all the risk of buzzing in first and simply created a race to hit the buzzer as fast as you can.
I heard from someone who's going to be a contestant that the options show up at the same time as the question, but you can’t answer until all are read.
However, he also said that he didn't feel like the show dragged and that folks will enjoy it.
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I heard from someone who's going to be a contestant that the options show up at the same time as the question, but you can’t answer until all are read.
So the question is going to be displayed on-screen, and no anticipatory buzzing, thereby allowing players to think about it instead of needing to answer in a...split second.
Hard pass.
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I heard from someone who's going to be a contestant that the options show up at the same time as the question, but you can’t answer until all are read.
Well, that seems to work well enough for JEOPARDY!, so I'm still hopeful this will be fun.
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I heard from someone who's going to be a contestant that the options show up at the same time as the question, but you can’t answer until all are read.
So the question is going to be displayed on-screen, and no anticipatory buzzing, thereby allowing players to think about it instead of needing to answer in a...split second.
Hard pass.
I’ve noticed GSN shows tend to spell everything out to the viewers, as if they can’t simply grasp how things work. It won’t stop me from watching, but I wonder if this factored into the decision?
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I heard from someone who's going to be a contestant that the options show up at the same time as the question, but you can’t answer until all are read.
So the question is going to be displayed on-screen, and no anticipatory buzzing, thereby allowing players to think about it instead of needing to answer in a...split second.
Hard pass.
In other words (unless I’m missing something here), we’re playing by the Monty Hall rules?
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In other words (unless I’m missing something here), we’re playing by the Monty Hall rules?
Even worse. On top of all of that, they can read ahead of the host, so the buzzer battle is effectively a reflex test, much like Jeopardy.
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While a lot of us here (absolutely including me) have a fondness for games in which a contestant anticipates the answer (also see: Sale of the Century), I'm sure researchers and focus groups and whatever other homogenizing forces have convinced producers that the average viewer does not. I'm afraid that a lot of brilliant original formats of the 70s wouldn't fly today because TPTB have decided that they're too challenging for their audience to follow.
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I was trying to sketch out a variant of Split Second a while back and it might have worked as a compromise for the must-answer-early-buzz but without interrupting the question. Although it would stray from the roots of the game slightly, I would have the contestant lock in which choice with one of three buttons.
When the question is finished, the board would dim all the choices except the one selected by the fastest finger, who would answer the question. The second fastest would answer their selection or pick-up an incorrect answer by the first player. The final player would get the remaining choice by default, but could answer any other unanswered choice. Because we aren't using artboards or an Amiga Video Toaster mosaic/zoom/crunch, the display would have only the available choices would be "lit up" for the contestant.
In the Countdown Round, players are still selecting which multiple choice clue, but the fastest player would then advance to the second player's selection to attempt to steal that, then the third. Essentially, the same as the money/points round, but a sweep of the board would have to be solved in the order each was buzzed in. The second or third player would not be able to answer the question if a previous player advanced to their selection and answered it properly, even if there is a leftover choice still on the board.
So it isn't a buzzer-mashing exercise, but a calculated selection to ferret out the potentially easier response. It doesn't allow for "mindbender" or "give me one of the 3..." type questions, unless you just convert that to a possible "push the center button first."
It does bring in some slight inequities, but it does make the decision part more "split second" if we must also have the full question read.
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I'm afraid that a lot of brilliant original formats of the 70s wouldn't fly today because TPTB have decided that they're too challenging for their audience to follow.
My least cynical counter to this is if your primary enjoyment from watching game shows is playing along having questions be consistently interrupted affects your ability to do that.
/Botulism
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Making the first two rounds even more of a luck-of-the-circuits buzzer mash than the Hall version and creating an even bigger handicap in the Countdown Round based on said buzzer mashing feels like they're breaking the game twice.
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I'm afraid that a lot of brilliant original formats of the 70s wouldn't fly today because TPTB have decided that they're too challenging for their audience to follow.
My least cynical counter to this is if your primary enjoyment from watching game shows is playing along having questions be consistently interrupted affects your ability to do that.
Totally fair. The beauty of Jeopardy is very much that the home audience gets those few extra seconds to process each clue, which exponentially adds to the "play along" factor. Apparently, the decision has been made that "Split Second" will benefit from the same sort of structure. I'll still have a soft spot for the more dynamic and strategic original version.
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To be fair, I'm probably in agreement with you, but over the past handful of years GSN (and the greater game show landscape) have shied away from on-the-buzzer quizzes. I assume one reason is increased accessibility for both audience and contestants.
Nobody asked but I imagine the reason we're getting this in the first place is that someone at GSN saw the spoils of Buzzr airing Whew and Classic Concentration (and maybe NBC's Password) and wondered what they could bring out from the mothballs to get the same result.
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The one show currently on GSN where people buzz in before a question is finished is Catch 21. But those episodes are over 10 years old. Most of the time though, they come up with the correct answer.
Also, if Higgins is hosting Split Second, it means America Says is out of production.
Wow, 3,000 posts. Bartender . . .
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I'm sure researchers and focus groups and whatever other homogenizing forces have convinced producers that the average viewer does not.
Hey, if they wanna stage a broken version of the game, they can do that. I haven't been GSN's target audience for a solid decade anyhow.
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Also, if Higgins is hosting Split Second, it means America Says is out of production.
What makes you think that? Knowing GSN, after banging out 65 episodes of one show, they'll flip the sets over and shoot 65 eps. of the other all within a month.
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The beauty of Jeopardy is very much that the home audience gets those few extra seconds to process each clue, which exponentially adds to the "play along" factor. Apparently, the decision has been made that "Split Second" will benefit from the same sort of structure. I'll still have a soft spot for the more dynamic and strategic original version.
I think there's distance between Jeopardy and the stodgy pace of the Monty version. Remaining optimistic.
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Game Show Network snuck its first preview of Split Second onto its primetime lineup tonight.
https://youtu.be/372conJsAdU
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It looks nice with all the red and gold, at least.
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The set does look pretty decent. Looks like scoring is in points instead of dollars...not really surprising given the precedent that GSN's other originals have set, but it does make the Countdown round seem kind of redundant.
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Well, if they wanted to tell fans of the original that this was watered down, they could hardly do better than "words that rhyme with 'think'". But the set looks nice enough, and JMH is a fine host; I'm still looking forward to it.
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This is like the least important thing but putting the host on the right side of the screen looks weird.
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This is like the least important thing but putting the host on the right side of the screen looks weird.
That crossed my mind as well, although I do love the giant stopwatch as a game board.
The set is nice, but too “warm” for me. I wouldn’t mind it being red during the Countdown and bonus rounds to emphasize the tension, but a cool blue for the main game.
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This is like the least important thing but putting the host on the right side of the screen looks weird.
Barry and Enright say "Hi".
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We have a premiere date. April 17 at 7:30 pm ET, after their other new show Switch.
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That is a hell of a time slot to plop your new game show into.
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Right?
I hope they can find a space for reruns.
(Kind of an interesting gauntlet of Master Minds, People Puzzler, Switch and America Says soon to be Split Second.
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GSN is doing an informal survey...the last question leads me to believe we'll get a sneak peek on Youtube of this or Hey Yahoo like they've done with other shows.
https://twitter.com/GameShowNetwork/status/1641560937898577920
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GSN did a survey with an episode of Split Second, looking for viewer feedback.
I like it. The material difficulty tends to be on the casual side--challenging at times, but overall not as challenging as Master Minds or even Switch. It's a definite record to start, not a watch because it's head-to-head with Jeopardy!
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GSN did a survey with an episode of Split Second, looking for viewer feedback.
I like it. The material difficulty tends to be on the casual side--challenging at times, but overall not as challenging as Master Minds or even Switch. It's a definite record to start, not a watch because it's head-to-head with Jeopardy!
this is my main issue. I presume that they will start to put repeats on the schedule and I can wait for that.
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GSN did a survey with an episode of Split Second, looking for viewer feedback.
I like it. [...]
That is the best news I've heard all day!
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No pressure there, Clay.
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No pressure there, Clay.
Well, considering it was a day that included having our tax return rejected by the IRS, it was a low bar to clear. But I really want to love this show, so I'm glad you liked the preview episode.
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And we have an episode.
https://youtu.be/sn_Ad-n-hH0
Honestly, I liked it. I thought the waiting for answers to be read would slow it down, but the trivia was compelling enough that I didn't notice it.
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I enjoyed it as well. The difficulty is somewhere between Kennedy’s and Hall’s and JMH has really grown as a host. The only gripe I have is the contestants should be allowed to buzz in as soon as the answers appear. One interesting thing I noticed: are contestants required to recite the entire clue before answering? Some of the clues were a mouthful.
EDIT: two gripes. I try not to write off GSN shows as all looking the same, but their inability to offer ANY breathing room between the bonus round’s conclusion and the start of the credits blows my mind. Contestant gives the winning answer, cue the bells, roll credits. You could trim down the contestant interviews and give JMH and the winner a little more time to celebrate. /endrant
Other than that, fun show. I could see myself recording it and watching later.
/Work plus J! at 7:30
//As it should be
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I notice a problem here.
When one of the players gives an incorrect answer, the right answer is provided by the host immediately. So if you buzz in third, and the two players ahead of you get their questions wrong, you still have no choice but whichever of the three options remains.
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Of all the shows to have excessive chyrons explaining the scoring, you would think Split Second would be the ones that need it the most.
My other observation is there is no way in hell holding a giant tablet the way John does can be comfortable.
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Of all the shows to have excessive chyrons explaining the scoring, you would think Split Second would be the ones that need it the most.
I knew it was something I forgot. In addition to JMH’s lectern being so small, I immediately noticed the missing scoring configuration.
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Of all the shows to have excessive chyrons explaining the scoring, you would think Split Second would be the ones that need it the most.
So, I was a contestant on this show and… as contestants, we were as clueless. We didn’t know our scores at all until the countdown round. Otherwise, all we had to rely on was when Michael would occasionally say what place we were in.
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Finally had a chance to watch this. Like most GSN originals, the biggest reaction I had was..."meh." If I had no idea that it was a revival of a vastly superior show, I would've thought it was pretty good.
As it stands, though, they desperately need to allow contestants to ring in as soon as the choices are revealed as others mentioned, or at the very least show the buzz-in order lighting up in sequence. The way they do it almost gives the impression to casual viewers that the order is just determined randomly every time.
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The show is okay. Surprised that GSN doesn't have repeat airings of this and Switch on their schedule.
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Of all the shows to have excessive chyrons explaining the scoring, you would think Split Second would be the ones that need it the most.
So, I was a contestant on this show and… as contestants, we were as clueless. We didn’t know our scores at all until the countdown round. Otherwise, all we had to rely on was when Michael would occasionally say what place we were in.
That wasn't what I was talking about* but oof. Also retroactive good luck?
*-Usually GSN shows have lower thirds whenever there's any sort of explanation about scoring and there was nothing here.
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As it stands, though, they desperately need to allow contestants to ring in as soon as the choices are revealed as others mentioned, or at the very least show the buzz-in order lighting up in sequence. The way they do it almost gives the impression to casual viewers that the order is just determined randomly every time.
There was a question about tastes where the first and last letters were given and it would have felt right at home as a question in 1973 but when you see the question then answer choices there’s no punch. I get wanting to show a viewing but not listening audience everything but it does lose a ton of emotional punch.
Longer Countdown Round is good and the race for $10k is fine. Top marks for John who is coming into his own as a utility player, but I wonder if the holder of the IP really knew what they had or how heavy of a handGSN wielded.
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Meh.
It's done backwards! The essence of buzzing in first on Kennedy's version was that you saw the three parts first and then tried to anticipate the question. Here, everyone just buzzes in and they announce who was first.....it takes a lot of the challenge out of it.
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The scoring is silly if you're not converting points to dollars, all three getting a question right holds no value effectively, unless I've missed something and the Countdown round scores are score rather than position dependent.
I appreciate the pace though. And I like the material, but yes the actual buzz-in element feels like a lottery.
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The scoring is silly if you're not converting points to dollars, all three getting a question right holds no value effectively, unless I've missed something and the Countdown round scores are score rather than position dependent.
I get what you mean, but it would be odd to have a frequent situation where right answers are not rewarded. Somebody who tunes in late can tell how the players as a group are doing by looking at the score line but if everybody right splits a pie of zero points that same late viewer won’t get the complete picture.
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A couple thoughts after seeing the preview:
I *really* liked the opening moment: JM enters, pick up your buzzers, here we go..."and that's how we play Split Second."
I appreciated the set being in oranges and reds.
It seems odd to play for points to determine order in the Countdown Round, but whatever, it's their money.
I *don't* find the format to be "broken." I get that there's no buzzing before the question is finished, but that rule has been okay for 30-something years on Jeopardy. From where I sit, the format is "three part questions, value determined by how many people answer correctly; repeat, doubling the values; Countdown Round where you can answer 1, 2, or 3 parts, first to zero wins."
Having a bonus game that has *something* to do with the main game is, well, a bonus.
I'm thrilled to see this format back on the air.
But for Goodson's sake, get JM a chiropractor for the pain he's incurring holding that dang iPad.
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Saw the premiere and the "preview" episode GSN posted on YT.
I didn't have any issues with it -- moved quickly with plenty of content. Loved the set with the "stopwatch" theme but, as others noted, JMH's lectern seemed a tad on the small side.
The bonus game offers more of a challenge than the "pick a screen and hope three match" offering from the Monty version.
Did find it peculiar that if a player misses a question, said question is ruled dead and the answer is revealed, but it's not something to get upset about.
I tried holding my iPad the "JMH Way" and promptly dropped it on my foot :) . Seriously, Higgins is a strong host who's made healthy strides since his early episodes of "America Says," where he was more of an actor playing a role.
I understand those who remember the Kennedy and Hall version may have their issues with GSN's take on the format, but it's something I'd watch regularly.
JD
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Saw the premiere and the "preview" episode GSN posted on YT.
I tried holding my iPad the "JMH Way" and promptly dropped it on my foot :) . Seriously, Higgins is a strong host who's made healthy strides since his early episodes of "America Says," where he was more of an actor playing a role.
I understand those who remember the Kennedy and Hall version may have their issues with GSN's take on the format, but it's something I'd watch regularly.
JD
Totally agree. If it gets a second season (crosses fingers), they might resolve the iPad and podium issues. I feel GSN did a good job here.
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It seems odd to play for points to determine order in the Countdown Round, but whatever, it's their money.
Seen this comment on here a couple of times- I don't really sense a difference in points vs dollars as far as that being the determinant. Besides, every other GSN show is $1,000 for the winner, nothing for the losers, so it's pretty on brand.
The essence of buzzing in first on Kennedy's version was that you saw the three parts first and then tried to anticipate the question. Here, everyone just buzzes in and they announce who was first.....it takes a lot of the challenge out of it.
GSN has taken the Jeopardy '85 route with their original programming- if the people can't follow, they won't watch. Notice that every original can be followed without sound; doesn't matter if you're deaf, waiting for your oil change or getting day drunk at a Hyatt Regency bar, GSN has you covered. Even Jeopardy requires some closed caption assistance for confirmation of the correct response. Playing Split Second as it was in 1972 doesn't align with the network template.
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Besides, every other GSN show is $1,000 for the winner, nothing for the losers
I don’t quite understand this trend. What’s wrong with throwing the losers a couple hundred bucks?
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I'd like the endgame to have a little more leeway. Semi-related: I feel like a variant People Puzzler end game feels appropriate for Split Second. The rest of it the game is good enough mechanically.
What’s wrong with throwing the losers a couple hundred bucks?
It's an extra expense that adds up to tens of thousands of dollars over a season.
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I'd like the endgame to have a little more leeway. Semi-related: I feel like a variant People Puzzler end game feels appropriate for Split Second. The rest of it the game is good enough mechanically.
What’s wrong with throwing the losers a couple hundred bucks?
It's an extra expense that adds up to tens of thousands of dollars over a season.
Right, and there are ways to account for that in your game budget, but that requires thought and planning GSN is not interested in doing, because they have their set number for each and every show and their proven way to get to it.
Back when game shows were up and down three networks' daytime schedules, I'm sure a lot of of them offered the same prize, probably $5,000. But if a bunch of them on one network were all offering the same way to get there and the exact same amount for a front game win, well, it would seem a bit derivative at some point.
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It's an extra expense that adds up to tens of thousands of dollars over a season.
It's only extra if you don't have the ability to budget for it in other places. If that's the case, it suggests a lack of creativity from the brass.
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What sort of massive failure of imagination does it take to not reach out to the Croton company to have Split Second watches custom made for the players? Is prize procurement a dead art? Wintuition may have pulled up lame a fifth of the way from the finish line but the day’s winner always got a prize before the $50,000 Desk of Destiny and they had the $200 in quarters/pizza. Could they not round up anything from their advertisers to give away as a singleton bonus?
And don’t even get me started about how Master Minds has no reward for someone who gets three right and misses the ultimate question as opposed to someone who gets a golden sombrero.
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What sort of massive failure of imagination does it take to not reach out to the Croton company
They misdialed and couldn't figure out what salad had to do with anything.
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So you're saying the idea got tossed.
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Or maybe it wasn't (ad)dressed.
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Caesar says, "Stop!"
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That is a hell of a time slot to plop your new game show into.
Filing this one into the extremely crowded drawer labeled, "Welp, shows how much I know," because Split Second is now rated in the top 40 of all shows on cable. The only other GSN show in the Top 150 is its lead-in, Switch, which ranked 72nd last night.
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GSN is now airing Switch and Split Second on weekends at 7 and 7:30 pm ET, respectively.
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That is a hell of a time slot to plop your new game show into.
Filing this one into the extremely crowded drawer labeled, "Welp, shows how much I know," because Split Second is now rated in the top 40 of all shows on cable. The only other GSN show in the Top 150 is its lead-in, Switch, which ranked 72nd last night.
I've seen speculation elsewhere that the bump may have partially been caused by Tucker Carlson's dismissal from Fox and his demographic finding something different to watch, since the spike coincided with his first week off the air.
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I've seen speculation elsewhere that the bump may have partially been caused by Tucker Carlson's dismissal from Fox and his demographic finding something different to watch, since the spike coincided with his first week off the air.
I have a really hard time picturing that Venn diagram.
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Yeah if you're there for Tucker at 8, I have to think you were already face down in the slop trough at 7.
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A couple thoughts after seeing the preview:
I *really* liked the opening moment: JM enters, pick up your buzzers, here we go..."and that's how we play Split Second."
I appreciated the set being in oranges and reds.
It seems odd to play for points to determine order in the Countdown Round, but whatever, it's their money.
I *don't* find the format to be "broken." I get that there's no buzzing before the question is finished, but that rule has been okay for 30-something years on Jeopardy. From where I sit, the format is "three part questions, value determined by how many people answer correctly; repeat, doubling the values; Countdown Round where you can answer 1, 2, or 3 parts, first to zero wins."
Having a bonus game that has *something* to do with the main game is, well, a bonus.
I'm thrilled to see this format back on the air.
But for Goodson's sake, get JM a chiropractor for the pain he's incurring holding that dang iPad.
Just watched the show for the first time tonight and this largely tracks with my notes. I think their director made a few interesting choices but the game's the thing and what's there is good. I also appreciated their variation on the Countdown Round - I've always felt that Monty's version got it right making the leader still buzz twice, but pushing 2nd and 3rd back to 6/8 restores some of the "leader's advantage" that the original 3-4-5 conferred.