19Jan2010
“Fifth Grader” Renewed; “Deal or No Deal” on the Bubble
We're getting close to one of my favorite times of the year: NATPE. It's where we get to hear about all the new shows coming out to syndication; whether they be new, returning, or proposed. The conference is taping place next week and we've got our first new renewal announced. Twentieth Television's daily syndicated version of Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader has been renewed for a second season, according to Broadcasting Cable. All Tribune, Fox, and Local TV stations have picked up the hit quiz show, so if you saw it this season you probably will be seeing new episodes in September.
Read MoreView Comments (18)19Jan2010
Better Than Us: “The Krypton Factor” Part Two
We've got the final segment of the new series of the fun British quiz The Krypton Factor. Only two rounds left before a champion for this game is crowned, and he or she will return later in the series for semi-finals and ultimately the finals. The final rounds consist of the Physical Ability course, where contestants have to go through some big obstacle course essentially. Finally there's a General Knowledge quiz and the contestants need to buzz in and answer questions. The player with the highest Krypton Factor at the end of the game wins.
Read MoreView Comments (27)19Jan2010
“Let’s Make A Deal” Moves to Los Angeles
No ideas for why the change is occurring, but the CBS daytime game Let's Make A Deal will be moving from its Las Vegas home to Los Angeles starting March 18th. The show will tape for five weeks there, which should put it through the end of the season. It should be cheaper taping in Los Angeles for starters. Click here for tickets.
Read MoreView Comments (28)18Jan2010
Report of “Minute to Win It”, or Why I Don’t Like American Game Shows
We've finally got some concrete information in on NBC's new stunt game show Minute to Win It, debuting March 14th at 8:00PM ET. Previously we were just saying that it was a ripoff of the great British show The Cube because it sounded identical, but we had no concrete proof. The presentation is what may have changed everything. We've finally got some concrete information courtesy of our friends at HollywoodJunket. Calling Minute to Win It a ripoff of The Cube is being nice to ripoffs. It's a blatant reproduction of it under a new name that makes me wonder how much of a case ITV, the network airing The Cube, would have in suing NBC for this.
Read MoreView Comments (78)17Jan2010
The British are Better Than Us: “The Krypton Factor”
I've finally got an opportunity to continue our very fun and truthful series of The British are Better Than Us with an old favorite, that also aired in America for a bit, that has come back to ITV. The show is The Krypton Factor. In the show four contestants face off against each other in games of physical ability, mental agility, observation, and general knowledge. They get points added to their "Krypton Factor" for being successful, and the contestant with the highest Krypton Factor after four events wins the game and gets to come back later in the series. It's a fun show, check it out.
Read MoreView Comments (16)16Jan2010
Picture and Small Audience Comment from Set of “Minute to Win It”
Here's a quick Twitter picture Guy Fieri took on the set of his new NBC primetime game show Minute to Win It. I've got some early audience reports in my inbox and from what I'm reading thus far the "household chore" element has been completely removed and it is a total copy of the great British game The Cube. Be on the lookout for audience reports coming in shortly. Here's a picture.
Read MoreView Comments (17)16Jan2010
Carnie Wilson and “Hidden Agenda” Debut to Decent Ratings
The GSN camp got some remotely encouraging news on Thursday. Their two major pushes and the beginning of a transition away from studio-based games (except for one that's heavy in development apparently), Carnie Wilson's reality show and Hidden Agenda, started with pretty decent ratings. Carnie Wilson started at a .5 rating. Obviously not that great because of the massive promotion it got, but not that bad either. Decent in the grand scheme of things. That's right around what shows like Catch 21 get now and given the huge amount of really expensive failures in the past year this is really needed, so congratulations to them. I don't like reality shows that follow people around like this, but they're popular somehow and this one did OK
Read MoreView Comments (23)14Jan2010
Live Twitter Reviews for Carnie Wilson Reality Thing
Like it or not, Twitter is an incredibly useful barometer to see what people are discussing in the media. If it's remotely popular it'll be A: talked about and B: praised a tiny bit. I know we've been hard on reality shows because, well, I hate reality shows. I had to see what the people have said about Carnie Wilson's reality thing on GSN which ironically has no problem being called Game Show Network these days even though they are making a few non game shows. Twitter's very useful to get quick reviews for a show and build word of mouth. That's how things like Paranormal Activity get huge. Here are the reviews for Carnie Wilson's reality show.
Read MoreView Comments (44)14Jan2010
Discovery/Hasbro Joint Channel Named “The Hub”
"The Hub" is the name given to the network that's a joint partnership between Discovery and Hasbro. It will target children, as well as the entire family. Several game shows are being lined up for the network with their development team headed by former Game Show Network executive Bob Boden as well as other industry experts. The network will turn some games into TV shows, as well as taking its own original shows and turning them into games and toys. The production company will also pitch shows to outside places if applicable. Hasbro recently trademarked the game Catchphrase for game show use.
Read MoreView Comments (27)14Jan2010
NBC’s “Minute to Win It” Debuts March 14th, Plus More
But onto game shows. Our friends at TheWrap have the post-Leno (boo) schedule. The one most of us probably care about is Minute to Win It. Minute to Win It debuts March 14th at 8:00PM ET on NBC. It used to be called Perfect 10 but NBC probably got sick of being asked why they started to show porn in primetime. The stunt show sees contestants trying to perform a number of stunts, each with a 60 second time limit, for up to $1,000,000. It's as close as we're going to get to UK's brilliant The Cube which amazingly even Saudi Arabia gets and we can't. We've really heard nothing about it so it's hard to pass massive judgement, but it looks to be remotely interesting at least so it's worth a peak.
Read MoreView Comments (65)14Jan2010
Donate for the Haiti Earthquake Disaster Fund
We'll have some updates later, but there have been far more important things going on in the world. As most of you are aware of there was a massive earthquake in Haiti potentially killing tens of thousands if not more. It's just unbelievable to look at and a tragedy of ungodly proportions. There's no way I can talk about something as stupid as game shows with this going on, which actually matters. A large number of people want to help, and there is an easy way. The American Red Cross is asking for donations to help the people of Haiti cope with this disaster. You can click this link to donate to the Red Cross (or the picture for Salvation Army) to go to the donation site. You can also text "Haiti" to 90999 to donate $10 to Red Cross.
Read MoreView Comments (3)12Jan2010
“Millionaire” Announces “You’re In The Hot Seat” Home Sweepstakes
Who Wants to be a Millionaire is doing a big new sweepstakes for you home viewers, and it's giving you the chance to win tens of thousands of dollars; potentially up to $100,000. The show has announced the You're In The Hot Seat contest, from Valpak. The contest begins February 8th and will give away $1.5 million to home viewers, with daily opportunities to win. The show will distribute 30 million scratch-off cards inside Millionaire-branded Valpak envelopes. From February 8th through May 28th Meredith Vieira will announce a new "winning answer" during the show. All home viewers who have scratch off cards have to do is hope the answer matches, and if it does they win whatever cash value the card is worth.
Read MoreView Comments (156)11Jan2010
MTV’s “Silent Library” Returns Tonight at 6:30PM ET
Sorry for the short notice. One of my guilty pleasures, MTV's Silent Library, returns to the air for a new season tonight at 6:30PM ET on MTV. In each episode six friends make each other do various pranks and stunts while inside a "library". The catch is they have to keep quiet. If they do they can rack up some pretty nice money. This season they are adding some celebrity guests, and this week features pop singer Justin Beiber. Other guests will include Ron Jeremy and the band Forever the Sickest Kids. Again, it's a pretty funny guilty pleasure and good for some laughs, so check it out if you get a chance. Here's a clip provided by MTV.
Read MoreView Comments (2)11Jan2010
News Flashes: Howie Mandel, Jerry Seinfeld, and Drop Zones
NBC did drop a few other things in which no one really cared about since it didn't involve the late night situation. If you enjoy America's Got Talent like I do for some reason, this will interest you. As some may know David Hasselhoff left the show. Last we heard he wanted to do a new version of What's My Line, and he said he wanted to do other TV projects, so who knows. Taking David's place is Deal or No Deal host Howie Mandel. He will join the panel alongside Sharon Osbourne and Piers Morgan. Howie will continue hosting Deal or No Deal in syndication (while it lasts at least; I'm expecting this to be the end of the road). NBC did say they have no plans to bring the show back in primetime, though.
Read MoreView Comments (19)08Jan2010
“Our Little Genius” Update: Audience Reports of Questionable Activity
The situation on Fox's now-canceled quiz show Our Little Genius is pretty bad. It would have been larger news if the NBC late night ordeal wasn't happening at the same time. To bring people up to speed if you are behind: Fox pulled Our Little Genius less than a week before its debut because there was an, "issue with how some information was relayed to contestants during...pre-production," according to executive producer Mark Burnett. Some audience reports from Hollywood Junket are shedding some more light on this.
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