21Aug2011
Rumor Control: ABC’s “You Deserve It!” Debuts November in Post-”Dancing With the Stars” Slot
It's rare that we get some actual news on the weekends but we've got something interesting. ABC has been doing heavy casting for their new quiz show You Deserve It!, hosted by The Bachelor's Chris Harrison. The quiz show lets contestants play for someone else which leads to a surprise reveal of the cash. The game wasn't anything that new or special but it's very obvious that the point is the emotional ending which goes well with ABC's female driven base. We may have a debut date. Click here to learn more.
Read MoreView Comments (1)13Jun2011
Official: Jim Thornton Chosen as New “Wheel of Fortune” Announcer
Edit: It's official. We're missing our "We Called It" banner or we'd be displaying that right now. Jim's official run starts on the season debut, September 19th. “We are delighted to welcome Jim Thornton into the Wheel of Fortune family,” said Wheel of Fortune executive producer Harry Friedman. “Jim’s rich, friendly voice and engaging personality are a great fit for our show and its tradition.” Click here to read more.
Read MoreView Comments (51)02Apr2011
Rumor Control: Soaps Leaving ABC; Talk and Games Moving In?
We're always following television news. We, of course, heard about the rumors that ABC was canceling one of their soap operas. I don't like them, so works for me, but the word was it was being replaced by a talk show possibly so no reason to report it. However, there is now. Yesterday, TV Guide reported that ABC may be canceling both of their soap operas. What will be replacing it this coming Fall? They are saying a talk show and a "reality show". And by reality show, they mean game show. Game shows are dirty words now. Click here to read more about TV Guide's speculation.
Read MoreView Comments (57)24Feb2011
News Flashes for February 24, 2011
We're in the aftermath of the Watson debacle so not a lot is going on right now. Instead of a bunch of bigger stories, we've got a massive amount of small stories. We want to be sure to give each of them their due place, so here are some news flashes for you today. Stories today include Wheel of Fortune's Vanna For A Day contest, the Cartoon Network reality show Destroy, Build, Destroy, the independent game show Red Carpet Run, a new Hub game show and rumors about it, and how to be in the audience for GSN's The Newlywed Game. Click here to read about each story.
Read MoreView Comments (16)21Feb2011
Rumor Control: “Million Dollar Money Drop” Returns This Summer; Gets Board Game
Given the ratings and the overall reception the show got, as it got past its initial week-long event and sped the game up, this may not be a total surprise. An Endemol insider is telling readers, through Bother's Bar, that the Fox game show Million Dollar Money Drop will return this summer for a new series of episodes.
The show averaged around five and a half million viewers generally during its first run, nearly identical to what Minute to Win It got during its initial run this time last year (and still gets). And as we say constantly, Money Drop is cheap in broadcast network terms, it's good time filler, and it did well enough to deserve another season. Click here to read more, and for some facts backing this up.
09Sep2010
The Cube Returns
British television listings have confirmed the second series of ITV's hit show, The Cube returns for their second series on Sunday 19th September, at 6.45pm on ITV1 and ITVHD. For those who don't know, The Cube features contestants who could win up to £250,000 by completing, simple but complex games inside a large persplex cube. The games can be anything, such as counting up to 10 seconds in your head, bouncing a ball into a container, walking in a straight line while blindfolded and counting red squares on the floor. The second series will once again be fronted by former Winning Lines and current This Morning host, Phillip Schofield. The new series will feature a mixture of brand new games and previous games from the first series. The e
Read MoreView Comments (4)21Jul2010
Rumor Control: Carnie Wilson Leaving GSN’s “Newlywed Game”
One of GSN's most popular originals may be searching for a new host. According to Joe Adalian from New York Magazine's Vulture The Newlywed Game is likely to bring back The Newlywed Game for a fourth season. It will tie Catch 21 to be the second longest running show in the network's history, behind Lingo. However, host Carnie Wilson is said not to return. It's late so obviously we can't confirm anything today but we will try to later. Joe hasn't been wrong with this stuff before and he has two sources confirming this so it's looking likely. Read on for the full story and all the developing details.
Read MoreView Comments (30)17Jul2010
Britain’s Got Talent Changes for 2011 – O’Grady to Replace Cowell?
Rumours have been circulating in recent weeks that the Britian's Got Talent judging panel, featuring Piers Morgan, Amanda Holden and Simon Cowell will be having a reshuffle for the next series in 2011 and potentially a format revamp. The recent series received criticism from viewers, saying there were too many rubbish acts being put through to the semi finals (including a guy who chopped wood while singing), too many dance acts and no acts with a high caliber like Susan Boyle from the 2009 series. In addition, the series rating average was 10.64 million, nearly 3 million down in comparison to 13.36 million which was achieved for the 2009 series. Although the average was nearly 3 million down it still beat the competition against the othe
Read MoreView Comments (4)15Jul2010
XBox “1 VS 100″ Dead
The world has gone 1 VS 100 crazy recently. First we got the exclusive word that an American television network is looking at picking up 1 VS 100 for a brand new (and cheaper which will probably work better) series. Today, though, we get bad news. XBox has announced that it's 1 VS 100 live arcade game has finished after two seasons. The show seemed strong, with tens of thousands playing for real cash and prizes each week. The outcry for the death of 1 VS 100 has been very visible, too. Check out any tech blog and you'll see an overwhelming if not unanimous declaration of sadness to see the show go away. It was very popular and done unbelievably well. It opened the door for a lot of social game show programming. I doubt we would have seen stuff like the Family Feud Facebook game without it. Read on for more information.
Read MoreView Comments (6)14Jul2010
WTF of the Day: “Hole in the Wall” Returning?
Updated: Cartoon Network has picked up the failed Fox game show Hole in the Wall. Read on for more information.
Read MoreView Comments (19)13Jul2010
Format Update: “Baggage”, “1 VS 100″, and “Pass the Joke”
I've got some small updates about various formats. Let's start with the most exciting. *I'm hearing from very reliable sources that 1 VS 100 is looking to make a television network comeback. It won't be on NBC, though. 1 VS 100 has been a major player for GSN, achieving big ratings for the game show network even though it has few episodes. Next, GSN has a hit with Baggage in America, and it's starting to sell abroad. Our friends at K7Media forwarded us to a report that the French network NRJ 12 has picked up Baggage for a 30 episode run. It will debut in France in September. Finally, A new unscripted TV production company, Shevick Zupon Entertainment, just got a show commissioned by GSN for a pilot apparently. According to C21Media, the company is developing the show Pass the Joke for the network, which is based on a 1972 format originally hosted by comedian Milton Berle. Read on for full details and more exclusive inside information.
Read MoreView Comments (29)09Jul2010
Rumor Control: “5th Grader” Lowering Number of Questions?
Quick blurb from an audience report of the new season of Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? from Hollywood Junket. They say the format is the same, letting players go for up to $250,000. However, they are allegedly lowering the number of questions. If this report is correct then the fifth grade questions from the main game have been removed but the fifth grade Bonus Question is still there. Like in the first season there are two first grade questions worth $500 each and two second grade questions worth $1,000 each. However, the two third grade questions are apparently now worth $3,500 and the two fourth grade questions are worth $7,500 each for a grand total of $25,000. A wrong answer wipes your bank to $0. If you want to gamble your money you can risk it all on one final question, a fifth grade question, for ten times your money. What do we think, if this is all true?
Read MoreView Comments (7)16May2010
Rumor Control: “Let’s Make A Deal” Renewed?
ossibly good news for all us Let's Make A Deal fans. Our sister site, Game Show News Net, is reporting that a Facebook post from Deal host Wayne Brady says that the show will officially be returning for a second season. The show currently airs in daytime along with companion The Price is Right and is the first daytime network game show in over a decade.
Read MoreView Comments (23)14Apr2010
Late Night Puppet Game Show Now Casting
UPDATE: I am being told that this is indeed for GSN, as we originally speculated. The show is slated to air this summer with a small order of half hour episodes. Sources are saying it's the most expensive half hour show in GSN history. They are working with Jim Henson's puppet company, but probably can't use the Muppets due to the Disney connection. That would balloon the cost even more, not to mention tricky ownership issues. Given the description I'm imagining just using puppets of various celebrity figures, but that last part is speculation. Also given that this is being billed as a late night show it looks like it won't be airing until much later, like around 11:00PM ET. But older GSN watchers remember GSN had their most succes
Read MoreView Comments (28)14Mar2010
Rumor Control: “Deal or No Deal” Coming Back to NBC?
I've got a pretty big rumor for you today. We got an interesting email on Saturday. Apparently there are targeted casting notices going out for Deal or No Deal. Not the now-canceled syndicated edition either. The notice specifically states NBC and specifically states a $1,000,000 top prize. Again, this is a very targeted casting notice. People are being specifically messaged on some talent hunting websites which means, if this is for real, they want people extremely quickly. Having a full casting session would add a lot of time (and cost) to this. The notice expires on Monday. Also the notice is sent out by a legitimate verified big industry person from the Los Angeles area, so it's not some joke being pulled. I won't post the not
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