Very, very nice update.  Looks like the old set but updated well for modern times.  They even used the 80s board and graphics which is pretty cool.  Hey, if you’re trying to bring in your core audience to watch a game show revival, you may as well go with what they like.  Why go too far out to change what isn’t broken?  Again, I hate to harp on this but just from this American’s perspective, doesn’t it make sense for a network that specifically airs game shows to revive fan favorites with built in audiences?  Challenge is very, very smart for doing this.

The format is interesting because there’s really no set place you have to leave.  You can beat room one, win £1,000, and rattle off that one answer to win a quick grand.  Matt says that’s yet to happen and that the contestants are a lot braver than you may imagine. “It’s all in the contestants hands. If they want to take home a thousand pounds after answering one question, they can. But none of them do, thank goodness, and we’ve gone to on have some thrilling games with some big wins.” He continues, “I have the time of my life presenting The Exit List. What could be more fun than finding really nice, funny people, and trying to give them enough to pay off their mortgage, or start a home together?”

First off, take a look at the preview of the show.  You’ll get the idea of how the show goes, plus a look at the set and more.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Look at the set and show in even more detail with the pictures in this gallery below.  That, frankly, may be the coolest looking set I’ve ever seen.  Amazing looking.  Matt agrees, saying, “The stage is incredible. It’s built at the George Lucas stage at Elstree Studios, and coincidentally, it feels just like standing on the bridge of the Death Star.”

What do you think?  Looking forward to the show.  Don’t miss it Tuesday, January 10th, at 8:00PM UK on ITV.

The regular viewer won’t spot it most likely, but of course all of us see the incredible similarity between this and GSN’s extremely before its time original Russian Roulette, which is still the best thing that network has ever done.  This is as close to a revival as we’ll get, and it’s really pretty similar to a head-to-head version of their end game, so if you’re a fan of the old show I see no reason to not be excited to see this one.  Not to mention the fact that we don’t get coherent quiz shows much anymore (we’re looking at you, You Deserve It), so this could be a nice holiday treat for game show fans.  NBC supplied us with some stills of the show.

We only left one out, which shows one of the Heroes falling which spoils that game.  Click here for that, though, if you want to be spoiled.  It’s the best picture of a drop, but it does give away a game.

What do you think?  Looking forward to the show?  I know I am.

1) The average American has between 5 and 15 in a lifetime. Barbie has had 108. What are they?

2) This song was written just over a century ago and concerns a young woman’s plea to her boyfriend. Today, it is sung by large groups of people over 2,400 times a year. What is the song?

3) In 2004, UPS made one small change in how their trucks deliver packages in New York City. In each year since, they have saved millions of gallons of gas, increased safety and reduced CO2 emissions. What change did UPS make?

4) One creates and has been around for centuries. The other destroys what the first one creates, and wasn’t invented until 1770. But ever since they were united in 1858, they’ve been virtually inseparable. What are these two things?

5) British psychologist David Lewis said this activity only causes stress for one out of four women. But for men, even the thought of it was enough to cause their heart rate and blood pressure to spike. Most women who do it with men regret it. What is this activity?

We’ll reveal the answers later.

Marty:

Today I’m on the set of the brand new Hub Game Show, Scrabble Showdown.  Joining me today:
*Justin Willman – The Host of Scrabble Showdown (Hubworld, Food Network’s Cupcake Wars).
*Bob Boden –  Sr. VP, Reality & Game Show Production & Development, Hasbro Studios
*Pat Finn – Executive Producer Scrabble Showdown/Rubicon Entertainment

Marty: Let’s talk about the development of Scrabble Showdown

Bob Boden:
The main focus in the reality and games division is taking our game products and turning them into game shows.  We know that Scrabble is one of the most popular brands of all time and we really wanted to create a game that hi-lighted what Hasbro thinks about Scrabble in the future which is the “World of Words”.  “World of Words” games which engage the viewer in this new way to play Scrabble.  We brought in Rubicon and Pat’s team.

Scrabble Showdown set, courtesy Hasbro

Marty: Pat assembled a dream team of producers, writers and casting people.

Pat Finn:
We are working with as our consulting producer Sande Stewart.  Sande’s dad is Bob Stewart who is legendary when it comes to word games.

Bob Boden:
Can I tell you his resume?  He created The Price is Right, To Tell the Truth, Password, Pyramid,

Pat Finn:
So when we are doing a word game to have Sande contributing to the process really made a huge difference in development.  Our co-executive produce is Cindy Clark whose dad is Dick Clark and we worked together on a number of projects and she’s run a bunch of different game shows.

Marty: “How is it different from the Scrabble show of the 80′s and 90′s?”

Bob Boden:
It’s a completely different format.  We are very aware of that show. Our contestant producer Laura Chambers was a contestant on the original pilot of that Scrabble version and she went on to become the contestant producer of that show in the late 80′s so she knows Scrabble.

It was a really well done show and up to this point has been the most successful translation of a board game to a game show but their format is completely different from our show.  We made sure of that.  It’s about the World of Words. Any game that involves word play thinking on your feet about words can come under our umbrella of Scrabble. We are not beholden to the traditions of the board game or the old show. You will see an homage.

What they proved in the 80′s and what were going to prove again is you don’t have to be literally translating a board game to make

Scrabble Showdown, courtesy Hasbro

a game show based of a famous brand work. That show was of for 6 years and it was very popular and it was not a literal translation at that time.  Neither are we but we really do understand the core values of Scrabble and in our mindset the world of words takes us in so many different directions we never imagined.

Marty: “How did you find your host Justin Willman?”

Pat Finn:
We were told you got to look at Justin Willman.  We were like, “OK, we will do you a favor.”  He came in first audition and nailed it and we never looked at another person.

Marty: What did you like about him?

Pat Finn:
He’s comfortable and he connects with people. Whether he is talking one or one or thousands of people as a magician. He has this ability to connect in the moment. He likes people. He is excited when people win.  You feel it is authentic.  He’s Justin Willman.  He is anchoring and hosting this amazing game. He has a real natural sense of humor.

Marty: Justin talked about becoming the Host of Scrabble Showdown.

Justin Willman:

Growing up as a kid it was either become a magician or become a game show host and for years I’ve been doing magic. As a kid whenever I was sick from school the highlight was always seeing The Price is Right and see Bob Barker and be like, wow, that looks like the most fun job in the world to be able to finally dip into the world is a dream come true.

Marty: “Biggest surprise about becoming a game show host?”

Justin Willman:
Honestly, the biggest surprise sincerely is how fun it is. I thought after a little while it would become common place and become a chore but it really is a lot of fun. I truly get into it. I get hooked into their stories and I’m rooting for everybody. It’s a  playground out there and every show is different and it never gets monotonous.

Marty: “Talk about the games. Can the viewer play along at home?”

Bob Boden:
If you don’t watch the show and yell at the TV at least a dozen times then you are not really watching it. It is the most playable fun game you can imagine for families.  It really involves a lot of teamwork. A lot of solving of words. There are dozens of challenges in each show.  It is really fun interactive show

Scrabble Showdown, courtesy The Hub

This show is all about families. It’s about teamwork. It’s about parents and kids working together. It is designed for a family audience with co-viewing in prime time and so what I think we are asking our viewers in the home audience to do playing along is exactly what we are asking our players to do is work together as a family.  There is not a lot of television especially in the game show space that asks people to do that. Very proud of it

Marty: What do you win?

Pat Finn: [The] grand prize is tickets to anywhere they want in the world.  We were able to work it that every game someone wins a trip to anywhere.  We always end on a high note.  I love the fact we are doing programming that is engaging and entertaining.
About the Author…

Marty Lublin is a Host & Emcee for Game Shows, Sports and
Entertainment. He is also a former Contestant Producer, Game Show
Contestant and Game Show Winner.

Twitter: @martylublin
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/MartyLublinHostandEmcee

Scrabble Showdown has a sneak preview on Saturday, September 3rd, at 4:30PM ET before debuting at its regular slot on September 17th at 6:30PM ET on The Hub.

*We announced yesterday that former talk show host George Lopez is going to be on The Price is Right in September to present a Showcase.  We’ve got another guest, and this one is interesting.  Rapper Snoop Dogg will appear on the show.  He taped his appearance yesterday.  This should be fun.  I got to meet him briefly when he was a celebrity guest on Who Wants to be a Millionaire‘s tenth anniversary on ABC, and he was great there.  Can’t wait to see this one.  I’ve not listened to his music nor do I really enjoy rap, but come on.  It’s Snoop Dogg.  You can’t not like this.

Go For A Spin on Let's Make A Deal, courtesy CBS

*Let’s Make A Deal is bringing back an element of the past updated for 2011-2012.  If you watched Deal during the 80′s you may remember their special feature “Door Four”.  It was essentially a giant wheel one randomly selected audience member played.  The current CBS version hosted by Wayne Brady looks to be bringing it back under the title “Go For A Spin”.  I can almost guarantee it won’t be under the same format but it’s cool to see them going back to past ideas and updating them.  This current version of the show has been really good at that.

*ITV’s big money event game show Red or Black has a debut date.  The series will bow September 3rd and run through September 10th.  The series sees a large number of contestants predict the outcome of various stunts.  Eventually one person will survive and, every night, that person has a shot at winning £1,000,000 by answering just one question from a roulette wheel: red or black?  Here’s a trailer ITV provided. You know we’ll be covering it once the series debuts.

Photo courtesy Valleycrest Productions Ltd

*As previously reported, the Ghost Hunters will be making a repeat appearance this season on Who Wants to be a Millionaire.  In exchange Meredith Vieira made an appearance on the SyFy series.   Check out a picture of her appearance below, courtesy of Valleycrest Productions Ltd.

Did we forget something?  Let us know.

In addition to favorites from last season many new games will keep the Family Game Night fresh and exciting during this second season.  Each show will now start with a “Cranium Brain Break”, where families are tested on their physical, creative, and mental skills.  Winning this round lets you pick the first card on the Crazy Cash Board, which can award teams huge money at the end of the show.  Other new games include…

Simon Flash, courtesy Hasbro

Simon Flash: Families are dressed up as Simon Flash cubes, each with a different color.  A sequence of four colors is shown.  The family has to arrange themselves in the correct order.  First family to do this five times wins.

Ratuki Go Round: Teams have to get rid of their cars by tossing and stacking them on the Ratuki Go Round.  You can only place your card, though, if it’s one above or below the value of the card.

Trouble Pop Quiz: The kids on a team are asked a number-based question and have to use a giant Pop-o-Matic to answer.  First person to do this moves one of their parents that many space son the board.  Be careful, though, because if a parent lands on a space another team’s parent occupies, the opposing parent goes back a space.  Both parents in the finish zone means you win.

Operation Sam Dunk: It’s the board game Operation with a skee-ball twist.  Teams need to get the most points from Sam’s “funatomy” cavities.

Green Scream: Parents have to identify an image on screen that’s revealed small section by small section from kids rolling around a mat dressed in a green screen suit.

Spelling Bee: Mothers have to spell words for their family to guess on the Spelling Bee board one letter at a time.  The catch?  Their

Spelling Bee, courtesy Hasbro

“stinger pens” are attached to their backsides.

Not only that, The Hub is holding a special sweepstakes for the episodes on September 2nd and September 9th.  Viewers are going to get the chance to call in and win the same grand prize as the in-studio contestants.  Other prizes include five give-aways of $1,000.  That’s not all.  Wendy’s is teaming with Family Game Night for special show-themed toys inside their kid’s meals.  Visit HubWorld for more information.  Contest information goes live August 27th.

To celebrate the new season, The Hub will air a special Family Game Night marathon on Monday, September 5th, from 10:00AM ET to 7:00PM ET.

We’ve got some pictures showing off the action of the new series below.  What do you think?   Do any of those new games sound great to you?  As always, few groups put together a game show better than the people at Hasbro and The Hub.  It was evident by their collective time at Game Show Network and it’s evident by their current work at The Hub.  There’s few companies better.  I’m glad to see the great success of the show and I hope it lasts for them for a long time.

Take The Money and Run debuts  Tuesday, August 2nd, at 9:00PM ET on ABC.

*We were linked to a report of the new season of The Price is Right from fan site Golden Road.  There are a few changes which no one beyond the hardcore people will care about, so we won’t get into that.  One nice and needed change is an increase in money for the show’s popular game Punch-A-Bunch.  Last season the show’s cheapness was shown in full force during this game, which, according to regular emails we received, rarely gave away more than $100.  The new money layout includes one grand prize of $25,000; two $10,000; four $5,000; eight $2,500; ten each of $1,000; $500, and $250, and five $100.  Pretty big jump from the old layout which had 40 of the 50 slips a contestant could win being $500 and under.  Now that’s just 25 out of 50.

*Speaking of the new season, Drew Carey tweeted a picture of a new decoration hanging around the doors celebrating the 40th year of the show.  They’re huge and impressive looking.  Click here to see that.

*Some detains about NBC’s upcoming It’s Worth What?, the Cedric the Entertainer hosted game show, are finally coming out.  During a press conference we eavesdropped on yesterday, Cedric gave some details.  The game involves couples trying to bank up to $100,000 by placing items from least to most expensive.  They are allowed to gamble their money on one final round for ten times their bank, for a grand prize of $1,000,000.  It’s sort of like Card Sharks with actual items and a lot more money.  We posted some previews the other day and as I said before I feel I may have misjudged the show initially.  It sounds like it could be pretty fun.  The show debuts July 19th on NBC.

*CBS is still doing some heavy casting for their upcoming game show Identity Crisis, based on the popular board game.  If you live in or will be near Los Angeles and want to win up to $100,000, click here.

*The Dutch version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire had its first million euro question since 2006.  Check it out below.  Few things in game show history top a million dollar question.

*If you happen to live in the United Kingdom or can check out the show some other way, my friend Greg Scott is playing on the Channel 4 game show Countdown today, so watch that if you can.

Again, we’ll have a review of ABC’s upcoming Take The Money and Run later today.

*Again, I’m really not an awards show guy so I didn’t see any of the Daytime Emmys, but hearing the results I still stand by the opinion that Meredith Vieira, host of Who Wants to be a Millionaire, should  have won for Best Game Show Host without question.  Regardless, though, she was there last weekend elbow-to-elbow with some great people.  You can see one picture to the right, but you can check out the rest on Millionaire‘s Facebook page.  Check her out with legendary game show figures like Pat Sajak and Peter Marshall, host of The Hollywood Squares.

*This week had a few game show debuts, and the ratings weren’t great but not terrible for any of them.  ABC may want to be careful with Wipeout exposure.  The Tuesday preview episode got a 3.0/5 rating and 5.3 million viewers.  Having said that, 101 Ways to Leave a Game Show managed to actually improve a bit, scoring a 3.1/5 and 5.55 million viewers.  ABC’s Expedition Impossible also debuted and scored a 4.2/7 rating.  Wipeout‘s official Thursday season premiere fared much better than Tuesday with a 4.4/8.

*We’ve got new GSN schedules uploaded, which you can find at the bottom of the page.  A few changes are taking place.  Improv-A-Ganza is (sadly for me) losing its weekday 8:30PM ET time slot and it’s being replaced by Lingo.  Interestingly 1 VS 100 is getting a new 9:00PM ET weekday time slot also.  Could we be seeing a second season?  Fingers crossed.

*Our friends at Fremantle is hunting down contestants for a game show run through in Los Angeles.  Click here to learn more.

*We somehow failed to mention this earlier.  Hollywood Junket was on set with Who’s Still Standing, NBC’s upcoming game show, and got some pictures of the set and an insight into production.  I don’t know…it sounds like it could be good but it sounds like production issues are really hurting the show’s atmosphere in taping, and that tends to show on camera.

The game is basically the same if not a bit simplified.  Just choose right answers and avoid the wrong ones.  Wrong answers eject you from the game in big ways.  ABC has severely upped the ante, and I love it.  You’ll be flown out on the wings of a bi-plane, shot up in the air by “dynamite”, flipped over in an exploding car, dropped off a speeding 18 wheel truck, and more.  Even the end game, which in the British version ended in a short drop into a pool, has been upped to a ten story drop.   You may as well go all out, and ABC has.  I think they’ve fixed a few fundamental problems with the original.  The exits are entertaining, incredibly different, and terrifying.  But most of all they’re funny.

Here’s a look at one of them.  This is the Reverse Bungee.  You sit on chairs with “dynamite” at the bottom.  If you miss your chair goes flying in the air incredibly fast.  It’s as scary and funny as you can imagine.  Take a look below.

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Looking at this, the pictures, and knowing who is working on it, I’ve got a feeling this could be a lot of fun.  A lot of people working on this are truly big fans of the genre so I trust them.  Be sure to check out 101 Ways to Leave a Game Show starting Tuesday, June 21st, at 9:00PM ET on ABC.   A gallery of photos are below.  Pictures and video courtesy ABC.

*ABC announced some debut dates for their numerous summer game shows.  Wipeout will return from its very brief hiatus for a new series of episodes on June 21st for a sneak preview.  The actual season debut will be June 23rd.  Each episode is at 8:00PM ET.  The sneak preview episode will lead into Wipeout‘s companion show, 101 Ways to Leave a Game Show, beginning June 21st at 9:00PM ET.  The quiz show sees contestants trying to avoid wrong answers which remove them from the game in extremely physical ways.

ABC has then moved the season debut of its new Mark Burnett globe trotting game Expedition Impossible to Thursday, June 23rd, at 9:00PM ET, following Wipeout.  The show features 13 teams of three racing across the globe in an attempt to win $150,000 and a new Ford Explorer.  Finally, ABC has pushed the debut of its final game show, Take the Money and Run, to Tuesday, August 2nd, at 9:00PM ET.  Take the Money and Run challenges teams to outrun real life law enforcement to win up to $100,000.

*Los Angeles readers: here’s another chance to earn some easy cash for watching a game show.  GSN’s Baggage is taping today at 8:00AM ET and continues taping for a while.  They’re giving you $8 an hour, for a six to eight hour tape session, to sit there and laugh and people saying horrible things about themselves.  Not a bad way to earn about $50.  Click here if that sounds good to you.

*Got a pretty interesting email last night.  I get master logos sent to me on occasion to use for posts.  One of them was the master logo for Million Dollar Mind Game, the ABC game show which won’t be airing.  Very nice of the person to send it.  The other logo I was sent was for The $500,000 Pyramid, which you can see at the top or below.  I’ve got some sources telling me that it’s possibly a logo from the newest CBS pilot in 2010 when they were testing out different dollar amounts.  Pretty cool logo.

Million Dollar Mind Game logo

The $500,000 Pyramid logo

*Remember the recording breaking Deal or No Deal game we showed you a few days ago?  The show caught up with the big winner and talked to her for a bit.  Check it out here.

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*It was previously announced that the new season of Family Feud will tape in Atlanta, Georgia, the home base of host Steve Harvey.  The show will tape its 150 episode season at the Boisfeuillet Jones Atlanta Civic Center starting this July.

*Here’s today’s schedule:

• ABC: Dancing With the Stars at 8:00PM ET
• GSN: Catch 21 at 5:00PM ET (new); The Newlywed Game at 6:30PM ET (new); Love Triangle at 7:00PM ET (new); Improv-A-Ganza at 8:00PM ET (new)

*Family Feud is making yet another move.  Last season it went from its Los Angeles base to Universal Studios in Orlando, Florida.  This season, according to show representatives, it will tape in Atlanta, Georgia.  This is where current host Steve Harvey lives.  Given how much ratings have increased since Steve has taken over I’m pretty sure they’ll do just about anything they can to keep him on as long as possible.

No word on where it’ll tape yet, but Tyler Perry has studios in Atlanta.  Tyler Perry’s shows are distributed through Debmar Mercury, who distributes Family Feud, so that could be a connection there.  We’ll let you know.  Taping for the 13th season will begin in July.

*We posted about the new version of GSN’s Lingo last night.  We’ve got a comment and follow up on that below, but a reader, Matt, sent us this link through Twitter.  Does the new Lingo set look familiar?  I thought it did, but I couldn’t figure it out.  Matt sent the picture.  The new set is almost identical to Baggage.  It really looks like they just rearranged things.

Comparison of sets of GSN's Lingo and GSN's Baggage

I wanted to just clarify everything by saying, again, I’ve got no prejudice regarding the old version to this one.  I thought the old version was extremely stale, Chuck Woolery wasn’t the best host on earth, and I didn’t think co-host Shandi was necessary or the best of the co-hosts they had.  My comments were just based on what I saw and some issues I think they’ll have with GSN’s core audience who still actively believes stuff like Power of 10 and Deal or No Deal are in production.

*NBC’s It’s Worth What? will begin taping Friday, May 20th, in Los Angeles.  If you want to see the show, click here.

*The “Trivia Championships of North America” is rapidly approaching.  The event takes place July 8th through the 10th in Las Vegas.  Think this is something you want involved in?  Click here to visit the site and learn more.  People like Ken Jennings and Brad Rutter will be there so it looks to be pretty interesting.

*Here’s tonight’s schedule for game and reality fans:

• CBS: Survivor at 8:00PM ET (new)
• The CW: America’s Next Top Model at 8:00PM ET (repeat) and 9:00PM ET (new)
• Fox: American Idol: 8:00PM ET (new)
• NBC: Minute to Win It at 8:00PM ET (new) and 9:00PM ET (repeat)
• GSN: Catch 21 at 5:00PM ET (new); The Newlywed Game at 6:30PM ET (new); Love Triangle at  7:00PM ET (new); Drew Carey’s Improv-A-Ganza at 8:00PM ET (new)