Following the October 31st edition of Playmania/Quiznation, the show will be no more as GSN has cancelled what used to be a really good show. The show really started to slip when they decided that doing pretty much 3 games a show was better than 10 games a show. This transition happened after the Goddess Mel Peachey left the show back in April.
Replacing the two hour block is another two hour block of…you guessed it! Reruns! At 12am we get some fun Who Wants to Be a Millionaire which I’m sure everyone is excited for. But then the actual good news starts as for 5 days a week, 1am to 2am consists of Trivia Trap and Now You See It. This may be a good step in the right direction for GSN. But it’s probably just some filler until they find something better to fill it with.
41 Responses
Well, THIS is long overdue. For months, the show has been completely unwatchable. The quizzes were 1st-grade special-ed quality, and taking 10 minutes per game (except for the much-maligned Crossword, which took nearly an hour per night) was unforgivable. Why would you start a game with a $200 prize, then double it as an incentive before anyone has even called in?! That’s silly, and it’s just one of the many problems this show has faced. It became two hours of Jeff and Angelle prancing around begging for phone calls. In fact, if they had just been wearing different clothes, I would have sworn it was one of those old 976 number commercials.
Quiznation was a good idea gone REALLY bad. Good riddance to it.
Posted on October 13th, 2007 at 10:31 pm
wow, a little surprised, i knew 100 winners was canceled but didn’t expect playmania. I still think an interactive show of this type would work but it needs to be produced better and be at most 1 hour long. too bad, Shandi had become a real delight to watch on this show & Jessica & Angelle were really starting to improve. that being said I’m glad to see Trivia Trap and Now You See It get some well deserved air time
Posted on October 13th, 2007 at 10:35 pm
The format needs to be rested for a while… I’m with Paul, I think this is a holding pattern. Playmania/Quiznation was doomed once the production company went broke… I expect GSN to line up another company (Endemol?) and do a new late-night participation game sooner rather than later — maybe the late 1st or early 2nd quarter?
Now, if I were running GSN, I’d use the remaining couple of weeks of Quiznation to play-test new formats. What do they have to lose now? :)
But I’m not running GSN, and the geniuses who are will probably gladly let the show limp out paying $500 or so in prizes a night.
Posted on October 13th, 2007 at 11:01 pm
Whoooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo-hooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
NO MORE ANGELLE! NO MORE JEFF! GSN keeps getting better. I hate QuizNation, and I will be there when Angelle recieves her pink slip. This is good news!
Posted on October 13th, 2007 at 11:33 pm
Replacing Playmania with more classics? Sweet. Trivia Trap and Now You See It five days a week? Nice, but it could be nicer. How about a variety of rarely-seen classics in 1-2 a.m. ET slot? Perhaps the stars could come out with the original Hollywood Squares and the 70s version of Break the Bank? How about expanding Alex Trebek’s Double Dare and Monty Hall’s Beat the Clock from their only-on-Sunday berths? There is potential for greatness here and I sincerely hope GSN doesn’t let it slip.
Thanks aplenty,
Jon
Posted on October 14th, 2007 at 12:31 am
May I ask why they decided to change their format? What the hell were they thinking? Huh? GEEZ!!!!
Is there any way I could suggest that other networks, like USA or G4TV, could revive it with the older format?
I’ll say it, IT’S ALL THE PRODUCERS FAULT. I hope the people whose idea it was to make Playmania worse remain unemployed for the rest of their lives, because they ruined a great show. SCREW THEM!!!
Posted on October 14th, 2007 at 12:43 am
What could be better than filling the slot with Classics. I could see if they filled it with poker or something for you to say “until they replace it with something better”, but this is great news.
Posted on October 14th, 2007 at 1:18 am
It’s a shame Playmania will reach its end. I did used to like it before it become “poisoned” after the beginning of July. Even though GSN told us there was technical issues, but it turned out to be unbelievable. The show is a lot slower, boring, easy, and cheesy.
I miss the one year of great Playmania show, but I will never forget the month of July 2007 when Playmania that we once knew and loved turned rotten until this very day and becomes canceled. Haven’t Rich Cronin and the producers learned they had made a huge mistake?
I used to like Playmania after July 2007, but now it’s just too sick and slow, I stopped watching it. I lost faith in Playmania, so I’ll be “saying bye bye” to it.
Posted on October 14th, 2007 at 1:21 am
I am sure Rich Cronin does not care, since he is no longer in charge. Goldhill is the one who probably pulled the plug on the show.
Posted on October 14th, 2007 at 1:45 am
Its kinda sad to see shandi leaving that show. she was playmania. but i have to agree, the gameplay was just terrible after mel left :-(
now for the reruns. kudos for trivia trap and NYSI. How about stuff like tic-tac-dough or joker’s wild? hollywood squares (Marshall) or pull stuff out of the Orion vault like Cesars’s Challenge or Davidson’s H2’s, Wipeout with Tomarken? There are many many many classics to put out there. GSN needs to do something to get their ratings up from out of that pittiful 200,000 to 300,000 viewers.
Posted on October 14th, 2007 at 7:44 am
I can’t say I didn’t expect this axe to fall eventually. As has been covered already, this show just became unbearable to watch, with the slow games, the “countdowns” and everything else that was obviously being rigged and faked to just get people to text their entries and waste their time/money. It got to the point where I couldn’t get to the first commercial without turning this off. I mean, how many times could we hear the instructions on how to enter before we wanted to hurl our remote control through the TV?
As for the 1AM-2AM block, I wouldn’t read too much into it as far as a “step in the right direction” for GSN. They just happened to already be airing “Trivia Trap” and “Now You See It” in that timeslot the non-Playmania days already. I’m sure before year’s end it will either be “Dog Eat Dog” or another hour of “Chain Reaction” in the slot.
Posted on October 14th, 2007 at 10:04 am
I hope gsn does nothing with Endemol i would hate to see all there failed deal or no deal clones on gsn.
I wish i still have gsn i would love to see millionaire
Posted on October 14th, 2007 at 10:35 am
“But it’s probably just some filler until they find something better to fill it with.” I seriously doubt it. Thank god the show is going off the air because it sucked really bad.
Posted on October 14th, 2007 at 1:30 pm
GSN Buzz is now a cesspool. The more I hate Ansh!tty Tymon, the more praise there is.
Posted on October 14th, 2007 at 3:38 pm
For all you Angelle-haters out there, she informed the audience, at the end of the 10/14 show, it was her last. Jeff and Jessica are running the ship until its long-awaited finale. If only I had the power to work on GSN’s schedule…
Posted on October 14th, 2007 at 5:24 pm
So shandi isnt going to host the finale?!?!?!?!
Posted on October 14th, 2007 at 6:27 pm
Amanda, who won the $2100 2nd Crossword game last night, mentioned that when she was on the phone with a prize operator afterwards and asked if PlayMania was cancelled. She was informed that “they were not able to comment on that”.
Posted on October 14th, 2007 at 6:33 pm
In my mind, the true PlayMania has been canceled for a while, in fact i hvaent even watched it in the past 2 months or so, but still this is sad news. Even though its not official, it looks very much like it is. Why would someone not comment on it? They would say no if it wasnt true! If u called up and asked if shandi was leaving the show, they’d say no. But if she might be, they’d say “we cant comment.”
Posted on October 14th, 2007 at 6:36 pm
If the show has indeed gone from being a model for the genre to just another poorly-executed con trick on the viewers, this is great news. I hope GSN can quickly gain a strong and reliable revenue stream to replace that from PlayMania, preferably one that’s not predicated upon call-and-lose ‘participation TV’…
Posted on October 14th, 2007 at 7:16 pm
It’s about time they pulled the plug on the show. I could not bear to watch it anymore as it is. Getting rid of it is a step in the right direction. They need more game shows on there despite the fact that the channel is now called “GSN- the network for games”. Do remember however, that GSN stands for Game Show Network, so the channel should air what it stands for. If they didn’t intend to do that they probably would have changed the name of the channel already. More game shows, that’s GSN.
Posted on October 14th, 2007 at 8:26 pm
Well, IMO, it was inevitable. The show was going downhill since Summer. The good news is more Trap and NYSI, but the bad news is more of The Regis Show.
Posted on October 14th, 2007 at 8:46 pm
Before I begin, I would like to bring forth People’s Exhibits A and B. Exhibit A:
“NO MORE ANGELLE! NO MORE JEFF! GSN keeps getting better. I hate QuizNation, and I will be there when Angelle recieves her pink slip. This is good news!”
This is followed by Exhibit B:
“GSN Buzz is now a cesspool. The more I hate Ansh!tty Tymon, the more praise there is.”
Boy, is this all you do? Bash Quiznation, Jeff, and Angelle? I guess you don’t have much of a life outside of this garbage. If I were you, I’d watch your step. I think at the rate you’re going, all of your comments and stuff might get pulled at a second’s notice. You don’t want to do that, do you? I hope the owner of the site sees this before it’s the end of the world as we know it. (Oh, wait… That “end” is when you start coming up with nice comments about the three aforementioned.)
Okay, now to the topic at hand. (No more “People’s Exhibits”, I swear.) Since the infamous episode where Shandi was just sitting around and staring into space (oh, it brings up memories), the show took pitfalls. Then there were the saving graces which sort of helped the show out. But it didn’t really help. Too bad it couldn’t stick around. Regis on GSN is getting to be a little too much. How many airings a weeks will this be?
Posted on October 14th, 2007 at 10:40 pm
Why would I pull his comments? There’s no reason to. His opinions are perfectly valid and some of them are correct. Which ones? You can be the judge.
Posted on October 14th, 2007 at 10:43 pm
I <3 Angelle. Hopefully, she gets to appear on some other television show if this rumor is indeed true.
Posted on October 15th, 2007 at 12:16 am
I know I quoted it, but I’m offended when someone drops the s-bomb in a person’s name. If you announce your hatred all over the internet, try not to do it while including curse words in the middle of a name. Period.
Posted on October 15th, 2007 at 12:22 am
Good riddance. I personally have never liked PlayMania, and I’m glad it’s gone. Let’s just hope GSN doesn’t have any long term plans to replace it with something boring like the Amazing Race. I see enough of that pos show in the 2 hour editions on the weekends, pre-empting Let’s Make a Deal (my only chance to watch it, since I sleep :P)
As for you Mandy, at least you’re not that d-bag GuideAngel. You can’t expect a post to be deleted when only one part of it is offensive. Maybe delete the offensive part, but that’s about it. I know this because I’m a forum admin myself.
Posted on October 15th, 2007 at 11:52 am
Hooray! No more switching to “American Gladiators!”
Posted on October 15th, 2007 at 2:43 pm
Alex, did you get confirmation of this from GSN today?
Posted on October 15th, 2007 at 3:07 pm
I think one of the big reasons PlayMania probably sank was the fact that the only people who could play were those on the east coast feed. Those of us on the west coast were shown an “encore presentation”, and weren’t able to take part. I know there were a few times I wanted to give the game a try, but couldn’t.
Posted on October 15th, 2007 at 4:18 pm
After deciding not to watch for the last 6 months, I could see this coming. It’s a shame that an unbroken format from 2006 had to turn to this and if Mel Peachey was still around hosting, I’d be embarassed to have her see that abomination. The 2:00 minute clocks made me wanna break my TV and Jeff was just an annoying bastard. The only thing I’m going to miss is Shandi. Like some of you said “she was PlayMania” At least I can see her on Lingo.
Posted on October 16th, 2007 at 8:33 am
I am thrilled with the prospect of more classics. Good riddance to this one.
Posted on October 16th, 2007 at 9:35 am
I’m glad to see NYSI again. That’s good to see coming back.
Posted on October 16th, 2007 at 11:13 am
It has been back since last month. You can catch it tonight at 1:30am with Trivia Trap airing at 1am.
And of course Late Sunday night from 12-2am you will have Super Password at 12am, Double Dare(trebek) at 12:30am, Body Language at 1am, and Beat The CLock(Hall) at 1:30am.
Posted on October 16th, 2007 at 12:39 pm
Alex I forgot to ask, is this true? I am wondering because I want to tell the playmaniacs that it is true so they will shut the hell up.
Posted on October 16th, 2007 at 1:10 pm
100 winners was better, but even then it was becoming obvious what the scam was.
I think these shows being all but BANNED in europe killed it…there was some obvious evidence of (if not rigging) manipulating the results and the choice of callers.
i left once they cancelled 100 winners.
if they do this again, like most interactive games…they need some better tracking of the calls.
didnt know bout the west coast thing…that blew!
Posted on October 16th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
Considering the fact that Alex took down the “this is only a rumor” part of the article, I’d guess that it’s official.
Posted on October 16th, 2007 at 9:04 pm
I’m disappointed with playmania’s cancellation. However, I expected it! The producers of the show are to blame. It used to be a fast paced show with 12 puzzles per show…….. Lately….. 3 games per show…….. dragged on forever. Also, the choice of hosts were not ideal. Shandi and Angel ( and mel) are vibrant energetic ladies for late nite!!! Jeff and Jessica are nice people but not right for the show. It seems like the producers with their absurd decisions were trying to destroy a once vibrant and fun show!!!!!. GSN………fire the producers!! I hope a show like the original playmania comes back on another network.
Posted on October 21st, 2007 at 1:33 pm
The West Coast had the live feed if you had DirecTV like I did. I won once ($350 from Shandi) and
got through once and did not win, again with Shandi. I will agree that the show went downhill and was obviously using the clock gag to drum up calls. I however almost never used the cell, almost exclusively the computer, and got thru twice, so they lost money on me. I will miss Shandi and Jess, but the show was getting tired and crappy, so I will cry only for the loss of said women.
Posted on October 21st, 2007 at 2:46 pm
Shandi said she will be back on the New Live Games GSN has coming.
Posted on October 21st, 2007 at 2:50 pm
The trend with all of the other interactive/call in shows has finally hit Playmania. Playmania switched to the 3-games per show format because it was too costly otherwise. There was a reason the other wanna-be call in shows (TBS, My TV shows) had that format. The problem of course is that they started with that format, while Playmania sort of descended to it.
Now that Playmania is gone, BET’s Take the cake is the only interactive show left and I guarantee that will get the axe before year’s end. But one thing the BET show got right that I think a future GSN show will follow is cutting the show from 2 hours to 1 hour. The other thing all of the other shows got right was multiple, co-ed hosts per show. Unless you have an extremely dynamic host, and even the best Playmania hosts Shandi and Mel were not that dynamic, having the rotation of hosts and the male/female interaction during the show helps keep it interesting.
Posted on November 4th, 2007 at 10:07 am
Hi – I am from Canada – and i watched but could not play – - loved Shandi – -and Mel wasn’t too bad – but do not like Jessica, Angelle or Jeff —-what a bunch of idiots –they talk to the viewing public like they are idiots – (my opinion) and when they started with them clocks – - -takes so long to play a game – I used to watch just for the entertainment – but as soon as they started the clocks – and being so damn slow with the games – i stopped watching – wasn’t suprised when the show was cancelled – - I am t hinking that they were not getting many calls at the end – - but do not know for sure – but they sure did beg for callers – -then put up the clock so you knew how much time you had – -so sad – oh well – just thought I would email and let you know how i felt – - – I emailed to Shandi and never received a reply – - -oh well – - –
Posted on November 6th, 2007 at 5:52 pm
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