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.

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.

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.

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.

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).

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.

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.

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?

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.