The Game Show Forum
The Game Show Forum => The Big Board => Topic started by: TimK2003 on December 29, 2020, 10:17:24 PM
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Despite the COVID screwing up 2020 like it did, for game show fans, it was a pretty decent year despite some big-time host losses. And there were, of course, some things that came out of the woodwork that nobody thought would happen.
Looking ahead to 2021, what predictions do you have when it comes to game shows? Here are a few of mine:
• Buzzr and Pluto TV partner up for another 24-hour channel devoted to a single show ala Barker TPIR. Possibly a Match Game channel??
• I also predict that Fremantle will acquire/purchase the rights to another notable production company's library that is currently under someone else's lock and key and will start playing them on Buzzr and perhaps work on developing a modern-day reboot of one of the shows for primetime TV.
May sound far-fetched, but then who predicted a 24-hour Barker TPIR channel would be a reality --.especially with old Bob still kicking?
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At this point, I'd be remiss if the genre has a revival of the 1975 schedule - games everywhere - most of them average or worse...
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I think a 24-hour Match Game channel is possible. Perhaps a Family Feud channel? They have enough eps of each.
Where acquiring another company's library is concerned, since they're airing the MG/HS Hour, it would be logical for Buzzr to try to get the original Hollywood Squares with Peter Marshall.
They managed to make LMAD and TPIR work with Covid and I never thought they could do that.
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A revival of the Nick GAS channel on PlutoTV.
A new version of Tattletales for ABC's summer run.
A Celebrity Jeopardy run on ABC in late 2021 as a coming out party for the new permanent host.
And for my wild prediction: NBC revives Concentration for Winter 2021, but does it poorly. Hosted by Chrissy Metz, only one game per hour (best 2 of 3) with families-in-need and their caffeinated cheering section. Only 20 squares per board. Prizes are all $50,000 or more. No wilds, but a "Take or Mystery Prize" pair. Instead of rebuses, the puzzles are more like Catch Phrase and graphical word puzzles (i.e. Standing|'U' = Standing Next To You).
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Hollywood Squares done virtually with Paul Lynde in the center (via old clips) and Street Smarts-type pretaped responses for the rest. Contestants from home and nobody in the studio except host Rebel Wilson.
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I think ABC revives either Password or another G-T panel game.
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• Buzzr and Pluto TV partner up for another 24-hour channel devoted to a single show ala Barker TPIR. Possibly a Match Game channel??
If I were going to put money on it, I’d say Dawson Feud (maybe with some Combs episodes thrown in) gets a dedicated channel next. Despite BUZZR inexplicably burying it on their schedule, it’s still relatively popular, and they’ve been using it as a filler on the Pluto, etc. stream during those odd pre-prime infomercial hours on weekends. It was reported a while back (on CordCuttersNews IIRC) that there was going to be a dedicated Classic Feud channel on STIRR, but that never seemed to materialize.
(There is a dedicated Feud channel on some services FWIW—Xumo, Roku Channel, Samsung Plus—but I believe it’s all Harvey-era clips.)
• I also predict that Fremantle will acquire/purchase the rights to another notable production company's library that is currently under someone else's lock and key and will start playing them on Buzzr and perhaps work on developing a modern-day reboot of one of the shows for primetime TV.
With MGM reportedly looking to sell off, it wouldn’t be too surprising for those shows to end up in Fremantle’s hands. While I’m not expecting Fremantle to purchase the entire company, MGM’s new parent company may want to sell off certain property segments to another company who will know what to do with them (for the right $$, of course), and Fremantle would seem to fit that bill.
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2021 Preditions:
- US Millionaire gets cancelled again - While the first celebrity specials did great, this second season doesn't have great ratings. Jimmy isn't bad at hosting, but the game feels very low stakes and just isn't exciting right now. I have a feeling the UK and other world reboots will continue to do well.
- New Jeopardy! host pick makes nobody happy - I expect the discourse around J! to be pretty strong with a new host announced, but have a feeling that ratings will continue strong throughout the next few years.
- Wheel of Fortune Shakeup - I think Mike Richards knows that Wheel is getting a little stale and isn't seeing the leaps and bounds of growth that J! has in the last few years, I assume that some sort of gameplay changes and visual refresh is coming.
- Wild Card: ABC reboots Hollywood Squares - It's basically the last show to not get some sort of network primetime reboot, besides Password.
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I think a 24-hour Match Game channel is possible. Perhaps a Family Feud channel? They have enough eps of each.
Where acquiring another company's library is concerned, since they're airing the MG/HS Hour, it would be logical for Buzzr to try to get the original Hollywood Squares with Peter Marshall.
I think Feud is more likely than MG - mainly Dawson-era, but they can throw in a mix of the others. Was Karn-era Feud that bad?
As for HS, how much of it exists? Wouldn't most of it have been destroyed in that NBC tape library fire in, when was it, 1977? And what is the status of the post-NBC daily syndicated version?
And since this seems to be turning into a general 2021 prediction thread, here's one from me:
NBC's College Bowl revival with Peyton Manning does reasonably well, but it will open up old wounds between the College Bowl organization and a number of schools that left the program over rules squabbles (one of the big ones seemed to be CB's insistance on "no more than two graduate students per team"), as well as between the producers and smaller schools that appear to be left out because the show may want to concentrate on rivalries more than getting the best teams involved; the fact that this is the first time since 1987 where money is involved won't help matters. Something tells me a repeat of the 1980 national championship game between Fresno State and Washington-St. Louis isn't going to happen.
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2021 Preditions:
- Wheel of Fortune Shakeup - I think Mike Richards knows that Wheel is getting a little stale and isn't seeing the leaps and bounds of growth that J! has in the last few years, I assume that some sort of gameplay changes and visual refresh is coming.
I don't know why, but I get one of two feelings in this area...
1. Nothing huge will happen until Pat and Vanna leave, or...
2. There is a major refresh, and enough things change that it triggers a walkout from Pat.
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US Millionaire gets cancelled again - While the first celebrity specials did great, this second season doesn't have great ratings. Jimmy isn't bad at hosting, but the game feels very low stakes and just isn't exciting right now.
I think that problem does fall on Jimmy's shoulders. It's his inclination to create a relaxed, fun atmosphere, so he doesn't know when he needs to ratchet up the tension. A few weeks ago, when the civilian psychiatrist contestant made sure we knew he understood what kind of money was on the line, I thought it was genuinely compelling television that proved the format still works. But Jimmy has to be willing to put the players through the wringer a little more.
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At this point, I'd be remiss if the genre has a revival of the 1975 schedule - games everywhere
We'd need to see the networks start putting shows back on daytime for that to have any chance of happening. And I don't see them ever doing that.
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I think a 24-hour Match Game channel is possible. Perhaps a Family Feud channel? They have enough eps of each.
Where acquiring another company's library is concerned, since they're airing the MG/HS Hour, it would be logical for Buzzr to try to get the original Hollywood Squares with Peter Marshall.
As for HS, how much of it exists? Wouldn't most of it have been destroyed in that NBC tape library fire in, when was it, 1977? And what is the status of the post-NBC daily syndicated version?
I believe GSN had about 130 nighttime episodes. Supposedly more exist. I've seen both daytime and nighttime versions of HS on YouTube.
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I think a 24-hour Match Game channel is possible. Perhaps a Family Feud channel? They have enough eps of each.
Where acquiring another company's library is concerned, since they're airing the MG/HS Hour, it would be logical for Buzzr to try to get the original Hollywood Squares with Peter Marshall.
I think Feud is more likely than MG - mainly Dawson-era, but they can throw in a mix of the others.
As another poster said, Fremantle has a 24/7 Harvey Feud Channel already on some of the Pluto-esque channels -- adding a 2nd channel of classic Feud IMHO would really be stretching that franchise thin.
Perhaps with a 24/7 MG Channel (with that show being Buzzr's meat and potatoes), Buzzr can clear some of the current MG (Marathon) timeslots and add more Dawson/Combs Feud and/or some other G-T offerings. And with all the MG '7x shows already converted to digital, they already have several days, if not weeks worth of episodes to fill a 24/7 Channel from the get go. Then put the newly-converted MG's on Buzzr.
And since MGM is looking to sell off their TV properties, which would include most of the Heatter-Quigley shows, Fremantle could potentially add those shows to their camp and create new versions of High Rollers, Gambit, To Say The Least, etc. Not sure of HSq as IIRC, King World owns those rights, but then again, as we have seen, ANYTHING can happen nowadays.
And as far as Mike Richards shaking up the Wheel franchise, I think once these primetime Celebrity episodes show up and viewers see that the show can be a more festive atmosphere with personality and not "robotic" letter calling I think there will be a push to freshen up the syndicated version.
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Was Karn-era Feud that bad?
I would say...yes. :)
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Was Karn-era Feud that bad?
It wasn't that bad, but it wasn't that good either. For all the gripes I have with Steve's version, at least it has some personality, in spite of the writing.
Karn's version simply existed. Like a lotta TV shows from the early-2000s, it was pretty bland and forgettable. Louie Anderson wasn't a great host, but his run was entertaining.
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Was Karn-era Feud that bad?
It wasn't that bad, but it wasn't that good either. For all the gripes I have with Steve's version, at least it has some personality, in spite of the writing.
Karn's version simply existed. Like a lotta TV shows from the early-2000s, it was pretty bland and forgettable. Louie Anderson wasn't a great host, but his run was entertaining.
I don’t know how much of that I put on Karn; he certainly didn’t help matters but the production was just blah. Whoever designed that set needed to be fired. I said it before and I’ll say it again, it looked like a generic talk show set from that era. Very bland.
I mean, yeah, you don’t need a whole lot of flash on a production set, but I’d rather have some than none.
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Looking ahead to 2021, what predictions do you have when it comes to game shows? Here are a few of mine:
• I also predict that Fremantle will acquire/purchase the rights to another notable production company's library that is currently under someone else's lock and key and will start playing them on Buzzr and perhaps work on developing a modern-day reboot of one of the shows for primetime TV.
I wish Fremantle would acquire the Nicholson-Muir library. Does any of it survive besides Spin-Off ?
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My predictions:
1) Laura Coates is named Jeopardy! host...Alex had mentioned her previously (true shot in the dark, but hey why not take the shot)
2) Card Sharks gets a new host instead of Joel McHale (can't stand Joel now...I gave him a chance in Season 1)
3) Family Feud gets a new 24/7 channel with Richard Dawson
4) One of the current Fremantle reboots gets a syndie deal for 2022
5) ABC revives Sale of The Century
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Was Karn-era Feud that bad?
It wasn't that bad, but it wasn't that good either. For all the gripes I have with Steve's version, at least it has some personality, in spite of the writing.
Karn's version simply existed. Like a lotta TV shows from the early-2000s, it was pretty bland and forgettable. Louie Anderson wasn't a great host, but his run was entertaining.
I don’t know how much of that I put on Karn; he certainly didn’t help matters but the production was just blah. Whoever designed that set needed to be fired. I said it before and I’ll say it again, it looked like a generic talk show set from that era. Very bland.
I mean, yeah, you don’t need a whole lot of flash on a production set, but I’d rather have some than none.
See I liked the Karn set, well the first version. Kind of a combo between the Anderson set and one of the classic ones (at least for having more blues and browns)
Now the last version, not so much!
Karn had some moments, and was a breath of fresh air after seeing Louie phone it in (and I was never a fan of him as FF host, even when he was trying but just IMO)
...but he soon leaned on tropes like trying to turn every commercial outro into a joke about the previous question. And then there's that little "DOUBLE/TRIPLE THE POINTS" matter...
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Karn had some moments, and was a breath of fresh air after seeing Louie phone it in (and I was never a fan of him as FF host, even when he was trying but just IMO)
Seconded. I also heard that during commercial brakes and stopdowns, Louie would go to a chair offstage and not talk to the audience. That was left to announcer Burton Richardson. Really, even Dawson with his inflated ego would talk to the audience.
Back to the topic at hand. I predict that in 2021, we may see a version of TPIR on Buzzr other than Cullen's. Maybe Kennedy, maybe even Barker. The fur coats rule out Dennis' version and nobody remembers Doug Davidson's version, though I thought he did a credible job.
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Karn had some moments, and was a breath of fresh air after seeing Louie phone it in (and I was never a fan of him as FF host, even when he was trying but just IMO)
Seconded. I also heard that during commercial brakes and stopdowns, Louie would go to a chair offstage and not talk to the audience. That was left to announcer Burton Richardson. Really, even Dawson with his inflated ego would talk to the audience.
Not only that, but he did the Combs' last episode exit in every episode. On the other hand, I think everyone, Karn and up, stayed with the winning family during the end credits.
Dawson, even in his "dark" points, tried to be amicable to contestants.
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Karn had some moments, and was a breath of fresh air after seeing Louie phone it in (and I was never a fan of him as FF host, even when he was trying but just IMO)
...but he soon leaned on tropes like trying to turn every commercial outro into a joke about the previous question. And then there's that little "DOUBLE/TRIPLE THE POINTS" matter...
Agreed. In his day, & even when GSN was rerunning him, I didn’t think Karn was that bad. I thought he was trying to be more of a warm & fuzzy host, rather than the witty, at times sarcastic type of host (i.e. Dawson & Combs) that Feud is better known for. But I thought there was a place for the warm & fuzzy type of hosting as well.
Though I will say—and maybe this is more a reflection of my own growing game show snobbery than anything—if I catch a rerun of Karn now, I get more why some people didn’t care for him.
Really, even Dawson with his inflated ego would talk to the audience.
This is going off the topic a bit... But are there known incidents where Dawson was an outright jerk to fans or contestants? I know about the stories of him butting heads with his producers, or his days of being standoffish with the other celebs on MG. But the idea I’ve always gotten is that his rifts were generally only with his producers & coworkers, as it were; but when it came to civilians, he genuinely cared about making sure they had a good time and were treated fairly.
Back to the topic at hand. I predict that in 2021, we may see a version of TPIR on Buzzr other than Cullen's. Maybe Kennedy, maybe even Barker.
This was my thought as well. I’d say slightly better than 50-50 odds that we see a Barker TPIR episode on BUZZR sometime in 2021. Several months ago I probably wouldn’t have said that, but the Pluto channel, combined with the fact that BUZZR/Fremantle seems to be all in on it and that BUZZR has a history of pulling off some nice surprises, makes it seem like a very real possibility now.
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4) One of the current Fremantle reboots gets a syndie deal for 2022
Along those lines... Once the pandemic and the election year news firehoses die down, the third hour of GMA will fade a bit in the ratings and there will be rumors that it's going to be replaced with a daytime version of one of their primetime game shows, but it won't happen (at least not before the end of 2021.)
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My predictions:
1) Laura Coates is named Jeopardy! host...Alex had mentioned her previously (true shot in the dark, but hey why not take the shot)
2) Card Sharks gets a new host instead of Joel McHale (can't stand Joel now...I gave him a chance in Season 1)
3) Family Feud gets a new 24/7 channel with Richard Dawson
4) One of the current Fremantle reboots gets a syndie deal for 2022
5) ABC revives Sale of The Century
Well those certainly are predictions...
Joel McHale is an EP on Card Sharks. He ain’t going nowhere.
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My predictions:
1) Laura Coates is named Jeopardy! host...Alex had mentioned her previously (true shot in the dark, but hey why not take the shot)
2) Card Sharks gets a new host instead of Joel McHale (can't stand Joel now...I gave him a chance in Season 1)
3) Family Feud gets a new 24/7 channel with Richard Dawson
4) One of the current Fremantle reboots gets a syndie deal for 2022
5) ABC revives Sale of The Century
Well those certainly are predictions...
Joel McHale is an EP on Card Sharks. He ain’t going nowhere.
Yeah I figured Joel wasn't going anywhere. But he's going to wind up (in my mind) sinking that ship. Fremantle seems to be doing well however with these reboots.
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A TV Network Or Channel Called Game Show TV (with all rights to all game shows 1950s-Present) with a kids Saturday morning block from 9am-1pm
GSN Classics with all classic game shows
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US Millionaire gets cancelled again - While the first celebrity specials did great, this second season doesn't have great ratings. Jimmy isn't bad at hosting, but the game feels very low stakes and just isn't exciting right now. I have a feeling the UK and other world reboots will continue to do well.
It's telling that the last three episodes are being burned off on a Wednesday. I don't agree that a million dollars is "low stakes" but Jimmy's hosting is like me wearing size 30 slacks--constricting and not right at all. I don't think that the host has to shout through the episode (Meredith and Mr. Harrison were just fine) but perhaps doing it as a two week strip in March and August would be better than what they're doing now.
New Jeopardy! host pick makes nobody happy - I expect the discourse around J! to be pretty strong with a new host announced, but have a feeling that ratings will continue strong throughout the next few years.
I was only four when Jeopardy As We Know It went on the air, but there were people irritated that Art Fleming got snubbed. I agree that there's no magic bullet and that a chunk of the people are just going to have to bloody well deal, unless they give it to Betty White, who will continue to host until her retirement at age 152.
Wheel of Fortune Shakeup - I think Mike Richards knows that Wheel is getting a little stale and isn't seeing the leaps and bounds of growth that J! has in the last few years, I assume that some sort of gameplay changes and visual refresh is coming.
I really don't know how much you can do with Hangman. I would certainly advocate for my Countdown Round to determine the winner and I know everyone has their thoughts but for all the changes throughout the years the show has never really wandered too off course.
/Maybe when Pat retires they can have Steven Hauschka host.
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Minor point, but the three eps of Millionaire this Wednesday aren’t the final eps; four more will air on Sundays through Jan 31.
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Minor point, but the three eps of Millionaire this Wednesday aren’t the final eps; four more will air on Sundays through Jan 31.
See what happens when I assume?
That's so weird--do they not have anything to bridge the gaps and run it out through February?
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Minor point, but the three eps of Millionaire this Wednesday aren’t the final eps; four more will air on Sundays through Jan 31.
See what happens when I assume?
That's so weird--do they not have anything to bridge the gaps and run it out through February?
As for running it through February. The Super Bowl is 2\7. American idol stars on Abc on 2\14.