Just finished watching the sneak preview NBC.com provided of “Hollywood Game Night”. The series debuts Thursday night on your local NBC affil. After viewing just the opening seconds of the online clip – it was hard not to think of “Win, Lose or Draw”.
The original WLoD series, as many of you will recall, was based on a game played in Burt Reynolds\' home. Originally your basic charades/pantomime game, Fred Astaire preferred to draw images of several soldiers to convey “The Charge of the Light Brigade” to his teammates. Not long after that, Reynolds discussed this with Bert Convy and production on WLoD commenced later.
As for HGN, as the aforementioned online sneak peek notes, it’s based on *several* games played at Sean Hayes’ home. Heck, even the set for HGN “borrows” at least one concept from WLoD (civilian player and his/her celebrity teammates on a couch, for example). As for the games within HGN, I’m particularly interested in “Take A Hint” – where each celebrity gives a one-word clue to their civilian. It’s certainly “Password-esque”.
Overall, HGN looks like tons of fun with tremendous star power. I should disclose I work at an NBC station. Even if that were not the case, I wish this series debuted tonight. But HGN will be worth waiting a few more days.
The original WLoD lasted three seasons in syndication – with two out of the three, concurrently, on NBC’s daytime schedule. I wish HGN a happier, longer life.
In a related matter, Jane Lynch gives a nod to classic titles we all know, including WLoD, in this Hollywood Reporter article: http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/live-feed/jane-lynch-glee-hollywood-game-night-578711
I watched the preview clip posted a month or so ago...it seems like a fun game, but the thing I picked up from the clip was that this show is more about the celebrities and/or their projects, not so much the contestant winning. I want to give it a shot, but I\'m going to be turned off if it\'s all about pimping (insert whatever NBC show), and very little focus on everyday people winning some bank.
It\'s gonna be one of those shows that has too much game for non-game show fans and not enough game for game show fans. In short, no one will be satisfied. Sorta like \"The Marriage Ref.\"
No, \"The Marriage Ref\" just sucked.
I watched the preview clip posted a month or so ago...it seems like a fun game, but the thing I picked up from the clip was that this show is more about the celebrities and/or their projects, not so much the contestant winning. I want to give it a shot, but I\'m going to be turned off if it\'s all about pimping (insert whatever NBC show), and very little focus on everyday people winning some bank.
As long as they can the pimping to a minimum, I\'ll be OK with it.
Also, in a promo, I caught a glimpse of a \"Before & After-esque\" game with celebrities\' proper names (\"Maya Rudolph Valentino\" for example; likely not *their* example).
It\'s ironic that The Disney Channel is working on a revival of WLOD
It\'s ironic that The Disney Channel is working on a revival of WLOD
no , it\'s coincidental.
/ironic is 10,000 spoons when all you need is a knife.
After watching the trailer a month or to ago, I wasn\'t excited, but now I am somehow.
/ironic is calm down
No, \"The Marriage Ref\" just sucked.
It existed for one reason and one reason only...the host clearly enjoyed hearing himself say,
\"My name is Tom PAPA!!\"
JakeT
I\'m kinda torn...if it were a daytime or syndicated late night show*, $25,000 would be fine. With them playing light-hearted party games, it works, but I also wouldn\'t scoff at say, $50K, given it\'s a weekly primetime show. $50K at most, given that $25K in 1975 is worth six-figures today...
*I could also see this working in Poker After Dark\'s former slot...
My quick takes without spoiling...
\\ Jane Lynch is a riot. She kept the show moving while having fun with the civilians and celebs alike. The number of times I\'ve watched \"Glee\" I can count on one hand -- but I know enough of it to realize Lynch\'s character on that show is a major player.
\\ \"Take A Hint\", from my vantage point, plays a little closer to the old Goodson-Todman show \"Get The Message\" that it does \"Password\".
\\ Overall, an enjoyable way to spend an hour. It was pleasantly surprising to see \"#GameNight\" as a trending topic on Twitter.
\\ The only gripe I\'d have echoes something BrandonFG brought up: A potential $25K for a nighttime show is awfully low. In a rather light-hearted game such as HGN, you shouldn\'t play the endgame for millions of dollars -- but playing for up to $50K seems seems more like. Not life-changing money -- but make a difference money. Playing for dollars instead of points in the main game might help if a second season is ever in the works (and I have a reasonably good feeling about a second season -- or maybe even a second life in syndication or late night).
Doug\'s rating on HGN...
A E I O ½
(insert four WoF bells here)
...four and a half vowels out of a possible five.
Martin Short was a bit of a ham, but doesn\'t every celeb game show have one of those?
Not one who throws the game over his shoulder in the name of being an attention whore, no.
Martin Short was a bit of a ham, but doesn\'t every celeb game show have one of those?
Not one who throws the game over his shoulder in the name of being an attention whore, no.
This. Martin was not only a ham, he was the whole entire pig. Even during the crucial final round, he was doing his shtick.
Even during the crucial final round
Oh, and let me rant on this a little bit, because there\'s \"crucial\" and then there\'s \"why the hell did I give a crap about what just happened over the last forty-five minutes?\" I know you need a catch-up mechanism \'cuz it\'s a game show. I get that. But going from one point per right answer to FIVE? That\'s Family Secrets-bad.
Right. The whole thing\'s a flimsy charade of a game based around watching celebrities be wacky. And there\'s nothing wrong with that, at all, but some want MORE money to be on the line when an doof like Short and a broken scoring system can decide the winner? Heck, I\'d cap it at $10 grand.
Jane Lynch is great at running the show\'s she\'s been given, which is no surprise. She\'s a huge talent. I suffered through two years of Glee just to watch her.
/Vaguely-related Opinion: Martin Short is also to blame for the only bad episode of the original \"Arrested Development\"
On SCTV 30 years ago, Martin Short would have been a riot doing Martin Short playing the Password-like game last night. But I liked him for the most part.
$25,000 seems just right to me, but it sounded odd then to say Willow\'s charity could only win $10,000. If they\'re essentially splitting money, they should split it evenly.
It\'s a nice show. I wish the games were more intriguing, but I won\'t hold my breath. If it does well, maybe they could spend an extra hundred for a less crummy band.
If it does well, maybe they could spend an extra hundred for a less crummy band.
I am sure the house band, much like Coolio...was available.
Despite its faults, it was an enjoyable hour. A $25,000 top prize is just right for that - it\'s refreshing to see them not trying to push a million-dollar prize. I think a million dollars has been floated around on these game shows too often in the past dozen years or so. WWTBAM did it best and it probably should have been left at that.
In fact, I wouldn\'t even mind seeing these so-called \"reality\" shows like Amazing Race or Survivor drop the prizes a bit - I always thought a million was too much for those shows.
Oh well, to each his own...
You\'ll note that we\'re not advocating for a seven-figure top prize; just something more than $25,000 (and when your take-home for a bonus round loss is a third of the jackpot, that\'s not awesome either.)Despite its faults, it was an enjoyable hour. A $25,000 top prize is just right for that - it\'s refreshing to see them not trying to push a million-dollar prize. I think a million dollars has been floated around on these game shows too often in the past dozen years or so. WWTBAM did it best and it probably should have been left at that.
Solitary was for $50,000. In Australia TAR is contested for $250,000, as is Beauty and the Geek which is still rolling. I think the fact that the Big Three shows offer enormous stakes makes the games therein that much more interesting.In fact, I wouldn\'t even mind seeing these so-called \"reality\" shows like Amazing Race or Survivor drop the prizes a bit - I always thought a million was too much for those shows.
It was a fun show to watch, but I\'m not declaring anything as \" ______ Of The Century\", considering we\'re only 1/8 of the way into this century.