The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => Game Show Channels & Networks => Topic started by: Joe Mello on July 25, 2006, 02:50:36 AM
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Typical disclaimer here: Your mileage may vary. Feel free to disagree, but please act civilized.
I've limited it to actual games, so stuff like Anything to Win won't be making it. Also, if it's not on BEFORE August 1, 2006, it's not here. Sorry, Chain Reaction and StarFace.
Honorable Mention: Celebrity Blackjack
It's why CPS is good TV, too, although Caroline Rhea was probably too much for my tastes.
10: I've Got a Secret
The key to how good this show is depends on your opinion of the original. If you liked it, you'll like this. If not, you won't. Plain and simple. Nothing's really changed except the faces.
9: Poker Royale series
I liked it because of its fairly innovative formats and ability to attract some names. Sure, there were some not-so-good series, but the complete body of work was sound.
8: BallBreakers
If Sal Masakela didn't get credibility with the non X-gamers, then he's the most underrated host on Earth. He was tight, Ewa was...Ewa, the game was surprisingly fun, and the production values were pretty good. The only thing they didn't need was Adrienne, but you can't win em all. If you watched "Texas Hold Em Billiards" the other day, then you may have appreciated this show a little more.
7: Cram
Yeah, it was a little kitschy, but that was the point. It had enough kitsch to be amusing, but had enough game to be not annoying. It wasn't as tortuous as, say, The Chamber, but now that I've been awake longer than I should have, I feel new appreciation for it.
6: Hollywood Showdown
Quite possibly, the first credible original GSN ever had. It made Jackpot more credible than it ever needed to be and introduced us to a Mr. Todd Newton. There's a reason TV Guide Channel is keeping it alive, and it's because it's pretty damn good.
5: World Series of Blackjack
I may be overrating this because I have to write about it, but it has a place on this countdown. I feel it's improving every season and this one has enough added goodness to make it good to watch. It's certainly had moments and great finishes. It's worth watching.
4: Whammy! The All-New Press Your Luck
You can destroy a lot of things, but you can't devalue the Random Element. GSM proved it and so did Whammy. It also didn't hurt that everything else wasn't so bad, either. Sure, the budget wasn't that spectacular, but you still had people winning $10,000 regularly, and that's not bad. Sure, it wasn't the old Press Your Luck, but it didn't want to be and it didn't have to be. It was plenty enjoyable and some of the board innovations made it even better.
3: Russian Roulette
Yes, the dangling of a $100,000 carrot helped, but it was still a great game. It had all the emotions: excitement, drama, tension, anger between players, and comedy. This game probably would've freaked me out as a kid, but since I knew better, I realized it was freaking awesome.
2: High Stakes Poker
A common myth in game shows is that celebrities add cred to dying series. A common truth in poker shows is that Doyle Brunson adds cred to an oversaturated genre. Long story short: if Doyle's in it, it has to be good. High Stakes Poker's greatest quality is in its simplicity: players play poker just like you would at home, only the stakes are.....unsurprisingly....high. If you like poker on TV, the only reason you shouldn't be watching this is that you don't have GSN and stealing cable is a crime. Otherwise, watch darn it.
And if you've been following along, you probably know what's coming next--both name AND number.
#1: Lingo
It's the little engine that could churn out over 250 episodes. No other GSN original comes close. Hell, they could've sold the reruns to some other game show channel and it would still probably turn out ratings. Some people have been critical of the game's overnecessity of luck, but there's enough intellect and skill to overwhelm luck when necessary. I honestly think it's not so much luck as it is inevitability, but that's a debate for another time. It's a highly addictive, highly play-at-home, a nice bit of intangibles thrown in, and now that the money has (sort of) gone up, it's even better. It's about a perfect a show that GSN will make and maybe the most perfect game show of the past 5 years period.
That's it. That's the list. I'm sure you disagree, so let's hear it.
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I may not be in the majority on this but I'd rank "Inquizition" ahead of any of the poker/blackjack series. Very eye-catching for a while.
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Chain Reaction and StarFace wouldn't make it on my list. To be honest, I mostly agree with your list, but I'd switch Russian Roulette and Lingo. Lingo has a few more flaws than Russian Roulette, and it's mostly because of the bonus round for me. I absolutely hate that a team of morons who gets one bonus word can win tens of thousands of dollars more than a team who gets 10 words. I personally think it would be a more interesting twist next season if they gave you the bonus jackpot if you get it on your first draw or if you get 10 words in 2 minutes.
Also, I still feel that Stacey is far better than Shandi. From the little I've seen of this past season of Lingo, it seems like Chuck and Shandi get into a gab fest and forget there is a game going on. During offtime, when the game isn't being played, that's just fine. When it's during the playing of a word (which I saw last week), something's wrong. In my mind, the only minor minor minor flaw of Russian Roulette was the way someone was eliminated after time was up. I think that getting rid of the lowest score after time is up each round would have done well, but watching someone drop on random roulette after just surviving 5 drop zones never gets old.
And I'm sorry, but I place Friend or Foe above Cram. It was one of those guilty pleasures for me.
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Inquizition, for the handful of times I saw it, seemed too dull and repetitive. Have you read any reviews of 100%? It's basically the same thing but people just get eliminated.
FoF I thought was way too slow, and you couldn't really claim Kennedy was eye candy because she was behind a podium or the Trust Box for a majority of the show.
I pretty much locked High Stakes Poker at #2 for fear of mutiny, even though it was probably the best non-traditional gaming show GSN has ever made. 1, 3, and 4 all had a chance to be the top, but Lingo won simply on sheer size. Yes, either of the other series could have run for 200+ episodes, but for some reason, good or bad, they haven't. Lingo has, and that does mean something.
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No love for "Trivia Track?" :) Seriously though, the half an episode Jamie had up showed me it wasn't a bad little show. Well, at least with Peter at the helm; I prolly would be less than enthused with one of the GSN ladies hosting.
I loved the first series of WSoBJ. The presentation was stately and subdued and the play was top-notch. The second season had that dinky set at the Nugget, less hands and crappier graphics. Still wasn't horrible, but it was a marked step down. I haven't caught more than 5 seconds of the new series, but no Max Rubin makes me an unhappy camper. I'd love to be proven wrong.
For Alex on Stacey vs. Shandi, I would agree. The big difference between the two is their command of the medium. Stacey, as ditzy as she may have seemed, was a lot more confident and forceful in her role whereas Shandi is very laid back. I just saw a clip of her doing pageant coverage on NBC and it still didn't seem like she was as polished as she could've been. I think it's the thing that hurts her in the Mel vs. Shandi "PlayMania" debate. A friend of mine put it very well when he said Mel is way too concerned with the game than she is having fun with it. Although Mel's better from a technical point of view, I'd watch Shandi's "PlayMania" anyday.
I may post a list later on. My score for "Whammy" just keeps sinking as time goes on, especially now that GSN slotted it next to PYL with first season reruns. Since it's one of the few not represented on your list Joe, what did you think of "WinTuition?"
-Jason
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Mostly agree with your list, Joe. GMTA, I guess. Just a few shuffles and substitutions...
10) Extreme Dodgeball. Okay, not a game show, but the first season was fun before they ran the game into the ground.
9) Playmania. Got trashed here a while back, but it's harmless and varied enough in the gameplay.
8) World Series of Blackjack. Not as funny as the celeb version but better played.
7) High Stakes Poker. More like a real poker game than the usual tournament stuff, even if it's all-pro.
6) Cram. Yeah, it was cheesy and Elwood was cheesy and the set was cheesy. I like cheese.
5) Poker Royale. Funnier than the all-pro show. Except for the duo from hell on the battle-of-the-sexes series, surprisingly good commentary.
4) Inquizition. Pure quizzer. Unbelievably stripped-down and cheap, but I've got a soft spot for quizzers.
3) Celebrity blackjack. Occasionally goofball play but some of the jokes were actually funny.
2) Russian Roulette. Decent quizzer, great exit gimmick, super-competent host.
1) Lingo. Great game, icon host, tremendous play-along value, and now some nice eye candy.
EDIT: Forgot my honorable mentions: Hollywood Showdown, I've Got a Secret, Whammy, Ballbreakers...and since every list needs something offbeat, WinTuition. You ruled out non-trad stuff, but I already broke the rule with the dodgeball show. So I'll toss in Naturally Stoned if they could have de-snarked the narration a little, as they did in the final ep.
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[quote name=\'Joe Mello\' post=\'125104\' date=\'Jul 25 2006, 10:56 AM\']
FoF I thought was way too slow, and you couldn't really claim Kennedy was eye candy because she was behind a podium or the Trust Box for a majority of the show.
[/quote]
FoF didn't suck because it was slow, it sucked because it was horribly BROKEN.
And anyone who would think of Kennedy as eye candy, either behind a podium or no, needs psychiatric help. Period. Eew. Just. Friggin'. Eew.
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This is more for discussion purposes rather than my own inquiry, but what made FoF broken?
I wonder if all the Kennedy leering came because of the women who preceded her on the network. Marianne Curan? That, or everybody forgot the token piece on "Throut and Neck."
I feel dirty just for bringing that show up. Be lucky I didn't mention "DJ Games."
Oops!
-Jason
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[quote name=\'JasonA1\' post=\'125108\' date=\'Jul 25 2006, 11:09 AM\']
This is more for discussion purposes rather than my own inquiry, but what made FoF broken?
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I've said it here about a dozen times. The end was never ever interesting. Either they share the money, and everyone shrugs, someone screws the other guy, or they both get nothing. So 3/4ths of the time you have the show ending on hard feelings, and that other fourth, nobody cares. It was horrible television.
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[quote name=\'JasonA1\' post=\'125108\' date=\'Jul 25 2006, 02:09 PM\']
Be lucky I didn't mention "DJ Games."
[/quote]
Bannination! ;-)
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Hell...I'm hard pressed to come up with 5 GSN original gameshows that weren't horribly broken in some way, so I've thrown in some of their other programs.
1. Russian Roulette
2. Cram
3. I've Got a Secret
4. Hollywood Showdown
5. As Seen On
6. Inquizition
7. Anything to Win
8. Lingo (great game, horrible format).
Most everything else is/was utter crap.
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Suprised nobody mentioned Mall Masters.
Didn't think it was that bad.
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I honestly forgot all about Extreme Dodgeball. There's probably a reason for that. :P And I had never seen Trivia Track enough to give a fair rating.
If Celebrity Blackjack is 11, then Mall Masters is probably 12 or 13. It got points for using the Mall of America but the rest of it was kinda dull.
WinTuition had potential, but I thought it came up a little short. Not enough questions in the front game and too many questions in the end game. We should know by know that 10 answers in 60 seconds is pretty damn hard.
I know people don't like Whammy, but I never really knew why. Maybe it's because I'm more concerned about the gameplay than the people involved. I only make note of people when they're either really really good or really really bad.
Oh, and I like Alex's idea about the bonus game.
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[quote name=\'cmjb13\' post=\'125113\' date=\'Jul 25 2006, 02:53 PM\']
Didn't think it was that bad.
[/quote]
Well, to be honest, it wasn't that good, either.
I mean, yeah, it at least had a game to it unlike DJ Games, but Mall Masters had to be one of the most non-notable, white-bread quizzers GSN has turned out.
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Maybe it's because I'm more concerned about the gameplay than the people involved
They removed most of the "and a spin" spaces from round 2 in season one (or in their eyes, round 3, but...) which would've helped give the gameplay some more drama. That end of things was fixed in season 2, not to mention the Big Bank. Though there were a lot of softball questions missed by the brain trust. Imagine what kind of hell it would've played on the budget if they got some knowledgable people on there!
-Jason
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I disqualified the card-playing shows (the Blackjacks and Pokers of the world) because I don't consider them game shows.
1. LINGO
2. RR
3. INQUIZITION
4. W!
5. HoSho
6. CRAM
7. IGAS
8. WINTUITION
9. FoF
10. PLAYMANIA
Doug -- and the countdown to 2100 continues
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For me (out of the one's I've actually seen):
1. Lingo - simply the best of GSN
2. Hollywood Showdown - a close second
3. Russian Roulette - should have had a longer run
4. Jep - decent kid's version
5. Inquizition - basically because of the good one-liners by the Inquizitor
6. Mall Masters - not half-bad
7. I've Got a Secret - decent revival
8. Whammy - liked it in the beginning, grew tired of it by the end
9. Burt Luddin's Love Buffet - it was cute in the beginning
10. All-New Three's a Crowd - bit better than the original IMHO
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[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' post=\'125260\' date=\'Jul 26 2006, 02:52 PM\']
10. All-New Three's a Crowd - bit better than the original IMHO
[/quote]
Yeah, I know, I didn't include it. I still maintain though that you couldn't go wrong with the announcer. :)
Doug -- and the countdown to 2100 continues
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[quote name=\'SRIV94\' post=\'125263\' date=\'Jul 26 2006, 04:01 PM\']
[quote name=\'Ian Wallis\' post=\'125260\' date=\'Jul 26 2006, 02:52 PM\']
10. All-New Three's a Crowd - bit better than the original IMHO
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Yeah, I know, I didn't include it. I still maintain though that you couldn't go wrong with the announcer. :)
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I was tempted to include Decades, mainly because of the Tomarken factor. I enjoyed watching him on Prime Games back in the day.
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I'm just glad someone finally mentioned Decades. I wasn't contributing to the thread because of my lack of knowledge of many GSN originals, but some of the stuff that was ranked higher . . .
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Awwww. This is SUPPOSED to encourage discussion because you know what I say is terribly wrong.
I disqualified the card-playing shows (the Blackjacks and Pokers of the world) because I don't consider them game shows.
Then you missed what I said at the start. This is the Top 10 Originals. I purposely allowed the list to include card games because (slightly off-topic) you can't ignore their impact, especially to GSN. I wanted to exclude Anything to Win and such because they weren't games.
I would like someone to try and defend the early shows. I never saw them and just thought that they were all crap as per popular opinion.
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The impact of the casino shows for me is to turn off GSN. Trading a loyal audience for a fickle one is short-term thinking in my view.
As far as the early call-in shows, they were okay. I got the channel when Marianne Curan was doing most of them, and they were sorta like today's "Playmania" in that the personality of the host determines the watchability. If you like the host, you'd like the show.
Two of the original shows that I would actually sit down and watch were "Russian Roulette" and "Lingo," the others were just background noise to me. Looking forward to CR and Star Face.
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[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' post=\'125336\' date=\'Jul 27 2006, 07:41 AM\']
The impact of the casino shows for me is to turn off GSN. Trading a loyal audience for a fickle one is short-term thinking in my view.
[/quote]
Yeah, but the entire television industry is based around short-term thinking. That's not going to change.
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[quote name=\'Joe Mello\' post=\'125302\' date=\'Jul 26 2006, 10:25 PM\']
Then you missed what I said at the start. This is the Top 10 Originals. I purposely allowed the list to include card games because (slightly off-topic) you can't ignore their impact, especially to GSN. I wanted to exclude Anything to Win and such because they weren't games.
[/quote]
I didn't miss what you said. You opted to exclude non-games, I opted to exclude non-game shows. Blackjack and Poker-type shows to me are not game shows and thus don't belong on GSN, but rather on the ESPNs, FSNs and weekend network packages of the world. Same goes for BALLBREAKERS--competitive pool is not a game show. Impact doesn't matter to me (and actually, judging by GSN's ratings, their impact on GSN has been minimal at best). As far as I'm concerned, GSN's top originals are shows that are actually, well, game shows. And I did struggle to put the list together, as there are flaws with a lot of the shows I included.
Disclaimer--I didn't get GSN until 1998, so I missed Tomarken's run on DECADES (by the time I got there Marianne Curan had taken over and the show was retitled SUPER DECADES). And I never saw CLUB A.M., but I'd imagine there were game elements there, yes?
Doug -- and the countdown to 2100 continues
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The casino shows on GSN are like having a motorcycle building show on H&G. Yeah, you'd hope to capture the success of "American Chopper", and it revolves around the do-it-yourselfer, but would the woman who just watched a show on redecorating her home stick around? Would those who like the show find it on H&G?
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[quote name=\'Joe Mello\' post=\'125302\' date=\'Jul 26 2006, 10:25 PM\']
I would like someone to try and defend the early shows. I never saw them and just thought that they were all crap as per popular opinion.
[/quote]
So you've never seen them, but dump on them just the same?
How fair.
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[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' post=\'125336\' date=\'Jul 27 2006, 10:41 AM\']
The impact of the casino shows for me is to turn off GSN. Trading a loyal audience for a fickle one is short-term thinking in my view. [/quote]
The casino shows have proven to be a consistent success for GSN since they first started airing them (albeit not enough to get the network in the black), and I don't think the casino craze as a whole is going anywhere anytime soon. I don't watch the casino shows much, but at least they're a heck of a lot better than crap like Fake-a-Date and Vegas Weddings Unveiled.
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Here's my top 10 along with comments. Of course all of these are within the last few years because I've had GSN for...sheesh, just shy of 5 years now.
1) Russian Roulette - Best and well oiled machine GSN has ever created. Great game, set, host, announcer, music, drama, EVERYTHING!
2) Hollywood Showdown - Great Jackpot!-esque elements with Hollywood trivia and Todd Newton...should have lasted longer.
3) Lingo - Longest running original...what are we at over 200 some odd episodes in the can? Nothing like Chuck and his red balls, wait a minute...
4) World Series of Blackjack (The Vasgersian/Rubin seasons) - I'm a Vasgersian mark, sue me. I thought he and Max Rubin made a great hosting duo and made the action come alive, unlike John "just call me Ted McGinley" Fugelsang.
5) Whammy! - Season 2 was fine...Todd on Jolt cola we could have done without.
6) High Stakes Poker - AJ and Gabe get to me, but hey poker legends in one room betting their own bucks, not bad.
7) I've Got a Secret - Would have ranked higher except for the fact that Bil Dwyer, as much as I like him, still comes off like he's acting in the role of "stereotypical game show host" as opposed to actually being himself.
8) Ballbreakers - Underrated in my view. Fairly entertaining.
9) Cram - A bit cheesy, but Graham Elwood wasn't bad at all...and Icey, wherefore art thou Icey?!?
10) WinTuition - Not Marc Summers' best adult oriented game show. Decent enough idea, but some execution flaws were present.
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[quote name=\'Modor\' post=\'125341\' date=\'Jul 27 2006, 11:44 AM\']
[quote name=\'Joe Mello\' post=\'125302\' date=\'Jul 26 2006, 10:25 PM\']
I would like someone to try and defend the early shows. I never saw them and just thought that they were all crap as per popular opinion.
[/quote]
So you've never seen them, but dump on them just the same?
How fair.
[/quote]
I fail to see the part of that where you prove me wrong. Since I haven't seen any of the old originals, I have to go on other people's opinions. The consensus is that they're pretty bad and so they are off the list. There's plenty of other originals out that didn't make it, too.
Considering casino games shouldn't even "belong" on the sports networks, people really don't have an arguement there other than for being purists. Expanding a network's programming is almost always a good thing. However, the main fault of the new GSN early on was that the scale was too far towards their new acquisitions. Now that a better balance has been maintained, with a renewed focus on developing traditional game shows, there's not much of a reason to complain.
If you want to blame someone, blame Madison Avenue for continuing to perpetuate the myth that Men 18-34 are the most important demographic.
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[quote name=\'Joe Mello\' post=\'125355\' date=\'Jul 27 2006, 12:58 PM\']
[quote name=\'Modor\' post=\'125341\' date=\'Jul 27 2006, 11:44 AM\']
[quote name=\'Joe Mello\' post=\'125302\' date=\'Jul 26 2006, 10:25 PM\']
I would like someone to try and defend the early shows. I never saw them and just thought that they were all crap as per popular opinion.
[/quote]
So you've never seen them, but dump on them just the same?
How fair.
[/quote]
I fail to see the part of that where you prove me wrong. Since I haven't seen any of the old originals, I have to go on other people's opinions. The consensus is that they're pretty bad and so they are off the list. There's plenty of other originals out that didn't make it, too.
[/quote]
Well, you've certainly proven to be a lemming who trusts what other people think , believing it to be fact..l.
Maybe you should just continue that theory by posting less and reading more.
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[quote name=\'Joe Mello\' post=\'125355\' date=\'Jul 27 2006, 11:58 AM\']
I fail to see the part of that where you prove me wrong. Since I haven't seen any of the old originals, I
have to go on other people's opinions. The consensus is that they're pretty bad and so they are off the list. There's plenty of other originals out that didn't make it, too.
[/quote]
You don't "have" to do anything. You chose to go by other people's opinions, as opposed to making an independent assessment by yourself; which makes your opinion worth very little.
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[quote name=\'Joe Mello\' post=\'125355\' date=\'Jul 27 2006, 11:58 AM\']
Considering casino games shouldn't even "belong" on the sports networks, people really don't have an arguement there other than for being purists. Expanding a network's programming is almost always a good thing. However, the main fault of the new GSN early on was that the scale was too far towards their new acquisitions. Now that a better balance has been maintained, with a renewed focus on developing traditional game shows, there's not much of a reason to complain.
[/quote]
I agree with that, although I do think the casino shows have more of a place on ESPN than they do on GSN. It's not pure sports, but many of us tend to lump gambling-related activities with sports (some game shows straddle the line in that regard too).
Doug -- and the countdown to 2100 continues
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[quote name=\'Joe Mello\' post=\'125355\' date=\'Jul 27 2006, 12:58 PM\']
If you want to blame someone, blame Madison Avenue for continuing to perpetuate the myth that Men 18-34 are the most important demographic.
[/quote]
I don't think Mad Ave is saying that. Women generally make the buying decisions in a household, so it would be more important to reach women. I guess what it comes down to is that some shows on GSN are incompatible with others so it becomes unsatisfactory for all viewers.
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Well, it's actually all of 18-34, but more men than women.
http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&lr...+of+18+to+34%22 (http://\"http://scholar.google.com/scholar?hl=en&lr=&q=cache:7RROpYNRgQAJ:www.public.iastate.edu/~sjwong/articles/myth_18_34.pdf+%22The+Myth+of+18+to+34%22\") Interestng read, I'd have had a better link if I was on campus, but this works.
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[quote name=\'SRIV94\' post=\'125339\' date=\'Jul 27 2006, 08:00 AM\']Same goes for BALLBREAKERS--competitive pool is not a game show. [/quote]True that, but there's more to "Ballbreakers" than just playing pool. They built a show around it, with the money, the lights, the side betting...I would say that's enough to qualify. For that matter, of the six or seven episodes that I saw, all but one of them were interesting television.
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Agree that Ballbreakers was a decent show, a lot more entertaining than anything ESPN has ever done with the game. So why did it bomb? The dreadlocks? Too many rules? Pool just ain't as popular as it used to be? Off-putting, trying-too-hard-to-be-hip name?
Dunno. But the show deserved a better fate.
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I never thought the day that I agreed with Casey would come. To me, BallBreakers is the best new show GSN has put on since the switch. I think this show would have survived longer if it came out a year before it did, like it was suppose to. I don't know the original title, but I know the prize was suppose to be $100,000. Also to me, this was easily a game show. It looked, felt, played, and acted like one. It had a ton of skill, more than most, which I admired, and took a great sense of intelligence and betting.
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[quote name=\'itiparanoid13\' post=\'125746\' date=\'Jul 31 2006, 06:31 AM\']
Also to me, this was easily a game show. It looked, felt, played, and acted like one. It had a ton of skill, more than most, which I admired, and took a great sense of intelligence and betting.
[/quote]
No argument here. They threw in enough game-showy twists that I would consider this more of one than I would the casino contests.
(Really, it's more of a hybrid. But it's close enough.)
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[quote name=\'clemon79\' post=\'125751\' date=\'Jul 31 2006, 09:23 AM\']
[quote name=\'itiparanoid13\' post=\'125746\' date=\'Jul 31 2006, 06:31 AM\']
Also to me, this was easily a game show. It looked, felt, played, and acted like one. It had a ton of skill, more than most, which I admired, and took a great sense of intelligence and betting.
[/quote]
No argument here. They threw in enough game-showy twists that I would consider this more of one than I would the casino contests.
(Really, it's more of a hybrid. But it's close enough.)
[/quote]
In that case, I concede. Hey, I've been wrong before. . .
Doug
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[quote name=\'CaseyAbell\' post=\'125742\' date=\'Jul 31 2006, 09:02 AM\']
Agree that Ballbreakers was a decent show, a lot more entertaining than anything ESPN has ever done with the game. So why did it bomb? The dreadlocks? Too many rules? Pool just ain't as popular as it used to be? Off-putting, trying-too-hard-to-be-hip name?
Dunno. But the show deserved a better fate.
[/quote]
I think it was the timing (as Alex noted) and maybe just Sal's association with the X Games putting off some of the more straight-laced Nielsen families. If the latter is true, it really isn't fair, because I thought he was one of the best hosts of the year.
Pool may not be popular but BallBreakers was more dramatic than normal pool. More dramatic than Trick Shot Pool? Not sure, but definitely better than normal pool.
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I never thought the day that I agreed with Casey would come.
The day came earlier in this thread, when you mostly agreed with Joe's list, just as I did. I admit I rate Lingo a touch higher than Russian Roulette, but it's close. I like both shows and wish RR was still doing new episodes.
As for Ballbreakers flopping, I still can't figure. Maybe it's just that most people aren't interested in pool anymore. Or at least they're not interested in watching it.
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I think it was the timing (as Alex noted) and maybe just Sal's association with the X Games putting off some of the more straight-laced Nielsen families. If the latter is true, it really isn't fair, because I thought he was one of the best hosts of the year.
I know I've tuned into various portions of the X Games (and wish they would bring back the downhill lay-on-your-back skateboard racing), but the first time I heard the name Sal Masekela was on BallBreakers.
It was an interesting show, that didn't really seem broken to me, which alone is enough to vault far up my listings.
1) Russian Roulette: Two words: Maria Lay. Well, that plus Walberg jumping in the hole at the end of the models' show.
2) Hollywood Showdown: ...was this Todd Newton's first game show?
3) Extreme Dodgeball: I put this up here almost exclusively on the strength(read: amusement) of the announce team. Plus it's fun to watch. Prefer the first format.
4) Lingo: Maybe it's just me, but I think this show moves like molasses. I usually filter out everything but the bonus round.
5) WSoBJ: +5 Insightful into the strategy of blackjack.
6) Celebrity Blackjack: The little twists they threw in made it interesting regardless of who was playing.
7) Ballbreakers: Lots of things going on, and the lively side betting was a plus.
8) Inquizition: ...is there any other game show in the last decade that's asked nearly as many questions as Jeopardy per show? [INQUIZITOR FOR DOND BANKER 2006-2007]
9) Whammy!: Pales in comparison to the source material, but there were a few exciting games.
10) Anything to Win: I was surprised to find myself drawn to pretty much every story they talked about.
Honorable mention to GSN's IGAS. I'm one of those "lucky" folks on Time Warner who lost GSN (and I haven't got it back) before this show premiered, but every clip I've seen of it has been a riot.
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I will disagree with your top 10 with my own top 3:
3. Hollywood Showdown
2. Lingo
1. Russian Roulette
The card games do nothing for me so I can not honestly comment on them as a show. As far as pure GSN Game Show originals go, my favorite is Russian Roulette.
Tim :-)
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Here's my list of top 10 favorites:
10) Russian Roulette
9) Friend or Foe
8) Jep!
7) Cram
6) Starface
5) Mall Masters at Mall of America
4) Faux Pause
3) I've Got a Secret
2) Hollywood Showdown
1) Chain Reaction
I loved the old version of Chain, and I think the new one is awesome. Contrary to what others think, I also think Dylan is an awesome pick for the show.
Adam
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There aren't ten I like, so I'll offer three..........
1.) Hollywood Showdown---why was this discontinued?
2.) Whammy!--why was this discontinued?
3.) Lingo--will the sixth series of shows begin this December? Or next April? Or in 2009?
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10)Whammy
9) Cram
8) Jep
7) Starface
6) Chain Reaction
5) I've Got a Secret '06
4) Russian Roulette
3) Hollywood Showdown
2) Chain Reaction
1) Lingo