The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: Mario on November 02, 2012, 04:55:28 AM
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aFZCR603DJo
The 1993 Scrabble theme song is entirely different, even though like the 1984 theme, it was composed by the same father-and-son duo of Ray and Marc Ellis. It sounds more jazzy but also like dance-pop, and, it has a (real) saxophone!
There are still synthesizers to be heard: the synths provide the other horn parts (I'm guessing it's the Korg M1 or Roland D50), and perhaps the drums as well (probably the Linn LM1 Drum Computer as before).
I'd like to know if this theme song's total deviation from the 1984 music (aside from the reused sound FX and other cues) is what had killed the 1993 revival of Scrabble after only five months?
~Ben
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No. The theme fit the music style for the time.
Other factors, unrelated to the theme, made the show only last five months (Clearances, Talk Shows, The lack of interest in the genre in the 90's, etc.).
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The theme was actually pretty catchy...and jazzy themes were in style in the early-90s. Dave's points about the daytime market are what hurt the show.
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The theme was actually pretty catchy...and jazzy themes were in style in the early-90s. Dave's points about the daytime market are what hurt the show.
Not to mention a tightly slashed prize budget (pink and blue bonus squares are worth money, but not necessarily to you).
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The theme was actually pretty catchy...and jazzy themes were in style in the early-90s. Dave's points about the daytime market are what hurt the show.
Not to mention a tightly slashed prize budget (pink and blue bonus squares are worth money, but not necessarily to you).
I'd agree with that too...kills the strategy of aiming for a colored square then solving. Why they didn't just keep the original Bonus Sprint format is beyond me. Scattergories' jackpot was pretty paltry too (started at $4,000, divided amongst four people).
However, I distinctly remember watching a guy named Sandy win about $16,000 on the Bonus Sprint...did they still do an escalating jackpot and just add pink/blue square money to it?
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I distinctly remember watching a guy named Sandy win about $16,000 on the Bonus Sprint...did they still do an escalating jackpot and just add pink/blue square money to it?
I think you're asking if there was any other money besides the pink and blue bonus squares. There was not. However, even starting at a mere $1,000, the bonus squares had the potential to drive that thing up much faster than $1,000/day.
-Jason
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I'd like to know if this theme song's total deviation from the 1984 music (aside from the reused sound FX and other cues) is what had killed the 1993 revival of Scrabble after only five months?
I'd like to know if music and sound effects alone have *ever* been responsible for the death of a game show. Certainly it must have happened, or else there really wouldn't be any sort of remotely sensible precedent for asking such a question, would there?
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I distinctly remember watching a guy named Sandy win about $16,000 on the Bonus Sprint...did they still do an escalating jackpot and just add pink/blue square money to it?
I think you're asking if there was any other money besides the pink and blue bonus squares. There was not.
You think correctly. :-) Thanks!
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The theme was actually pretty catchy...and jazzy themes were in style in the early-90s. Dave's points about the daytime market are what hurt the show.
My NBC affiliate, KGW 8, carried this version of Scrabble along with the 1984 version.
~Ben
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You know? I think our newcomer's favorite show is "Scrabble".
Call me crazy, but I think I'm right on my theory.
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You know? I think our newcomer's favorite show thing, evar is "Scrabble".
Expanded that for you.
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You know? I think our newcomer's favorite show is "Scrabble".
Call me crazy, but I think I'm right on my theory.
I also like $ale of the Century and its 3rd co-host, Summer Bartholomew.
Gee I wish these shows would come back.
~Ben
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You know? I think our newcomer's favorite show is "Scrabble".
Call me crazy, but I think I'm right on my theory.
Better?
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Lord, please don't let Scrabble fan fiction be right around the corner...
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Lord, please don't let Scrabble fan fiction be right around the corner...
"John pulled tile 6 and Mary pulled tile 9. Right then, they knew it was true love." Somehow, Chuck Woolery operates the camcorder in the honeymoon scene.
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What did Mary think after John completed his "Scrabble Sprint" in only 19.3 seconds?
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What did Mary think after John completed his "Scrabble Sprint" in only 19.3 seconds?
It was time to bring out two more contestants?
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What do you Scrabble fans, today, think of the 1993 music?
~Ben
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What did Mary think after John completed his "Scrabble Sprint" in only 19.3 seconds?
We'll find out in "2 & 2"!
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Lord, please don't let Scrabble fan fiction be right around the corner...
"John pulled tile 6 and Mary pulled tile 9. Right then, they knew it was true love." Somehow, Chuck Woolery operates the camcorder in the honeymoon scene.
I don't think it was a perfect match....You could hear Chuck Woolery yelling, "Pull out the stopper!"
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Wollery left Scrapple?
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What do you Scrabble fans, today, think of the 1993 music?
Like I said above, it was jazzy...like a lot of TV themes in 1993. But very catchy, as only the Ellises could do. "Scattergories" had another good theme.
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Like I said above, it was jazzy...like a lot of TV themes in 1993. But very catchy, as only the Ellises could do. "Scattergories" had another good theme.
Really? I thought it doomed the show from the start.
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Like I said above, it was jazzy...like a lot of TV themes in 1993. But very catchy, as only the Ellises could do. "Scattergories" had another good theme.
Really? I thought it doomed the show from the start.
Only because it does not sound like the 1984 music.
~Ben
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Like I said above, it was jazzy...like a lot of TV themes in 1993. But very catchy, as only the Ellises could do. "Scattergories" had another good theme.
Really? I thought it doomed the show from the start.
What you did there...I see it. :-)
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Like I said above, it was jazzy...like a lot of TV themes in 1993. But very catchy, as only the Ellises could do. "Scattergories" had another good theme.
Really? I thought it doomed the show from the start.
Only because it does not sound like the 1984 music.
Well done, Travis! You got 'im!
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What do you Scrabble fans, today, think of the 1993 music?
I don't think about it.
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What do you Scrabble fans, today, think of the 1993 music?
I don't think about it.
"Don't think I don't think about it / Don't think I don't have regrets…"
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Lord, please don't let Scrabble fan fiction be right around the corner...
"John pulled tile 6 and Mary pulled tile 9. Right then, they knew it was true love." Somehow, Chuck Woolery operates the camcorder in the honeymoon scene.
What of Geoff Edwards then?
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Lord, please don't let Scrabble fan fiction be right around the corner...
"John pulled tile 6 and Mary pulled tile 9. Right then, they knew it was true love." Somehow, Chuck Woolery operates the camcorder in the honeymoon scene.
What of Geoff Edwards then?
There's enough creepy, obsessive Geoff Edwards fan fiction out there. :P
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There's enough creepy, obsessive Geoff Edwards fan fiction out there. :P
Wow - i had forgotten about that. Or, at least drank enough to try to forget her. Yikes.
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I'd agree with that too...kills the strategy of aiming for a colored square then solving. Why they didn't just keep the original Bonus Sprint format is beyond me. Scattergories' jackpot was pretty paltry too (started at $4,000, divided amongst four people).
So here's the things about that: The pink/blue square money was going to be given away eventually, just not necessarily to the player who landed on them. Reducing the starting point from $5,000 to $1,000 means the show saves $4,000 every time the Bonus Sprint is won, but it looks super lame that the bonus round is played for as much money as what was given out in the Sprint round a few minutes ago.
But the thing that just kills me is that bonus squares feeding the jackpot takes away one of the great things from the original show: when somebody would say "I think I know it but I'm going for some money, Chuck." The crowd would erupt into applause. Sure, it's the same $500 and $1,000, but the money doesn't go straight into your pocket anymore, you have to jump two hurdles to get it.
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But the thing that just kills me is that bonus squares feeding the jackpot takes away one of the great things from the original show: when somebody would say "I think I know it but I'm going for some money, Chuck." The crowd would erupt into applause. Sure, it's the same $500 and $1,000, but the money doesn't go straight into your pocket anymore, you have to jump two hurdles to get it.
I don't think it went straight into their pocket even on the 1984 version, either. That's one of the few things about game shows that annoy me - when the host hands the player money (Joker's Wild did it, too). Although I can definitely see Jack Barry saying under his breath "OK, I need that money back, that was just for show.."
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I don't think it went straight into their pocket even on the 1984 version, either. That's one of the few things about game shows that annoy me - when the host hands the player money (Joker's Wild did it, too). Although I can definitely see Jack Barry saying under his breath "OK, I need that money back, that was just for show.."
Did anybody else have trouble understanding what I meant here, or do I need to start spelling things out for everyone?
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I don't think it went straight into their pocket even on the 1984 version, either. That's one of the few things about game shows that annoy me - when the host hands the player money (Joker's Wild did it, too). Although I can definitely see Jack Barry saying under his breath "OK, I need that money back, that was just for show.."
Did anybody else have trouble understanding what I meant here, or do I need to start spelling things out for everyone?
Oh no, I knew what you meant, but perhaps I needed to word my reply better. When you said "straight into their pocket", you meant simply guessing the word to get the bonus, as compared to it being added to the Super Sprint jackpot and having to win that (the "extra hurdle" you mentioned) in the '93 version. I just went off on a different "straight into their pocket" tangent.
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Good, we're all square here. :)
/Super Sprint is a damn good arcade game.
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/Super Sprint is a damn good arcade game.
It is, except Sang is a *horrible* driver...
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What did Mary think after John completed his "Scrabble Sprint" in only 19.3 seconds?
"John said to Mary, 'After I won the Scrabble Sprint, I <BLANK>ed Chuck Woolery'"
...Whoops, wrong show.
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What did Mary think after John completed his "Scrabble Sprint" in only 19.3 seconds?
"John said to Mary, 'After I won the Scrabble Sprint, I <BLANK>ed Chuck Woolery'"
...Whoops, wrong show.
I just had a strange thought if they ever crossed Scrabble with Match Game...would make for some interesting words, for sure.
(and WeatherMatt...sorry about that. Next round on me?)
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I just had a strange thought if they ever crossed Scrabble with Match Game...would make for some interesting words, for sure.
They did. It's called Bill Engvall Lingo.
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It's really surprising that none of the Reg Grundy shows has ever shown up on GSN. Is this a cost thing or Reg Grundy just wont license them to GSN sort of like the NBC thing.
I would like to see Scrabble comeback. It was a good format that actually lasted for a good while. The 90s version wasn't anything to write home about though. Maybe if it staid on the air and didnt leave and come back would have helped it, but there were other problems with the show that I saw. I've only see the show on youtube, but it had that cheesy modern 90s feel that was just too over the top. Some people may have liked the opening, but I preferred the 80s open. It seemed to still fit the early 90s too. It was much more modern than a lot of the other shows were using even when it premiered in 1984. The set was bare and you could tell that they were trying to cut costs. I saw someone on youtube post that it was a rush job at the beginning of the series. It seemed that the whole series was just pieced together at the last minute. Woolery's excitement had fizzled a bit too i think. The last scrabble episode for me was the last one for 1989.
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Isn't the call for licensing not in Grundy's hands anymore?
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Grundy = Fremantle.
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Grundy = Fremantle.
FremantleMedia, if it wanted to, could sell back its share in the 1984 and 1993 versions of Scrabble to Hasbro.
~Ben
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What I wonder is how does Fremantle take good care of the Grundy library if they have no intention of leasing it to anyone, including GSN?
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FremantleMedia, if it wanted to, could sell back its share in the 1984 and 1993 versions of Scrabble to Hasbro.
FremantleMedia, if it wanted to, could also spin around three times, dab some tunafish under each arm, and spend the next half-hour making the artificial-fart-under-the-arm sound.
/corporations are people, my friend
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FremantleMedia, if it wanted to, could also spin around three times, dab some tunafish under each arm, and spend the next half-hour making the artificial-fart-under-the-arm sound.
DAMMIT!!!! You promised to NEVER share my Saturday night ritual with ANYONE!! I simply cannot trust you! ARGH!!!
JakeT