“Million Dollar Password” Off of CBS’s Lineup
I’m not sure if anyone saw this coming at all. In what is an amazing move showing the networks honestly only care about the younger demographic, Million Dollar Password has been pulled from the CBS lineup with two new episodes remaining. For the next three weekends it’s being replaced by 60 Minutes, an NFL game, and an episode of Cold Case. After that it doesn’t look like it’ll be on that time slot for a while if ever again.
While the show has been doing very well in total households, the key adults 18 to 49 demo is doing poorly, in last place every week. You’d figure having well over 10 million viewers would mean something, but nope. Although at the same time 60 Minutes hardly gets a better key demo rating than Password, but overall household is much stronger. I just didn’t expect to see it go after the big ratings it got last week for some inexplicable reason. What’s funny is that the ratings for Password aren’t that great for CBS, put if you put it somewhere like NBC it would be a major hit.
So what’s next for the show? Your guess is as good as mine. With football, special programming, and Amazing Race coming back I just don’t see it going to Sunday again. Really, the only logical reason for the pulling of a pretty highly rated show is the low demographic rating, so I can’t see CBS putting Password on weekdays. It may be shoved to Saturdays to die (Game Show in My Head is doing nothing there) but beyond that I don’t see much happening. It shouldn’t be a shock to CBS, though. Did they actually think young people would be rushing home to see Password. Deal or No Deal did pretty well in the key demo because of, uh, some young and perky looking things. No one’s going CBS and going, “Betty White; I gotta get me some of that.” Hopefully we can see it pop up somewhere again *coughGSNcough* because it’s a pretty fun format that’s really bendable that people still enjoy.
good this format of password is real dull not fun bringf back super password in the half hour the nbc version
It is a bit of a surprise that CBS pulled the show despite the fact that its overalls were growing (plus it finished in the Top 20 Nielsens the last three weeks, including sixth two weeks ago). But I saw the writing on the wall during the White/Corolla episode.
Look at the commercials that aired the last two episodes — Elvis Presley Gospel Hits, Love Songs of the 60s, The World at War on DVD, VERY lengthy promos of CBS series. Do you know any other prime time series whose commercial load is heavy on the above? The last I remember was Friday Night SmackDown on CW, and it was the highest-rated show on the network!
CBS couldn’t sell this show to advertisers, and it got stuck with an ad load that was below daytime soaps and just above syndicated court shows (I was half-expecting Billy Mays or the Shamwow guy to show up). That’s pretty embarrassing, particularly when you have The Simpsons and Desperate Housewives charging upper-five/low-six for a 30-second spot.
60 Minutes may have similar demo problems, but it’s also a legacy show for the network that has a decent commercial load. You’ll see, say, Cadillac advertising on the Stopwatch. MDP doesn’t have that.
I also have a feeling that CBS feared a ratings plunge if MDP aired after the NFL playoff game on Sunday. If the playoff game gets, say, 23 million viewers, the Stopwatch could hold 16-18 million viewers. MDP could struggle to get 10-12 million (Reminds me back in the fall, when Amazing Race responded to a record ratings performance by 60 Minutes (for an Obama interview) by dropping 40-50% in overall and demo. It could have been worse for MDP).
Was the show perfect? Absolutely not. Too much post-production gimmickry, celebs and contestants who couldn’t play, etc., hurt the feel of the show. But the spirit of the gameplay was solid, and there were enough strong celeb and contestant play to keep it interesting. I enjoyed watching it every week to play along.
You want to save the show? Get creative. Fans of Jericho flooded CBS with nuts (I think) and got another season. Roswell fans used Tabasco sauce to win another season. MDP? Pages of the dictionary? Pocket-sized thesauruses?
When M$D was on last summer, I felt it had “jumped the shark” after Betty White’s appearance. I’m not at all sorry to see it go.
If Password were to come back, it should go back to its roots. No Super Password/Password Plus. However, if FreMANTLE were to be THAT hellbent on something along those lines, then they ought to consider an interactive element for the home audience: during the course of the show, up to five passwords have a common link. Either via a website, or cellphone (a la DoND), the home viewers compete to solve that puzzle, for a cash prize.
M$P proves once again, the good folks at FreMANTLE don’t know shit; nor do they “get it” when it comes to a kind of “dynamic” Mark Goodson understood. Don’t ask me what that “dynamic” is; if I knew, then I’d be producing game shows in the Goodson-Todman tradition!
gOddammit with the network heads trying to appeal to these punkass young ones.. 60 minutes? are you kidding? God love ‘em but the show is caricatured as the quintessential old-person’s show, almost like TPiR was before Drew took over. The root idea of Password is a great one, but just like Pyramid, it will fail if you take too much out of what made the original game what it was…
Both Pyramid and Password are very similar in that they both ran for over a decade each in their original daytime formats — but port them to the new 2.0 dark-set bullshit styles and *pOoF*! Why were they so successful in the old days? Because the fans of the show watched for the GAME PLAY, and the celebrities that were chosen were proven to have good command of giving clue — on both Password AND Pyramid.. I mean.. Serena Williams?!?
I also blame their poor contestant casting, as Alex and I both know first-hand they didn’t pick people who were going to rule at the game ;)
Maybe one day when a network wants to have a successful run at a game show, they’ll consult with actual game show nerds who know what people want to see if they expect their shows to be a hit.. :p
The problem is, what constitutes a hit nowadays? When CBS is not happy when they get the 13th ranked show for the week, but only cares how many in the 18-49 demo watched, there is something wrong.
Sigh…this format was actually really fun to watch, especially when you get fun celebs like Craig Ferguson and Betty White. It was a melding of Password and Pyramid, but I really liked it. Seeing it removed from the schedule doesn’t make sense at all.
Julia…I agree with you…to a point. It makes sense, in a way…
All networks care about, these days, is the 18-49 demo…so, if the others dropped, it wouldn’t make a difference.
As for the younger generation, they simply don’t care about this stuff…they want instant gratification…and don’t want to have to work for big money…which is why shows like MDP fail.
Granted, winning a lot money is great…but, what good is it if you can’t figure out WORDS?!
Seriously…shows like this are great…but, since a lot skill (and mastery of words) is required for this show, the “more important” demographic doesn’t want to watch it…so, it fails.
I remember watching Allen Ludden discuss how Password was used in schools. It’s too bad shows like this (and its method) wouldn’t be paid attention to, nowadays.
I’m sure Mr. Ludden is looking down and feeling sad…and I can’t blame him.
lobster: “I also blame their poor contestant casting, as Alex and I both know first-hand they didn’t pick people who were going to rule at the game ;)”
Sir, I take offense to your remark. =P
Man.. this is messed up. I really enjoyed watching this.
I’m curious if Regis Philbin will address this development on his morning show today or tomorrow. Many of us remember his on-air fits when he learned of ABC getting rid of WWTBAM, plus he is known to complain on-air when something doesn’t go right with his life or career.
Even if this show is proving difficult to sell to advertisers, so what? *Everything* is hard to sell to advertisers right now.
I reckon the show could return if they can get advertisers to recognise its success (and airing the last two in a series would have helped that I think – surely they could’ve aired the last two episodes either side of the playoff game?). Failing that, another lower-money incarnation of this show in syndication or GSN would be the least it deserves.
How much will a SAG strike actually affect television? Given that most of CBS’s shows are filmed and thus vulnerable to any SAG strike, it may be that those two shows are simply being saved as backups in case.
I agree with Jay and Julia, all the network cares about is the 18-49 demo graphics (which is the reason why UPN and The WB are dead). Forget the fact that it was the 13th highest rated show of the week (granted The Simpsons and Family Guy didn’t air last week and all the other shows are still in reruns). It’s also what James D. pointed out, they fear that ratings would drop because of NFL overrun. So I wouldn’t be surprised if it comes back after the NFL season ends.
To Chad: Don’t worry about lobster, I thought you did great on the show (in fact, I still have it on my TiVo). You didn’t win the million, but $25K isn’t a bad chump of change for a day’s worth.
If, in fact, CBS does pull the plug on the show, I would love to see it somewhere else *coughSyndicationcough*.
Sorry, Robert’s exactly right here. I’ve seen maybe three or four contestants I would call good (giving good clues without choking under the pressure).
And this is in no way a slam to Chad, because to win twenty five grand you have to play pretty well. But if you think you or anyone else were casted for your playing ability, you’re horribly wrong. It’s how shows are casted today. No, they won’t cast people who are god awful. But they’re going to cast mediocre players who aren’t a major threat to the million but have a sob story people care about. Like the janitor, or the person recently fired, or the poor college student, or someone like that. I’m not necessarily a fan of this kind of casting, but this is the way it is for any primetime game show.
It doesn’t matter how high the ratings are if advertisers aren’t buying it. It doesn’t matter if the best Password players in the world are playing…the show won’t make money if CBS can’t sell anything but “pay-per-inquiry” spots in it.
I, too, will be sad to see this show go. I grew up watching the original. I might be in the minority here, but I don’t think Fremantle screwed it up this time. They delivered a show with a good flow and respectable ratings. But that said, I was never crazy about it being a “Million Dollar” show.
It might have an afterlife in daytime. It might still work in the summertime when expectations aren’t so high. But especially in this economy, if it doesn’t make money, it ain’t gonna air for long.
IF TRUE they have cancelled the show, then for shame CBS, for shame… Seems networks don’t even try to give shows a chance anymore. And who does not love Betty White (a great player). You know, it would do the folks in the younger demos some good to see classic stars from time to time and an intelligent game to watch.
What gets me is that a home game (very impressive by the way) was outr for the Holidays. Hard to imagine the go-ahead for that if the show was considered to be on its last legs.
I’d like to see someone (Alex?) compare the demos and ratings from season 1 to these newest episodes. If they have gone downward, maybe someone has a point. But if not…Regis has every right to blather about this on his morning program.
If this is where things have progressed, I really worry about the state of the game show industry. At least CBS had the presence of mind to pull Game Show In My Head, but this is a bad follow-up signal.
Gee, you think NBC would consider crossing this show over to their network? They could use some help, and I’d bet they’d be pleased with the ratings if not the demos.
Pulled is not the same as cancelled. Remember DOND got pulled from February and now they have resumed taping, so we haven’t heard the last of MDP. I suspect a bigger plan behind the pulling of Million Dollar Password. Has anyone noticed that the first run episodes have not been repeated? They did this with the first six.
There will come a point where they will repeat them and the other 2 newer episodes. If they had continued down the path of that schedule, the Super Bowl will eat them alive as well as American Idol. its a positioning tool, pulled but not cancelled.
They didn’t want to get in the way of football, so they are shopping around for the more dominant convenient time. Or a possible pairing of a few more prime time TPIRs with it, a full game show night on CBS. How long has it been since that happened?
Also there is still room in the season for other shows to get cancelled..The Million Dollar Password path will not end here. The password is optimistic. It shall return….
dearest Chad :D.. you did fine on the show, my boy, having attained the highest dollar amount — and my take on the casting procedures were not meant as a slam to you by any means, as you have demonstrated your PW-playing prowess quite well — HOWEVER, you must admit, to even have passed the audition to begin with, there must have been a little extra *savvy* you exerted to win them over, a skill I have apparently yet to master :D … So, while I’ll be the first to say that perhaps my rant was 10% jealousy-filled :), the meat of my complaint is that I know exactly what these tools are looking for — and almost ALL of the game show coordinators I’ve ever met know NOTHING about the history of the game.
I pulled that whole “I <3 Betty White” game on them during the first season auditions, even bringing a pic of her and I illustrating that I’m a hardcore BW fan from the ol’ days of PW — the very young coordinators seriously had no idea what the connection was or gave a shit less about why I liked a “Golden Girl”.. hah. (Maybe they found better coords for season 2) but I was sad to see that “hardcore Betty White fan” guy use my approach! :D
Congrats, btw!
“Betty White; I gotta get me some of that.” ROFL
Seriously though I doubt CBS is going to bring this back….at least on the primetime schedule. Why don’t they make a day time version of the show and put it on before or after TPIR. I think that would be the perfect place for Million Dollar Passowrd.
To Shon: I don’t think that that’ll happen because:
1) You would have to take back the 10/9a time slot from the affiliates (which, as stated in an earlier blog, is impossible without any compensation).
And 2) You would have to either move or cancel The Young & the Restless (which, let’s be honest, would be disasterous for CBS to cancel the only soap opera that’s keeping them afloat on daytime TV).
lobster, it’s all good. I understand and I was just teasing. =) (I thought the coords were great and knew what they were talking about this year.)
Somebody asked about ratings and demos for this season as compared to last. You can check them out at Wikipedia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Million_Dollar_Password#Ratings ) and notice that the general audience is increasing with each episode.
I’m shocked. Million Dollar Password is easily the best primetime game show on television. The set, graphics, music, host, and gameplay are all top notch. CBS would be making a big mistake to get rid of a show this good.
Didn’t something like this happen last year? Only with Power of 10 instead of Million Dollar Password?
Power of 10 actually started to sink in the overall ratings, if I do remember correctly. Million Dollar Password is a fairly popular show, all things considered, which is what makes this cancellation much more surprising than the failure of Power of 10.
as far as the demographics go, I saw an ep. of Boston Legal and it turns out it’s true what they said the 49 and above demo is actually more important, because the 18-49s are out working, in school or out partying while the older folks are at home and they in fact actually spend more. so if you ask me CBS is being really shallow here. if you’re getting good ratings take it!
I’d be remissed if I didn’t bring up the fact that this reeks of what NBC did eight years ago to the revival of “21.” Despite the fact that it was poorly promoted (not to mention the “telegraphing” of David Legler’s $1 victory). It’s time slot was changed, usually without notice. Despite this, it was still in the Top 20 (it even beat CBS’ prime time coverage of a college basketball game), Still, the Peacock Network pissed on this show like my girlfriend’s dog has been doing to dispatched Xmas trees. I ask, then why bother airing a TV show-ANY TV show in the first place, without due promotion.
Not quite the case, with M$P; but still…
It’s also nice to see that many of you share the same overall feeling for M$P as I do; especially you, Jay. May I add that Allen Ludden has to be more than merely sad; try bitterly diasppointed. I only wish we could guess how Mark Goodson would feel. And for that matter, Bob Stewart, who both created the show, and who is still “among us.”
Bob Stewart’s son, Sande is one of the consultants on M$P. So, it’s hard to imagine the Sr. Stewart not having at least a little input in this show.
To those of you who still harp on the fast-paced format of this show vs the previous incarnations, I remember feeling the same way when I saw the first episodes of Password All-Stars, Password Plus and Super Password. They just weren’t the same to me as the original and I never liked them as well as the original. I really hated the whole “puzzle” concept on P+ and SP, in particular. You could too often guess what the next password would be by reviewing the previous ones in the puzzle. But it still had enough of the original elements to keep me watching.
The Lightning Round was always my favorite part of Password, so I like all of the speed rounds. I find M$P very enjoyable. I just wish some of the celebrities could play better. I hope the show survives in some form.
To myke25: I appriciate your informing everyone, including the rest of the “militant, card-carrying, old school die-hards” like myself about Sande Stewart’s participation. It doesn’t change my feelings about M$P; but, at least I have a little more knowledge about the show. Thanx!
Password, in any version, was always a “thinking person’s game,” but the MDP format causes the game play to utterly stink. Contestants think they are playing “just say the opposite of the clue.” It’s tedious. Likewise, they have to learn how to put the clues together, and not treat them independently!
One thing I liked about the slower pace of the older versions is that there was time to give “musical” clues, to do the various vocal inflections, and to make fun of bad clues (and the bad answers which demonstrated that the contestant didn’t know the meaning of the clue).
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They do spend more, but it’s not about that. It’s that supposedly (though it’s an unproven supposition) that the purchasing decisions of older viewers are less easily INFLUENCED by advertising. That’s what drives the push for a “younger audience.”
It’s possible that may change:
http://www.latimes.com/news/la-et-demographic11-2009jan11,0,6820255.story
It’s simply wrong that older people won’t take to anything new. Today’s 80 year olds were among the first to buy color TVs and computers and were the first to subscribe to cable in large numbers. They’ve led the way in embracing “new” things.
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I liked that, although it often backfired, as people would play the puzzle instead of the password. And it wasn’t always a slam-dunk – was the 5th word “movie,” “film,” “flick,” or “title”? (It has, however, become difficult to watch reruns of the original, as I constantly look for some connection between the individual passwords.)