Ever read about one of those shows that makes you question humanity and makes you see if you have any easy way to remove your eyes lying around? I got a press release from representatives this weekend (sorry, I was out of town) about GSN partnering with Meow Mix to do a cat game show called “Think Like a Cat”. My jaw dropped and I just kept thinking, “There’s no way they can be doing another cat game. Was the last one, Catminster, that popular?” I triple checked with representatives from each company and it’s true. This time it’s an actual game show rather than a pageant. This sounds absolutely painful. Could have had Lingo or another season of some original, but nope, we have a cat game show. So you can join in the misery, here are the rules, and these are all 100% confirmed from the official rules of the show:
Round One: “Lightning Round”: Eight cats are standing in front of food. The first three to finish their bowl of food, or the three who finish the most food, move on. A cat food eating contest. Unreal.
Round Two: “Are You Smarter Than a Cat”: Honestly it’s Jeopardy! just to add to the lack of originality and insanity of this. Six categories, five questions in each, point totals are 10, 20, 30, 40, and 50. No Daily Double at least. All questions are general cat knowledge. That should get fives of tens of people to play along. Highest two scores move on.
Round Three: “Think Like a Cat”: The final two contestant’s cats are taped doing seven different situations. The contestants have to answer three questions based on the actions of the cat. The contestants, before each clip is shown, wager a portion of their points. The contestants basically have to predict what their cat’s next action is going to be. Thrilling, isn’t it? You can’t wager more than half your points on the first two questions to stop people from going bankrupt. Highest score plays the end game.
Round Four: “Meow Mix Million Dollar Challenge”: Ten sealed Meow Mix bags of food with a different symbol inside are placed on the set. Only two bags have matching symbols, the other eight are unique. The human chooses one and the cat chooses one. If they match, they win $1,000,000. I’m not kidding. If not, they still win $25,000.
We can’t get Russian Roulette. We can’t get Whammy!. We can’t get Lingo, or That’s The Question. But we get a friggin million dollar cat game show? Seriously? Think Like a Cat debuts November 15, 2008 on GSN. I’m pretty sure our little gag of LitterBlog will reappear around the same time. Also you don’t know how many dirty jokes I have going through my head but I’d be yelled at by people on here for saying them, haha. If you have any dirty jokes about this, please feel free to comment them!
57 Responses
Just checking:
-Before the first commercial, you lose half your contestants
-There apparently are more than thirty cat-related Jeopardy questions
-The owners are predicting their cats’ behavior in staged situations (which, of course, will be just like at home)
-Whoever wins by sheer luck gets a one-in-ninety shot at a million.
Wonderful! I’m curious if GSN’s trying to appeal to the two-to-four-year-old cat crowd with such a catty show.
Posted on June 10th, 2008 at 11:18 am
I think I just coughed up a hairball…
Posted on June 10th, 2008 at 11:22 am
If the suit at GSN who approved this doesn’t have a drinking problem, he or she ought to have one.
Posted on June 10th, 2008 at 11:34 am
Jeez mo flip… Just wow…
Somebody get me a shovel, maybe two, one for the show and one for the cats.
Don’t be surprised if this somehow becomes successful, not only putting in perspective the current state and public mentality of game shows in this country, that GSN plans a revival in “THE $1,000,000 THAT’S MY DOG.”
Posted on June 10th, 2008 at 11:34 am
Let me get this straight:
1st Round: Meow Mix Derby
2nd Round: Feline Jeopardy!
3rd Round: Wait Til You Have Cats!
My cats will love this! That is, if they ever stop climbing trees, sleeping, etc. to watch the show.
What is GSN thinking? Are they high or something? We can’t get classic game shows, but we can get a pet show? This belongs on Animal Planet, not GSN!
I’m going to watch at least once, maybe until somebody wins $1M. Then, I’ll let my cat bury it in the litter box.
Posted on June 10th, 2008 at 11:38 am
I may be committing blasphemy here, but being a cat lover myself, I may watch this once or twice. It sounds terrible, and it probably is, but I’ll watch a bit.
At least this way to win a million dollars makes Million Dollar Password better by comparison. ;P
Posted on June 10th, 2008 at 11:43 am
Lingo, Russian Roulette, even Chain Reaction and How Much is Enough, please come back……Anything (and I mean anything) would be better than GSN showing this cat s**t.
Posted on June 10th, 2008 at 11:53 am
Better get GSN a life raft, ‘cuz they’ve officially gone off the deep end.
Just when things were starting to look up for once with the direction GSN was heading, now they decide to take a huge step backwards with something clearly designed for Animal Planet. We can’t get any decent game show revivals or any reruns of classics like The Joker’s Wild, and yet, we end up with crap like this?! Whoever approved this idea should be taken out back and beaten with a sack full of hardened kitty litter. I’m hoping someone has the good sense to scrap this idea (or at least send it over to Animal Planet). Otherwise, GSN just threw its’ money into another black hole (lest we forget how much of a financial sink hole “How Much Is Enough” proved to be).
Posted on June 10th, 2008 at 12:34 pm
Ok, I don’t like this either. I like cats and all, but this is a bit overboard!
But Wheeloon, I think you’re overreacting a little. I believe the public mentality and state of game shows are just fine, and intelligent. Look past this idea, and look at the GOOD shows that GSN is producing, including it’s new CATCH-21. Also, look no further than next season. The new syndicated shows and returning favorites are proof enough (with more on tap for ‘09, we hope). Many primetime we’ve seen have been decent or better as well.
Still, I agree, blech to this creation!
Posted on June 10th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Let me get this straight. A 1 in 45 chance of $1,000,000, $25,000 guaranteed.
That’s an expected prize value of $44,000 and change per episode, making this the biggest-money show in GSN history.
And it’s on THIS format?
Wow, I can only presume Meow Mix are coughing up most of the money. And frankly they deserve a $1m win every episode to punish them for what might be the worst game show format in the world, ever.
Posted on June 10th, 2008 at 1:47 pm
Sounds stupid why doesn’t gsn just fix temptation instead
Posted on June 10th, 2008 at 2:04 pm
So…
…That would be a high-steaks, American, speciesist, version of Pets Win Prizes, then?
Posted on June 10th, 2008 at 2:14 pm
Oy, and GSN wonders why they can’t get ratings. but this is proabbly mean to be competition for CBS’s “The greatest American Dog” (or something like that not sure on the exact name), now IF this sounded good on paper and it bombed fine that’s all they can do. but this doesn’t even sound good and they’re investing $1,000,000 in in?, someone check the TV record book I think GSN’s going for the lowest rated show ever,
and yeah I agree Gene, Temptation could possibly have worked on GSN with some changes, the prize budget is a perfect for them.
If GSN has $1,000,000 to blow on a stupid format like this. I think they can afford to get Sale Of the Century, Scrabble, Classic Concentration and other formats we all miss so much, GSN cut the horse sh*t!
Posted on June 10th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
I think one tiny thing to note is that there’s obviously some sponsorship deal here with Meow Mix so it’s not costing them as much as other shows.
But still it doesn’t sound like a good idea.
Posted on June 10th, 2008 at 2:33 pm
Ok. Whoever greenlit this BS must’ve been on crack. A game show based solely on cats? I’m sorry, but GSN couldn’t pay me $1 million just to watch this train wreck. Don’t get me wrong, this show would be perfect for Animal Planet, but GSN could’ve done better. They could’ve paid NBC for the rights to Concentration or CBS for the rights to TPIR (every network has its price to relinquish game show rights).
Posted on June 10th, 2008 at 2:52 pm
No, GSN, bad! Off the furniture!
Posted on June 10th, 2008 at 3:11 pm
So… um… it’s not April 1st… is it? I’m really confused.
I have given GSN way more credit then they have been due for a long time, but, can a television network Jump the Shark?
This one just did.
Posted on June 10th, 2008 at 3:24 pm
And I thought Godhill was starting to get the network back on the right track……..
Posted on June 10th, 2008 at 4:06 pm
I will piss myself if the show’s theme song is “What’s New Pussycat?” by Tom Jones.
Posted on June 10th, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Alternative Title – “That’s My Dog II : Pussy Galore!”
Seriously, I am cringing at this, something tells me this will only be a one time thing, or at least it reached “Pilot” phase and nothing else…
GSN, get back to making shows like Inquizition or Russian Roulette that had play along factor.
Posted on June 10th, 2008 at 5:30 pm
Excuse me while I piss on GSN’s soon to be complete burial space.
Seriously, they’ve already dug it with BS like this. All someone has to do is chisel it.
Posted on June 10th, 2008 at 6:08 pm
I’ve been seeing banner ads on GSN’s website for this, but I figured it was just a Meow Mix ad campaign. In fact, this sounds like a thinly veiled Meow Mix infomercial to me.
If it it’s just a one-off special (which I think it will be – November 15 is a Saturday), then I could see it being mildly amusing, at least for cat lovers like myself. Still, a million dollars is an excessive prize for something as silly as this.
Posted on June 10th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
I can’t believe they greenlit THAT… I just can’t believe it…
Words cannot describe the pain I felt in my head when I read about this.
Posted on June 10th, 2008 at 6:11 pm
I was going to comment that the money being spent on this show would be better used trying to get Scrabble, but Marc Power took the words out of my mouth.
Posted on June 10th, 2008 at 6:33 pm
Personally, I think Jordan Hass is right. This kind of a thing, and ESPECIALLY the $1,000,000 prize, screams ONE-OFF at the top of its damn lungs.
Posted on June 10th, 2008 at 7:21 pm
“Meow meow meowmeowmeow WTF meow meow?”
– Henrietta Pussycat, Mister Rogers’ Neighorhood
Posted on June 10th, 2008 at 8:38 pm
Hey, maybe it’s not so far-fetched after all…
http://pwa.rollplaygames.com/jeopardycat.jpg
Posted on June 10th, 2008 at 9:46 pm
“Well, at least it LOOKED like coconut..”
Posted on June 10th, 2008 at 10:20 pm
It sounds a lot like “That’s My Dog”, a Family Channel show from the early-90s. It was pretty corny, but this just sounds bad.
Maybe I need to pitch some of my ideas to GSN…after I get my agent.
Posted on June 10th, 2008 at 10:29 pm
guys it will only be like a two show thing it is not a full series probally meowmixs is paying for most of it as gsn would never do a million dolar show them self so there willl still be room for whammy or whatever you wan to come back :) this cat show sound silly but if they were offered alot to do it since gsn is not very rich if i was them i would take it.
Posted on June 10th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
Oh, Christ. Not another piece of dreck.
And here I was thinking Fox greenlighting “5th Grader” was ridiculous…guess that thought got shot to (CENSORED) after I read this, huh?
Posted on June 10th, 2008 at 10:53 pm
It was bad enough when GSN used to overkill “Dog Eat Dog”, and now this ‘cat crap?’ What the hell are they thinking (or are they even thinking PERIOD?) Don’t they remember how horse racing took them down a couple of years ago (except for one weeks worth of “Tattletales” episodes), and don’t even get started with “Catminster!”
Posted on June 11th, 2008 at 2:05 am
There’s only the one date mentioned so I can only presume it’s a one-off especially if it’s Saturday.
It makes more sense for GSN than we think, as sfan786 points out; MeowMix is ponying up a million (and I think I want them to give it away for inflicting this dreck on us – $1m on this format is silly, but at least there’s a skill element, unlike on DoND, Set for Death and any US lottery game show ever), GSN gets attention (even if it is of an ‘OMG’ variety like here) and no doubt money, it’s only half an hour (I think I saw it mentioned as such on the Meow Mix site, and if this format is dragged to an hour that would just complete the ‘this feels like a parody of DoND-era game shows’ feel it already has), and hey – I doubt too many here will complain if this is what funds a season of all-new Russian Roulette.
That doesn’t stop this being utterly insane in itself though.
Posted on June 11th, 2008 at 5:43 am
How to get a game show on GSN:
1. Create something with animals. GSN loves cute and cuddly animals. Don’t even think about a word game, poker game, or anything that’s remotely popular among that 18-34 male demographic.
2. Sleep with someone and have them give GSN a million dollar check to put on their show.
3. Damn the audience, since it seems like GSN is already doing that.
G.
Posted on June 11th, 2008 at 8:27 am
Maybe this whole thing is a gigantic plot to make stuff like Temptation look better?
I was shocked when I first read about this, but seeing the details here I just can’t stop laughing. Even though it’s a one-time-only thing, it really never should have made it past the idea stage.
You know what? All of us who cover game shows should set up a live blog and watch/cover this train wreck together. At least we’ll get some amusement out of it that way.
Posted on June 11th, 2008 at 9:01 am
Remember Set for Life? Remember Temptation? They’d both be on my video recorder before this. And that’s saying something.
Posted on June 11th, 2008 at 12:51 pm
I think I can sum this up with one word
WHY?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
Is it any wonder why GSN isn’t respected anymore. They won’t buy the rights to show the original “Sale Of the Century” or “Scrabble” but they’ll pick up a cat game show. WTF!?
I’m suprised they didn’t have a fear factor type round where the humans eat the cat food. I mean seriously.
Posted on June 11th, 2008 at 2:23 pm
True, it might only be a one-time thing…but, come on!!! Don’t GSN viewers deserve some more respect than this? I agree…it might be good for Animal Planet…but, not GSN. At least it isn’t “The Cheap Show”…which was a show, way-back-when, with Dick Martin. He was the only good thing about it. The show was an answer to Truth or Consequences…albeit, a bad one. Plus, winning a car depended on whether or not you could predict which hole a mouse would go in. Yuck! Like I said, Dick Martin was the best part of that show. As for this, new, show…there doesn’t seem to be a comedic part…so, what’s the point?
Posted on June 11th, 2008 at 2:40 pm
I’m really not sure how to even respond to this….at all.
Posted on June 11th, 2008 at 4:35 pm
this belongs on Animal Planet not on GSN. I know not many liked this show but I would watch National Lampoon’s Funny Money before this. What’s Next Celebrity Pets. Oh dear god I might have given GSN another pet show idea lol. GSN can air this but won’t pick up shows like High Rollers, Wipeout, Sale Of The Century with jim perry, Scrabble, Classic Concentration. I understand that GSN should have a mix of classics and newer shows but at least pick up some more classics before the tapes wear out. Why not pick up John Davidson’s version of Hollywood Squares and some other classics. Revive Whammy with the board looking like the Press Your Luck board. Maybe a cat threatened GSN and tried to claw there eyes out lol jk. I had to insert that joke in there with GSN going to put this on the air.
Posted on June 11th, 2008 at 5:09 pm
How about Meow Mix sponsors Lingo… they’d have money and ratings— but no. The folks at Meow Mix think they can sell more of their product when they tie it to one of the worst game show formats ever. Cat Knowledge? How much general knowledge is there about a cat until all the questions are anatomy related? Pathetic
Posted on June 11th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
Howell has a good point. If it’s just one-off thing, that could fund something better, i.e. A new season of Russian Roulette, that fine. Get it on, get it off, and get on with life. I still believe GSN has better ideas up their sleeve, they should stick to those, rather than something like this.
Posted on June 11th, 2008 at 7:37 pm
Uh, okay. Who came up with this crap? It would not surprise me if anybody involved in the show had worked on the daytime schedule of NBC in the late 70s/early 80s because this is one crap of a decision. Pardon my language, but this show should be thrown in the litterbox before it even makes it to air. Release the hounds to chase this show away!
Posted on June 11th, 2008 at 10:23 pm
Am I the only one that doesnt see this as a big deal?
It seems as if this is a one-time special- The date and the prize amount gives me that clue; Meow mix is obviously paying for most of this, and who’s to say that this wasn’t settled before the latest regime change?
Get a grip guys.
Posted on June 12th, 2008 at 11:01 am
If this is a special, then GSN better do something good with the money.
Posted on June 12th, 2008 at 11:56 am
Sounds like an interesting idea. I just need to watch the show and find out.
Posted on June 12th, 2008 at 8:03 pm
If this makes GSN money, I don’t care. This is a money in need of some money, and if Meow Mix is willing to pony up some advertising dollars to put this crap on the air, then all power to them. Think of the press this will unfortunately get. Will it be good press? Who knows, but any press is good press for a struggling network. Plus, if the $1,000,000 gets given away, they can boast about having the biggest payout in cable TV history. (or am I wrong about that?)
When I saw it at first, I was confused and baffled as to why they would greenlight this, but I think it’s not a bad idea. Heck…I watched Catminster. (Yes, I admit it.) I have a cat and wanted to see how cat shows differ from dog shows, since I always watch Westminster.
Posted on June 12th, 2008 at 8:18 pm
Oh No I need to get a vacuum I think i just seen some fur lol.
Posted on June 12th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
Well, folks, it’s finally happened. We’ve come to the point where game shows feature people telling their most personal secrets under a lie detector, trying to fit themselves through a hole in a wall in less than 3 seconds, contestants who are sure that there are 5,280 inches in a yard, and a million dollar cat contest?!?!?!?!?!
And GSN wonders why they’re such a low-rated cable network?
Posted on June 12th, 2008 at 11:39 pm
Oh yeah. A CAT GAME SHOW For chrissakes. Bring us Whammy and Russian Roulette. Aren’t those the highest rated original game shows on GSN? Would it be too late to get the Revolver back from Canada?
Posted on June 13th, 2008 at 11:44 pm
I don’t mind GSN Trying new shows but a cat show come on. Why not just revive some good classics. I always thought GSN should try and revive Hot Potato, GO, Wipeout, Trivia Trap and many other good classics. I know ways to make Hot Potato, GO, Wipeout and Trivia Trap as an interesting revival and to stay within GSN budget.
Posted on June 14th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
This is the greatest idea ever – lordy some of you people are wincingly joyless and humorless. Game shows: serious business.
Posted on June 17th, 2008 at 10:54 am
I may be taking a catnap on this one. GSN needs to bring back stuff we haven’t seen in a while. ANd those “Dog Eat Dog” reruns are getting on everybody’s nerves.
Posted on June 26th, 2008 at 1:39 pm
If you don’t like it – don’t watch it! Better yet, stop whining about it. Don’t you people have better things to do? Maybe some of us are interested and think it is fun. Life is not all about being serious and negative. Try having some fun – you might enjoy it.
Posted on July 25th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
I’M ONE OF THE FINALISTS. STOP HATING!
Posted on July 28th, 2008 at 11:29 pm
Congrats?
Recommence hating…..now!
Posted on July 29th, 2008 at 12:38 am
This network has gone way down hill in the last year or so.. and now their putting this kind of crap on the air! WOW!
What executive gave the green light to this? LOL! Also, what were they thinking with the latest "Game Show Awards" and how can you have a show like this without Wink, or Eubanks, or Dawson.. Unbelievable! The only decent show produced in this network's history was Lingo. If it wasn't for the classic show's like Match Game and Family Feud, No one would be watching this network? I would guess it's just a matter of time till this network closes it's doors! Way to go GSN!
Posted on June 29th, 2009 at 6:23 pm
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