7 Responses

1. davec

   1

   January 5th, 2007 at 12:08 pm

   Can someone briefly explain the “vetting” process for getting “on the show”?

   At least every time I’ve watched playmania, it seems like they are waiting 75% of the time for someone to play. Given that I think they are only charging $1-2 a text message, and giving away $100-200 per game usually, with only 10-15 people at the most usually “playing” a game, there must be something I’m missing in how you get on, and how they are making money (unless the text message charge “income” and prize costs are inconsequential to the shows profits, the main profitability being from the ads during the show itself?). I mean, from the way it appears, it seems like I should be able to text message them and get on the show in 5 minutes, and if they are playing one of those silly games like the “Wheel of Fortune” thing where you get $5/letter in the puzzle, you are basically guaranteed some money if you can pick something reasonable. The “next up” contest queue on the screen is rarely “full”. Does that mean nobody is texting, or is there something else beyond the text to how people get in that queue?

2. Joe Mello

   2

   January 5th, 2007 at 1:12 pm

   Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups, nor the ability to fudge the truth by TV staff.

   Incidentally, during the Christmas shows, there were massive prize increases (even up to $1,000) and there is still an overall increase in payouts since then, possibly reflecting the success of the show.

   Playmania may almost be akin to a radio morning show, with games instead of music. Each show has a “theme” (eg Friday’s show was about “National Trivia Day”) and there’s chemistry and back-and-forth play between the hosts and the rest of the show that doesn’t feel all that forced. While I’ll readily admit it’s not appointment viewing, it’s not the worst thing you can end the night with. And when you consider the other Texting shows, Playmania is just that much better.

3. AP

   3

   January 5th, 2007 at 7:14 pm

   I totally agree with Joe that it is not appointment television, but looking at everything else on tv in its timeslot, its fresh and never a repeat of any other day. They have been doing a great job at the show, and the prize increases must indeed reflect how well the show has done over the months. Good job GSN for having the guts to bring such a ‘new’ concept to the US and carry it through.

4. anonymous

   4

   January 6th, 2007 at 1:18 am

   I don’t really care. PlayMania is horse crap and we all know it.

5. Michael

   5

   January 7th, 2007 at 11:55 am

   I don’t watch PlayMania. I never understood it, I wish it went away. Why GSN aired this 6 out of 7 nights I will never know and thank God.

6. Randy

   6

   January 8th, 2007 at 5:52 pm

   For davec:

   PlayMania gets thousands of entries per game. They just pick a contestant every few minutes from the pool of entries. The Player’s Lounge is by no means a gauge of the number of entries received.

   For Michael:

   PlayMania is not very hard to understand. Perhaps that is why you don’t like it.

7. Rick

   7

   February 12th, 2007 at 8:12 pm

   Hey check out Mel Peachey’s Official site and chat room. You heard about us on Playmania now check us out, Thanks.

   http://movies.groups.yahoo.com/group/melissapeachey

   rick