Merv Griffin Entertainment Shoots Flea Market Pilot for GSN
Another new original is in GSN’s future. Currently casting for an unaired pilot is a show revolving around flipping items at flea markets. The show, whose name was not given to me, is being produced by Merv Griffin Entertainment who recently shot Million Dollar Mind Game for ABC.
The show involves pairs of two who know each other going to the Rose Bowl Flea Market and buying items from a small budget given to them. Then the team will have a small amount of time to flip the items by making them work better, look better, and so on. The team who makes more money by flipping items wins. Again this is an unaired pilot and this is the final week of casting and the show will tape August 8th.
This show is very close to the popular British show Bargain Hunt, which can be read about here. In fact this really could be Bargain Hunt and we just don’t know yet. Regardless, it’s yet another show GSN is developing.
An anonymous reader sent in the tip, so thank you.
Million Dollar Mind Game? I thought it was “Six Minds”
I’m a big fan of Bargain Hunt, but it just barely fits the definition of “game show” and seems like it would be a very poor fit on GSN. First, there’s next to no money involved; each team gets £300 and an hour to run around the flea market and find three items they think are flippable. In the end, if they make any profit, they get to keep it; that’s the sum of the game. More than half the time they end up losing money in the auction and leave with nothing, and when they do come out ahead, they usually walk away with something like £50 to £75. It’s not exactly nail-biting excitement.
It’s also a VERY leisurely paced show; more time is often spent analyzing the purchased items than playing the game. (Not that a few format tweaks couldn’t change that, but still…) The main point isn’t even the game: it’s “look at all this weird crap we’ve found from decades or centuries ago.” I’ve always thought an American version of BH could do well, but if I were MGE, I’d be pitching it to TLC, BBC America, PBS or the History Channel (run it back-to-back with “Pawn Stars”; perfect combo!). Unless the concept has been seriously altered for the pilot, I just can’t see GSN going for it. This is a concept for people that like Antiques Roadshow, not those that like Press Your Luck.
Is Million Dollar Mind Game the show titled Six Minds? Did ABC change the name again or is this a new show?
If “Million Dollar Mind Game” is a new title for “Six Minds”, it sounds like a more salable title–if not, necessarily, a more salable content. As I can barely get by in written Russian (not even good enough to read a record label!), what little I’ve seen looks like a format that won’t work here! Maybe I’m losing something. . .
Alex,
Has any word been mentioned about “Trust Me” or “101 Ways” or MDG or is ABC just making 100 game show pilots on standby and then when some of the fall shows fail, throw darts and see which ones will fill the slots?
flea market is the name