Comments on: No News Day: The Top Five Game Shows I’d Like to See Revived

By: MikeSant318

MikeSant318 — Sat, 31 May 2008 00:47:54 +0000

Both High Rollers and Monopoly could come back, but maybe HR has been played out since Wink’s version in the late 80’s, and Monopoly never really got a fair shake (I was working Saturday nights at the time and missed both it and Super Jeopardy). Todd Newton or Pat Finn to host either one!

By: devares

devares — Wed, 28 May 2008 15:25:26 +0000

Ahhhh, another good one, J.C. Only place I would want to see it is either in syndication or GSN where it will have some success. And, Glenn, I also agree with Catch Phrase. Not only did it not get a fair shake, but not too many stations aired it (granted, back in the ’80s, there weren’t enough stations in many markets that it is today). Another show I like to see come back is Monopoly. I think it would do well and, unlike in 1990, there are a lot of stations, so if a revival of it ever comes to fruition, it would take off.

By: dropzone5

dropzone5 — Tue, 27 May 2008 14:07:30 +0000

I wholeheartedly agree with Whew! and Supermarket Sweep. I think Sweep should up the top prize to, say, $10,000 instead of the normal $5K. (But nothing breaking 5 figures!)

For Whew!, I’d just double whatever the original version had ($20-$100 from levels 1-5, adjust level six to be $500-$750-$1000, and make the Gauntlet worth $50,000; $200/second extra time).

By: J.C.

J.C. — Tue, 27 May 2008 06:21:50 +0000

While these are all good games, no one has mentioned really a quite obvious candidate for revival: High Rollers!

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 21 May 2008 19:20:28 +0000

Whew- Revive but Modernize….Have each contestant have a panel of buttons
Concentration-Either go with the 2 strike format or 2/3 format
Scrabble-Keep the rules from pre 1990? version except start at 25,000 and 5000 each day not won, bonus squares $1000 for blue and $2000 for pink.
TJW-the classic format from the front game + either bonus round (FTD or the giant slot machine)
Catch Phrase-Liked it.
Others I’d like to see
Card Sharks-Go back to the Eubanks-Rafferty Version. If you need to big money it up a bit (which freemantle seems the need to do on some game shows) go with a super cards bonus round. 1st part Similar to the Car end game but 1 pick of up to 10 numbers. which will determine the # of cards and max # of x what they won in the money cards they can win (Possabillity of over $1,600,000 after 5 days)
TTD-$500 question $1000 center $500 each tie game. $ amounts for bounus $500 $750 $1000 $1500 $2000 $2500 with $5000 or Tic and Tac winning the bonus.

By: glenn

glenn — Wed, 21 May 2008 17:03:37 +0000

Chance of a Lifetime was a better show than people give it credit for. It was too quickly passed over as a Wheel of Fortune rip off…that being said, I dont think the format was right for a Million dollar show and that killed it. It was a fun word game but not a Million dollar show. Would like to see it retooled for sure.

Scrabble ran its course…I’d settle for GSN getting reruns to tell the truth. One word on why I dont want a revival: TEMPTATION!!!

I think catch phrase was not given a fair shake in the 80s…with better CGI I think this would take off quickly…better than drek like crosswords.

Otherwise…I really wouldnt revive much except for GSN…

Crystal maze…that just makes my head spin. Sorry.

By: shelly

shelly — Wed, 21 May 2008 01:50:07 +0000

I didn’t recognize Heather Graham in the Scrabble clip. Heh.

I saw a clip of Definition on the ‘Tube quite some time ago; I wouldn’t mind seeing a revival of that, either. (Of course, it’s kinda similar to Camouflage already; but still. :))

By: devares

devares — Tue, 20 May 2008 20:44:13 +0000

I’m for all of those revivals, especially Scrabble. But there’s one problem with a Concentration revival: NBC owns the rights to it and if it gets revived, and it probably won’t, NBC would air it. As for Card Sharks, I would love to see it get revived, I felt they messed it up on the 2001 revival. Supermarket Sweep would be a great candidate for GSN (I hope you see this, GSN). But here are my list for revivals:

1) Tic Tac Dough- a great show that would be even greater today.
2) Shop ‘Til You Drop- another great candidate for GSN.
3) Now You See It- I watch the original version on GSN and thought they should revive this
4) $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime- would be a good fit for any network in Prime Time.

If I come up on some more revival, I’ll post them up later.

By: BillW

BillW — Tue, 20 May 2008 03:55:15 +0000

I’m all for a revival of the Canadian game show Definition: a former co-worker and I were contestants on one of the final seasons of the show — we were probably the only contestants they ever had from the USA — and I’ll tell ya, you’ve just gotta love those puns! (I wouldn’t mind being a writer for such a revival, btw …)

I also agree about CatchPhrase as a good revival candidate, but I too think that it’s just too slow for today’s audiences. What made it seem even slower when it first came out, I think, was the computer graphics technology of the era … dinosaurs in comparison to today’s superfast processors!

Other shows I’d like to see resurrected would be Scrabble, The Joker’s Wild, Super Pay Cards!, Blockbusters (I LOVE the UK version, btw, that’s on wedigtv.com), and The 3 W’s.

And as much as I’d love to see more revivals, I’m of the firm opinion that more ORIGINALS are needed — sorely! I hate to say it but there just isn’t enough intelligent television programming out there in DaytimeLand right now. I’ll say it again … MORE ORIGINALS PLEASE!

By: Ben Z.

Ben Z. — Tue, 20 May 2008 02:16:16 +0000

As far as Catch Phrase goes, I loved the show. Here’s the thing…They actually produced a pilot for a revival of Catch Phrase last year (possibly two years ago, I forget…old age y’know). I was in the audience for it, and I was excited because they didn’t screw with the format. It was still Money Chase…Catch Phrase…Super Catch Phrase, and the 25 square bonus round. It was well produced and well written, but the fact remains (and looking at some of the old episodes confirmed this), the show runs too slowly for today’s mainstream audiences. Game show fans would love it, but unfortunately the target audience is much wider than just we fans, and it just doesn’t have that rapid pace that you get from a Jeopardy! or TPiR.

I also like the idea of Hot Streak coming back, a very underrated show. Again, playing Devil’s advocate, the issue I think would be that the rules, while they seem simple enough, would be confusing for your casual viewer.

Another underrated show that I would like to see come back (although with a different bonus round) is Blackout. Someone just posted an episode on Youtube, and I have one ep. on tape. It was just a unique format. I just didn’t like the bonus round. It didn’t seem to have anything to do with the main game.

Two more quick picks for revival consideration: Double Dare (Trebek version), and The Better Sex.

By: Pat

Pat — Mon, 19 May 2008 22:39:54 +0000

Yeah, I agree with Steve. If they bring on shows that r fun u could get a lot of success. Case and point: Super Sloppy Double Dare. That was on 4 a few seasons and every1 got in2 the action. Hell, I still have the nintendo video game they came out with and I still play that! Guts is another 1, and again, I have and still play the video game. With The Price Is Right and the million $$$ shows its like “oh they won the million!! But who gives a shhh?” (TPiR is still 1 of my favs) Now with million $$$ Password, its not gonna be long till thats gone. Mole should be pretty good, even tho the pot isn’t gona be as big at it use 2 be.

By: steve

steve — Mon, 19 May 2008 22:29:06 +0000

I don’t think he was referring to the grand prize, I think he was referring to the high cost of groceries! (Sorry, I had to.)

The talk of revivals is a topic that both excites me and scares me… While it’d be awesome to see all of these old shows come back in new light, I’m also paranoid that someone decides to change something, and it won’t feel “right.” It’ll feel like it’s just a fake, or a mockery of the old game, rather than “the show I used to watch when I was a kid.” Yes, I’m one of those ignorant fools that despises change and clings to the past, that’s my problem. So be it. Maybe the revivals of Match Game, Password, and whatever else is coming out will change my mind, but for now, that’s where Steve the Stubborn Mule stands.

But if you held a gun to my head and asked me what I’d revive, I’d definitely have to agree on Split Second, good vibes going there. I’d also like to see a revival of “Bruce Forsyth’s Hot Streak,” although I wouldn’t mind someone else as host. (No offence, Brucie. We still love you!) While I know it was a really short-lived show back then, I think it would fare well now because it’s just a darn fun game. I moderated a version of the game at a party I hosted, and everyone who played had a ton of fun. I’d like to believe that if you could get generally fun games back on the air instead of the dead-serious drama games, you could really reel in a good audience.

By: Mike

Mike — Mon, 19 May 2008 20:38:55 +0000

One word: No.

Why don’t we throw $1,000,000 at every show and pretend that’ll make them even more watchable?

By: daviek

daviek — Mon, 19 May 2008 17:19:58 +0000

four words: million dollar supermarket sweep.

By: Pat

Pat — Mon, 19 May 2008 13:48:57 +0000

I agree they should bring back Crystal Maze and Supermarket Sweep. I loved SS as a kid and I’ve seen episodes of CM and it is a real good show.