Fall 2009 Game Show Season is Here

The Fall 2009 television season is right around the corner and basically any show you can think of is looking for audiences.  A lot of cable shows are searching for contestants as well.  We posted it in the MiniBuzz previously, but Catch 21 and The Newlywed Game debut their new seasons on October 12th at the 6:00PM ET block.  Both shows have been very popular for the network so it’s glad to see them back.  Newlywed Game needs an audience for its new season taping in Los Angeles.  Taping starts September 9th.  Click here for tickets. Also Catch 21 will begin taping its third season (only the second GSN game show to ever hit a third season) in mid September as well.  Click here for tickets for this one. We’ve gone over the issues in each show ad nauseam, but I feel we should reiterate the general complaints coming from nearly everyone in case anyone important reads.  For Newlywed Game, I appreciate trying something new with the bonus round but it didn’t work, it made the show anticlimactic, and it rushed the show.  The Carnie Wilson (host of the show) I saw in studio was a bit different than the Carnie Wilson we saw on television.  For Catch 21, the production of the show grew exponentially in season two so thank you for that.  But the contestants downright sucked.  For season three can we please get contestants who can add to 21, which is in the title of your show?  The first time someone screwed up and couldn’t count it may have been funny but when you have three or four contestants do it, it starts to look sad.

The other big one is Let’s Make A Deal.  We announced in our Twitter page a while ago that the show will be taping in the Tropicana in Las Vegas which is an unbelievably smart move.  You open the door for so many tourists and different people who don’t vacation to Los Angeles.  If you want to be in the studio, wear a crazy costume, and take home some cash and/or prizes, click here.  The success of this show is really important to the genre.  There was a large amount of people disappointed The $1,000,000 Pyramid was not picked up, including myself.  There’s word that another soap opera, As The World Turns, may be on its way out.  If Deal succeeds, this can definitely grease the wheels and we may see it after all.  Taping begins September 15h.  And this is the logo that we were provided, yes.

The major show to watch out for this season is Family Feud due to all the exciting changes.  We’ve gone over them a lot the past few weeks and we’ll revisit it before the debut next Monday.  If you want to see the show in person, click here. This show is always one of the most entertaining shows I’ve seen in person no matter how many times I’ve been on set.  I can’t recommend it enough.  The changes to the show are fantastic and I hope you’re excited for it.  Next is Who Wants to be a Millionaire which just finished quite a run on primetime with the unforgettable Ken Basin $1,000,000 question loss.  The syndicated version will be opening with a bang, as the nine remaining contestants in the Ring of Fire will be the first nine contestants on the daytime edition.  These are nine incredibly smart people so we should be seeing some great games to start the season off with.  The season has a big surprise coming in November which we’ll officially reveal on Monday when the information is given out.

The other shows are currently looking for audiences as well.  The Price is Right is going through a few more visual changes this season which is sure to make the creepy fanboys cry and me laugh as a result, so click here for tickets.  It should be a lot of fun; Drew Carey is fantastic in person.  Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! are of course going, and you can go to their respective websites to find out info there.  Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader is taking a little break right now as Catch 21 tapes in the same studio, but we’ll say when that’s up.  Does anyone know of a Fifth Grader website, by the way?  I still haven’t seen much marketing for the show, or at least as much as Deal or No Deal, which you can get tickets for here.  If Daytime Deal used as much marketing as it did and only gets around a 1.6 on average, Fifth Grader may want to step up their game.

If we missed anything let us know.  But this looks to be an incredibly great season for the genre.  With the return of a network daytime game show, we could see that market open up a lot more depending on what happens.  Be sure to watch.