The new struggling syndicated show Crosswords has recently added a blog to Broadcasting and Cable’s website. It’s a pretty interesting read, be sure to. The first post is written by Principal of Program Partners Ritch Colbert (Not to be mistaken with the ex-presidential candidate Stephen Colbert) and talks about the struggles of being a new company with a new show. The second one is basically a giant cuddle puddle from host Ty Treadway to Merv Griffin. Regardless, be sure to check it out. I have to give Program Partners some credit where it’s due. They are scrappy little fighters, aren’t they? Unlike Temptation, which I forgot existed and relatively wish it wouldn’t, Crosswords is a decent little show with a few screwy rules in the area of the spoilers, and Program Partners isn’t giving up. It definitely should get a second season so they may hopefully improve upon things, but you do have to respect how they aren’t just doing the motions and finishing the season. They want to be in it for the long haul. It’s something you don’t see much anymore.
5 Responses
Brandon
1November 7th, 2007 at 5:27 pm
I’m glad that PP is taking the effort to improve the show, and just wonder whether the syndication landscape will remain patient. A lot of classic shows started off very slowly, i.e. “Cheers”, “Seinfeld”, and Merv’s other baby, “Wheel of Fortune”.
I like the fact that they are, at least, willing to make improvements. I’ve said this several times, but I think the show got started before Merv died, and as a result, never got the chance to flesh everything out. I gave up on “Temptation”, simply because the producers don’t seem to care…so, why should I?
Marc Power
2November 7th, 2007 at 6:31 pm
The biggest issue with crosswords right now is the spoilers. If I were running the show:
round 1 3 contestants, 3 spoilers: virtually the same as now but the spoilers also have a score and when a spoiler answer they win the money. 2 crossword extras clues are valued at $100, $150 & $200. lowest scoring spoiler and contestant eliminated.
round 2: same as before with 2 contestants and 2 spoilers, clues are valued at $150, $200 & $250 3 crossword extras, 1 super crossword wins awards a bonus prize worth $500-$1,000 to the contestant who “discovers” it but you must be champion to keep it. 2 lowest scorers eliminated whether they are both on the same “team” or not.
round 3: a clue is revealed, both contestants secretly wager up to $500 with the high bidder getting the guess if they both wager the same they must re-bid (a la 3 on a match). highest scorer wins the game, their money and plays the “super crossword” for the grand prize
super crossword: same as the current bonus game with 2 minutes, $100 per correct answer or $5,000 and a trip for them all.
Darren
3November 8th, 2007 at 4:35 pm
Suggestions for a replacement rule set that I just thought of:
First, lost the second money podium. One of the two seems to be the only one being contested, and the second non-spoiler can do nothing but (a) steal money away from the leader by ringing in first, which he won’t get to keep at game-end, and (b) protect the leader from getting spoiled by answering a question that s/he can’t. Dividing the money doesn’t help with the game, so toss it.
First round: decide on a King of the Hill. Go through a fixed number of clues, like 10 or 12. Contestants type or write their answers simultaneously, and then reveal them. Correct answers get a point, wrong answers get nothing. Whoever has the most correct answers at the end of the round starts Round 2 as KotH, with a pot equal to $100 times their score (7 out of 10 starts the next round with $700).
Second and third rounds. Spoilers sit at the bottom of the Hill, and King is on top. Spoilers at the bottom still type, and the KotH answers verbally after the spoilers’ time is up (say, 5 seconds). Any spoiler who manages who answer two (maybe three) clues that the King missed gets to move onto the hill and attempt to unseat the King. Now we go back to the old ring-in system. A spoiler on the hill who gets an answer the King misses takes his place. The King gets thrown off the hill (and now needs two more clues to get back on). Any spoilers who were on the hill stay there. If a spoiler answers wrong while on the hill, they get thrown off. (So while you’re at the bottom, typing, you can get answers wrong with reckless abandon, but once you’re on the hill, if you ring in and you’re called on, you better be right.)
During the third round, institute a two-minute warning for the end of the round, or better yet, a five-clue warning. This way we know the end is coming, and if a player needs to make a move (or not make a move, if they’re on the hill and unsure of an answer) they will be able to make more informed decisions.
Because of the typing aspect, it would be better to restrict game play to only short entries, say, five or six letters at the most. Anything longer takes too long to type. A long seven-plus-letter entry then becomes a Crossword Extra for the current KotH alone. Any remaining long entries have to be answered in the bonus round.
Ryan
4November 10th, 2007 at 3:06 am
I’m sure hoping a second season gets picked up for this show, at least so that the taping on Monday goes through. My dad’s taping Monday!
Adam Stabelli
5November 12th, 2007 at 6:20 pm
I hope Crosswords has a long run like Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune.
RSS feed for comments on this post · TrackBack URI
Leave a Reply
GSN Schedules
9/15/2008 to 9/21/2008 9/22/2008 to 9/28/2008 9/29/2008 to 10/510/6 to 10/12
10/13 to 10/19
10/20 to 10/26
10/27 to 11/2
MiniBuzz
BuzzerBlog
game show, television news, set reports
Buzz In
Biggest Buzz
Categories
Pages
Archives