The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: Jeremy Nelson on August 11, 2014, 03:00:04 PM
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Hypothetical question:
GSN decides to commission a documentary series in the vein of ESPN's 30 for 30 to explore a number of game shows and stories. What shows / stories would you want to see a documentary about?
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Betty White. I'm surprised we haven't seen one in this vein done on her yet.
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Scandals, and September 4, 1972.
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The fall of the genre in the early-90s, and how Millionaire more or less revived it in 1999. I think there's enough to either make one full documentary, a two-parter or two completely separate shows.
The story of that perfect showcase bid actually fascinates me a bit, particularly how the producers (over)reacted to it all.
Thom McKee and Ken Jennings' respective runs.
Piggybacking off of Travis' idea, Jack Barry's comeback in 1972 ('71 if you wanna count The Reel Game, but TJW was when he really struck gold).
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The story of that perfect showcase bid actually fascinates me a bit, particularly how the producers (over)reacted to it all.
I would be curious to see who all from the production side wants to talk about that.
Thom McKee and Ken Jennings' respective runs.
As much as I love the genre, one of the problems inherent in the question is who is left to interview for the various subjects from the early days of the medium.
I think American Gladiators more or less creating the athletic game show (and spurring on several copycat programs) would be a great story to tell, as would how College Bowl goes from the Varsity Sport of the Mind to something played in university basements.
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Hypothetical question:
GSN decides to commission a documentary series in the vein of ESPN's 30 for 30 to explore a number of game shows and stories. What shows / stories would you want to see a documentary about?
I'd like to see an episode covering the wide variety of shows during 1975...
JakeT
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The story of that perfect showcase bid actually fascinates me a bit, particularly how the producers (over)reacted to it all.
I would be curious to see who all from the production side wants to talk about that.
I would have to look up the Esquire article to see if any producers were interviewed, but I wonder if Roger or "Fingers" would be able to speak...or were they already gone by that point? The years tend to run together for me... :-P
Going off of Jake's idea, I'd love to see something on how daytime lineups in general were wall-to-wall game shows, and how it abruptly stopped in 1994. Honestly, include the 2000s-2010s and you could have a nice documentary on how network daytime is slowing evaporating. Two games and only four soaps.
/Can't believe Drew's already been there seven years
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Michael Larson's infamous appearance on Press Your Luck. Even though the "Big Bucks" special was already produced over 10 years ago, it would be nice to see this saga resurface.
Jeopardy's most memorable champions, interviews/segments with "Ken Jennings", "Eddie Timanus", etc.
Barry & Enright, from their scandal days, their resurface in the mid 70's, and ending in the early 90s.
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The story of that perfect showcase bid actually fascinates me a bit, particularly how the producers (over)reacted to it all.
I would be curious to see who all from the production side wants to talk about that.
I would have to look up the Esquire article to see if any producers were interviewed, but I wonder if Roger or "Fingers" would be able to speak...or were they already gone by that point? The years tend to run together for me... :-P
Fingers was still there, but Roger was gone. In the Esquire article, it was mentioned that Fingers and Drew initially thought the perfect bid had been the work of an obsessive fan who was trying to get back at them for firing Roger.
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Jeopardy's most memorable champions, interviews/segments with "Ken Jennings", "Eddie Timanus", etc.
I don't understand why their names are in quotes.
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Michael Larson's infamous appearance on Press Your Luck. Even though the "Big Bucks" special was already produced over 10 years ago, it would be nice to see this saga resurface.
Quite honestly, I'm not sure what would need to be added to the "Big Bucks" program that's happened between then and now. If anything, that original program could be rerun.
Barry & Enright, from their scandal days, their resurface in the mid 70's, and ending in the early 90s.
Their comeback is definitely a game show success story, but I'm not sure how it'd appeal to the casual viewers. The scandal story, yes....besides, some of the potential audience probably has seen "Quiz Show", and they did take a fair bit of artistic license!
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I don't understand why their names are in quotes.
It's a little-known fact that "Ken"'s real name is actually Ebenezer Lipshitz.
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As much as I love the genre, one of the problems inherent in the question is who is left to interview for the various subjects from the early days of the medium.
Part of the allure of the ESPN films is that you have contemporaries helping to tell the story from a few different angles. To alter the point highlighted above, you could probably make that argument not only for subjects from the early days, but probably through the mid to late 70s. A lot of members of that fraternity have passed, which makes telling that story a little more challenging.
Two I would love to see would be Chuck Woolery leaving Wheel and his post-wheel career, and one on the formats that have swept the world.
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Michael Larson's infamous appearance on Press Your Luck. Even though the "Big Bucks" special was already produced over 10 years ago, it would be nice to see this saga resurface.
Quite honestly, I'm not sure what would need to be added to the "Big Bucks" program that's happened between then and now. If anything, that original program could be rerun.
Not only that, without Peter Tomarken they'd probably have to get archival footage of past interviews, including from the "Big Bucks" special. It just makes more sense to show the special again. It was just so well done that it took nine years for GSN to make a program to eclipse the number of people who had watched.
I think Reg Grundy deserves a showcase for his impact on the genre. Barry & Enright would definitely be a great one.
I'd be interested in a showcase of different hosts. Cullen being an obvious one, but also Art James, Art Flemming, Garry Moore, Bob Eubanks, Bill Rafferty, Wink Martindale, Tom Kennedy, Peter Marshall just to name some.
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The story of that perfect showcase bid actually fascinates me a bit, particularly how the producers (over)reacted to it all.
I would be curious to see who all from the production side wants to talk about that.
I would have to look up the Esquire article to see if any producers were interviewed, but I wonder if Roger or "Fingers" would be able to speak...or were they already gone by that point? The years tend to run together for me... :-P
Fingers was still there, but Roger was gone. In the Esquire article, it was mentioned that Fingers and Drew initially thought the perfect bid had been the work of an obsessive fan who was trying to get back at them for firing Roger.
Ah, thank you!
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Fingers was still there, but Roger was gone. In the Esquire article, it was mentioned that Fingers and Drew initially thought the perfect bid had been the work of an obsessive fan who was trying to get back at them for firing Roger.
They got the first part right, at least.
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I think Reg Grundy deserves a showcase for his impact on the genre.
If there's already one that has aired in Australia, we could just remake it and change the name.
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It was just so well done that it took nine years for GSN to make a program to eclipse the number of people who had watched.
I have no idea what this even means.
I'd be interested in a showcase of different hosts. Cullen being an obvious one, but also ...Art Flemming,
Indeed; hopefully they'd Chyron his name properly.
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Fingers was still there, but Roger was gone. In the Esquire article, it was mentioned that Fingers and Drew initially thought the perfect bid had been the work of an obsessive fan who was trying to get back at them for firing Roger.
They got the first part right, at least.
They didn't just think that, they knew exactly who gave the perfect bid suggestion to Kneiss (Ted Slauson, a former contestant who attended tapings many times and had shouted out prices before) and permabanned him.
And Drew? He still thought it was done out of malice in 2012 (http://www.golden-road.net/index.php?topic=18972.0).
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It was just so well done that it took nine years for GSN to make a program to eclipse the number of people who had watched.
I have no idea what this even means.
The Big Bucks special was GSN's highest rated broadcast until American Bible Challenge overtook it last year.
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The Big Bucks special was GSN's highest rated broadcast until American Bible Challenge overtook it last year.
I thought he was saying that it took nine years to get to the 1.0 that "Big Bucks" pulled in; I had no idea that Bible Challenge surpassed that marks, or by how much.
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I'd be interested in a showcase of different hosts. Cullen being an obvious one, but also ...Art Flemming,
Indeed; hopefully they'd Chyron his name properly.
What a shame, especially since I read the entry about him from Adam's book not that long ago.
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It just makes more sense to show the special again. It was just so well done that it took nine years for GSN to make a program to eclipse the number of people who had watched.
I wouldn't run the special as is at all. There was quite a lot of filler to pad the thing out to two hours such as having Ed and Janie play on the specially designed game board that numbered the squares and waiting for Ed to magically reach $110,238 to claim the record and focusing on the way Michael held his hands to stop the board and close-up shots of his beady eyes that move as the light marker dances on its predetermined path.
The story is a great one and worth telling (for one thing, it demonstrated that not every game show contestant is as pleasant and nice as they look on air; Michael Larson seemed to be the consummate sociopath) but it deserves to be told properly and simply and without embellishment.
Other subjects could be a day in the life of a game show, and how a game show is made, from conception to final product.
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Didn't GSN used to do these kinds of "documentaries" before? There was The Real Match Game Story; and Chuck Barris: My Life On The Edge. Then there was Anything To Win but that was more expose than documentary.
One wonders why ATW didn't do a segment on those "misery games" of the 1950s, like Queen For A Day and Strike It Rich. The controversies those shows stirred up were "scandals" in their own right.
Cordially,
Tammy
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Didn't GSN used to do these kinds of "documentaries" before? There was The Real Match Game Story; and Chuck Barris: My Life On The Edge. Then there was Anything To Win but that was more expose than documentary.
GSN has done a few. Anything to Win was about non game show competitions- I recall the premiere being about Rosie Ruiz, who cheated in the Boston Marathon.
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Wasn't Michael Larson profiled again when Anything to Win came out?
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A could-have-been documentary.
http://www.gameshowforum.org/index.php/topic,11098.msg125290.html#msg125290
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=emN1f9C6URI
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Didn't GSN used to do these kinds of "documentaries" before? There was The Real Match Game Story; and Chuck Barris: My Life On The Edge. Then there was Anything To Win but that was more expose than documentary.
GSN has done a few. Anything to Win was about non game show competitions- I recall the premiere being about Rosie Ruiz, who cheated in the Boston Marathon.
And I have a DVD screener copy of the Tonya Harding episode of Anything to Win. I hold on to it to look at it whenever I see GSN doing something questionable. "At least they're not making lousy True Hollywood Story-esque ripoffs anymore."
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A documentary about Ted Slauson has been released. It is called Perfect Bid: The Contestant Who Know Too Much.
Link to Rotten Tomatoes web site:
https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/perfect_bid_the_contestant_who_knew_too_much (https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/perfect_bid_the_contestant_who_knew_too_much)
Link to trailer on You Tube: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=68&v=LsfVCH7uEc4 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=68&v=LsfVCH7uEc4)
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The story of that perfect showcase bid actually fascinates me a bit, particularly how the producers (over)reacted to it all.
I would be curious to see who all from the production side wants to talk about that.
It took 3 years, but this documentary is now a thing. Dunno who they interviewed, but it happened. :P
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There is Game Show dynamos about Bernard and Claire Boyko as well as On your Marc which will be coming soon
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Scandals, and September 4, 1972.
The PBS series The American Experience already did one on the 1950s quiz show scandals, although the audio on this one is pitched down.
Quiz Show Scandal (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hf26f97ELFI)
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How about the million-dollar game show craze during 1999-2000, which saw Who Wants To Be A Millionaire #1 among all television shows for the entire season (and how Greed, Winning Lines, and the Twenty-One reboot all tried but failed to dethrone it)?