Comments on: “Crosswords” Renewed for Season Two

By: devares

devares — Sun, 03 Feb 2008 03:42:38 +0000

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).

By: devares

devares — Sat, 02 Feb 2008 04:39:19 +0000

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.

By: Intelligentfan777

Intelligentfan777 — Fri, 01 Feb 2008 04:16:18 +0000

Oh, come on! Most game shows are effecient! And people do care about it, for crying out loud.

By: H.R.

H.R. — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 17:50:49 +0000

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.

By: Alex Davis

Alex Davis — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 15:22:15 +0000

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.

By: Neville

Neville — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 15:17:51 +0000

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.

By: devares

devares — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 15:13:35 +0000

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.

By: devares

devares — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 15:08:32 +0000

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).

By: Brad D.

Brad D. — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 05:39:12 +0000

“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).

By: Intelligentfan777

Intelligentfan777 — Thu, 31 Jan 2008 03:50:08 +0000

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.