The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: chad1m on May 12, 2010, 01:55:01 PM
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We at About.com Game Shows (http://\"http://gameshows.about.com/b/2010/05/12/trust-me-im-a-game-show-host-pilot-details.htm\") got details on the ABC pilot Trust Me... I'm a Game Show Host which taped yesterday. Here's the lowdown:
The game starts with around one hundred people. Several statements are posed (a mixture of trivia questions, did-you-know facts and Ripley's Believe it or Not! type stuff) and the two hosts give their answers. The contestants choose which host they trust by standing on one side of the stage or the other. If they select correctly they continue but an incorrect alignment gets them eliminated from the game. Sometimes the eliminations can have an embarrassing or fun quality to them: for instance, in one round, those eliminated were given a stink bomb after incorrectly answering a question about smell. The process continues until the pool of contestants is whittled down to seven remaining.
When the seven are left, the hosts will offer the contestants a prize to walk away. One host says it's worth a fortune while the other says it is worth very little. The contestants can either choose to walk away and trust the host saying the prize is worth a lot or they can forfeit the prize and remain in the game. The first contestant to buzz in eliminates themselves but gets the prize, valuable or not.
After the temptation, the questions continue in a similar fashion until there is only one contestant remaining. The last person standing wins $25,000 and gets to try for another $25,000. In the bonus round, if the contestant can identify three true facts out of five pairs, their total is augmented to $50,000. The first $25,000 is not put at risk, so if they lose the bonus round they still keep the original total.
It sounds pretty bland in my opinion, but hey. Stranger things have been greenlit.
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Sounds like a rip-off of "Runaround."
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[quote name=\'chad1m\' post=\'240739\' date=\'May 12 2010, 12:55 PM\']We at About.com Game Shows (http://\"http://gameshows.about.com/b/2010/05/12/trust-me-im-a-game-show-host-pilot-details.htm\") got details on the ABC pilot Trust Me... I'm a Game Show Host which taped yesterday. ... It sounds pretty bland in my opinion, but hey. Stranger things have been greenlit.[/quote]
It sounds like it could actually be a lot of fun, with the right hosts. I wonder who worked the pilot?
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[quote name=\'geno57\' post=\'240791\' date=\'May 13 2010, 01:58 AM\']I wonder who worked the pilot?[/quote]Bill Engvall and Mo Rocca.
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I could see Engvall handing out a certain trinket to the losers -- "Here's your sign."
[quote name=\'chad1m\' post=\'240739\' date=\'May 12 2010, 01:55 PM\']The last person standing wins $25,000 and gets to try for another $25,000. In the bonus round, if the contestant can identify three true facts out of five pairs, their total is augmented to $50,000. The first $25,000 is not put at risk, so if they lose the bonus round they still keep the original total.[/quote]
Only $50,000? In an era of, if you're in primetime and not touting mid-six-digit and up prizes, you're looked at as being on the cheap? The game is fine, despite it being from the guy who may or may not have been directly involved in rigging Our Little Genius.
Thinking about it, this could be similar to what Barry-Enright did with Concentration -- the low-ball prizes may be the point, to not arouse any suspicions of rigging.
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[quote name=\'Dan88\' post=\'240807\' date=\'May 13 2010, 12:06 PM\']But, thinking about it, this could be similar to what Barry-Enright did with Concentration -- the low-ball prizes may be the point, to not arouse any suspicions of rigging.[/quote]
Just because they rigged one show doesn't necessarily mean they're gonna rig another. To quote Benny Hill and Felix Unger, you should never assume, because when you assume, you make an ASS out of U and ME.
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[quote name=\'Dan88\' post=\'240807\' date=\'May 13 2010, 12:06 PM\']Only $50,000? In an era of, if you're not touting mid-six-digit and up prizes, you won't last too long? The game is fine, despite it being from the guy who may or may not have been directly involved in rigging Our Little Genius, but I think it's a bit too cheap for primetime.[/quote]
You're joking right?
-Singing Bee offered half that and I enjoyed it just fine.
-Wipeout offers the same amount and it's one the more successful summer shows in recent years.
I'm glad to see some game shows offer reasonable money for normal tasks, instead of a million dollars here and there.
Remember Show Me the Money? The show where some woman won $600,000+ for answering high-second-tier Millionaire questions? All that money to cover up a weak game...and the show still sucked. If the show is even half-competently produced, I can watch whether it gives away $500 or $50,000 (see Cab, Cash).
/And if you are joking, disregard everthing I said
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[quote name=\'Dan88\' post=\'240807\' date=\'May 13 2010, 11:06 AM\']Only $50,000?[/quote]You're just like the dinks who play at the casino I work at, get a $10 blackjack and whine about "only" winning $15; whereas, if they had matched their bet from the hand before, they'd win $22.50.
In an era of, if you're not touting mid-six-digit and up prizes, you won't last too long?
Cash Cab. TPiR. LMaD. They all seem to be doing fine, don't they? but I think it's a bit too cheap for primetime.
Of course you do.
But, thinking about it, this could be similar to what Barry-Enright did with Concentration -- the low-ball prizes may be the point, to not arouse any suspicions of rigging.
You're joking, right?
/probably not.
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[quote name=\'fostergray82\' post=\'240818\' date=\'May 13 2010, 02:53 PM\']/And if you are joking, disregard everthing I said[/quote]
I was joking. I know full-well that if a show has a good game and is well-produced, the prize budget is not really a problem (and no, the Crosswords-Temptation Hour doesn't count).
[quote name=\'Modor\' post=\'240821\' date=\'May 13 2010, 03:37 PM\']In an era of, if you're not touting mid-six-digit and up prizes, you won't last too long?
Cash Cab. TPiR. LMaD. They all seem to be doing fine, don't they?[/quote]
I was thinking about primetime shows, actually. Should have clarified that.
[quote name=\'Modor\' post=\'240821\' date=\'May 13 2010, 03:37 PM\']But, thinking about it, this could be similar to what Barry-Enright did with Concentration -- the low-ball prizes may be the point, to not arouse any suspicions of rigging.
You're joking, right?
/probably not.[/quote]
My theory was, this is Mark Burnett we're talking about -- a man who, whether he knew it or not, created a show which apparently had some rigging involved -- so he wants to make a lower-budget show that doesn't quickly give itself to having cries of "rigged". Our Little Genius had a $1,000,000 top prize, IIRC, but this show has a top prize of "just" $50,000.
I compared it to Barry-Enright and Concentration because, compared to the company's other games, Concentration was pretty freakin' low on the prize scale.
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Wait, what does B&E have to do with Concentration?
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[quote name=\'Joe Mello\' post=\'240834\' date=\'May 13 2010, 08:46 PM\']Wait, what does B&E have to do with Concentration?[/quote]
It was originally a Barry & Enright show.
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[quote name=\'Dan88\' post=\'240807\' date=\'May 13 2010, 11:06 AM\']Only $50,000? In an era of, if you're not touting mid-six-digit and up prizes, you won't last too long?[/quote]
ABC's Wipeout would like to have a word with you.
Quite frankly, I think the payout scale - while a cool million is nice - reminds me of how pinball scores were exponential at a time and then went back down. I'm not against it; I'm not necessarily sure you need it.
/Here's your sign
//I thought Skunk Boy did decent on Millionaire
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[quote name=\'TeppanYaki\' post=\'240836\' date=\'May 13 2010, 05:51 PM\']Quite frankly, I think the payout scale - while a cool million is nice - reminds me of how pinball scores were exponential at a time and then went back down. I'm not against it; I'm not necessarily sure you need it.[/quote]That's really a brilliant analogy. I realize that you can't compare one score to another, but when you say "ha, I scored 48 billion on Devil's Advocate, so I roxxor!" well, what does that mean unless everyone has played that game? When I saw that the NBA Pinball game had a score that was close to that of an actual NBA game, I was floored, and I wanted to play more than if it was one with a shitton of insignificant zeroes.
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[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' post=\'240835\' date=\'May 13 2010, 08:51 PM\'][quote name=\'Joe Mello\' post=\'240834\' date=\'May 13 2010, 08:46 PM\']Wait, what does B&E have to do with Concentration?[/quote]
It was originally a Barry & Enright show.[/quote]
Huh. I did not know that.
[quote name=\'TeppanYaki\' post=\'240836\' date=\'May 13 2010, 08:51 PM\'][quote name=\'Dan88\' post=\'240807\' date=\'May 13 2010, 11:06 AM\']Only $50,000? In an era of, if you're not touting mid-six-digit and up prizes, you won't last too long?[/quote]
ABC's Wipeout would like to have a word with you.[/quote]
It'll have to wait in line until The Singing Bee gets its turn.
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[quote name=\'Joe Mello\' post=\'240839\' date=\'May 13 2010, 09:05 PM\']It'll have to wait in line until The Singing Bee gets its turn.[/quote]
Dan's point did seem to be that a prime time show couldn't be successful without a ginormous prize. Wipeout is an excellent example to refute that argument. In terms of success, I don't know that you could say the same about The Singing Bee.
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[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'240843\' date=\'May 13 2010, 06:49 PM\']In terms of success, I don't know that you could say the same about The Singing Bee.[/quote]Just because I'm here, I would say that if you were to stack up Singing Bee against ...the Lyrics, I would go with the show with 1/20th the top prize of the other, in terms of how fun the game was. That it was unsuccessful says more about the American television viewing public. :)
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[quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'240843\' date=\'May 13 2010, 09:49 PM\'][quote name=\'Joe Mello\' post=\'240839\' date=\'May 13 2010, 09:05 PM\']It'll have to wait in line until The Singing Bee gets its turn.[/quote]Dan's point did seem to be that a prime time show couldn't be successful without a ginormous prize. Wipeout is an excellent example to refute that argument. In terms of success, I don't know that you could say the same about The Singing Bee.[/quote]
Not really, Matt. For one, Wipeout airs in the Summer, when viewing figures are generally lower. Besides that, the point of that show seems to be "Laughing At People Getting Hurt".
As for my "point" that a primetime show would not last long without a six-figure prize, that was part-sarcasm. If the game is good/fun, the prize budget should not matter...unless the game is crazy-cheap (You're going home our champion with $500!) and/or the difficulty is higher than the prize (e.g., I'm not spending X amount of time solving genius-level mental puzzles of varying sorts for a mere $1,200); the difficulty is high, so the prize should be high. I'm not talking about You Can't Win-level difficulty, because then they could offer Fort Knox and not worry about actually having to give it away.
As for easy games offering big money...well, I'm not complaining unless they spend too much freakin' time (such as two hours) on a single contestant.
/Thinks his mother should have been paid for watching nearly every episode of The Crosswords-Temptation Hour.
//...Crap that she freely, and happily, watched.
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[quote name=\'Dan88\' post=\'240862\' date=\'May 14 2010, 11:12 AM\'][quote name=\'Matt Ottinger\' post=\'240843\' date=\'May 13 2010, 09:49 PM\'][quote name=\'Joe Mello\' post=\'240839\' date=\'May 13 2010, 09:05 PM\']It'll have to wait in line until The Singing Bee gets its turn.[/quote]Dan's point did seem to be that a prime time show couldn't be successful without a ginormous prize. Wipeout is an excellent example to refute that argument. In terms of success, I don't know that you could say the same about The Singing Bee.[/quote]
Not really, Matt. For one, Wipeout airs in the Summer, when viewing figures are generally lower. Besides that, the point of that show seems to be "Laughing At People Getting Hurt".
[/quote]
ABC keeps bringing the show back, and it starts its third season next month. I would call that a success, esp. when you consider how many other summer shows have not made it to the following summer ("Wanna Bet?" comes to mind).
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[quote name=\'Dan88\' post=\'240862\' date=\'May 14 2010, 10:12 AM\']Besides that, the point of that show seems to be "Laughing At People Getting Hurt".[/quote]
CarShark, is that you?
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[quote name=\'Dan88\' post=\'240862\' date=\'May 14 2010, 10:12 AM\']Not really, Matt. For one, Wipeout airs in the Summer, when viewing figures are generally lower. Besides that, the point of that show seems to be "Laughing At People Getting Hurt".[/quote]
Generally, yes, the HUT is lower - but tell me why, Dan, are network programmers putting first-run shows on? They don't treat the year like it's completely a 3.5-book race (the half IMO is July) anymore.
For your second sentence, The Weakest Link and America's Funniest Home Videos would like to have words with you. Quite frankly, if you'd stop yourself this wouldn't become an Airplane!-like slapping line.
As for my "point" that a prime time show would not last long without a six-figure prize, that was partly sarcasm.
Either my sarcasm detector needs to go to Pep Boys or you don't know how sarcasm works. Want to defend this, then?
but I think it's a bit too cheap for primetime.
So you're "sarcastic" about shows not lasting long without a six-figure prize but now Trust Me is a bit too cheap? Pick a lane and go with it. You've done this before; my wish is you'd learn from your mistakes because this will keep on being pointed out until you do.
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[quote name=\'J.R.\' post=\'240884\' date=\'May 14 2010, 02:39 PM\'][quote name=\'Dan88\' post=\'240862\' date=\'May 14 2010, 10:12 AM\']Besides that, the point of that show seems to be "Laughing At People Getting Hurt".[/quote]CarShark, is that you?[/quote]Except he's kinda sorta right. We're not really watching Wipeout caring overmuch about who wins the $50,000; we want to see people taking a header off the big balls and so on. The show plays this up, because they know what people want. By the time the competition has reached the Wipeout Zone, the hosts cut out the poking of fun and call the contest straight, and this is accompanied by the fire bits and the tense music. But we came for people falling into mud and stuff.
[quote name=\'chad1m\' post=\'240739\' date=\'May 12 2010, 10:55 AM\']It sounds pretty bland in my opinion, but hey. Stranger things have been greenlit.[/quote]I don't think the problem is that the game is bland, after all, we'll see what the questions and stuff are if it makes it to series. I'm not keen on the idea of Double-or-Not Double in the bonus round when the player already has $25,000 in pocket. I fondly remember the days when a champion had less than a thousand dollars in hand before getting to the bonus game du jour. "Aw, you didn't win the extra $25,000" doesn't really pack that much of a punch.
[quote name=\'Jimmy Owen\' post=\'240741\' date=\'May 12 2010, 11:11 AM\']Sounds like a rip-off of "Runaround."[/quote]This just goes to show what generations we're from, but I had Better Sex/Ultra Quiz/Singled Out/That Dopey Green Network Game Show thing on my card.
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[quote name=\'TLEberle\' post=\'240894\' date=\'May 14 2010, 08:28 PM\']This just goes to show what generations we're from, but I had Better Sex/Ultra Quiz/Singled Out/That Dopey Green Network Game Show thing on my card.[/quote]
THIS. Was thinking whether or not we'll see giant Xs and Os to split the people up. And thanks for the compliment on the pinball idea. Of course, it's the pin that had a wizard mode that resembled Beat the Devil that had scores in the BILLIONS as a norm.
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[quote name=\'chad1m\' post=\'240739\' date=\'May 12 2010, 01:55 PM\']Stranger things have been greenlit.[/quote]
Yeah....GSN let that million dollar cat game show on the air, and still no Million Dollar Pyramid...Hmmm. Thanks, Chad.
(PS: Back after a long sabbatical. Since one of the head mods asked politely, I'll try not to mention my MDA work at all, even in "Behind The Scenes" - wouldn't want to veer things off-topic. Frankly, I'm mildly surprised I wasn't banned and that no one complained, since 99% of other message boards will ban you for what I did.)