This is probably the weirdest place to get this news from, but IndianTelevision.com has posted a press release that Jakks Pacific (those guys who made the 6-in-1 Pac Man Plug-In-Your-TV-And-Play-And-Wish-The-Controllers-Were-Wireless games) has announced that they’re making Family Feud “GameKey” packs. They’re apparently making a console now. Well, everyone likes 16-bit games… But I’m pretty sure that 16 bit Family Feud games have been done already. At least we’ll get updated questions.
Archive for June, 2005
20
Jun
New Ratings
Recent reports have shown that GSN is getting a .4 average rating. Yes, this is true, but we here exclusively have specific ratings for their current big shows of May: Super Millionaire, Poker Royale, and Saturday Night Classics.
Super Millionaire- .6
Poker Royale- .3
Saturday Night Classics- Extremely hard to come up with because of the marathon-ish schedule.
.6 is extremely impressive for GSN, only having Poker Royale and Millionaire equaling/trumping that value. .3, while it isn’t great, is better than shows like Match Game. Family Feud is the only classic above a .3.
Lauren Corrao of Comedy Central was interviewed recently by CableWorld Magazine, and had this to say about the new Ken Jennings game show:
The similarity [to Win Ben Stein's money] will be that there are trivia questions and answers. Ken himself will be challenged. Aside from that, the packaging will be quite different. We had been looking for an early fringe game show for a long time. We tried Crossballs as a Crossfire satire in that period last year.
Interesting to note: Corrao produced MTV’s (possibly only) good game show, Remote Control, in 1987.
14
Jun
Extreme Dodgeball 3
After a long hiatus, Extreme Dodgeball finally returns with new episodes on July 19th. Incoming is Rip Torn, the new commissioner, along with a new format and arena. Celebrities and athletes will be competing with the new teams. Here is the list.
The Philadelphia Benjamins- Jeremiah Trotter (Philadelphia Eagles Linebacker)
Chicago Hitmen- Hal Sparks (Queer as Folk)
Denver Hurlers- Tara Dakides (Snowbord Gold Medalist)
Detroit Spoilers- Kerri Walsh (Beach Volleyball Gold Medalist)
L.A. Armed Response- Mario Lopez (Pet Star)
New York Bling- Mia St. John (World Champion Boxer)
The format consists of four 6 minute quarters. A point is given to a team each time an opponent is hit or that team’s player catches a ball. The team with the most points at the end fo the game wins the match. 10 regular season games shall be played. The top 4 teams will then go into the play-offs, in which those two teams will go to the championships. $170,000 in prize money is up for grabs.
The set has been redone to encorporate curved back walls. Also, a penalty throw is new for athletes receiving a yellow or red card infractions. The big ball will be used for increased scoring in the second quarter. There is also no more out of bounds. It seems much more like the movie Dodgeball now. Bil Dwyer and Zach Selwyn do return, along with Michele Merkin from E!. Also, GSN will introduce “Dodgy” as the Extreme Dodgeball mascot. The series will begin July 19th at 10PM EST.
Picture and Info Courtesy of GSN: The Network for Games
13
Jun
New Jeopardy on GSN
If you noticed today, GSN switched seasons of Jeopardy today. We at Buzzer! have the reason exclusively here. The contract on the season that GSN was originally airing ran out. The most recent season that Sony will allow GSN to use is the 2001-2002 season, which is what they have. This means that GSN has the Million Dollar Masters tournament in their hands.
12
Jun
Lingo begins taping
You heard it right. Starting Monday, June 12th, GSN will begin taping the 4th season of Lingo, one of it’s most successful original series ever. No word on who the model for this season will be or what the budget it. Buzzer will get all of the info ASAP. Buzzer will also be getting an exclusive interview with the host of Lingo, Chuck Woolery, and will be here for your enjoyment.
By the way, I would like to thank GSN for the wonderful tribute to Anne Bancroft they had today. The Black and White shows were a wonderful change to the lineup. Thanks, GSN.
EDIT AT 9:38 PM. Publicity Photo! Aaron Crumbaugh (Season 6); Brennan Swain (Season 1); Rebecca Cardon (Season 5); Rich Cronin (GSN’s CEO and President); Erika Shay (Season 5); Dennis Frentsos (Season 5); Joe Baldassare (Season 1); Bill Bartek (Season 1) and Guido (Season 1)
June 8 @ 2:48 PM: GSN, as of today, has officially acquired the hit reality show from TV’s most popular network (CBS), The Amazing Race. The panel consisted of Brennan Swain, the season 1 winner, Rich Cronin, and Ian Valentine.
Ian Valentine kicked the conference off by officially announcing The Amazing Race is joining GSN’s lineup. As of now, they have picked up seasons 1-5. In September, seasons 6 and 7 will acquired. Finally, in a year, season 8 and future seasons will be taken. This means 110 episodes of The Amazing Race will be on the network, which is around 3 run-throughs a year.
Ian stated that the show will debut July 11th at 9PM EST. It will air 7 days a week, with a repeat at midnight. He stated that this will be a game changer for GSN because “The executives have done an excellent job of setting the game up” and it is the first acquisition for the network of a primetime show currently running on TV.
Mr. Valentine stated “The show is a relatively stand-alone episode. In other words, you can come in addition and lock in half way fairly quickly and enjoy it. It will play extremely well in second run on GSN.” He states that the show expresses the wonders of the world through the eyes of the contestants. There are wonderful contestants and it is a two-time Emmy winner. Ian Valentine also said that when it starts in the summer, they will air all episodes and all additions consecutively. It will start with season one and run through the end.
Rich Cronin then came in and addressed the crowd. Cronin said that The Amazing Race “is really key for us. Everything we do is game relative, and this clearly falls within our brand. We feel it is the best reality show in TV history.” This show is also important because it will be the lead in for their big original summer programming, such as “the new poker shows, Dodgeball, and Ballbreakers”, quoted by Rich Cronin. With a difference of around 2 million viewers between the first and seventh season, he feels that the show “has fantastic potential in repeats.” Finally, Mr. Cronin stated “Having this big network hit on cable not only brings more viewers to cable but also allows local ad sales people to bring in more advertisers.”
Dena Kaplan, the marketing manager for GSN, said that this is the biggest marketing campaign in GSN history. “We are getting the word out in a big way. We will be buying national media in the top 20 markets.”
More information was then given. GSN could not disclose the cost per episode. Rich Cronin stated that “It was more expensive than expected but worth every cent.” All agreed that this brought up a great relationship between GSN, CBS, and Kingworld. No cross promotion is known as of now.
For future acquisitions, Ian Valentine said that they are always looking on the market. “We’re not ready today to make any announcements, but at any given point, we’re having significant acquisition meetings.”
For the ratings, Ian Valentine also said that their goal is to appeal to the 25-54 demographic, as is their more recent goal. “Why would we buy the show if it didn’t [get good ratings]?”
The license of the show runs through 2009, and can be expanded at any time. There is also talks of interactive with CBS, but no more information could be given at that point. Also stated by Ian Valentine was that this show should provide more security with reality shows on GSN. “We’re very proud of American Dream Derby. I have nothing against The Mole or our variety shows. Amazing Race is huge on CBS. The episodes are stand alone relatively to other reality shows.”
Don’t let Alex’s big old post fool you. I was at the press conference, too, so I totally agree with everything Alex said. Now, I guess I’ll present why I think that GSN’s big, well, AMAZING acquisition of The Amazing Race was one of the best moves that GSN’s made all year. Bold statement, yes, but it’s a true statement, and let me tell you why.
First, after listening to Rich Cronin talk about the direction that this move would take GSN, I’m convinced that this will seriously make GSN a recognizable cable television station. They’re doing a boatload of advertising. They’ll (hopefully) get it interactive online. The Amazing Race is going to be the anchor for GSN’s summer lineup. With the instant recognition of The Amazing Race, the other shows on GSN’s lineup will be getting a good ol’ booster shot in the arm. You know when you’re watching a TV show you like, you’ll probably stay on that channel unless you totally abhor the show? That’s what GSN is banking on for this summer. And, from the looks of shows like BallBreakers and Canadia– um, COMEDIANS vs. Poker Pros, as well as a fourth season of Lingo, I’m sure that this summer, GSN will do very well.
The other interesting thing that I’d like to note is that at the conference, the panel hinted that editions 8-10 will be available for GSN in the future. That shows a good relationship with CBS. This is the reason, at least in my mind, why GSN doesn’t have The Price is Right anymore. GSN asked, CBS said no, and GSN dropped it. That let the relationship between the former Swirlie Ball and the All-Knowing Eye stay intact for this move.
It’s like a strategic chess game. This will be interesting how this will play out, especially with OLN’s acquisition of Survivor. Who will be sent home packing with their torch extinguished? Time will tell.
GSN’s going to make many classic fans happy by showing four black and white shows on June 12th from noon till 2PM in tribute of the late and great Anne Bancroft. Here is the list of episodes.
12:00PM EST - Password (Ludden- 1962): Anne Bancroft VS Robert Goulet
12:30PM EST - What’s My Line (Daly- 1962): Allen Ludden, Arlene Francis, Bennett Cerf and Dorothy Kilgallen: Anne Bancroft as Mystery Guest
1PM EST- What’s My Line (Daly- 1963): Arlene Francis, Bennett Cerf, Martin Gabel and Phyllis Newman: Anne Bancroft as Mystery Guest
1:30PM EST- What’s My Line (Daly- 1964): Groucho Marx, Arlene Francis, Bennett Cerf and Dorothy Kilgallen: Anne Bancroft as Mystery Guest
A press conference will be held tomorrow to discuss the GSN acquisition of The Amazing Race. The meeting will consist of the media, including this site, Rich Cronin, Ian Valentine, TAR I winner Brennan Swain, and others. GSN officially has licensed the show’s long history as one of TV’s most popular reality shows, and is the first acquisition of a currently airing primetime reality show. More news will be given as it is received.
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