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You've just been appointed head of NBC daytime. The president of NBC knocks on your door; and tells you they are cancelling the final hour of "Today". They want two game shows in its place.
What do you revive?
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The Original Card Sharks And Super Password
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[quote name=\'Dsmith\' date=\'Dec 22 2004, 10:16 AM\']You've just been appointed head of NBC daytime. The president of NBC knocks on your door; and tells you they are cancelling the final hour of "Today". They want two game shows in its place.
What do you revive?
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Concentration would be one obvious choice, given it's NBC. Maybe go off the NBC board and bring back Hollywood Showdown(though it aired on NBC's cousin PAX in 2000), since GSN doesn't want to do new episodes of it.
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Two comfortable, instantly recognizable formats. "Concentration" and "Password." I would do them as NBC in-house productions (in association with Fremantle for Password, but I would have creative control.) Hopefully, we could build from there and get more shows on eventually.
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Concentration and The Big Showdown (I believe NBC Universal Television Enterprises may have a stake in it, since MCA Television co-produced the original ABC series.)
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I'll join the chorus on CONCENTRATION, but I'd bring back SCRABBLE (with Woolery on board).
Doug
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I would bring back Concentration too, but the other show....let's see. I'd probably go with either Scrabble or SOTC, or do another in-house show [possibly Weakest Link]. Of course, though, there's nothing wrong with a new concept, either.
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How about Second Honeymoon and Dream House. The latter would be a good idea, what with all the 'house makeover' shows that are big right now.
Cordially,
Tammy Warner--the 'Debralee Scott of the Big Board!'
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Concentration and Scrabble. Blockbusters would be a backup choice.
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[quote name=\'Chief-O\' date=\'Dec 22 2004, 10:23 AM\']Of course, though, there's nothing wrong with a new concept, either.
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Are there any new concepts left? :)
Doug
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I would go with "Classic Concentration" and "$ale of the Century". Some form of "Password" would make a good backup in case I can't get one of those back.
-Joe R.
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"Concentration" and "BlockBusters", definitely.
I'd have to give some thought to who would host the shows. Bergeron would be good on "BlockBusters", I think.
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[quote name=\'Dsmith\' date=\'Dec 22 2004, 09:16 AM\']You've just been appointed head of NBC daytime. The president of NBC knocks on your door; and tells you they are cancelling the final hour of "Today". They want two game shows in its place.
What do you revive?
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Katie Couric's agent, probably using CPR. Thank you! I'll be here all next year...
Seriously, I'll join the Concentration mob, and maybe tout You Don't Say!
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[quote name=\'DrBear\' date=\'Dec 22 2004, 02:00 PM\']
Katie Couric's agent, probably using CPR. Thank you! I'll be here all next year...
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Actually, Katie and Matt have been bitching up a storm about doing the 3rd hour since it's premiere.... I'm sure they wouldn't mind it's dissapearance at all..
For my votes... Concentration and Match Game.....you need something for the celebs to pimp their shows....and since H2 is no more.....
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[quote name=\'tvwxman\' date=\'Dec 22 2004, 02:35 PM\']Actually, Katie and Matt have been bitching up a storm about doing the 3rd hour since it's premiere.... I'm sure they wouldn't mind it's dissapearance at all..
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Maybe NBC could give Katie the 9pm hour on MSNBC soon to be vacated by Deborah Norville next month.
ObGS: Her new lead-in would be a news anchor who lost on J!--twice.
ObOriginalTopic: How come no one has mentioned Twenty One yet? I'd vote for that and Concentration.
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[quote name=\'GS Warehouse\' date=\'Dec 22 2004, 02:44 PM\']ObOriginalTopic: How come no one has mentioned Twenty One yet?
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I was going to, then realized it probably wouldn't work in daytime.
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:) :) I'd just placate Katie by having her fill the Marjorie Goodson role on "Concentration." :) :) It's not so far-fetched! Other "Today" regulars have done double duty on game shows in the past....
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Twenty One has never worked as a legitimate quiz. I think the concept can be made to work but, as is, it's a dog.
My vote is for a hybrid of Concentration - Classic Concentration and yet another version of Password (I have sonething in mind if any production companies are interested).
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I'd try to get the rights to "Lingo". This show deserves a good run outside of GSN. I'd put it back to back with "Scrabble" or 80s format "Pyramid" for a morning word game bonanza.
ITSBRY
itsbry@juno.com
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[quote name=\'alfonzos\' date=\'Dec 22 2004, 03:00 PM\']Twenty One has never worked as a legitimate quiz. I think the concept can be made to work but, as is, it's a dog.
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Our friends in French Canada may have another idea on that one.
As for the question--"Concentation" and "Tic Tac Dough"--if NBC now owns the format again as rumored.
(BTW, MCA may've co-produced "Big Showdown," but Don Lipp or his estate probably owns the format.)
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I'd put Concentration and Sale of the Century on!
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Scrabble and $ale of the Century, with some competent producers (I'd hire folks from this forum)...this is Fremantle we're talking about, remember? ;-)
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Password Plus and Blockbusters - or a new version of Say When. 9-10am Eastern is still kinda early for anything too heavy. Let a brainy game like Password flow after Today to appeal to the newshounds and celeb watchers - then a light fun game afterwards. Just curious - do you think people have the patience for Concentration any more?
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Time Machine and The Magnificent Marble Machine
(How else would the affiliates get that hour back in record time?)
Josh
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If I'm programming to keep my job, Concentration and Scrabble (with AT LEAST the same prize schedule as it had in 1987). If I'm programming to suit my own tastes, some version of Password and Blockbusters.
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If you want to keep your job you're not going to put on the slow and hoary Concentration or Password.
- Hollywood Squares
- Pyramid
- Sale of the Century
- Wheel of Fortune
Pick any two. This assumes competent production for all of the above.
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If you want to keep your job, I very much doubt you'll run Wheel of Fortune, either, unless you can personally fund the prize budget because you're a billionaire. It was bad enough 15 years ago watching what had effectively become "divide-by-5 Wheel", much less today.
But then I'm still not sure whether this is supposed to be fantasy scheduling, realistic scheduling, or a mix of both. I'd think Scrabble would at least be worth a shot after 11 years off the air.
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[quote name=\'tvwxman\' date=\'Dec 22 2004, 02:35 PM\']Actually, Katie and Matt have been bitching up a storm about doing the 3rd hour since it's premiere.... I'm sure they wouldn't mind it's dissapearance at all..
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Considering how much those two are being paid (Katie-Baby in particular), they ought to cool their jets. I could do with an hour or two or three less of them and Ann Curry anyhow. Campbell Brown and Lester Holt are infinitely more tolerable.
As to your question, $ale of the Century hosted by Gordon Elliott followed by Concentration--would Alex come back to host it? If not, I nominate Todd Newton.
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Eye Guess followed by Concentration, just the way it was in 1966. If I could pick at least one non-NBC show, I'd go with Spin-Off (with a modified bonus round), followed by Concentration.
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Sale for fast-paced civilian-played trivia and glamorous goodies and Match Game for celebs and humor. I'd prefer Concentration and some version of Password, but I'll let the first two act as a wedge to get games-in-daytime profitable again, then go back for the rest...
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"High Rollers" and "Match Game"
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I'd probably have to say Card Sharks and Super Password.
Card Sharks would be good as long as it wasnt anything close to the 01 version.
Super Password would also be good. I would have said Password, but we're in the 21st century, so all shows of course have to have some gimmick.
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If it were me(& thankfully, it's just a fantasy schedule), I'd go with the Concentration crowd & throw in a weekday version of Let's Make A Deal(even though the prime time version flopped). For Deal, I'd stick with the basic formats with new twists & slight variations.
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You all have good ideas! I agree were due for another Concentration.
My other vote would have to belong to Win, Lose or Draw since I loved Vicki (Mama Thelma Harper) Lawrence hosting it!
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Has anyone ever thought about putting the game shows in the afternoon like the NBC aff in Atlanta does. IIRC, that station had two hours of game shows in the afternoon. I think it had Millionaire, H2, Jeopardy! and Pyramid, IIRC. I think that can appeal to the youngin's since they get out of school and will be home in time for those shows and also around 2ish is when the main soaps are over and the others on ABC and CBS start to drag at that time. Look at the ratings of ATWT, GL, OLTL, and GH. They aren't as high as Y & R, B & B, and DAYS. I would throw some kickin' tail game shows that would dominate the afternoon schedule. So with this in mind here is my revamped NBC daytime schedule line-up.
9am (syndicated programming)
10am (syndicated programming)
11am Passions
12pm (syndicated programming/local news)
1pm Days of our Lives
2pm $ale of the Century
2:30pm Card Sharks
3pm Password
3:30pm Scrabble
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Actually, to go a bit off topic, DAYS' ratings have been faltering of late, often finishing at a tie with OLTL, and certainly below GH. NBC's daytime ratings overall have been pretty poor of late. In fact, B&B's ratings have slipped somewhat due to All My Children's resurgence with their baby-swap story coming to a head.
Getting back on topic, I think you'd have to go with Wheel and $ale, NBC longest-running shows of the 80's, and build from there.
Tyshaun
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An NBC "Wheel" has the problem of station mangagers running what would be a cheaper version of a show that might be the prime attraction in the most important time period on their competition. Essentially a thirty minute promo all week for the nighttime show. Our NBC station dropped the daytime "Wheel" in 1988 as the nighttime show was running on the ABC affil at 7:30. The ABC affil picked up the NBC feed for a while, but the hassle of excising the promos and occassional dead air during news bulletins and the like made it more bother than it was worth. If I were an affil, I'd want some exclusivity.
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And of course, the awful truth is that if "Today" lost its third hour, either News would want to still control the hour or, more likely, the stations would want the hour back to air more lucrative syndicated programming or some sort of a local show with the early morning news anchors. Network daytime programming is becoming less and less of a necessary thing for most network affiliates these days.
You're more likely to get a strip game show renaissance from syndication than network--too bad it won't happen this year.
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[quote name=\'uncamark\' date=\'Dec 23 2004, 02:53 PM\']
You're more likely to get a strip game show renaissance from syndication than network--too bad it won't happen this year.
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And THAT"S why i think smaller programming companies are going about it wrong....
In the mid 80s , a syndie company put out a 2 hour block of talk shows that aired, in order, in each market.....the memories are vague, but one of them involved Fred Willard.....
Before that, Woody Fraser fronted a 2 hour block of 4 talk shows that gave America it's first taste of Richard Simmons....
My idea...get a company to put together a 2 hour time period of game shows... aimed to air from 10am - Noon in markets...your smaller, higher on the dial stations (you know, the ones that program nothing but 7 hours of talk shows daily?) would eat this up...give em some local ad time and they're happy...
The ratings would NOT be high, but the programming would be inexpensive enough to turn a profit. And they'd be getting original programming 52 weeks a year....And with a programming company in charge of the 2 hour time slot, they could re-program stuff that wasn't working every 13 weeks....ensuring fresh product that didn't die over the course of the entire year.
Dreaming? A little, but it could happen....More likely than wishing NBC would give an hour of the Today show back to program with games!
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INDAY was what you're thinking of. A half hour of INN News, "What's Hot, What's Not" with Melanie Chartoff and Fred W. "All About Us" with Ron Hendren and "It's a Great Life" with Robert Stack. The Richard Simmons show was supposed to be part of a Golden West-syndicated block and I think Dr. Toni Grant was to have had a show in the block, but eventually the Richard Simmons show was the only success.
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[quote name=\'uncamark\' date=\'Dec 23 2004, 02:53 PM\']You're more likely to get a strip game show renaissance from syndication than network--too bad it won't happen this year.
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Not after the Janet Jackson fiasco! :) :) :)
(Oh wait a minute.....he didn't mean THAT strip game show!)
In all seriousness, I like Matt's idea. I think some of the production companies currently working could pull it off. Whether they would or not is another question.
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and if I remember correctly, Dan Enright helped put together the All About Us show - I'm sure somewhere down the line he might have been hoping if Inday had been more successful, he could work in a game show somewhere in the block.
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My idea...get a company to put together a 2 hour time period of game shows... aimed to air from 10am - Noon in markets...your smaller, higher on the dial stations (you know, the ones that program nothing but 7 hours of talk shows daily?) would eat this up...give em some local ad time and they're happy...
The ratings would NOT be high, but the programming would be inexpensive enough to turn a profit. And they'd be getting original programming 52 weeks a year....And with a programming company in charge of the 2 hour time slot, they could re-program stuff that wasn't working every 13 weeks....ensuring fresh product that didn't die over the course of the entire year.
Good ol' barter syndication is more attractive in daytime now that network compensation is a thing of the past.
Not that long ago Eisner was talking about reverse compensation: stations would pay the networks for programming. That would be the death knell of network TV.
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[quote name=\'The Ol' Guy\' date=\'Dec 23 2004, 05:22 PM\']and if I remember correctly, Dan Enright helped put together the All About Us show - I'm sure somewhere down the line he might have been hoping if Inday had been more successful, he could work in a game show somewhere in the block.
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They did have a one-time-only 90-min special knockoff of "Battle of the Net. Stars" with soap actors that was hosted by Fred Willard. Another show they tried was a week-long pilot based on the "Hollywood Reporter" trade mag that was hosted by Peter Tomarken.
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tvwxman: I've groaned over the whole 3rd hour of Today even when "Later Today" started. I mean, there goes at least what -- 17-20 units down to 10 at most?
*If* Barker calls it quits after next season like Der Perfesser is hunching, I'd make the play for that. Otherwise, I'd go for a $OTC and Newlywed Game mix -- or why hasn't anyone gone overseas for a daily strip? Might as well.
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[quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Dec 23 2004, 07:42 PM\']Not that long ago Eisner was talking about reverse compensation: stations would pay the networks for programming. That would be the death knell of network TV.
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that exactly what The WB does?
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[quote name=\'Tony\' date=\'Dec 25 2004, 10:03 AM\'][quote name=\'chris319\' date=\'Dec 23 2004, 07:42 PM\']Not that long ago Eisner was talking about reverse compensation: stations would pay the networks for programming. That would be the death knell of network TV.
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but isn't that exactly what The WB does?
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Some of The WB's affiliates do pay the network for programming, but not all. For example, The WB had to pay Sinclair in order to persuade the latter to flip a bunch of its UPN affiliates to The WB.
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Just let NBC redo The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour?
dunking. :)
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Well, I work at an NBC station and don't see the 3rd "Today" hour fading away anytime soon -- despite the fact lately Al and Ann have been hosting that final hour by themselves.
That said, if that 3rd hour went bye-bye, definitely bring back "Password" and "Concentration".
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How about "Scrabble" and one from left field - a redo of "Celebrity Sweepstakes". Apparantly either a pilot or a proposal to bring this back was made sometime in the '90s.
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[quote name=\'uncamark\' date=\'Dec 22 2004, 05:31 PM\'][quote name=\'alfonzos\' date=\'Dec 22 2004, 03:00 PM\']Twenty One has never worked as a legitimate quiz. I think the concept can be made to work but, as is, it's a dog.
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Our friends in French Canada may have another idea on that one.
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Yeah, I always thought Twenty One's slow, simplistic gameplay would make it sink like a rock when brought to TVA this fall (and so did Louise Cousineau, influential TV columnist at Montreal's La Presse). Especially since it was facing, in its time slot, the second season of L'Union Fait La Force (a motto meaning "Strength Through Unity"), a lively mix of mini-games hosted by longtime audience favourite Patrice Lécuyer.
And guess what? Vingt Et Un got higher ratings than the returning favourite! Who knew?
(Although... everybody I talk to, save one friend, hates the show, likening it to watching paint dry.)