The Game Show Forum

The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: Johnissoevil on May 21, 2005, 12:44:46 AM

Title: Redeeming things about unpopular game shows
Post by: Johnissoevil on May 21, 2005, 12:44:46 AM

The genre brought us some bad ones.  But there were some redeeming qualities on some of these shows that I can think of.  One that comes to mind is TTD '90.  Save for resetting the pot, the front game was untouched, format wise.  Is there any that you can think of?

Title: Redeeming things about unpopular game shows
Post by: aaron sica on May 21, 2005, 01:29:55 AM

[quote name=\'Johnissoevil\' date=\'May 21 2005, 12:44 AM\']The genre brought us some bad ones.  But there were some redeeming qualities on some of these shows that I can think of.  One that comes to mind is TTD '90.  Save for resetting the pot, the front game was untouched, format wise.  Is there any that you can think of?

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Yes. MG98 may have been missing 1 celebrity on the panel, but they reverted back to the points per matches scoring, as compared to $50/match on MG90.

Title: Redeeming things about unpopular game shows
Post by: ChuckNet on May 21, 2005, 02:01:07 AM

I know of several shows that sucked, but had great theme songs:

Celebrity Charades
Family Secrets
3rd Degree

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")

Title: Redeeming things about unpopular game shows
Post by: Craig Karlberg on May 21, 2005, 05:17:52 AM

TnPIR'94 may've looked bad, but the most redeeming quality was they actually played pricing games & spun the big wheel.  Everything else was out of place(no IUFB unless you can call "The Price WAS Right" as such, a Ramge Game-type scenerio for the showcases & that awful black floor),

Title: Redeeming things about unpopular game shows
Post by: whewfan on May 21, 2005, 06:00:17 AM

Ok, I'll give it a shot

Shop Till You Drop- How can a show with a premise that reeks of ripping off TPIR last for 10 years off and on? Pat Finn proved he could be a lot looser as a host. I thought he was VERY stiff on TJW 90. Mark Walberg moved on to host Russian Roulette and On the Cover, Dee Baker is still doing voicework for Spongebob Squarepants, not sure what Jason Smith is doing, but he was IMO the most tolerable announcer/guest host. The current version with JD Roberto... well, no Dee Baker in drag, but other than that, the show is much less animated than it was.

Sweethearts- The TTTT premise worked just fine. CNR didn't work. I remember one episode where CNR and Richard Kline switched places, and it was evident that CNR was FAR better being a panelist.

Video Power- Now THIS one is tough... Ok, who wouldn't want to win cool video games, but with a host that's a little too touchy feely and just looks totally uncomfy, it's a wonder why this show, which was originally a cartoon/video game hint show got transformed into this monstrousity.

Trivial Pursuit/Boggle/Shuffle/Jumble- Trivial Pursuit was fine, but Wink hosting 4 shows back to back... UGH. One big problem with these formats is that Wink had very little interaction with the players, and the scoring system of getting more points the faster you answer was just a little unfair IMO. Boggle and Shuffle did have interesting formats, but it seemed very rote and monotonous after awhile. Jumble was mindnumbingly easy. Another redeeming factor, it launched the career of a certain Randy West. I guess there is SOME playalong factor with the "interactive" versions, but they too were incredibly dull and wisely pulled.

Title: Redeeming things about unpopular game shows
Post by: Johnissoevil on May 21, 2005, 12:34:10 PM

[quote name=\'whewfan\' date=\'May 21 2005, 06:00 AM\']Video Power- Now THIS one is tough... Ok, who wouldn't want to win cool video games, but with a host that's a little too touchy feely and just looks totally uncomfy, it's a wonder why this show, which was originally a cartoon/video game hint show got transformed into this monstrousity.

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Gah, that loudmouthed Johnny Arcade!  But anyhow, I just thought of another one where I found something redeeming.  $100K Pyramid with John Davidson.  John was a bit out of place on that show (I would've offered the gig to Bob Goen instead, he seems natural for Pyramid, IMO), but they kept just about everything else exactly the same as the Clark era.

Title: Redeeming things about unpopular game shows
Post by: ChuckNet on May 23, 2005, 10:31:26 PM

Quote

I just thought of another one where I found something redeeming. $100K Pyramid with John Davidson. John was a bit out of place on that show (I would've offered the gig to Bob Goen instead, he seems natural for Pyramid, IMO), but they kept just about everything else exactly the same as the Clark era.

Yeah, it was basically the same show as Clark's version, which is prolly why I enjoyed it so much when it originally aired. Nowadays, though, it's easier to look back on it w/a more critical eye (I think Matt Kaiser posted a musical "tribute" to Davidson's stint on Pyramid here a long time ago that should cue you in more...a search should turn it up).

Chuck Donegan (The Illustrious "Chuckie Baby")