18May2012
Author
Travis Penery
Category
BBC, Better Than Us, Foreign, UK
Buzzer UK: Ten Years of In It to Win It Thumbnail

Buzzer UK: Ten Years of In It to Win It

Today, 18th May 2012 celebrates the tenth anniversary of the BBC One National Lottery quiz show, In It to Win It. It is not often in this generation of British television where primetime game shows for members of the public manage to stay on air for a decade. In the last few years, Only ITV's Who Wants to be a Millionaire? and Big Brother have been on longer on air in the UK. We look into the format, the success of the show and how it got it right to captivate the audience. In early 2002 the regulator of the National Lottery, Camelot wanted to rebrand the lottery. Therefore they changed the name of main jackpot draw to Lotto and make a very small tweak  to their crossed fingered logo. With the BBC continuing to broadcast the draws live.

Read MoreLeave a Comment
17May2012
Author
Alex Davis
Category
BuzzerVision, Jeopardy, Spoilers
Chris Wallace Wins Wednesday’s “Jeopardy!” Power Players Game Thumbnail

Chris Wallace Wins Wednesday’s “Jeopardy!” Power Players Game

All this week is Jeopardy!'s Power Players tournament.  On Wednesday's edition, television personality Dr. Mehmet Oz and respected journalists Katty Kay and Chris Wallace faced off for $50,000 for charity.  Chris Wallace claimed victory and took the $50,000 for Hope for the Warriors.  Wallace said, "It provides all kinds of support programs for returning wounded soldiers and their families and families of the fallen. I can’t think of any better cause than honoring and helping the military families that sacrifice so much to protect us."  Click here to learn more about the match and to see a clip of the win.

Read MoreView Comments (2)
17May2012
Author
Alex Davis
Category
Millionaire
UK “Millionaire” Renames “Ask the Audience” Lifeline, Adds Play-Along Game Thumbnail

UK “Millionaire” Renames “Ask the Audience” Lifeline, Adds Play-Along Game

ITV's Who Wants to be a Millionaire returns for its first run of civilian shows in years this summer, and a few changes will be coming with it.  Millionaire will be adding a special play-along game so home viewers can interact with the show and see how they'd fare in the Hot Seat. In addition to the play-along, the popular Lifeline "Ask the Audience" will be getting a revamp.  The long running Lifeline will be renamed "Ask the Nation". Click here to read about the new changes and let us know what you think.

Read MoreView Comments (4)
17May2012
Author
Alex Davis
Category
Baggage, Syndication
NBCU’s “Baggage” Cleared for Syndication in 95% of the Country Thumbnail

NBCU’s “Baggage” Cleared for Syndication in 95% of the Country

Game show fans have another dating show to look forward to this coming year.  NBCU's Baggage, which is currently airing on GSN, has been cleared in 95% of the country.  The series will debut daily across the country on September 17th.  Baggage previously aired a ten week-ten market test run across the country last year to some success.  Ratings improved by an average of 26% in women 18-34, 18% in women 18-49, 21% in women 25-54, 39% in men 18-34 and by 31% in adults 18-34.  Click here to learn more and to see if you're getting it.

Read MoreView Comments (7)
16May2012
Author
Alex Davis
Category
Australia, The Price is Right, Video
Quickplay: Does This Contestant Win the Showcase on Aussie “The Price is Right” Thumbnail

Quickplay: Does This Contestant Win the Showcase on Aussie “The Price is Right”

As we previously said, you should really be Liking us on Facebook by clicking here.  Nearly every day we play a special "Quickplay".  We'll pull a question or moment from an episode of some show from some country and ask you to answer or guess as well as you can.  Today we focused on Australia's The Price is Right, which has had a mixed reception.  They haven't had someone win the Showcase yet.  In the Showcase, you have to stack the prizes in order from lowest to highest without fail.  Can you solve the puzzle, but better yet, does this contestant become the first person to win the Showcase on Aussie Price is Right 2012?  Click here to find out and let us know what you think.

Read MoreView Comments (2)
16May2012
Author
Alex Davis
Category
Jeopardy, Spoilers
CNBC Host David Faber Wins Tuesday’s “Jeopardy!” Power Player Game Thumbnail

CNBC Host David Faber Wins Tuesday’s “Jeopardy!” Power Player Game

It's been a fun, exciting week for the long running syndicated game show Jeopardy!.  The special Power Player week is currently going on, where some of the nation's most popular newsmakers, comedians, politicians, and others are gathering in Washington D.C. playing for charity.  The winner gets $50,000 at least, and the rest get $10,000.  As we continue to cover it, we wanted to be sure to let you know who wins each match. Click here to learn about the final results of the match and see a cool behind the scenes video.

Read MoreView Comments (2)
16May2012
Author
Alex Davis
Category
America's Got Talent, Video
“America’s Got Talent” Night Two: San Francisco Thumbnail

“America’s Got Talent” Night Two: San Francisco

Night two of the seventh season of America's Got Talent went down last night in San Francisco.  The newness of Howard Stern, the newest judge on the panel, is over and we're into the gear of finding the best acts we can.  However, let's be honest, we watch the opening rounds to see the weird acts.  There were weirdos everywhere, but a few great acts stood out from the crowd.  One of the best came at the end of the show.  The most mind blowing act, to me, was extreme contortionist dancer Turf. Click here to see Turf, other interesting acts, and let us know who your favorite was.

Read MoreLeave a Comment
16May2012
Author
Alex Davis
Category
Blockbusters, Ratings
“Blockbusters” Returns to Large Audience, Peaks at 355,000 Thumbnail

“Blockbusters” Returns to Large Audience, Peaks at 355,000

Challenge's revival of the cult classic quiz show Blockbusters returned with a bang yesterday.  The debut episode of the Simon Mayo hosted game pulled in a total of 265,000 viewers for its half hour debut.  The breakdown was 247,000 for its original Challenge airing and an additional 18,000 on Challenge+1.  This is quadruple the network's usual rating for this slot, the largest rated program on Challenge since August 2nd, 2011, and the second highest rated since 2006, when records were published.  Moreover the show peaked at 355,000 viewers at 8:20PM, which is right around the time the first Gold Run aired.  For comparison, last year the network's highest show was an episode of Millionaire at 251,000 viewers.  Congratulations to their success, and I hope it continues.  Click here to read more and to see some of the episode.  Be sure to let us know what you think.

Read MoreView Comments (7)
15May2012
Author
Alex Davis
Category
FOX, Set Report, The Chase
Brad Rutter and Mark Labbett are Chasers for Fox’s “The Chase”; Pilot Details Revealed Thumbnail

Brad Rutter and Mark Labbett are Chasers for Fox’s “The Chase”; Pilot Details Revealed

We've had to bite our tongues for a long, long time but we can finally reveal some information about Fox's pilot of ITV's hit quiz show The Chase.  We already knew that host Bradley Walsh would be sticking around from the British version.  He's not the only one, though.  Two pilots were taped, one with an American Chaser and one with a British Chaser.  Click here to read about the two Chasers and to learn more about the small tweaks to the American format.

Read MoreView Comments (16)
15May2012
Author
Alex Davis
Category
America's Got Talent
“America’s Got Talent” Night One Recap: The Dawn of the Stern Era Thumbnail

“America’s Got Talent” Night One Recap: The Dawn of the Stern Era

The seventh season of the only television talent competition I can stand, America's Got Talent, arrived last night.  Beyond the general excitement viewers had for the show's return, arguably all of that was trumped by the revival of the newest judge, the King of All Media, Howard Stern.  Some were (unjustifiably) worried about how Howard would act.  I'm not sure why people thought he'd bring his radio persona to this show.  Anyone with any common sense knew he wouldn't.  If you watched, you quickly saw that Howard was the perfect addition to the show. Click here to read more about our thoughts on Howard, what we thought were the most memorable acts of the night, and let us know who your favorites were.

Read MoreView Comments (4)
15May2012
Author
Alex Davis
Category
Cable, New Show, Video
MTV2 Offers Previews of “Hip Hop Squares” Thumbnail

MTV2 Offers Previews of “Hip Hop Squares”

We've all heard, seen some of, and read about MTV2's new game show Hip Hop Squares by now.  It's a revival of the classic game Hollywood Squares but with some of hip hop's biggest names occupying the nine squares of the game board.  They've turned the game into a party, and from what we've heard about it, the show should be great.  I'm not even a hip hop fan and I'm looking forward to it.  Want to see a few previews and trailers for the show to get you in the mood?  MTV2 has released several clips for the show debuting Tuesday, May 22nd, at 11:00PM ET.  Check it out by clicking here.  What do you think? Click here to watch.

Read MoreView Comments (1)
14May2012
Author
Alex Davis
Category
Host, NBC, New Show, White Elephant
NBC Picks Up ITV’s “Surprise Surprise” with Host Jenny McCarthy, Plus Others Thumbnail

NBC Picks Up ITV’s “Surprise Surprise” with Host Jenny McCarthy, Plus Others

This weekend NBC announced their Fall 2012 television schedule, and a few new unscripted shows came along with it.  We already knew about White Elephant, the Howie Mandel hosted game show.  A new British import called Surprise, hosted by Jenny McCarthy, has also been announced.  Surprise is based on the ITV show Surprise Surprise which has recently been revived with host Holly Willoughby. As we previously stated, NBC has also picked up several other unscripted television series including White Elephant and Stars Earn Stripes. The network has cancelled a large number of unscripted shows as well. Click here to learn the details on all of them.

Read MoreView Comments (13)
12May2012
Author
Alex Davis
Category
Deal or No Deal, Spoilers, Video
Weekend Replay: Would You Swap Your Box on “Deal or No Deal” Thumbnail

Weekend Replay: Would You Swap Your Box on “Deal or No Deal”

This past week on Deal or No Deal was the Banker's Birthday.  Last year Suzanne had the dream finish and won the £250,000 top prize during a cowboys and Indians week.  This week it's doctors and nurses.  Contestants get the chance to play for a trip and, if they elect to gamble, to go one box at a time towards the end.  However, the Banker can look inside the contestant's box if they fail.  We'll skip that part since it doesn't meet the tension of the end.  The contestant lost the challenge and the Banker has looked into the box.  The title gives it away a little, but would you swap your box at the end of your game? What if you got the chance to swap it back. How much can the Banker get into your head. Trust me, you do not want to miss this ending. It's an episode of Deal fans will never forget. Click here to check out the moment.

Read MoreView Comments (2)
12May2012
Author
Alex Davis
Category
Challenge, Pictures, Video
A Look at Challenge TV’s “Take It or Leave It” Thumbnail

A Look at Challenge TV’s “Take It or Leave It”

This Monday sees the debut of Challenge TV's first original game show since 2008, the cult classic Blockbusters.  I thought it may be interesting for both our UK readers, plus Americans who don't know much about Challenge, to look back at some previous Challenge originals.  I wanted to start with what is arguably their high point in original production: Take It or Leave It.  Cross some fairly tricky 50/50 trivia questions with the luck of Deal or No Deal and you'd get this show which ran from 2006 to 2008.  Click here to learn more and to see pictures and a video of the show.

Read MoreView Comments (2)
11May2012
Author
Alex Davis
Category
Returning Show, Shark Tank
ABC Renews “Shark Tank” for a Full Fourth Season Thumbnail

ABC Renews “Shark Tank” for a Full Fourth Season

Good news for the world of unscripted television today.  ABC has renewed what is arguably the best and smartest reality show on TV today, Shark Tank, for a fourth season.  The network has ordered a full season of 22 episodes for the 2012 television season.  Shark Tank has been the "little show that could".  It started pretty meager in the viewing department and got a few renewals for its low cost, but it's built a steady audience despite some irregular scheduling patterns by ABC.  I've been a fan since day one and I'm very happy to see it keep going.  It's nice to see a low key, mellow, smart reality show can survive.  I had my fears and I'm glad I was wrong.  Click here to let us know what you think of the show and its renewal.

Read MoreView Comments (11)
Older Entries