Incorrect answers do suck up a lot of time, especially the incorrect spelling ones. As for Miller, I just really try to tune him out. All I want is the game, and that’s what I get out of it.

Kudos to GSN for putting this on and phooey to all the Media Lifes of the world.

For the record, my reviews consist of 40% gameplay, 40% hosts, and 20% prizes.

Here is my review for GSN’s newest show entitled “Grand Slam”:

Gameplay: [B+] (The show is interesting when closely numbered seeds face each other. However, whose idea was it to have Brad Rutter face a contestant from “Lingo”? It is nice however that GSN was able to get famed contestants like Rutter, Ken Jennings, and Thom McKee of “Tic Tac Dough” to do this show. I really like the style of questioning and the format of the rounds as well.)

Host: [F] (In true Dennis Miller style, I have a rant for you: Miller and Amanda Bynum hosting is like watching Al Gore speak about the effect of global warming when you go to the bathroom. If you are confused about what I just said, then good, cause it shows why Miller gets an “F” for hosting this show; Bynum only probably deserves a “D” for hosting. Lastly on the hosting issue, why did you need Pat Kiernan to only ask questions when two other hosts were there? Personally, I feel that Kiernan should have been the host instead of Miller and Bynum)

Prizes: [B+] (For GSN, a top prize of $100,000 is the most that has been offered since “Russian Roulette”; but I mark the rating down here since only 1 person will receive any money.)

Overall Rating: [C] (Personally, the overall rating doesn’t really reflect the greatness of this show. If it wasn’t for Miller and Bynum, the show would receive a much higher rating from me. Here’s what I suggest for those of you who haven’t yet watched this show: record the show and fast-forward through all of Miller and Bynum’s unneeded commentary.)

But dennis & amanda just don’t float my boat.

Stop with the stupid jokes & references, not nessessary.

The “problem” with the questions is that the trivia is pretty easy (and quick to get) (for anybody with J!/Millionaire credentials), but the math, especially, is very time-consuming to solve. Anybody who thinks the questions are too hard understand neither the concept of trivia nor the strength of the field.

What is your opinion on my thoughts then, that they should have not run the clock during the reading of the question, and instead (to not make the rounds 5 minutes instead of the current close to 2 minutes) deduct a minimum of 5 seconds for a wrong answer/skip.

I’m thinking about analyzing how much time was spent on reading the question, and if anyone was kind of “cheated” by that.

(FYI, I do realize that was one missing piece of my idea, you’d also need to deduct 5 seconds for a wrong answer, since you could just answer anything wrong instead of passing).

And again, so people can stop emailing me calling me a moron, I do enjoy the show, all I was saying is that I don’t think it’s going to connect with a general audience beyond game show fans. And I do agree that the initial review wasn’t too nice. I wish we had more difficult game shows on TV. I’m sick of luck based shows.

Amanda was right when she mentioned that we’re not used to seeing numbers and logic in US game shows and its refreshing to see it. I for one loved that round as well as the words and letters (it helps being a fan of Countdown and its french equivalent chiffres et lettres. Just imagine if they had countdown ocotochamps on this show the viewer’s heads would be spinning.). I agree the questions for the most part weren’t terribly hard if you can hold your own on jeopardy you can do well here.

Dennis’ jokes for me about 30% landed the rest missed and came across as forced and I for one can appreciate “smart jokes”.

The only major problem I have with Pat Kiernan’s question reading was for the spelling questions he reads the answers (upon an incorrect answer) too slowly eating up a lot of the contestant’s time.

I would also make the change you can only use 1 switch per question that would have avoided the the ping pong on that question in the final round between the doc and Michelle

As far as I’m concerned Ken defeating Victor Lee was no surprise although Victor did much better than I thought he would. Michelle Kitt over Kevin Olmstead was a huge upset. I find that Weakest Link tends to ask more pop culture questions than anything else whereas Millionaire asks tougher questions, although then again there is the time factor.

1 nitpick. They’re a little off in the winnings totals. I know Ken won another $700 and change on 1 vs. 100 and I think Brad won some money on 1 vs. 100 as well.

Predictions for the rest of the matches:

Rahim Oberholtzer over Phyllis Harris by 15 seconds, Just becuase for the most part Phyllis’ shows weren’t really much about knowledge (Greed and Trivia Trap being the exceptions)
Thom Mckee over John Carpenter by 8 seconds. (Evenly matched but I think John’s going to have trouble with the time.)
Frank Spangenberg over David Legler by 18 seconds (The majority of David’s questions on 21 were pop culture. Frank has more all-around knowledge)
Leszek Pawlowicz vs. Ed Toutant tossup. (This is gonna be close maybe a 5 second margin or less)
Nancy Christy over Ogi Ogas by 18 seconds. (A little bias here becuase I didn’t see Ogi’s game but Nancy actually won the million Ogi didn’t.
Brad Rutter over Amy Kelly by (at least) 25 seconds (Brad is gonna mop the floor with Amy. Amy might how ever have a slight edge in the words and letters round.)

“Alex, aren’t you the same guy who thinks “Without Prejudice” is the greatest original since Russian Roulette? This show is finally a show that requires you to have a brain. If you get bored after watching GS and not after watching WP, then Wow.”

And don’t make assumptions, it just makes you look like a fool. I didn’t say I didn’t get bored after watching WP, because I don’t think I could take another 90 minute episode. I just don’t think I can take a whole lot of this type of show without being incredibly bored. And I don’t think WP is the greatest show since Russian Roulette. I easily place BallBreakers and I’ve Got A Secret ahead of Without Prejudice, but WP is placed about Grand Slam for me.

The only thing I didn’t like was in the Olmstead game where the switches were all used up on a single question. That’s a flaw. Only one switch should be allowed per question. Then the stumped contestant can pass and they are stuck with the next question. But overall, thrilling to watch. And I found myself guessing at the questions out loud (sometimes quicker than the contestants, sometimes wrong).

This could be the next GSN Original with a long run if they wanted to.