24May2009
The British May or May Not Be Better Than Us: “Divided” Part Three
Here's the final part of the episode of the new British game show Divided which we've been showcasing. This is where the game gets interesting. When all is said and done, the money the team earned is split into three unequal segments and the players have to decide which share they deserve. Each person has to choose a different share within 100 seconds or they leave with nothing. Again, it's one of those evil, backstabbing, stubborn shows which I enjoy. There's a good chance you won't enjoy it, though. I'm curious as to what you all think. [stream flv=x:/www.flashgameshows.com/wordpress/videos/dividedpt3.flv width=630 height=343 bandwidth=med /] And we are very much showing you a remotely nice ending here. I'll post a pretty mea
Read MoreView Comments (8)24May2009
The British May or May Not Be Better Than Us: “Divided” Part Two
Here's the second part of the new British show which you may or may not enjoy called Divided. The real interest in this format, the third part, will come a bit later today. [stream flv=x:/www.flashgameshows.com/wordpress/videos/dividedpt2.flv width=630 height=343 bandwidth=med /]
Read MoreLeave a Comment23May2009
The British May or May Not Be Better Than Us: “Divided”
I get more compliments about our series "The British are Better Than Us" more than any. I usually try to pinpoint the best of British shows and ask how we get stuck with crap and they get the good stuff. However, I'm really not sure how you'll all feel about this show. It's a new quizzer called Divided. Basically, teams of three have to agree on answers to questions as quick as possible. After each round the players have to unanimously decide to end the game or else they keep going. Three wrong answers and they leave with nothing. When they stop, their bank of money is divided into three unequal segments and the players each have to take one of the three segments. If each player doesn't take a different segment, they also leave with
Read MoreView Comments (3)23May2009
“Money List” Screener Came in Today
In my mail today was a screener for GSN's long awaited quiz show The Money List attached to, for some reason, a massive inflatable chair. We'll have reviews of the show soon. No reviews of the chair really because the only thing I can think it does is allows you to sit. The only other thing I can think is that it sucks you in and forces you to watch 20Q. All of this, plus a big Family Feud contest, is coming this week.
Read MoreLeave a Comment23May2009
Weekend Replay Part 1: “Millionaire Hot Seat”
We've got two videos for you this weekend. One is from the new British game show Divided which I'm sure will, aptly, divide the crowd here. But first here's one that seems to be pretty unanimous in its opinions: it's Australia's new show Millionaire Hot Seat. It's actually been remotely popular and got picked up for more episodes. I say remotely popular because it's still being beaten by Deal or No Deal by a decent amount, but it hasn't been as god awful in the ratings as anything else has for them. People will tune into anything with the word Millionaire apparently. I left out the first part since it's really boring. Here are the final two parts.
Read MoreView Comments (4)22May2009
Ratings Report: “Deal or No Deal” Rises after Second Season Renewal
In this week's ratings, there's not a lot of good to discuss. Everything seemed to be flat or down except for Deal or No Deal which seems to be hanging in the same level for the last few weeks. But hey, stability is good. This week it went up 7% to a 1.6. It's still behind The Doctors which is at a 1.8, but those two have been battling it out for the entire season. They can battle more next season. Remember, season two of daytime Deal or No Deal is moving to Connecticut to save the budget, so it may be able to sustain itself longer with its current ratings over on the East. I don't think it would last long in Los Angeles with its current rating. NBC's series finale of Deal or No Deal only drew a 3.4/5 in its final two hour episode
Read MoreView Comments (2)22May2009
A Plea to GSN and “Catch 21″ Producers
EDIT: After last night's episode which included a puppeteer and his puppet on stage, this needs to be brought to the top again. It was about as bad as it could have gotten last night. Last week was a rough week of Catch 21, GSN's hit quiz/card game. There was a bonus situation with a, uh, less than aware contestant who blew an easy $25,000 in an end game which essentially playing three hands of blackjack at once. The real point of aggravation last week, though, was when a contestant gave away a card which gave another player 21. It wasn't a move of, "If I take this card, I bust." The contestant couldn't add 13 and 8 together to equal 21. The video of it is below me. Not only that but that same contestant clearly had no idea how th
Read MoreView Comments (13)21May2009
Rumor Control: “Pyramid” Revival for CBS Daytime Now Casting
I'm saying this is a rumor but just based on the description from the Craigslist post, I'd be willing to bet that the pilot for the CBS Daytime revival of Pyramid is starting to take shape. Casting is going out. The good news for us east coasters is that since it's an Embassy Row production, like all their shows it'll be taking place in New York City. If you're in the tri-state area and want to be part of the pilot, click here to apply! No pressure, but the fate of daytime game shows rests on you. OK, not really, but still play well. Again, it doesn't outright say that it's a Pyramid pilot, but put it all together. It's Embassy Row, it's a revival of a classic hit show, and it's a major network revival. The only show like that that
Read MoreView Comments (30)19May2009
“Deal or No Deal”, “Fifth Grader”, and “Lyrics” Not Returning Fall 2009
It looks like this cycle of primetime game shows is over because of, yet again among a few things, god awful scheduling by the networks. NBC's Deal or No Deal and FOX's Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? and Don't Forget the Lyrics will not be coming back Fall 2009 and, simply put, they are almost positively canceled. No official word has been given but you don't need official word in these cases. They are dying in the ratings, audiences are going away fast, and it's constantly shuffled and removed. They are gone. Deal or No Deal should be no shock. The ratings for the three week trial the past few Mondays have been beyond terrible. They've been pretty bad all season. Originally I placed blame on the fact that this season NBC d
Read MoreView Comments (16)18May2009
Catch 21 – Busted Brains
One of the episodes of Catch 21 last week proved to be more memorable than most, mainly due to one contestant who should probably be bleaching her hair.
Read MoreView Comments (12)18May2009
Back from the 2009 Game Show Awards
Thank you, everyone, for sticking around while I was in Los Angeles for GSN's 2009 Game Show Awards. We've got a lot of red carpet pictures, chats with celebrities, and more to show you through the GSA debut on June 6th at 8:00PM ET. But for now, we've got some pictures of the actual action to show you, courtesy of GSN. Check it out. Stay tuned through the next month for lots of insider information about the show.
Read MoreView Comments (8)17May2009
“Millionaire” Nominated for Daytime Emmy, Plus More News
We're back from the 2009 Game Show Awards, and we've got lots of updates to show you once we get the OK. But first we have some extremely delayed Who Wants to be a Millionaire? news, and I apologize to you (and to ABC) for the delay. First off, a big congratulations goes to the entire cast and crew of the show which was nominated for a Daytime Emmy Award. Not only did did the show get nominated, but host Meredith Vieira is also up for an award. She won an Emmy in 2005 for the show and was the second female in game show history to win. This coming week on the syndicated version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, Jim Cramer of CNBC's Mad Money is going to be the expert for the lifeline Ask the Expert. We'll see how much money he can c
Read MoreView Comments (4)15May2009
Interview with “Family Feud” Champions the Grosso Family
Sorry for the delay on this. I swear I had this scheduled to publish but apparently not. A week or so back Family Feud finished up their final Big Money Tournament of the season. In these tournaments, all money earned in Fast Money goes into a jackpot which the winners of the championship match receive. In this tournament, $80,000 was up for grabs and the very entertaining Grosso family took it all. The Grossos first appeared in the Halloween week and lost their match before being invited back for the Big Money Tournament. They easily have one of the biggest wins in the ten season run of the show. We were lucky to get the chance to talk to some members of the Grosso family. It's an entertaining interview; they are so funny and energ
Read MoreLeave a Comment11May2009
Game Show Awards Fight: Bob Barker VS. Betty White
UPDATED INFORMATION:We've got some new information from various sources including Carrie at About.GameShows. Right now it seems that Betty White will not be appearing. She will make a pretaped tribute to Mark Goodson. I can't begin to tell you how excited I am to get to go to the 2009 Game Show Awards this coming weekend now. Thanks to a reader's Facebook link for this story. There may be a fight for the GSAs even before it begins. This one may or may not against Bob Barker and Betty White, according to some gossip websites (so you know the drill about trusting those). If you aren't familiar with their situation, a feud over an elephant at the Los Angeles Zoo who outgrew his pen created a rift between the two. Barker wanted to relo
Read MoreView Comments (56)10May2009
“Millionaire” Using Auditions; What About Phone Game?
Edit: An addition/retraction is at the bottom of the story. Thanks to regular reader Regisfan for this email. I got it on Saturday, but my schedule is clearing up so back to full speed writing. Who Wants to be a Millionaire's website has updated itself with information about the new season's auditions. That's all normal, but a really interesting nugget of information came from it. It says they will draw people for the syndicated and ABC primetime revival from this audition pool. So you either need to be in the New York City area or do one of the traveling auditions to get considered, it seems. We don't yet know if the phone game will accompany the auditions, but there we go. I see this as a huge budget saver. Instead of flying th
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