I was really hoping that FOX wouldn’t be completely unreasonable about Mark Walberg’s The Moment of Truth duties, but I knew it was coming. It’s not a rumor anymore, Christopher Knight has officially been named the host of the new syndicated game show Trivial Pursuit: America Plays, which debuts in national syndication this Fall. Check your local listings because they don’t have a website yet showing which affiliates are taking the show. But hey, at least we got a press release.
I can tell you the future website will be located here, at tpamericaplays.com. Again, there’s nothing there yet. The show stars production this week so we’ll find out more information soon hopefully. All we know about the format is that right answers add money into the Studio’s Bank, and wrong answers add money to America’s Bank. Whichever team has more money at the end of the show may be taking home all of it. We were told they changed the format from what we originally saw in the pitch film, which was essentially “Get all six pie pieces in the same process over and over.”
The presidents of the company in charge of Trivial Pursuit, Debmar Mercury, said, “ ”This is a game that has been a hit in 17 countries and in 26 languages so the opportunity to bring the brand to television with Chris in the driver’s seat is really a thrill.” They added: “With Chris at the helm we are sure that this show will find a very passionate audience.” Christopher Knight was originally known for being a Brady kid from The Brady Bunch but is known today for being more of a reality show whore.
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Oddly enough, GSN Live was supposed to have Christopher Knight on this Friday. Today, however, they say he couldn’t make it due to a scheduling conflict. I guess I now know why…
Here’s hoping he does a fine job as host and proves my “Unskilled D-List Stars Replacing Talented Hosts For Better Ratings” theory wrong.
Posted on August 5th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
FOX pisses me off. I’m not going to even bother listing reasons because they’ve all been said ten times before.
Knight? An OK choice, but after thinking Wahlberg would host it, it hardly makes me want to see the show at all.
And, IMO, insaneben, Wahlberg may have caused more ratings because of TMOT, which is why FOX won’t share him. If Knight had never done anything for a long time and then suddenly appeared, I could possibly see him bringing in more ratings. However, he’s been on TV since The Brady Bunch left a lot, so I don’t think overall he would have created a better ratings than Wahlberg. Of course, even if he does get more people to watch that otherwise wouldn’t, if he’s not good the show will fail, whereas Mark would be sure to keep it running (at least the part of the show’s success that relies on his talents.)
Posted on August 5th, 2008 at 2:31 pm
I do agree that TP: America Plays should do a better job in garnering interest in the show. Daytime DoND has a Web site up, providing clips to BuzzerBlog and other sites, and getting its name out frequently. Why not this show, which has the potential of being somewhat entertaining?
Disappointed that Walberg has been pulled — he’s a good guy who deserved another shot at hosting a real quiz show. But I’ll give Christopher Knight a chance. This is a man who has been in the entertainment industry for more than 40 years (some of it on the extreme fringes while he worked outside the biz, but who always managed to keep a toe in the water, so to say). He’s always seemed comfortable in front of the camera — and has some MC experience, hosting a travelogue series for the Travel Channel a few years ago.
Posted on August 5th, 2008 at 2:51 pm
I’m not holding my breath on this one i saw how Alfonso did on catch 21 and how Drew Carey ruined tpir. They should of stick with Mark or some retired gs host or something
Posted on August 5th, 2008 at 4:52 pm
Oh for the love of………..
Gene, The discussion of Drew Carey and TPIR is closed! Drew is doing a great job, and Alfonso is respectable as well, knock it off!
As for Trivial Pursuit, The game looks smart and good, but yes, the choice of host does concern me a bit. Let’s hope for the best with Chris.
Posted on August 5th, 2008 at 6:01 pm
I was looking forward to this show, but since it took them this long to settle on a host…
Posted on August 6th, 2008 at 6:17 pm
I hope they put what stations the show will be on soon because I haven’t seen any promos on the show (if they put some out). Gene, I respectfully disagree, I think Alphonso is doing a pretty good job on Catch 21, although he does need a little bit more work on his hosting abilities. And, although I’m not a Drew Carey fan, he’s doing an OK job on The Price Is Right. He will never fill the shoes of Bob Barker (I don’t think anyone will). As for the show we’re talking about, I think Chris will be fine. Although I’m a little disappointed that Mark Walberg won’t be hosting. Shame on Fox for not letting him host seeing that most of the stations (particually those in the large markets) carrying the show are either Fox or My Network TV stations. After several failed shows either on cable or syndication (not to mention his short-lived talk show), I felt he was due for a hit.
Posted on August 6th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
Hey guys, keep in mind, they haven’t even taped any shows yet, so it’s kind of tough to start sending out material on what the show looks like if the set doesn’t exist yet. DOND already had a set which is why they were able to do it so quick. So give it some time. As far as Chris, he’s a likeable guy, so why wouldn’t it have a good chance? I can’t say I have ever not watched a show I wanted to watch because they announced a host that I thought was odd or unusual. Pat Sajak was an odd choice, look what happened there…
And Temptation did not have any audience except crew.
Posted on August 7th, 2008 at 7:11 pm
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