Syndicated “Don’t Forget the Lyrics” May Be a Bit Too Streamlined
As we previously reported, the new syndicated edition of Don’t Forget the Lyrics! is coming this September to syndicated stations as a companion show to Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?. It’s also going to air on MyNetwork and VH1. If you remember the primetime Fox version hosted by Wayne Brady, it was essentially Who Wants to be a Millionaire with music. This new version, hosted by former Sugar Ray singer Mark McGrath, has been streamlined to fit the half-hour syndicated model much like Fifth Grader was. The issue is Lyrics may be just a bit too streamlined. Thanks, as always, to HollywoodJunket for the information.
The game play is the same as before. A song stops in the middle and you have to complete the next line of lyrics without messing up. The money chain on this version starts at $1,000 (which is the least someone leaves with) and goes to $2,500; $5,000; and finally $10,000. If the player can get the $10,000 Lyric correct he or she has the option to go for the bonus “Encore” category to turn that into $50,000. If a player misses a song at any time he or she isn’t out of the game but the Encore category is gone.
Logo courtesy of RDF Meda
Instead the player is frozen there for the time being and has a chance to double the final money level achieved on one final question if the player reaches the end. One Lifeline, called a “Back Up” is allowed. It’s the multiple lyrics option where three choices are presented to the contestant and one is correct. That is carried over from the primetime version.
Other than that, it’s just a few cosmetic changes. The set was apparently changed and the band has been replaced by the “MySpace Karaoke”, from a social networking site that stopped being cool four or five years ago. Hollywood Junket said that the host, Mark McGrath did a good job but that’s to be expected. He’s had some hosting experience and you really can’t front a popular band without being personable.
My issue isn’t so much the game but how it was put together. Twentieth Television streamlined Fifth Grader to, quite literally, perfection in the syndicated version. Don’t Forget the Lyrics looks like it was messed with a little too much and sounds cheap and streamlined. The four step money chain stunned me. I’m trying to think this out, but I find it hard to believe they can only fit five songs in an entire show. How long does it really take to get through each one? I knew the budget was obviously going to be slashed from the $1,000,000 primetime version, but the $50,000 top prize shocked me. I really don’t completely care what the budget is, but I just got stunned.
So I’m asking you to do another one of these on-face-value reviews. What do you think of the updated format and idea of the game? It doesn’t sound remotely bad. It still sounds fun…as fun as the Fox version. All of the combined changes just make it feel a lot cheaper, though, and its companion show Fifth Grader never had that issue.
And this is being paired with a show that asks ten or eleven questions and whose top prize is $250k? That’s just sad. I’d rather see more songs (and of course, more money). If you don’t mind the awkward comparison, I think it’s terrible that you can see someone spend an entire half an hour singing songs and earning the same amount as a single Plinko chip can in five seconds. I really don’t want to bring up the whole “it’s gotta have big prizes to attract viewers” argument (heck, I loved primetime Singing Bee when it was still on the air), but this seems like too little action for too little reward.
Maybe they’re doing a straddle format like ‘Millionaire’ and they’re trying to fit 2 contestants into an episode. Or maybe I’m giving them too much credit. This just doesn’t sound awesome no matter how I read it.
That could be it, Neville. But even then, it still wouldn’t make sense for the top prize to be $50,000. $100,000? Ok.
I agree. Five songs is too few for a half-hour. And knowing pop songs isn’t the sort of knowledge that merits a million dollars. It’s also irritating how long they drag out the answer reveals, especially when you already know the answer. “Is two…plus two… four? We’ll find out…after the break.”
Eh. It just seems too cheap for me. HOPEFULLY they’re fitting more than one contestant in an episode, because five songs in 30 minutes averages out to one song per six minutes. That’s…slow.
The four-step chain stunned me as well. It seems like barely any work; for $50,000 the songs probably aren’t nearly the difficulty of the primetime version. And if they are, then that just seems unfair. It’s impossible for the format to be good with a top prize that low. Even a $100,000 top prize, with something like a six-step chain. I’m think something like this:
*$1,000*; $2,500; $5,000; *$10,000*; $15,000; $25,000
Then the Encore song for $100,000; or if they get something wrong then just the doubling to $50,000.
And…MySpace Karaoke? Um. Alright. I’m sure the ten people that still think MySpace is awesome will be pleased.
Also, I’m not exactly clear on the rules. If the contestant gets a song wrong, the top prize reduces to $20,000? What if they get two wrong? Do they win nothing?
But all in all, I think we should have fun watching. It’s just that it’s cheap fun.
Don’t forget that with commercial time, intro and outros, and teasers, there really will only be about 20 minutes of game time. Maybe even less than that these days.
Divide that by the 5 songs per game and it comes up to 4 minutes.
It’s all on how they drag out the time. If they do the methods that were on prime time, it’s going to be a short run. I think many viewers have grown tired of the “wait until after the break” method of revealing the answer in the attempt of getting viewers to sit through 3 minutes of Proctor and Gamble ads.
Doesn’t sound like it’s a show with a long life span ahead of it in its current format. Hopefully, this first season is just a test run, and maybe in year two the top prize goes up. Otherwise, Fifth Grader won’t have a companion for very long.
5 songs sounds about right for “Don’t Forget The Lyrics” if you assume that
a- The contestant must pick the “genre of music”
b- The contestant must pick the song to sing
c- The contestant must sing the song (about 1:30 into the song)
d- The contestant thinks about the lyrics
e- The contestant “locks in the lyrics”
f- Mark shows the lyrics
It should be enough to run 5 minutes, my only gripe is “$50,000 Money Ladder” and the “Myspace Karaoke Band”
My suggestion if they were going to play 5 songs only, 4 and the final, is make them worth $1,000; $2,000; $3,000; $4,000 if they are correct, it is banked, if it is wrong – not banked. And The final question “Encore” will be worth 5 times what they are playing.
If they somehow fail to make it through 4 songs – $500 will be the consolation, and $2,500 will be the Encore Amount.
I know FOX owns MySpace, but considering everybody and their mothers have Facebook, there is really no need to have that advertisement anymore… I suggest having various coverbands play during the weeks. It is better than hearing “bicyclerace-queen.mid”
That’s my gripe too. See above for the money ladder issue, but the Myspace Karaoke Band? Okay, I understand Rickey Minor has moved on to the Tonight Show, but there are lots of bands that would be great for this show, why do it like a karaoke show? And with $50,000 as the top prize, you might as well call it The Singing Bee.
This new format for Don’t Forget the Lyrics! reeks of cheapness, and seems haphazardly put together. I realize they’re under a smaller time constraint, but that’s no excuse to cheapen everything.
Personally, I’d have used the old money chain format, only with six or eight steps instead of the original 10. Something like $1K – $2.5K – $5K – *$10K* – $20K – $35K – $50K – $100K with the $10K level as a safe haven would have been more appropriate. Having only one backup doesn’t seem like a great idea either. I’d have reinstated the “2 Words” backup” in addition to the “3 Lines” one.
Speaking of backups, there’s a MySpace Karaoke band? Really? There was a mass exodus from that site to Facebook a few years ago. The last time I logged into MySpace, I literally saw a virtual tumbleweed blow by. But I digress.
Also, I thought this version’s top prize was slated to be $100,000. Now it appears they’ve slashed that too. The syndie 5th Grader instituted a streamlined format that more or less mirrors the original one. It works perfectly. However, the new Lyrics! format is just too streamlined. As some of the otherx said, with this kind of format, I don’t think 5th Grader will have a companion for very long.
it probably will air on our fox 2 with “fifth grader”
Myspace Karaoke? WTF? The Band was the best part of the show! Also, DFTL is going to face the same problems NTT (James and Lange) and Face the Music faced. A musical oriented game show does not work out 5 days a week. They will run out of material before they know it forcing them to play the same songs. Like what happened when Tommy Oliver and the orchestra played Eurythmics’ Sweet Dreams are Made of This more than 1,000 times.
I don’t think this show can ever be done convincingly without a live band. Bad call.
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Bo Bice did a great job. Taylor Hicks was fun tonite, though he was very off key. Can’t wait to see Elliott Yamin on the show.
i just watched two back to back episodes and the first one had the $1,000 round -3 missing words, $2,500 round-5 missing words, $5,000 round-7 missing words, and $10,000 round-7 missing words. However after i watched the second episode it went 3, 5, 6, 7. So i’m just not understanding how the rules vary from one contestant to another!!
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