“Grand Slam” Commentary for 8/11
Going on right now is yet another edition of GSN and Embassy Row’s Grand Slam. Today’s matches should be very interesting. We have Twenty-One champ Rahim Oberholtzer against someone who has played more game shows than you can dream of (and won a lot as well), Phyllis Harris. My pick: Phyllis Harris. Mr. Oberholtzer may have won over a million on Twenty-One but that is nothing overly difficult to do. It just took winning four games. Phyllis has been a champion of many many game shows, has more of an experience, because of this, with different material, and may be more used to the pressure of the experience.
In another game, we see the first champion of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, John Carpenter, against Tic Tac Dough master Thom McKee. My pick for this game is John 
Carpenter. Nothing against all the Tic Tac Dough fans, but that game’s material was for braindead people. It’s an issue I have with that Tic Tac Dough/The Joker’s Wild/Bullseye trio. I recently watched John Carpenter’s first win again on YouTube. His questions were a lot easier than was necessary, but he came back on the champions show and, with tougher material, won $250,000. He answered 28 out of the 30 questions correctly, going 25 out of 30 without using a lifeline. Plus he’s used to the Fastest Finger, so he may be more used to the extreme speed factor. What do you all think, and how do you think today’s show went?
Well, the first match is now complete, and I have to say Harris just cleaned out Oberholtzer. It’s almost as if Rahim’s strategy was to get a big advantage out of the numbers round and then coast: when that failed him, he had no other options to save him. That said, way too much straight-up passing in that game. SWITCH, it’s not a hard word.
I’m so glad my own intelligence is so small, I can see that now. I like and enjoy both Tic Tac Dough and Set For Life.
I must have the intelligence factor of a flea.
Now we know Thom McKee’s kryptonite–words and letters. That was a painful 3rd round.
Agreed Mike. That was sad, especially since he did a really great job fighting back in the numbers and logic round. And then in the final round, I just kept sitting there and wondering why he would not switch. It may not have solved the ultimate problem, but it would have given him a chance to fight back. A very good first two rounds, but a very flat final two.
All that said, I get a feeling Carpenter might just be vulnerable in the next round against Michelle Kitt. I think that could be the early favorite for match of the 2nd round.
I havn’t watched any of the “Grand Slam” episodes, but John Carpenter is definitely good to win. On the $1,000,000 question on his first appearance on “Millionaire”, he only used his phone-a-friend lifeline to tell his dad he was going to win. Nobody else but him could have claimed to do that!
I was screaming at my screen for Thom to use his Switches. He made such a comeback in the final round that, if he used his switch at the right time, I believe he could have won it. I’m getting the impression that with the clock and the face-to-faceness (I invented a word!), that the players just forget about them…then again, maybe that’s the point. Hmmm. Anyhoo, my predictions for tomorrow: Christie and Spangenberg.
I like this show except for one thing:
that male host is the absolute worst that GSN could find. He made fun of the game show players! They should think about their audiance: game show fans! We’re excited about seeing Tom McKee and he’s making fun of him.
That’s Dennis Miller’s schtick – he makes fun of everyone and everything. It’s mostly because he has nothing useful to add in this venue, so he makes up for it with bad comedy.
Thom being from my home state of MD. I’m disappointed that he didn’t use that switch in the final round. He indeed had such a shot because John, couldn’t have switched back. Also in that final round I felt that the question distribution wasn’t balanced. Too many General Knowledge vs Numbers/Logic or Words/Letters.
Back to that word/letters round.. did Thom go to sleep or something? Or does he need to get back into a gameshow to get his mind going again? I was so so so so disappointed.
First match, I thought was going to be a close one, but when I saw Phylis kicking tail in Logic, I knew then she had it. Bad gameplay Rahim.
I’m curious to see what that macth is going to be like when Phylis takes on Ken Jennings. I think THAT will be the match to watch amnost them all.
I dig the fact that Thom McKee proclaimed his weakness of pop culture — but I was thinking he meant like.. obscure rap groups and the like — however, his not knowing what “popular news magazine show features a ticking stopwatch during the opening credits” baffles the mind.. Even the worst anti-television anti-popculture snobs and critics would know that to be 60 Minutes, no? Time pressure? Bah, come on. :p .. Unless his Maryland town doesn’t have a CBS affiliate, that one was a shocker.
That game is hella fun to watch, especially when you tivo past all the BS and get right to the rounds :D
LObs
i’d love to watch this, but i don’t get GSN.
the question that finally stumped carpenter was one i knew!
If you can get past Dennis Miller being an asshole, this show is incredibly fun to watch.