A while ago we posted how GSN’s popular card/quiz show Catch 21 was renewed and looking for new contestants. GSN finally made it official late last night and announced the 65 episode order of the second season. This is 25 episodes more than what aired in season one which is a pretty good indicator for success. The show got those episodes taped quickly and will start airing April 6th at 6:30PM ET. This follows the premiere of the revival of The Newlywed Game. That’s a really good hour of original programming from GSN right there. Alfonso Ribiero and Mikki Padilla returns as host in the show where contestants answer questions to earn cards and try to get as close to 21 as possible without going over. The winner of the game plays the bonus round for a potential $25,000.
New things this season should excite readers. GSN pledges a completely new, redesigned set will be used. Let’s hope it sticks throughout the entire show. A larger studio audience will be used this season, too. While the first season had an audience (and I appreciate any show with an audience these days), it was dinky. The bonus round has been revamped to make winning easier.
“We’re excited to bring this high-energy show back to viewers with the same great host and team of producers, but with more opportunity for big-time winners and a whole new look that invites the audience to join in on the fun,” said Kelly Goode, GSN Senior Vice President of Programming, announcing the pickup. “One of the great things about this program is that fans of the show that want to get in on the action, either to compete for money like the show contestants or just to play for fun, can go online at any time.”
GSN has a pretty good knack for making their season two products much better than season one, dating back to shows like Whammy!. Catch 21 is a personal favorite of mine, so I can’t wait to see what comes up this season. The show will be rerun nightly at 10:30PM ET and on weekends at 4:30PM ET.
13 Responses
This is great news. I love this show. I hope that they do not ruin it by changing it too much. I will agree that the end game involved a lot more luck than any skill.
Posted on February 18th, 2009 at 12:49 pm
I’m glad to see GSN supporting its shows. I’ve never thought that this game was perfect – it has some serious flaws in and of itself, but the fact that they’re changing set & end game shows me that they care enough to try to fix the program. And I still like Alfonso :)
Posted on February 18th, 2009 at 1:03 pm
I do wonder how they’ll change the bonus round to make winning easier- the easiest thing they could do is just have the contestant choose where each cards go from the beginning (before, they put the first card on the first column, the 2nd on the 2nd, the 3rd on the third, then let the contestant decide). Too bad they won’t change the front game a little- I always thought if a player passed a bust card to someone, the 2nd player should have a chance to avoid it with a (difficult) T/F question..
Is that the official new logo as well? It looks pretty good…
Posted on February 18th, 2009 at 4:23 pm
I, too, like the show. At first, I was leary of AR hosting…but I stand corrected, and think he’s great.
Given that this show is based on Gambit (and produced by the same gentleman…the AWESOME Merill Heater)…AND since it’s being paired up with the new version of The Newlywed Game…I’m thinking (and this is just a thought) why not bring back the couple’s format? Again…just a thought.
I actually like this bonus game…so I am wondering how they’ll “change” it. The current one resembles “The Gambit Board” (Gambit’s bonus game before it was changed to High Rollers’ Big Numbers). Maybe they introduce prizes ? Hmm.
Posted on February 18th, 2009 at 5:04 pm
I think the change is the addition of one Power Chip for winning the game, so up to 4 are available now.
And yes, that’s the new logo.
Posted on February 18th, 2009 at 5:48 pm
SWEET logo upgrade. Better than the old one by miles…the other one looked too…Kraft-ish, for lack of a better term. (Pun not intended.)
Posted on February 18th, 2009 at 7:50 pm
No surprise at this end that Catch 21 was renewed with a tight new logo.
To Jay: I agree. Alfonso is very good at hosting a game show.
And GSN is (finally) doing it right, pairing it with the revival of The Newlywed Game.
Posted on February 18th, 2009 at 9:35 pm
I really like how GSN makes changes to their original shows each season to make them feel new/fresh and thus making some viewers not want to watch the episodes from the previous season(s).
Catch 21 is a great game and Alfonso did a good job in the first season (and chances are that he’ll be better this upcoming season with the help of him co-hosting GSN Live).
I wonder how the set will be and also what changes they made to the bonus round. I really like the new logo (I also liked the one they used in the first season, but this looks a lot better imo).
Posted on February 18th, 2009 at 10:16 pm
Hopefully Alfonso doesn’t scream as much this season.
Posted on February 19th, 2009 at 5:57 pm
This is wonderful news. The new logo looks sweet, the changes sound good and pairing the new season with The Newlywed Game for the new 6:00 hour was just perfect once I heard it announced on GSN Live. The 6 p.m. hour has been doing extremely well for GSN lately with Pyramid and Bingo America so it’s really nice for GSN to continue with what works.
The only question now is what’s going in at 7:30? If it’s another Lingo I’m going to be mad.
Posted on February 20th, 2009 at 10:55 am
Maybe they should take a cue from the Catch-21 on WorldWinner, like add 5-card charlies count as a 21 or make black jacks (JS and JC) automatic 21s.
Posted on February 20th, 2009 at 11:44 am
They just showed an advertisement on GSN showing off the new set. It looks very very very nice. Think of it as an upgrade to the main game part of the set but much bigger with with a new layout that has more curves and different neon block patterns. They also showed the audience too.
Posted on March 16th, 2009 at 9:29 am
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