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This just in: The hit Fox game show Don’t Forget The Lyrics! will be going into daily syndication in Fall 2010.  It’s been cleared in New York, Los Angeles, Chicago, Dallas, Houston and Washington, D.C..  The singing game show will be partnered with Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? across the country.  Coincidentally these shows were paired for much of their nice run on Fox, where they regularly scored good ratings.  Former Sugar Ray lead singer Mark McGrath will be host.  Mark was also previously the host of the entertainment news magazine show Extra.

Lyrics! will replace Deal or No Deal Tuesday nights on MyNetwork.  As we reported a while ago, Deal or No Deal is not expected to return to national syndication, ending the shows long run starting on NBC.  Some other network where the show is popular (coughGSNcough) wouldn’t be dumb to attempt to pick it up in more of the European style where the budget is lower and prizes aren’t as huge.  But I digress.  Lyrics will also air on VH1, following the original airing model done by Fifth Grader which made it so financially sound, and it was a genius idea.  Lyrics was pretty enjoyable for what it was on Fox, so it’ll be nice to see what they can do in the daytime edition.  Most likely they’ll just lower the top prize to $250,000 and keep things the same, or they could just copy the daytime Fifth Grader format which ended up nice also.  We’ll get more information in the upcoming days/weeks when information comes out.

So what are we thinking?  Excited?  I think it’s a nice winning combo.

Don’t we all love lists?  Well, not really, but this one’s pretty interesting.  Television Business International recently compiled a list of the ten most popular game show formats of 2009.  This wasn’t based on their personal favorites or what the few random readers chose in a poll.  This is all based off of which shows got the most eyeballs around the globe last year.  A lot of the choices aren’t surprises at all, but a few are really shocking.

Coming in at number one is actually Who Wants to be a Millionaire.  I expected it to be Deal or No Deal after the huge few years it had across the globe, but apparently not.  This year was really interesting for Millionaire.  It’s the year the movie Slumdog Millionaire won Best Picture at the Oscars, which definitely rose more awareness about it.  It’s also the year you could sense some age on the format and basically every country around the globe changed the format.  The norm these days is either the British 12 question format, the US clock format, or the Australian Hot Seat format.  The show was apparently the runaway winner this year.

Number two was indeed Deal or No Deal.  This also seemed to be the year that format showed some age.  Really…how long could a format as simplistic as this go without being changed?  Interesting, essentially all the US style versions of Deal around the globe are starting to dwindle away but the more original, location-specific versions are doing better.  Even the Australian version is changing when the new season starts on February 1st to try to battle Hot Seat.

Number three was one of my personal favorites: Wipeout.  It’s definitely a guilty pleasure that exploded around the globe, and has every right to.  It’s fun “turn-off-your-brain” viewing.  Number four is Wheel of Fortune which somehow, after all these years, is still knocking everyone else out of the park in ratings.  Five is Family Feud, still going pretty strong here and goes through yet another transition in 2010, with Steve Harvey becoming host.  Six is Don’t Forget the Lyrics, seven is somehow Hole in the Wall which blows me away, and eight is Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? which beyond my best wishes has turned into a very enjoyable daytime quiz.  Number nine went to Jeopardy! which keeps going nicely despite no major stunts or twists like every other show, and in the final ten spot is something I’ve never heard of: I Love My Country.  Anyone have any idea what this is?  Again, here’s the list.  How do we feel about it?  Agree or would you make some changes?

1. Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? ITV (UK) 1998 Sony Pictures TV
2. Deal or No Deal Nederland 2 2002 Endemol
3. Wipeout ABC (US) 2008 Endemol
4. Wheel of Fortune NBC (US) 1975 CBS Studios International
5. Family Feud ABC (US) 1976 FremantleMedia
6. Don’t Forget The Lyrics Fox (US) 2007 RDF Rights
7. Hole in the Wall Fox (US) 2008 FremantleMedia
8. Are You Smarter Than A 5th Grader? Fox (US) 2007 Mark Burnett Prods
9. Jeopardy NBC (US) 1964 CBS Studios International
10. I Love My Country RTL4 (Netherlands) 2008 Talpa Media

Photo courtesy of Valleycrest Productions Ltd.

It’s my favorite time of year on this site.  The boring summer where I barely have anything fun to offer is almost up and it’s time for all your favorite game shows to come back for a new season of tapings.  The casting is basically over but you can still be in the audience, which is a lot of fun.  Many shows are leaving Los Angeles to go across the coast so if you’re near the New York City area, there’s lots of chances for you to get in the action.  Not only that but we get lots of emails asking us about their favorite shows.  Here’s a list of the big game shows last year and if they are returning or not.

Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?: If you’re looking for the primetime million dollar version, I wouldn’t count on it.  It’s basically canceled at this point.  However, the daytime version is taping and looking for audiences by clicking here.  The format for the daytime edition is far better, using a new bank-building game play with the chance to multiply your money by ten in the final bonus question.  Up to $250,000 can be won.  I wasn’t a fan of the primetime version, but this new edition looks interested and I’ll be sure to watch.

Catch 21: Nothing is set in stone yet, obviously, as the second season just ended.  However, the ratings for this new season were at the top of Game Show Network’s list each week.  The show also wound up being pretty under budget which is why you saw some of the $50,000 episodes.  Of course I can’t guarantee a third GSN season but as of this morning when I last heard from sources, I wouldn’t be remotely shocked to see it pop back up.  I’m hoping, too.  I enjoy it.  The production this season was by far better but for the love of whatever you believe in please get better, less annoying contestants.  The amount of people who don’t know how to add 13 and 8 was staggering.

Deal or No Deal: Let’s just get this settled; the primetime version is canceled for now.  I wouldn’t be completely shocked to see it spring up somewhere along the road but for now no more million dollar episodes.  The half million dollar daytime version begins taping in its new location of Connecticut soon, though.  People in that area wishing to sit in the audience can click here.  It’s going to be interesting to see what they do this season.  I’m really curious if they shipped that huge set across the country or if they’re getting a new-ish look.

Don’t Forget the Lyrics: Simply put, don’t be expecting this back.

Family Feud: As we’ve said repeatedly, Family Feud is returning for a record 11th season, making it the longest lasting version of the show ever.  Lots of changes are coming this season, including a new Bullseye round making the end game worth a potential $30,000.  Also, any family that wins five days wins a car.  It’s extremely exciting and we’ll have more on that later.  If you want to be in the audience, visit the ticketing website here. Go to the Feud website to see how you can be a contestant.

Jeopardy!: It’s no shock to anyone that Jeopardy! will be returning in the Fall.  Airing now is the special Kid’s Week episodes so if you suck at the regular show and want to feel like a genius, you’re in luck!  You can always find out more about casting and audiences at their website.

Newlywed Game: GSN’s first season of the revival of Newlywed Game edited a few weeks ago.  I enjoyed it and apparently quite a few others did as well.  It rated pretty highly and had one of the highest opening weeks of any GSN show in quite some time.  As with Catch 21 I’m hearing very positive things about a second season, so stay tuned.

The Price is Right: The 38th season of the show currently hosted by Drew Carey is still around and kicking.  Click here to get tickets and possibly be a contestant. You can also read Drew Carey’s Twitter here and see his behind-the-scenes look at the show.

Wheel of Fortune: Needless to say this will be coming back and you know to look on the show’s website for audience and contestant information.  They are airing new episodes this week so be sure to check if we get another millionaire.

Who Wants to be a Millionaire: Coming back as well, no surprise.  If you’ve been reading this site at all you’re well aware that ABC is currently looking for contestants for its tenth anniversary edition airing in August.  The ABC version will be the same thing as the current daytime version, including the clock, new lifelines, and dollar values.  The Regis Philbin edition tapes in a few weeks and you can pick up tickets here.  The Meredith Vieira edition has a funky schedule, but you can sit in the audience for that one here. I had a blast when I went last time and if you’re in the New York City area, definitely think about it.

If I missed any show just comment it and I’ll tell you what I’m hearing about it.

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 decided to remove it from its normal Monday slot and put it on Friday.  It went back to Monday and has done horrible.  Far worse than ever before.  To me it was just a giant mix of NBC abusing the hell out of it and the constant gimmicks.  We’re finally getting back to normal, regular shows but it’s too late.  The damage was done.  The good news is that the daytime version of Deal will be back September 2009, and it’s far better than the NBC version ever was.  Moving to Connecticut to save budget may be a great thing for it, as if it can keep at its current rating level we may see it for a while.  So at least something good came of NBC’s god awful primetime version: we got the good daytime version.

Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader and Don’t Forget the Lyrics never really did much for me.  They were both essentially Millionaire ripoffs (Millionaire for Dumbasses and Music Millionaire, respectively) that didn’t try to change it up a bit (1 VS 100).  But fans of Fifth Grader will be happy to know the show will be on in the daytime for a syndicated run starting September 2009.  We’ll see how long it can last there.  Even beyond my bias against the show I really don’t think that long since Millionaire is already running, but I could be wrong; it’s not that rare.  Don’t Forget the Lyrics just seems to be gone for good and not showing up anywhere again.  Scheduling abuse doesn’t seem to be the issue for those two.  They weren’t plastered everywhere.  Moving the shows from their successful Thursday time slots to a Friday one was an awful move, but FOX doesn’t seem to be hurting or missing them at all.  People just seemed to get tired of the formats after a bit, too.

That’s really the basic principle, to me, of why all these primetime game shows go.  People are getting tired of the formats and you move on.  The issue is the production companies and networks tweak the formats like crazy and change it to bring those people back, but they don’t come back and you lose what loyal viewers you had in the first place.  We saw that with primetime Deal and we see in daytime Deal how sticking with something that works keeps your loyal viewers.  I’m sure more primetime games will come soon.  To look at it positively as well, this new run of primetime game shows brought in some new syndicated game shows; something that hasn’t happened in a long long time.  This stuff is always in a cycle.  Wait a few years.  We’ll get another big quiz format and they’ll all explode again.  We’ve already taken shows from the British and the Dutch.  Let’s wait see who’s next.

So yeah, there’s been like nothing remotely newsworthy going on.  All that’s a tiny bit interesting is that Chuck Woolery is going to be a backup singer on Don’t Forget the Lyrics! this season, and that Jeopardy! is being made for the Playstation 3.  Beyond that, really nothing is going on.  But we do have a few notes.

*My Family’s Got GUTS starts tonight at 8:00PM ET on Nick.  Check if out if you get the chance; it looks to be interesting.  It doesn’t seem like they screwed it up too badly which is a miracle for revivals today.

*Later this week we’ll be having a post about some new strategies that future contestants on Who Wants to be a Millionaire? this season might want to check out.

*Our Grand Slam feature is still happening next month.  We’ve just been looking at ways to make it work and be remotely interesting.  And not take a ton of time to finish.

*Starting next week, though, we’ll be doing a big feature on Whose Line is it Anyway?.  Yeah, it’s like 1% game show if not a half a percentage less, but that’s good enough for me.  Especially since the US version turned 10 years old in August, and the show turned 20 years old internationally this month.  We’ll be posting our top (insert number here) favorite clips as well as potentially getting interviews with some former cast members of the show.

However, for now, if you have anything to say about tonight’s GUTS premiere, use this box to do it.  PDFs are updated too!

It’s upfront week and not a lot of game show news has been going around.  We’ve really been over-saturated in primetime and it’s time for a short break, which is good because if we keep getting shows like Set For Life, I give up.  Anyway, FOX announced their schedule and all three of their game shows survive into the Fall 2008 schedule.  They’ve really benefited from using safe formats with relatively interesting concepts that generates a lot of water cooler talk.

First off, if you’re used to watching Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? and Don’t Forget the Lyrics! on Thursdays, get ready to make a change.  The night of punctuation moves to Fridays, with Fifth Grader? at 8:00PM ET and Lyrics! at 9:00PM ET.  I still can’t stand Fifth Grader; I just don’t think it’s a good million dollar format.  When the cheaper daytime version comes in 2009, then we’ll talk.  However, I watched Lyrics! a few weeks ago and I have to admit it’s not really that bad.  Sure the format is unoriginal and I really don’t like any of the music (I’m a 80s and early 90s alt/grunge person), but it’s a relatively enjoyable fun hour.

My personal favorite of the group, The Moment of Truth will be placed in the Thursday at 8:00PM ET slot.  This show generates the most talk and has the biggest chance of combating any of the networks.  Look at the Laura Cleri episode to just realize the amount of talk the show generates.  The show consistently gets ratings and is a pretty fun way to spend an hour.  It’s far from a classy show, but it does something that Amne$ia never did and why shows like ABC’s Opportunity Knocks will fail: even if you can’t really play along it makes you show real human emotion.  You want the contestants to win money because they’ve done good things.  You want them to fail because they are asses.  It makes you voice speak up.

As far as NBC goes, it’s still just Deal or No Deal with 1 VS 100 not looking good to come back.  CBS has no traditional game shows but will always have its cash cow Survivor.  A CBS representative told us that they have six episodes of Do You Trust Me?, a retooling of Friend or Foe? from GSN, but aren’t placing it on any upcoming schedule.  ABC just has the aforementioned Opportunity Knocks which I can just sense the failure slowly creeping off of.  On the cable front, like we said we have MTV’s The Phone upcoming, and GSN has three shows.  One is Catch-21, which we’ve described in excruciating detail.  They also have two more revivals coming out soon.

We really don’t talk about FOX’s singing game show Don’t Forget the Lyrics! much because, quite frankly, there’s rarely anything ever to talk about with it. I’m a bit surprised when I get the show’s ratings as I keep forgetting it’s on. However, the show is pretty popular and with so many people wanting to try out, FOX is creating an online game where you can become a contestant and sing with host Wayne Brady.

Part of the Lyrics game allows players to upload videos of them singing various songs, which will then be browsed by FOX who can choose contestants from this database. “This is a natural extension for us as we continue to explore ways to maximize the value of our show brands,” said Max Benator, head of digital media for RDF USA. “Any production company that wants to survive in this changing media landscape should be creating for as many platforms as possible – and I’m glad we’re finding successes in doing that.”  This is very similar to how Deal or No Deal’s new casting website will work; you obviously just won’t upload videos of you singing.  Or you might, who knows; it may get you on the show.

I’m a bit stunned that Don’t Forget the Lyrics outlasted NBC’s The Singing Bee, but after thinking about it for a bit it makes sense.  The viewers are flocking towards formats which they already know and feel safe with.  The formats that have escalating prize money, lifelines, and big drama for big risks.  Lyrics, just like its other Who Wants to be a Millionaire? clone friend Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader? has this.  I really don’t think NBC primetime was the best place for The Singing Bee anyway.  It always seemed more like a syndicated game show.  I’m never one that foams at the mouth by huge money, but a show for a top prize of $50,000 seems weak compared to everything else on the market.

I went a bit lazy, but the ratings page has a massive update. The Singing Bee keeps slipping down, as it’s now at 1 VS 100 new episode levels. However, Don’t Forget the Lyrics! and Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader? keep going up. Also, Without Prejudice? had a very strong debut, doing equally as well as GSN projected. GSN’s ratings for June stayed basically the same, though. Syndicated ratings had barely any change as well. Click here for the page, or click the link in the top right corner, which is easier.

The karaoke wars are officially on. NBC served up a televised bitch slap to FOX by rushing their new singing show, The Singing Bee, to air on July 10th following America’s Got Talent. No word on the host or top prize yet, but we’re hearing you can win somewhere around $100,000 (at least on the pilot). Let’s see the rules of both shows.

The Singing Bee: Contestants hear the house band play a song. Lyrics will also appear on a screen. Contestants have to sing along. When the music stops and lyrics end, the contestants have to continue to sing. Each one right wins a prize.
Don’t Forget the Lyrics!: Contestants hear the house band play a song. Lyrics will also appear on a screen. Contestants have to sing along. When the music stops and lyrics end, the contestants have to continue to sing. Each one right wins a prize.

We’re in for a very fun time soon. If there is any good news to come from this, it’s that we might have an uninterrupted Fall of 1 VS 100. I’m crossing my fingers for this.

If you notice the site doing weird stuff today, our apologies.  We’re attempting to get the new website online and we’re having issues.

We’re seeing shades of the Chair/Chamber situation with singing game shows.  Hot on the trail of NBC’s Singing Bee, FOX is rushing Don’t Forget the Lyrics to air.  The Wayne Brady hosted show will debut on July 11th at 9:30PM ET and its second episode is July 12th at 8:30PM ET.  On the show, contestants will have to sing along to the show’s band while lyrics are displayed on a large screen.  The contestant will have to continue to sing when the music and lyrics stop.  After each right lyric, the contestant has the option to stop the game.  However, if they can answer all 10, they win $1,000,000.  In the pilot, two “Helplines” were used.  For more pilot information, click here.

Also debuting this summer is CBS’s Power of 10.  The show sees contestants predicting the percentage of people to answer a topical survey question.  The first right answer gives the contestant $1,000.  Each right answer after that multiplies their money by ten, making the top prize $10,000,000 for five right answers.  The Drew Carey hosted show from Embassy Row will debut Tuesday, August 7th, at 8PM ET before settling into its position of Wednesdays at 8PM ET the following night.  Taping will start in mid July.

Any pre-airing thoughts about either of these shows?  Don’t Forget the Lyrics is going to be polarizing for the main reason of musical taste.  I guarantee you all of the songs will be known pop songs.  I like the old 70s/80s/90s punk and grunge music like X, Pixies, and Fugazi, so I know at least that if they stick with pop music, I’ll be screwed.  I couldn’t even name one popular song today.  A good chunk of my fear about Power of 10 is gone from what I’ve seen of tiny chunks of the pilot.  It looks rather good.  I’ll always have a tiny level of fear about Embassy Row shows after the horror that is Chain Reaction, but I think Power of 10 will make me completely forget about it.  Looks like we finally have another winner in this new boom of game shows.

Why do I have a feeling that we’re on the road for another Chair/Chamber situation?  FOX is rushing their ripoff of NBC’s The Singing Bee to tape.  Don’t Forget the Lyrics, FOX’s new song identification show, will be taped on June 19th through the 21st and hosted by Whose Line is it Anyway cast member Wayne Brady.  If you would like to see the show and live in LA, click here to get tickets.  This is some information given to us by a casting person:
10 songs…10 missing lyrics…One Million Dollars. Don’t Forget The Lyrics! has the perfect mix of nostalgia and cool factor. Like Karaoke on steroids, our contestants take center stage to sing along as the lyrics are projected and our studio band provides the music. Suddenly, the music stops and the words disappear. Will our contestant belt out the correct missing lyric or will they freeze under the pressure of the bright lights and studio audience? With each correct lyric, our contestant must decide to “stay & play” or “take the money & run.” As our contestant climbs the money chart, the songs become more popular but the missing lyrics become more difficult. When a contestant is unsure of missing lyrics, they can use any one of three helplines to aid them. In Which Line Works?, the contestant is given three possible missing lyrics. One is correct and two are incorrect. In Friends & Family, the contestant can ask their in-studio guests for help in completing the missing lyric. In Scratch The Record, their originally selected song is thrown out and a new song is provided from the same category. So sit back, turn up the volume, and get ready to sing along to the biggest hit songs of all time! But, if you want to be successful in this game, there is one thing you have to remember… DON’T FORGET THE LYRICS!

I love that we’ve combined 1 VS 100’s Helps and Millionaire’s Lifelines to get Helplines.  This show doesn’t seem absolutely dreadful so far though, which is a step up for most FOX shows.  Although, can someone please tell me what is so appealing about Wayne Brady?  I thought he was the biggest waste of time on Whose Line.  His only skill was singing, and that didn’t save him on the show at all since it was a comedy.  For the most part he lacked the comedy aspect.  I’m guessing the singing is one of the sole reasons he was casted to host.  Regardless, what do you all think about this show so far?