A good struggling show just got another life. Program Partner’s Crosswords has been renewed for a second season according to TV Week. The show has been averaging a 0.8, but got a 1.0 recently. However, the market might be a bit tougher next year having the inclusion of sure-to-be-a-hit Deal or No Deal and potentially Trivial Pursuit into syndication. “‘Crosswords’ ratings are building continuously and now hitting season-to-date highs,” said Ritch Colbert of Program Partners. “This renewal is a testament to our amazing production team and to the power of Merv Griffin’s original vision.”
The show has been renewed in 40 of the top 50 markets including NBC O&Os, Belo, Four Points, Gannett, Gray, Guardian, Hubbard, McGraw-Hill, New Age, Raycom, Sarkes Tarzian and SagamoreHill groups. Show representatives said they are planning to bring more excitement into the show next season. How about giving away a tiny bit more money?
I’m not really one to bitch about a budget, but my god is this show’s absolutely tiny. The spoiler system could use a bit of work too. I like it, but it just comes off extremely unfair in some situations. What would you change for a second season? And be relatively realistic?
Number one on my list? New theme song. The thing they have right now is a bit annoying.
Also, no word on Temptation’s renewal, but I wouldn’t count on it. NATPE is this week, so be expecting a lot of news.
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That’s pretty good to hear but yeah they need to up the budget for the show. IMO the minimum for any game show these days should be at least $10,000 as the grand prize. And yeah the theme song needs to be changed too. But I hope that if they do change it that it won’t be dramatic like the other game shows out now. I guess it’s hard to make a good upbeat theme these days without sounding too retro and/or cheesy. And the spoilers system needs to be fixed since a player can win by abusing it. Say you are behind like $1000+ in the main game and you know that you aren’t going to come back. A player could buzz in and give a wrong word on purpose just to let a spoiler take his/her place. Then they can get the person in first place’s podium just by getting one word right. After doing that chances are there won’t be that much time left in the game and as soon as you know it, they win. To tell you the truth if I was behind more then $1000 on the show I would give a wrong answer to the word on purpose just to get a spoiler seat and try to take my opponent’s podium. So yeah that really needs to be fixed.
I’ve got totally mixed views on this show, and I’m not sure what to think. It’s probably easier for me to attack one point at a time, and in less coherent sentences.
Theme song: Somehow, it fits in my mind. Cheesy, yes, but… we’re doing crosswords, not heavy stuff like debating the State of the Union Address. (Not that that’s on TV right now or anything.)
Set: Maybe instead of hardcore-ing the theme song, why not brighten up the set to match? I’ve always felt it could lay off the deep blue, and maybe add some yellows. (Or at leatht, that’th what the Chrithtopher Lowell in me thinkth.)
Host: For some reason, my local stations haven’t showed the “new and improved” episodes with the boosted budget and the more relaxed, less cue card dependant Treadway, so all I really know of him so far is the robotic, ever-smiling host that I think a lot of people were complaining about. Though I’m not sure where he’d fit it in, I’d like to see more ad-lib comments from him, just so we know he does more than “recharge” between tapings. In case you were wondering, that was a horrible metaphor trying to compare him to a robot. I need sleep, in case you can’t tell.
Gameplay: I agree about the spoilers thing… Like the spoiler who only answers one question the entire game, and it happens to be the last question of the game, and they answer no clues in the bonus round… That gets to me. I’m not sure how I’d tweak it though… Maybe a spoiler has to answer two or three questions before they get to choose a podium to steal? I dunno. Also, this might (slightly) counteract the strategy that Brad D. talks about. I’ve often wondered, has anyone used it at all?
Prize budget: Nix the trips (which I think they did anyway), I think I only ever saw one spoiler take the trips over the cash, and that was because that podium was only $100 or so behind the other anyway. I’m not sure the $10k minimum is really necessary, although a guaranteed $5k for the winner would be nice, perhaps with a $10k bonus round.
Change the theme? Why stop there? How about a new set design-one that doesn’t look like “Star Wars meets the Bada Bing Club” (is it REALLY necessary to have a set with a black, or very darkened backdrop, offset by bluish-colored lights?)
Crosswords look like a low budget local show. They need to take it off the air and lets forget this mistake ever happen
Same with Temptation
Here’s how I would change Crossword’s (besides getting new theme music)….
In the front game, the value of the words would be based on how many letters are in the word. In the first two rounds, pay $50 per letter. In the 3rd round, pay $100 per letter. I have kept score on several episodes using my scoring system, and payouts for the winner run around $4,000-$6,000, but there have been a few times where the champ got over $10,000. I have to sort of approximate and guess what they might wager on the Crossword Extras.
In the bonus round, the champ gets $100 per letter. If they can complete the puzzle, multiply their total by 10. So if they have to fill in 18 letters to complete the puzzle they win $18,000.
I think that would put the payout more in line with what people expect these days. But they aren’t too extreme like Wheel of Fortune has become.
1. Ditch Ty Treadway. It might just be me, but he seems even more robotic than he started. I believe he is a lost cause. Go back to gossip shows or wherever you came from, where robotony and blandness is not just allowed, but encouraged. I said I’d give him a chance, and I have. He blew it. I can’t offer up a replacement though. Someone with a considerable amount of personality would do though.
2. Pump some money into the prize budget. This isn’t some sort of rinky dink local show, so stop treating it as such. How about a rolling jackpot for the bonus round which starts at $5,000 and goes up $500 each day it is not won? If we were to say, increase it by $1,000 each day it is not won, it could get into absurd numbers. That way, at $500 a day until it’s won, you still keep the big prize within reason…that is, unless you’ve got some really idiotic winners. If you do this, you’ll have to use the returning champion format. You can limit it to 3 games or until they win the bonus round (whichever comes first).
3. Spoilers? Ditch them too. I have never been a fan of that kind of replacement. How about adding a 3rd player to the game, play a longer first round, then eliminate the low scorer.
4. All players keep their winnings. Instead of pretty much sending the contestant off with a cheap consolation prize, let’s dare to be different. If a contestant is eliminated with $0, throw’em $100 just so that they don’t go away empty handed. At least it’d get them home and maybe they’ll have a pleasant story to tell.
Call me an old school purist, but maybe going back to basics would put some life into the show. As it is, IMO, it’s just another thing I pass up in favor of Mike and the Maddog :P
i can deal with the music and the host and the set what i can’t deal with is the budget. here is what i would do to crosswords
1) Up the top prize to at least $10,000
2) Bonus Round if you don’t get all your clues you get $500 per correct answer
3) Returning champs
4) I can live with the spoilers but three players playing against each other instead of the spoilers is an interesting idea.
5) all players who have no money leave with at least $100 and a prize
Haven’t seen the show in full but from clips I’ve seen, most of the suggested changes at least make sense. The ratings are lower than the other syndie games but higher than anything on GSN. Translate that to a budget, and you’re talking $10-15k per show. A rolling jackpot is a superb idea, especially if the bonus round is tough enough that it’s only won about once a week - then the jackpot will get really good a couple of times a season at least but it still won’t be expensive.
As for the spoilers, something’s off about them, but I’m sure there is a way to make them work.
The two good things about the Spoilers are that they increase the chance of giving you the satisfaction of seeing SOMEONE answer really hard clues correctly, and that they keep the outcome of the game in doubt up until the final bell. I’m pretty sure the game would be a lot worse if they were removed entirely, but I’ve got no ideas how to effectively tweak the spoiler system so that a lot of the unsatisfying aspects are removed.
How to fix the “spoilers”:
The first round, all five players play. At the end, the top two players take the front podiums and they split the collective money of the other three, who become spoilers. During the second round, when a spoiler gets a correct answer, they automatically take the second-place podium (and the money for that question), which gives them a chance to get correct answers to take the lead. Hence, the only way one can win (if they are not already in the lead) is to spoil their way into second place, then get answers correct to take the lead — and they are at the mercy of only one other player at a time.
This revised system solves the problem of a contestant throwing an answer to become a spolier and nab first place on the rebound. And, it establishes a meritocracy of sorts. Everyone is collectively ganging up on the leader…but if the leader plays well enough, the leader won’t be caught.
How to fix the bonus round:
Allow the contestant to double their money if they win the bonus game. The better they played, the more they can win, and it may add some strategy to the daily double-style clues.
How to fix the Crossword Extra:
Reveal it first to build some suspense, possibly change to a rolling jackpot. That prize travels with the contestant and if they win the game, they win the prize as well.
How to fix Ty:
I have not seen the latest shows, but allow him to loosen up a bit. He is not that bad a host.
I like having all 5 active in round 1 with the bottom 3 becoming the spoilers. Dunno about keeping swapping out the 2nd place contestant, it could just end up being a cluster—- if not careful, however something has to be done…it’s giving me make the grade nightmares.
FIRE DRILL!!!! (jk)
I’ll await to see what PP does with their “more exciting” season 2.. but mark my words, Temptation WILL BE RENEWED for season 2. (A .5 is more than enough over on MyNetTV to get a renewal)
Measles;
Trust me when I say this: you’re not the only “old school purist”, here. You and I could be part of a “select fraternity” of sorts…
Glad to hear that Crosswords is getting renewed. It’s not a perfect show, but it’s good to see a “little show that could” getting a second chance in the fall.
While I like the fact that Program Partners seems to be taking some fan advice to heart and tinkering with the show in the positive during the season (getting rid of the CW Getaways, boosting the prize budget a tad), more needs to be done.
1) Returning champs — this was apparently what Mr. Griffin wanted when he described Crosswords as a return to old-school game shows. What’s wrong with doing returning champs on a show like this, especially if Program Partners opts to keep the five player format? Interest and publicity for the show can grow if you happen to find a contestant who can pull off at least, say, 5-7 wins in a row.
2)”Scrabble-style” clue giving — you’re playing with a crossword puzzle, yet you don’t know what’s down and what’s across until the bonus game. Why not have Ty announce the number and direction of each word before a clue is given? For example, Ty could say “4-down, five letters, playing off the “S” in “STAR,” here’s your clue.”
3) Let Ty loosen up — before Crosswords premiered, I caught Ty Treadway hosting a Daytime Emmy red carpet special for SoapNet. The man held his own when it came to ad libbing and working without a script. But throw a teleprompter at him, he becomes stiff and robotic. Program Partners needs to encourage Ty to ad lib from time to time, and get him to engage in dialogue with contestants outside of “who are you and where you from?”
4) Spoilers — the concept is intriguing, but flawed. I’d go back to the computer pilot and have three contestants, with one contestant eliminated after Round 2, and a second contestant knocked out after Round 3.
Here’s the problem with #2 James… it get old quickly ripping off as many clues as you’d have in a crossword puzzle, in addition it would take up too much time doing it on each clue to get even half of the distance they do now.
I’m glad Crosswords got a second chance. This is the one show that deserves it. It’s a good show that, in some markets, got a raw deal as far as time slots are concern (although here in Shreveport, it comes on at an ok time slot, at 6 on The CW). Three things they should do in season 2: 1) more money, meaning, in round 1, the amount should be from $50 to $500, round 2 should be from $100 to $1000, and, in round 3, from $150 to $2000. 2) winners should be able to return for the next show. And 3), they should add $1000 for every day the endgame isn’t won, but they shouldn’t eliminate the trips.
“To tell you the truth if I was behind more then $1000 on the show I would give a wrong answer to the word on purpose just to get a spoiler seat and try to take my opponent’s podium.”
That’s a winning strategy, yes. The only problem is, once you get the leader’s podium, you have to keep it.
To go against the grain– I think Ty is a great host. I think he’s genuine and handles a complicated show well. I don’t think he’s reading off a teleprompter, though a great many of his spiels are scripted. (Not quite to the word, like with Dylan Lane on Chain Reaction, but still.)
I can think of two rule changes that may fix both the whole Spoiler issue and the lackluster prize budget.
1. Each player has their own individual score. If a Spoiler usurps a front player’s podium, he does not inherit the podium’s score, but rather brings his own score with him to the front. This way, it’s the player who earns the most money overall who wins. Granted, this would require all five players to be in play at the outset, but that shouldn’t be too huge of a problem (not as if they get into deep conversation with the two opening players).
2. All five players stay on for a week’s worth of episodes. This would give everyone five opportunities to earn money and prizes. Any player who doesn’t win a game during the week gets $500 for playing.
I’m glad Crosswords was renewed. It’s a great game. I’m sure Merv would have wanted his final show to get a second chance. and I’m also glad that Program Partners is improving the game. I have a good feeling that Season 2 will rock.
Tim I like your idea on the week of play, only problem is Id kill the “spoiler” all together and make it 5 ppl playing straight up
How about having the spoiler take the lower scores’ spot? I think that could be a good solution to the problem.
Ditch Ty Treadway, Measles!? Why? He’s an OK host. Besides, everyone thought Pat Sajak didn’t do a good job when he first hosted Wheel of Fortune and turn out to be a good host. My problem is that he should ad-lib a little and say something funny. Also, show the studio audience sometimes, let people know that there is a studio audience, and not a sound track like they use on Lingo.
devares: FYI, on Crosswords, there is NO studio audience! Hence, they won’t be showing it any time soon!
devare - Obviously I’m in the minority, but I just cannot tolerate hosts who are stiff, robotic, and appear to be generally useless. Hence why I don’t really watch the new game shows anymore (Power of 10 and 1 v. 100 not included). It might just be me, but I fail to see how he has improved in ANY capacity.
As for the strategy of “if you are behind, get a question wrong so you can go in the spoilers row and hopefully get the winning podium on the next question” it does happen, but it is very rare.
I do like the “start with all 5 people and the bottom 3 earners become spoilers” idea as it gives everyone a fair shot from the start. As much as people claim that the spoilers ruin the show, it sucks to be in that row. There is a significant disadvantage for starting in the back.
As for a spoiler automatically taking the second place podium, this may not be interesting near the end of the game when there is a blowout. The leader can coast his/her way to the end knowing they are safe for the rest of the show.
Crosswords is a great show, but if they remain on this budget for a network game show, they might as well move the show to GSN, at least the budget would be more successful there, seeing as how the minimum jackpot for most of their shows hover around $5,000.
The only way that I believe TEMPTATION can survive is to retool the show to be exactly like the Australian version. I still watch the same 3 episodes I have (including the premiere) just because it is exciting, and brings fond memories of Jim Perry’s Sale of the Century. If anything, I really believe that Fremantle should work directly with Grundy Entertainment, seeing as how the most successsful formats of the show came from them. The American “Temptation” is nothing more of a debauchery of what many of us came to love growing up. It’s a shame that a franchise can go down in flames…
…kind of reminds me of what they did to Card Sharks in 2001, don’t you think?
Good going, Crosswords for a second year! Improve the theme like they eventually did with Wheel, boost the money a bit more, and maybe the Merv legacy will last long and strong.
Note to H.R.: Grundy became absorbed by Fremantle not too long ago, but that’s beside the point. Temptation needs to go back to its Aussie/SOTC roots if it is ever to have any success here in the states. I’ve proclaimed my improvement ideas on other posts, so I won’t reiterate here.
I huh-LOVE the Crosswords theme song. I even wrote lyrics to the first part: “Crooooooss-words! Super-duper Crosswords! Crooooooss-words, I love to do some Crosswords!”
Rita…………Edd Kalehoff…….YOU ARE NOT!!!!!! :p
But, I’m very happy Crosswords is going to get a second season. As much as we kvetch about the show’s flaws, it’s still a smart, entertaining game that’s fun to play along with. I agree with most of the suggestions for tweaks and improvements, I just hope they have the sight to implement them.
“That’s a winning strategy, yes. The only problem is, once you get the leader’s podium, you have to keep it.”
To tell you the truth after I get the podium, I wouldn’t buzz in to try and answer any words so I wouldn’t have to be in risk of having the podium taken. IIRC, the only podium that the spoiler can take is the one that has the player that buzz in and gave a wrong answer (unless they both did giving the spoiler the option of choosing which podium to take).
I agree, H.R. the 2001 version of Card Sharks really did suck. One set of cards instead of both contestants getting their own set of cards? Proof that they fix something that wasn’t broke. And I saw an episode of the austrailian version of Temptation on Youtube, and it was better than the one here, better host and all. Plus, it reminded me of the old SOTC. And, Mike is right, Reg Grundy Productions as well as Mark Goodson Productions has absorbed to Fremantlemedia (so, for all you Scrabble and Match Game fans who want to see a revival, I wouldn’t count on it, at least not anytime soon).
Oh, and thanks, Nevelle, for the FYI. And, Measles, I wasn’t chewing you out, I’m just pointing out ways on how to improve his hosting skills.
devares: I, for one, would love to see a Scrabble revival. Also, check the main page - Fremantle is working on a new Match Game! I won’t get my hopes up, though, because the Match Game revival I remember seeing in the late 90s (I think) wasn’t all that good, although I liked its theme music.
Back to the matter at hand. If there s one thing I’ll give crosswords that I’d only give to one other show, that would be EFFICIENCY. Unlike many of the other game shows on the market today, especially those in network primetime, Crosswords manages to fit an ungodly amount of questions into their 22 minutes on air each episode. Heck, it might even be more efficient than Jeopardy! However, judgng from the popularity of shows such as Deal or No Deal and Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader, the public doesn’t care about efficiency at all, just money.
Honestly, there’s only one change I’d make that really solves a lot of problems. All five contestants play for the entire week. Each player takes two turns as a main contestant and three turns as a spoiler. Literally they just rotate so everyone gets a chance. It gives returning champs which this show sorely needs as well as making the spoiler system much much more fair.
I’d suggest a tweak for sub-$0 scores too. It seems like it caught them by surprise and they didn’t have time to do anything to it.
Note to MikeSant318: I did not know that Grundy was absorbed, I did know about Goodson however. Basically my point was that if they want that particular show to survive, they should go back to their roots (either Aussie “Temptation” or 80s SOTC). Cause now I fear for the newly planned revival of Match Game, will it be like the 90-91 season, the 98 season, or will they actually get it right and do it the way it’s suppose to be done?
But we’re coming from the same place on this I believe.
CROSSWORDS: I just really believe that if the budget is to remain as small as it is, they should just jump to GSN and call it a day. We all know that GSN has become (at least over the past few years) the network for Casino and Word games, so they might as well add another. At least this would be a good back to back pairing with Lingo, and some parents may actually let their kids watch that block of television just to say that it’s helping their kids vocabulary.
Oh, come on! Most game shows are effecient! And people do care about it, for crying out loud.
I’ve heard about GSN’s revival of MG, hr. More than likely they’ll go with the popular ’70s format.It’s more popular than the 1990 or the 1998 version, and definately more popular than the Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour (which sucked so much, it never been seen on any network since it got cancelled).
Now as far as Crosswords going to GSN is concern, yes, it would be a great pairing with Lingo, but producers, and especially Merv Griffin (may he rest in peace) wanted the show to go into syndication. I think if Merv was still alive, he would change the format of the show and persuade stations that air the show late at night to move it to a better time slot. There’s at least 1.0 of the show’s ratings there.
I agree with you on the efficiency, neville. When you compare Today’s game shows to the game shows of the ’70s and ’80s like Password, Tic Tac Dough, or Card Sharks, They all became successful because of efficiency, something, as you say, people don’t care about today. Now it’s all about the money. If your show gives away $1 million, people will watch (we can blame Millionaire for that), which is mostly the reason why there are no game shows on Daytime TV, at least not on Network TV, and why so little game shows survive past the first season (consider Crosswords and, should it survive, Tempatation the lucky ones).