“Trivial Pursuit” Pitch Video

27 Feb

Posted by Alex Davis as Syndication, Trivial Pursuit, Video

Sorry for the slow and late updates during the week. If you’re in college like me, it’s midterm probably, so I’m exceptionally busy. But we have time for a nice little video for you. Reader Chris R. sent us this YouTube video of the Trivial Pursuit pitch tape. You get what’s essentially the game as of now: pretty decent gameplay, stereotypical modern but nice looking set, nice money which is bound to be drastically lowered when the show gets to air, and we have Mark Walberg hosting so we get a big thumbs up. Take a look and tell you what you think.

Apparently they aren’t allowing embedding, so here you go.

17 Responses

CarShark
1
February 27th, 2008 at 9:20 pm

It looks alright, but what happens if there’s a runaway and the $5000 Final Question won’t help the laggard? And I assume that if the surviving contestant or America’s Team Captain misses the last question of the day, nobody wins anything except parting gifts.

And I can’t help but be a little disappointed that the actual moving around the board won’t be used. Real life Americans asking and answering questions, when you get right down to it is a basic Q&A. I would’ve liked a little more.
steve
2
February 27th, 2008 at 10:14 pm

True, but moving around the board wasn’t a part of the original US version either. (I haven’t seen the UK versions when they were around, did they move around the board then?)

This show actually looks somewhat promising… but is it pathetic that my largest concern is actually that they changed the brown wedge to purple? It’s a moot point, I know, but it just seems so out of place… Kinda like the ginormous “Y” on the new Family Feud logo…
Dan Y.
3
February 27th, 2008 at 10:21 pm

To me, this looks bad.
The “America’s Team” sounds like a good concept, but I’d rather get question writers to be writing questions. Also, if I have to hear, “Hi! I’m _______ from __________, __, and my question is…..?” 25 times an episode, I’ll be turning it off real quick. It’s a waste of time that detracts from actual game play.

I was really psyched for this show, until now.

I’m going to give it a try, of course. Hopefully I’ll be wrong in my initial thoughts, because I want this to be good.

Dan Y.
dropzone5
4
February 27th, 2008 at 11:38 pm

While I’m not really liking the set that much, I think this could show some promise. Mark Walberg looks right in his element here, very much at home. I can’t really say much about the format, but as of right now I like what I see.

(That randomizer has that Russian Roulette feel to it…minus the holes, of course. What would’ve been funny would be if Mark actually had to pull a handle to get the thing going, instead of just commanding it to roll…)
Travis Schario
5
February 27th, 2008 at 11:52 pm

I’m excited for this! I just hope my bonehead affiliates in this area will get it and take some of these **** court shows off! Honestly…9 straight hours of court? Too much.
Fetcher
6
February 28th, 2008 at 12:01 am

After watching the video, I’m leaning more towards the style of the game that Wink Martindale hosted in the early 90s where you can actually choose the categories yourself. But the whole America playing thing is interesting though, I have a feeling it’s gonna be a 50-50 shot for this surviving on the format they want, but who knows, worse has survived.
Tim Tender
7
February 28th, 2008 at 1:46 am

I really liked it.

I agree with Dan about the “I’m _____ from ____.”

I think for the end of the game, they should get something even if they miss the question. Maybe you divide the money by 10 or don’t make the questions worth so much and play to multiply your winnings at the end… who knows.

Wahlberg is good and I didn’t think about it, but it does have the Russian Roulette look and feel to it. Good call.

I’m excited and am really looking forward to it.

TT
Julia
8
February 28th, 2008 at 2:42 am

I’m not all that impressed. The game play is just Q&A with nothing that spectacular to draw me in. There’s really nothing special about it. While the America’s Team aspect to the show is interesting, the set is nice, and Mark Walberg is in his element, I do not think this will last. The gameplay seems a bit…repetitive. The randomizer is a bit cheesy. Why not play it a bit like the Wink 90’s version and have the players choose the categories? I really liked that version. This could end up working, but from what I saw, I don’t think it has the potential to draw too many viewers. I’m seeing possibly Crosswords level numbers, more possibly along the lines of Temptashun. I could be wrong, though. I’m sure a Philly station will pick this up so I can watch and decide for myself from the final product.
John Ackworth
9
February 28th, 2008 at 8:48 am

Do we have any word yet of a list of stations that have picked up the show?
Marc Power
10
February 28th, 2008 at 9:37 am

It sounds interesting, i’m glad to finally see another show besides Jeopardy that potentially asks tough questions, offers a respectable amount of prize money (I’m guessing $30K would be an average win). and as said before mark Walberg seems to be great as host. I like the set, It’s a nice update on the 90s version. albeit it reminds me a lot of the Don’t forget the lyrics set.

I dont like the the fact that for either contestant or america’s team that one question ultimately decides whether they win money or not and I also dont like how all of america’s team loses if the captain misses the last question. it doesn’t seem fair that 1 person can screw over 14 other people. I’d like to see them all have to write their answers with the money being awarded if the majority gets it right. but the show hasn’t hit the airwaves yet so maybe we’ll see a format change, remember crosswords went throguh soem changes in its development.

ultimately, I hope this airs in my area, I do enjoy trivia games, but so many shows to squueze into my DVR, temptation (ducks), crosswords, millionaire, jeopardy, and now trivial pursuit and syndie DOND coming soon.
J.C.
11
February 28th, 2008 at 12:55 pm

You’re actually takin a chance on syndie Deal? You brave soul.
Neville
12
February 28th, 2008 at 1:33 pm

This reminds me more of the British and Russian game show “The People Versus,” which had home viewers writing in questions, and less of “Trivial Pursuit.” Also, there’s a hint of “Paranoia” (which was on Fox Family in 2000ish) in this, as well. I think that we need:

- More questions than just 3 right to move on to the next round (unless they are truly difficult - some of these were!)
- Less randomizer - maybe to pick a category after a full-miss, but let the player who got it right be rewarded by picking something they don’t have
- A returning champion. I just think that Trivial Pursuit lends itself to that!
- If this is Trivial Pursuit, pick 6 categories and stick with them, preferably from the current genus edition (6?) Music should be in A&E, and where the Hell did “Presidents” com from at the end?

A thought: Instead of “America’s Team” as it stands, why not just have it be a number of different Americans, and if their question is missed, they get the cash for it? That seems a lot simpler and spreads the wealth more justly - if you ask a good question, you get rewarded, as opposed to having a dumb team captain.

I could see the video transitions working better with Mark saying, “For the Arts and Entertainment wedge, here’s Jeff.” Then go to the video, which has Jeff’s full name and where he’s from, and Jeff just asks the question.
Chris Parsley
13
February 28th, 2008 at 5:51 pm

I was okay to I saw the producer at the end…. sorry Mark, no dice…
devares
14
February 29th, 2008 at 4:38 pm

Looking at it, I think it’s going to be a hit. This is the show that should be paired with Crosswords. It would be perfect for The CW (KPXJ) or Fox (KMSS) in Shreveport. And I feel MarcPower, there will be too many game shows to fit in to my TiVo. And, Julia, Philly’s a big market so I’m sure some station, possibly Fox since they’ve announced that it will be on Fox or My Network TV O&O stations, will picked it up.
Rodney Flippen
15
February 29th, 2008 at 9:40 pm

I think this show has a shot to take off. The prize money is very high and Americans get to play. I like Mark L. Wahlberg as the game show host. The show to me is way better than The Moment of Truth.
D
16
March 3rd, 2008 at 7:31 am

It doesn’t seem too bad. I just thought the end question was way too easy.
davec
17
March 5th, 2008 at 4:06 pm

Looks alright, although, how are they doing the “home player”? Is that someone in a studio in town, or someone at home on their webcam? I’d have to guess the first one, as the second has too many possibilities for technical glitches, and also it is way too easy to have someone off screen look up the answer and feed it to the person on camera.