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All classic fans of Let’s Make A Deal be alert.  We previously said that Monty Hall was returning to the show.  CBS gave us a date.  The original host, Monty Hall, will be returning to Let’s Make A Deal for a full week starting March 22nd.  Monty was the original host and creator in 1963 and hosted through 1986.  He again hosted in 1990 and made a guest appearance on the ill-fated 2003 NBC remake.  This makes the sixth decade for Monty hosting the show.  He will host one game each show along with current host Wayne Brady.

So are we excited to see this?  He’s still a pro.  I talked to him a bit at the Game Show Awards, which was a giant thrill.  I’ve not heard a single bad thing about him.  I got emails from people auditioning to host about being unbelievably excited to meet him and how great he is, and I can see why.  Like Bob Eubanks on Newlywed Game, Monty is the true pro of Let’s Make A Deal.  Wayne is a great host, though, and it’ll be great to see these two act together.  Here’s some of Monty at his best.

The current group behind Deal has done a great job keeping the classic vibe in the current version, when you look back to the old ones.

Veteran game show legend Wink Martindale has been tapped to host GSN’s newest hidden camera game show Instant Recall.  According to Wink (who publicly said he is hosting and posted this image) the show will debut March 4th, and we’re reaching out to GSN for official confirmation as well.  But when the host of the show tells you when it’s debuting, you tend to listen.  This is Wink’s first game show hosting gig since Debt on the Lifetime Network from 1996 to 1998.

As a tagline given says, Instant Recall tests your patience, and then tests your memory.  Contestants are put through strange and out-of-the-ordinary situations under the surveillance of a hidden camera.  After this, the actual game begins when the contestant is asked to remember certain events from what they just went through.  The more they remember, the more cash they win.  If the contestant plays well he or she can win a few thousand dollars and and possibly a prize.

Instant Recall is GSN’s third new original show this year.  The first two were Carnie Wilson: Unstapled and a very similar hidden camera game show Hidden Agenda which got trampled in the ratings.  The show debuted to 202,000 viewers, so you have to think they are a bit nervous about premiering a very similar show so soon.  It’s much cheaper to do these types of shows without renting studio space and a large crew, so we may be seeing more of these down the line.

Developing story and I’ll add more to it as I read more, but the always great TVMoJoe at the equally great The Wrap has confirmed that CBS is the new home for the hit UK game show The Cube which is shooting a pilot next week.  To add to it, Neil Patrick Harris from How I Met Your Mother is the host.  So CBS has bested NBC’s ripoff Minute To Win It in format and host.  In addition to hosting, Harris will be executive producing the hit show, which says to me he’s a fan of it and helped it get to where it is.

The pilot will tape in London next week, and I know we have a few people going who will report back.  For those not familiar with it, The Cube sees a contestant face a variety of challenges inside a large, intimidating plexiglass cube for large sums of money.  The challenges may look easy but every becomes harder inside The Cube.  The Cube was originally with Fox who dropped it for Our Little Genius.  It took a mere month before CBS picked it up.  It’s a great format, and CBS looks to be the perfect home for it.  CBS doesn’t make bad game shows.  They’re very picky, and they see the potential.  Be expecting to see this show up this summer.

Edit: By the way, doesn’t the host of the UK version look like Neil a bit?  A bit funny.

So after the pilot tapes next week CBS will have the option to move forward with the series or not, but as I said I expect them to.  For those not familiar with the show, take a look below.  How exciting is this?  The prospect of The Cube just got incredibly exciting.  Congratulations to Objective TV who found a fantastic place for it.  It’s the future of game shows and the best since Who Wants to be a Millionaire.

Sad news to start the day off with.  John O’Hurley has announced this is his final season on the popualr syndicated game show Family Feud.  Amazingly he follows the line of the previous hosts of this version (Louie Anderson and Richard Karn) of hosting the show for four years before leaving the game.  Unlike the others O’Hurley is leaving on his own will.

In a statement, John said, “The time has come to try something new, and while I have prized my time on Family Feud, I’ve decided to set a course for new adventures,” said O’Hurley in a statement. “This includes immediately heading into rehearsals for the U.S. touring show of Chicago, launching my new company Energy-Inc. which focuses on renewable energy solutions, debuting an original golf apparel line in the J. Peterman catalog, and visiting our troops overseas.”

The new host will be comedian Steve Harvey, who actually may be a fantastic fit.   Steve had a hit sitcom which ran from 1996 to 2002 and currently hosts his own radio show.  He also hosted a short-lived variety show.  Steve will begin hosting in Fall 2010 when Family Feud begins its record setting 12th season.  It becomes the longest surviving series of the show in the history of the franchise.

“With his talent, authenticity and innate ability to connect with audiences from all walks of life, Steve exemplifies the spirit and appeal of Family Feud,” said Fremantle President Cecile Frot-Coutaz in a statement. Fremantle produces the long-running Family Feud, while Debmar-Mercury distributes the show.  This is all according to Broadcasting and Cable.

On a personal note, it’s very sad to see John go.  I’ve visited Feud several times and met John often.  He’s one of the nicest people in the business and a true pro.  He’s without a shadow of a doubt the best host that show has had since Richard Dawson and they are losing a major reason why the show is so enjoyable.  He’s been a great friend to the site over the past few years and an integral part of why the show still exists to this day.  He will deeply be missed.  However, I think Steve may be a fantastic fit.  He has the personality to do it, the comedy skills, and the name recognition.  Good luck in the Fall.  We’ll definitely be on the set for this one.

No major news right now unless I’m missing something, but there are lots of small stories out there.  It’s the Television Critics Association press tour this week so we’ll have lots of small developments.  NBC just had theirs today.  I wish I could say I’m really interested in game show news right now but the whole NBC late night debacle is far more interesting.  It’s incredibly fascinating to see what happens.  The latest thing I heard is Conan O’Brien staying on NBC is about a 50/50 chance so you never know.  Check out the great website TheWrap.com for the latest.

*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.  It’s a bit shocking since they are losing five hours of programming in February and could use a quick cheap show like Deal, but there we go.  I’d expect to see Perfect Ten, now called Minute to Win It, a lot sooner.

*Jerry Seinfeld is returning to NBC, kind of.  He’s the executive producer of the new reality comedy show The Marriage Ref debuting February 28th.  It’s hosted by incredibly funny comedian and actor Tom Papa.  Seinfeld said the show is a mix of a reality show, a comedy show, and a game show, just without prizes.  Is marriage a good prize?  I’m a huge Seinfeld nerd and his stint on Curb Your Enthusiasm this season was priceless, and he’s got one of the best comedic eyes out there so I’d expect this to be really funny.

*The drop zone will live on.  Sadly not with Russian Roulette, pound for pound one of the best game shows this decade.  Oxygen Network has in development a new show called Fashion Drop.  The show basically sees contestants having to prove their fashion sense or they are dropped off the set.  The whole drop technique has been used by Ellen Degeneres on her talk show for a while, and it’s pretty popular.  This may have had something to do with it.  She also did Hole in the Wall before Fox decided to pick it up.  Any chance Ellen can do a 100 person audience quiz show?

It’s a pretty exciting night for those who like GSN’s revival of The Newlywed Game.  Host of the classic version Bob Eubanks will finally return to the host’s podium, grilling couples on intimate details.  Since Bob is hosting this special episode, current host Carnie Wilson will be a contestant along with her husband.  Her opponents will be other members of her family.  The winning family, like in the other numerous celebrity shows (so many it’s incredibly annoying, which goes for Catch 21 as well), gets $10,000 for charity.  Take a look below.  The Newlywed Game really is Bob’s game and it’s great seeing him back finally since he’s made it clear without outright saying it that he wanted to host this one.  Maybe we would have gotten a Bob Eubanks reality show then?  It probably would be easier to watch.

What do you get when you take England’s hit semi-revolutionary game show The Cube and dumb it down for general American standards?  You get NBC’s new game show Perfect Ten.  Before we get to this, we would like to say that Josef Adalian from TVMoJoe has confirmed what we announced a few weeks ago, that Fox has dropped The Cube.  The field is wide open for someone to go after it now.  American networks would frankly be stupid to not go after it.  But that’s old news.  Onto Perfect Ten.  We’ve got a host for the show.  It’s Food Network personality Guy Fieri.  Hey, it’s not the generic standup comic for a change.

NBC has a description of the show.  Adalian’s post states: “Fieri will serve as master of ceremonies and will be the competitors biggest cheerleader. In each episode, Fieri will lead competitors through a series of simple, yet nerve wracking games that can reward them a $1 million prize. Over eight one-hour episodes, competitors will face 10 challenges that escalate in level of difficulty. Created using everyday household items, each game has a 60-second time limit and failure to finish the task on time will eliminate the contestant. One slip of the hand and you’re out.”  So, again, it’s a ripoff of The Cube.  USA!  USA!

Guy will actually be involved in the casting a bit.  They’ll be casting contestants during some of Fieri’s “Road Shows”, so if you can endure spiky bleached hair for a bit you may be on your way to a million dollars.  I know it’s a ripoff of The Cube, but I’m still looking forward to it.  It may be as close as we can get and if they can get it remotely right I’ll be happy.  When NBC actually tries hard to make a challenging, entertaining game show they do well.  When they half-ass it, it tends to bomb spectacularly.  We’ll see how it goes, but I’m looking forward to it.

We previously had a rumor from sources saying the show may debut in January.  That has been pushed back to either later in the season or in the summer.  The excuse we were given from the start was they didn’t have a host yet or it would have been out sooner, and this definitely syncs up.

Apparently that 10th anniversary special of Who Wants to be a Millionaire got former host Regis Philbin anxious to sit in the host’s chair and give away a million dollars again.  Regis will be hosting the syndicated edition for one week in Spring 2010, substituting for regular host Meredith Vieira.  Regis last sat in the seat this summer hosting an ABC revival.  The ratings were decent but there’s still no word on a renewal for that.  Regis announced this on LIVE! With Regis and Kelly this morning.  In addition his producer Michael Gelman will be the Expert for that week’s Ask the Expert lifeline.  He’ll be standing by on Skype waiting to help.  No idea whatsoever how he’ll do but I’d be careful if I was a contestant.  You can check out this announcement on Live!’s website by clicking here.  It goes live at 3:30PM ET.  It’ll be in the host chat segment at the start.

So that’s some pretty exciting news for Millionaire, eh?   Seems like every week something new and different/exciting/interesting comes out about the show.  Next week is definitely going to be exciting.  Millionaire’s Tournament of Ten kicks off and on September 20th one contestant will win $1,000,000; we guarantee it.  There’s a trailer for it on Millionaire’s website.  It’s been so long since we’ve had a seven figure winner and I’m really looking forward to it.  I think I’ve given up caring that it’s not a winner by answering all fifteen questions.  Just drop the freaking confetti.  We’ll have a lot on the Tournament, as well as our picks, in the next few days.

Well apparently you can’t keep a secret in Hollywood, can you?  Yes, former Newlywed Game host Bob Eubanks will indeed host the final episode of the second season of GSN’s revival, which begins Monday, October 12th at 6:00PM ET, on GSN.  I had a few audience members leak it to me and I was waiting for a press release where we knew me information than, “He’s back!  Holy crap!”  But screw professionalism.  I don’t think we’ve been that high on it the past nearly five years.

So this is going to be interesting to see.  I enjoy Carnie Wilson, the current host.  I do think there’s a complete difference between the Carnie we see on camera and the Carnie you see in person, uncensored.  But Bob Eubanks is the master of this game and even if you’re not a fan of the format like me you can’t deny he’s great at it and he’ll be very welcome.  We’ll have a big feature on Newlywed Game and Catch 21 on Monday.  Both hit shows begin new seasons on Monday, October 12th, at 6:300PM ET and 6:30PM ET, respectively.

We plugged it yesterday, but CBS has uploaded a video of Wayne Brady promoting his revival of Let’s Make A Deal, starting October in daytime.  Enjoy.

Watch CBS Videos Online

September 7th is a date that no fan of Family Feud will want to miss. The long-running syndicated game show begins its eleventh season, the fourth with current host John O’Hurley. If you’ve been following any game show news at all you are most likely aware that the show is adding a lot of fantastic changes which improves the show greatly. First is the new Bullseye round at the start of the game giving families the opportunity to play the Fast Money end game for up to $30,000. The other big change is the car for any family that wins five games. The thing that hasn’t changed is the fantastic hosting by John O’Hurley. I’ve been a vocal fan of Mr. O’Hurley from the first season and he’s greatly improved since. Even more than a Feud fan, I am a gigantic Seinfeld nerd, so when I got the chance to talk to John on the set of the show I had a minor mental meltdown. He’s just as funny, witty, and nice in person as what you see on television daily.

Again, John O’Hurley is on his fourth season and it seems just as fun as it has been since day one for him. “It’s been a wonderful show. It’s the funniest thing I’ve ever seen and done in my lifetime and I say that with the full knowledge that I was in Seinfeld.” John continues, “The show feels really comfortable to me, I like the format of the show I like the idea that nothing is scripted. I like the idea to walk on, that trusting the families will be enough to entertain. That’s the learning curve. No preparing time. You have to learn and hope that the funny will appear and it does.”

While it has been a nice run for John, it does take time to get comfortable. During that first season one complaint issued often was his over-reliance on certain comedic elements such as jumping at the buzzer every show which has gone away. But as John O’Hurley explains, it’s definitely a learning experience. “I had to learn not to keep up. It just comes. You don’t have to constantly worry about, “Will I say this?” If it comes, it will. There’s a learning curve. I call it an un-learning curve. Every show has its own curve. I loved doing To Tell The Truth, it had a wonderful ambiance and it was one of the most enjoyable experience I had. Great producers and great celebrity panel, but I don’t have that. I have my families. This is a whole different experience. The show has its own personality.”

He continues, saying that the changes have been fun for him, as a host, to go through. “It’s different for me because you have to develop a different flow. I like it because immediately the families were energized. It starts off on a higher level. [Giving away a car] was a great experience].”

Something I didn’t realize is that John O’Hurley actually did the show back in 1986 as part of a special soap opera edition. He said, “I was doing a show, Men of ABC Daytime VS Women of ABC Daytime. I don’t remember much of the game but all I remember is watching [the host] and remembering, “This is a great gig,” and 20 years later I got it.”

The experience of playing Family Feud makes John really feel for the contestants under the pressure. “I have a lot of compassion, genuine compassion, for the families that come up. First for the compression of time and you’re being asked something so simple that you want to over think it and that’s a problem.” John also gains a relationship with these families in a very short period of time. “I try to instantly find something I like about people, whether something physical or something with their personality. Especially if they’re older females. I try to flirt with them. I try to find something likeable and it’s easy, and they are here to have fun. This isn’t a tense show. This is the joy of answering surveys. I don’t take myself seriously doing this. It’s all for fun.”

The one thing I always love to ask hosts is what their favorite segment of the show, since everyone has something different. John answered, “I really love the game, and I just want them to win. The end, to me is the best. And I don’t know the answers. I know the number one, but I don’t know the rest so I’m playing along with everyone else. I mean in these days it’s just one answer that can change your life. I get really excited. I get really emotional when someone is given 160 points on the first round and the person doesn’t carry it over the line. I remember once one person got 180-185 points on the first round and the 2nd person didn’t get it. I mean I would fall on my sword. I don’t think he can go on living.“

Before leaving, I had to ask John O’Hurley about other shows he’s done and where this stacks up. This isn’t John’s first hosting gig. He’s done several such as the previously mentioned To Tell The Truth, he did a spelling bee game show for FOX, and he was at one time a serious contender to take over The Price is Right. But for John, he can’t think of a better place to be than Family Feud and all its great fans. “I get very nice responses and there are still people who just don’t like me. I have very thick skin. I did a test show for [The Price is Right] but this is my favorite show. I like the survey end of this more than a show about prices, it wasn’t my style. Also I wouldn’t give this show up…for the world. I can’t think of a happier place to be.”

I’ve said from the first season that John O’Hurley is the best host of Family Feud since Richard Dawson without a shadow of a doubt, and with the way things are going he’s looking to be the longest lasting host of this current edition of Feud. It’s a very exciting season for the show. Be sure to watch the season premiere of Family Feud on September 7th on whatever local station near you carries it.

Fred Roggin announced on GSN Live yesterday that he’s leaving the show.  So The Money List is your only option to see him on the network for now. Here’s his statement from the GSN boards:

From the begining of GSN Live we invited you into our family and you invited us into yours. That’s why I’m sharing this with you now. My time at GSN Live has come to an end. I’ve been in broadcasting a long time and nothing has been more enjoyable than the time I was honored to spend with you on a daily basis. I’ve learned that game show fans are perhaps the most passionate people. I’ve felt your passion. (luckily more good than bad).
The network allowed me to pursue a dream and for that I am thankful. The dream continues and that was the plan from day one. Hosting a prime time game show (Money List) was part of it. The third part was producing a game show and I’m thrilled to say we’re at the run thru stage of a game we developed. As you can imagine the production of that show requires my focus now. Thank you from making The Money List a success. (you better keep watching and tell everyone you know to watch). Thank you for making GSN Live a success. You are the reason it works and will be the reason it continues to work.. I’m not doing GSN Live but I’m still on GSN and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Thanks
Fred

If you’re a regular reader of the site, you know I’ve had nothing but good things to say about Fred Roggin from day one of his hosting job on GSN Live.  Then I get very excited when it’s announced GSN is reviving the one-and-done FOX game show The Rich List now called The Money List.  And then even more excitement is added once I find out the host is indeed Fred Roggin.  Fred’s really great at what he does and very entertaining to watch.  The Money List is a great game show vehicle for me, and I was very happy to get the chance to talk to him about the new show.  Take a listen by clicking the link below and hear about the long long history of the show at the network, what he liked most about his experience, and the connection between sports fans and game show fans.

Quick heads up for all you Who Wants to be a Millionaire fans out there.  The season may be winding down, but there’s still one more guest host left in the show for the season.  Shaun Robinson, a host of the syndicated entertainment news show Access Hollywood will be sitting in for regular host Meredith Vieira all week during the week of June 8th.  Also, for all those wondering, the eight season premiere of Who Wants to be a Millionaire will be September 7th.  Check your local listings.  There’s a couple of pictures of Shaun’s appearance below.  Take a look.  Photos courtesy of Valleycrest Productions Ltd.

The second guest host during this season of Who Wants to be a Millionaire? will be Samantha Harris.  For those of you who don’t know who she is (I had to look her up too, don’t worry), she’s the co-host of Dancing With the Stars as well as a correspondent for The Insider.  She’ll be filling in for regular host Meredith Vieira from May 11th through May 15th.  Previously, So You Think You Can Dance host Cat Deeley sat in the hot seat and gave hosting a shot to mixed results from the fans.  Let’s see how Samantha does.

Don’t forget that Famous Names week is airing all this week.

Photos courtesy of Vallestcrest Productions Ltd.