A lack of news plus a lack of any time to update anything leads to nothing done around here. But hey, here’s a video of the Australian version of Power of 10 which was sadly canceled after just two episodes because of bad ratings. Check out their version.
Archive for the 'Power of 10' Category
Drew Carey loses a job but gains more exposure for his leading show. First off, CBS is pulling Power of 10 as of today. The show might be back in the summer, but Wednesday night’s episode was the final one. Huge shame, because CBS really did not seem to care to switch its time slot out of two major show killers: American Idol and Deal or No Deal. I’m sure there had to be a better slot for it like Fridays at 8:00PM ET. CBS is saying they are still committed to the show and might have new episodes in the summer, but I’ll believe it when I see it. Such a shame, as it was one of the most dramatic, compelling, and fun primetime shows in a really long time.
Don’t feel bad for Drew, though. CBS is bringing back their trusty old The Price is Right primetime specials. No word on if they will be for $1,000,000 or not, but the first one will be on Friday, February 22nd, at 8:00PM ET. Six of the hour-long primetime specials have been ordered to cut down on excessive reruns from the writer’s strike. CBS has two other game shows, Do You Trust Me? (AKA Extreme Friend or Foe?) and Million Dollar Password (AKA “Oh crap here comes another Fremantle revival) waiting in the wings still.
So some really good news and rather bad news all in one. Sadly I think this might bode really negatively for a syndicated series of Power of 10 which was being developed, but here’s to hoping it still has a shot.
The US version of Power of 10 isn’t doing too well right now. For some reason CBS insists on putting it against Deal or No Deal which is a steamroller at this point, but what do I know? I’m just a critic.
Despite this, Australia is going ahead with their version of Power of 10 for Channel 9. They will be offering $1,000,000 instead of $10,000,000. Note that we still have a potential syndicated version in the making (depending on how the rest of the primetime run goes), so their version will basically be how our syndicated edition will go.
Longtime quiz show host Eddie McQuire (who hosted Who Wants to be a Millionaire? and 1 VS 100) was actually not chosen. Instead, the host is Australia’s Today weatherman Steve Jacobs. He told TV writer Stephen Downie, “I don’t think it has sunk in, actually. While Jacobs described McGuire as “the master when it comes to quiz shows, he denied having taken tips from him. This show is a little bit more relaxed than other quiz shows. There is a bit more ad-libbing. It’s a really good vibe.”
Eight episodes have been ordered. Finally, another US export that we can be proud of.
Paging Robert McKee: Million Dollar Password is finally ready to start casting contestants. The new edition of the show, hosted by Regis Philbin and based out of New York City for CBS, will supposedly combine some of the best of all editions of Password, plus some new twists, to make it a new hit for a new generation. Of course this is Fremantle, the company that absolutely massacred Temptation, so I’m crossing my fingers on this one. If you’re good at Password and can get to Los Angeles, there’s no reason not to get involved in this, especially for $1,000,000. People 18-59 can apply, and be ready to send off a picture of yourself. Apparently no ugly people need apply. Click here to sign up for Password.
Also, one of our favorite shows in quite some time, Power of 10, is starting to cast again and will be taping fairly soon. If you have your finger on the pulse of America and have the guts, you may be leaving Astoria, NY, with $10,000,000. The Drew Carey hosted game show will be returning soon. Click here to apply.
And that’s it for casting. If you find any new major shows looking for contestants suddenly, be sure to tell us.
Has anyone else been extremely disappointed with this year’s syndicated offerings? They are both severely lacking, especially Temptation, and if we see any last a season, let alone past January, I’ll be amazed. Luckily next season we might have a very interesting syndication front. Three popular game shows are being worked out for syndication, one already cleared in 50% of the country. The shows: Deal or No Deal, Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?, and Power of 10.
Daytime Deal or No Deal is old news, but a few new items have poured in. Right now they are committing to 32 weeks of the show and possibly up to 36. $250,000 is going to be the top prize and, good news, contestants are going to be holding the cases. There are only going to be three models as of now and future contestants will be holding the other cases. How many cases? Who knows. Might we suggest 22? There’s no way you can fit a meaningful 26 case game in 20 minutes, not including talking. Each contestant will have the half hour to themselves meaning games will be a bit more predictable. However, I’ll gladly take a predictable ending instead of a far-too-long, overly gimmicked one. This is one show I see being much better in daytime.
The other show I see being better is Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?. Yeah, no one’s won the million yet. However, the show has never been a million dollar prime time show. I think one of our regular readers, David Howell, said it best, that it’s like a Comedy Central show shoved in prime time. Speed up the game play and knock the prize down to $100,000. I think the game will be actually enjoyable and not as nauseatingly dramatic. The only show I worry about is Power of 10, but in a good way. It’s no secret that I’m a huge fan of the show, and I think a majority of the readers here are. However, the easy syndication fix to the budget is dividing the prizes by ten. We had an overwhelming amount of $1,000 and $10,000 winners. Transfer this to daytime and that’s a lot of $100 and $1,000 winners which just seems cheap. I’m all for seeing the show as much as possible, but I’d need to see how they are going to the budget first. If they can somehow be brave enough to keep it as a $10,000,000 show in prime time, I’ll be completely amazed. A majority of the winners were within budget for daytime shows. If Sony has the guts, they could do it. Do they? We’ll see. At least it’s better than Sony’s syndication offerings of last year.
It’s about time that the US has an export they can be proud of, isn’t it? A while ago it was announced that Australia’s Nine Network has picked up the hit CBS/Embassy Row game show Power of 10. Today came word that many different countries are getting their own versions. Such countries are Chile, France, and Germany. I know we have some Canadian fans of the show, so you’ll be happy to know that you will be able to see the show on Global, and the US version can be seen soon in South Korea as well. The French version will air on TF1.
Michael Davies, creator and executive producer, added, “Power of 10 was created from the outset with the international market in mind. It is simple, immediately engaging and about the entire nation, whether that nation is America, France, Latvia or any other country in the world that has citizens who disagree with each other. Every element of the format has been meticulously thought through and designed. We have already welcomed producers and executives from all over the world to our studios in New York and seen their powerful reactions to this format and how it is put together. We can’t wait to welcome more.”
New episodes of the show will be taping in New York City relatively soon and will be on most likely as soon as something bombs. What will it be? Who knows. I’m still waiting for something to bomb on NBC. It’s hard to keep up with failures on both networks; there are just so many.
Last night’s exciting (and rather depressing) episode of CBS’s Power of 10 marked the end of its summer series with its return date in the next few months. It’s actually sad to see it go. In a market crowded of shows for the dumb who such as Deal or No Deal, which I’ve just grown completely sick of, Power of 10 was a high sign of relief for me. It’s nice to see that the market isn’t being over saturated with Deal clones.
Sure, Power of 10 is derivative of a few older game shows, but Michael Davies and the rest of Embassy Row took the correct basic ideas and made a show that’s more exciting than anything I’ve seen in a while. The contestant coordinators did a fantastic job of finding contestants that are likable and exciting, but in a good way. You won’t find people begging for ponies or flipping out for guest hosts every five minutes. You’ll find regular, natural people showing their true colors when playing for $10,000,000 which was incredibly refreshing.
When thinking about it, this show is set up a lot like Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, which Davies is the executive producer of. You have the natural contestant who is not over the top but exciting enough to care for. The basic feel of the game play is there too. Davies is a master of taking a small amount of game and making it a big, fun event. I seriously don’t think Scott St. John and his Endemol lackies could have done half the job Embassy Row did. My biggest fear when this show started was that it would be too easy to win. The first episode really started to worry me, as I’m sure it worried production members as well. Luckily we’ve seen it’s a lot harder to win more than $100,000 than it seems.
Power of 10 did a few unique things that no other show has done for me. This show has the biggest play-along factor to come out since Millionaire. A viewer’s game isn’t over when they know the answer. On this show, you never know. You’re always second guessing myself. I don’t think I’ve shouted at the television more in my life than on this. Also, I didn’t actually wish any contestant would lose. On Deal or even 1 VS 100 there were a few contestants who I wished would leave with nothing. I wanted everyone to leave with $10,000,000 on Power of 10.
All of the good does not come out with a few bad points. My first one they corrected quickly. Part way through the season, the audience started helping out in the elimination round which could easily hurt another contestant. Luckily this was fixed a show or two later, so no problem here. My second issue is with Drew’s dialog. Don’t get me wrong, he’s an amazing host and probably the best one since Meredith Vieira. However, if I have to hear him explain the elimination round as “X eliminates Y and Y has to eliminate X”, I’m going to throw a sandal at the TV. Drew’s fantastic at improv. How about either letting him come up with something or switching the lines every now and then. The concept of an elimination round is nothing new and not worthy of that long explanation every single time.
The final complaint deserves a bit more time. The $10,000,000 question rubs me the wrong way a bit. We start out showing the percentage for all the answers, and then all of a sudden we don’t show you if you’re right? Seems a bit of a swerve there out of no where. Surely there has to be some way to do the final question better than “Guess which of the eleven percentages it is and you win.” The rest of the game involves some skill while that last question is essentially pure luck. Maybe just give the contestant one more 5% question. Or at least let the audience vote again for that final question and throw up a bar graph. Few will gamble the million for $10,000,000. Let’s at least give someone a remote virtual shot at it. Maybe give the contestant an extra percentage on the final question for each main game question they answered correctly?
All in all, these few complaints don’t even equal a quarter of the sheer enjoyment that was Power of 10. Embassy Row’s been on a huge roll recently. Pop Culture, Grand Slam, and this have all made me forget about Chain Reaction. Sure, it’s not the smartest show on earth. However, it is quite possibly the most exciting and the easiest to get people talking, which is essential for any show to exist. Power of 10 is definitely a power player for CBS.
Now for you all. What did you think of this series. Also, if you could make a change or two without completely reformatting the game, what would you do?
Tonight at 8PM ET on CBS is the Power of 10 summer season finale. Do not fret, as the show will return as soon as something bombs which shouldn’t take long. It’ll be back midseason at least. We’ll be back later tonight with some post show thoughts, but for now here is a clip CBS provided us of the finale. It has a minor spoiler, but it’s nothing shocking or surprising. You aren’t going to have the drama of the show killed if you watch it.
Quick question: How many of our BuzzerBlog readers have been on a game show? I know we have the Grand Slam people, Robert McKee’s been on a few, Nevelle was just on Crosswords, and we have a few Deal or No Deal contestants lurking around? If you haven’t been on one yet, how would you like a chance to play for $10,000,000 on CBS’s Power of 10? The show is returning sometime either as a Fall 2007 replacement or at midseason and Embassy Row casting executives have come here looking for contestants. I’d love to see one of you on Power of 10, so read below and get involved! Win $10,000,000 and tell them BuzzerBlog sent you!
DO YOU WANT A CHANCE TO WIN UP TO $10,000,000?
THE NEW GROUND BREAKING CBS GAME SHOW
POWER OF 10 HOSTED BY DREW CAREY, IS LOOKING FOR CONTESTANTS TODAY!
TO APPLY GO TO WWW.EMBASSYROW.COM CLICK ON CASTING THEN POWER OF 10.
ONCE WE HAVE RECEIVED YOUR APPLICATION, A CASTING PRODUCER MAY CONTACT YOU.
WE LOOK FORWARD TO HEARING FROM YOU SOON!
THE CASTING DEPT HOTLINE IS 1.877.949.POWER
I finished watching CBS’s Power of 10 on TiVo, and here is my initial reaction: “Wow, this is really good.” I know I’ve ragged on Michael Davies a lot recently because of what I still think is the worst revival I’ve ever seen, Chain Reaction (which I partially place on GSN’s restrictions as well, mind you). I think Mr. Davies has completely redeemed himself with both Grand Slam and this. We’ve gone over the rules extensively for the past few months, but you can read them by clicking this.
Simply put, shows like Power of 10, with 1 VS 100 thrown into this as well, continue to give me faith in our little genre while shows like Set For Life damage me on the inside. Let’s start with the positives. As with everything on TV currently, very nice set and music package. It keeps it modern while making it look different than what’s on currently. The contestants are likable. Drew Carey is very nice as host. He had a few issues, but big deal; this is episode one. Episode two tapes tomorrow so he can figure out how he comes off on TV. The gameplay is almost so unbelievably simple that it’s engaging, which makes it interesting. While I love 1 VS 100, it is a bit complicated. Power of 10 keeps it very simple while making it incredibly nerve-wracking, dramatic, and fun. Mr. Davies has a knack for doing that (See Millionaire, Who Wants to be a). The prize money keeps it fun too. I’m never one of the people that’s begging for assloads of money to be poured out, but I’m sick of every show on earth offering a million. Something unique will make it stand out, and this did it here.
Now for the negatives, which aren’t many. I know it’s just a product of Deal or No Deal, but I’m sick of the relationship seat having a part in the game. This is one thing I like about 1 VS 100; it’s just the player and the player alone. Do we really need a family member to help out? It’s very obvious that it’s to stretch time out, but I think something else can be done. One thing that may hurt this show is a lack of energetic, talkative contestants. If I have to sit through an hour of someone twisting a knob without giving off any emotion or essence of personality, I’ll go insane. I’m sorry, but I’m a person of current society. I need drama and intensity. For now it’s doing that. My only other problem is the money. Is this show going to make it too easy to win a million? For now, I think not. But to be honest, even if I had a slight guess, I’d take that 10% range I have and risk $90,000 for $900,000 more. One of the huge problems I had with the rules originally was that it was extremely simplistic. This is a strength for now, but I’m nervous if this will be a strength for a long period of time for the non-game show fans.
Please don’t let these comments distract you from the fact that the game is terrific. Every show has negatives, and I think this easily has the least amount of initial negatives out of any show I’ve reviewed. I place it right around 1 VS 100’s level. I’m sorry to reference the show so much this review, but I just see them as being similar. A good quiz show is very hard to come by, and this show is just what I wanted. We’ve been on a huge role with shows recently. I hope we can keep this up. Power of 10 is smart, dramatic, well-hosted, intense, energetic, and so much more. It’s everything I want in a game show and more. Simply put, Power of 10 is the power of CBS. What are your thoughts?
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