One of my favorite shows of the decade was USA’s extremely short-lived and extremely underrated Smush. The show was a quirky word game from the makers of the computer game You Don’t Know Jack, not the horrendous ABC show. It was relatively simple but took some skill to master: you were given two clues and just had to combine the two answers to make a “smush”. For instance, (taking this from Wikipedia), the question could be “New England State + ‘Flying Circus’ Man”. The answers, Vermont and Monty Python, would make up the answer you’d have to give to host Ken Ober, “Vermonty Python”. It was a really funny weird word game that was on the wrong network at not the best time for game shows. Nick posted a review of shows he’d like to see revived. This is one I’d like to see. Take a look at the video. It’s not the greatest quality because it’s a camera pointed at the TV, but it’s good enough and sounds pretty good.
10 Responses
Marc Power
1May 18th, 2008 at 11:44 am
I like it it combines wordsmanship (is that even a word?) and memory, but that is one odd set and weird payoffs, $1,000 for every answer but $8,000 for all 5?, why couldn’t they make it $10,000.
Darren
2May 18th, 2008 at 11:46 am
Ah, yes. I can see YDKJ’s fingerprints all over that format. :) But whose brilliant idea was it to set it in a bar full of people? In the chain round it looked like Ken was getting smushed between the bar itself and the crowd surrounding them. Could definitely be welcomed back with a re-tool.
Rob
3May 18th, 2008 at 2:49 pm
I think the bonus round logic must have been that after you got $4,000 for 4 correct, the 5th correct answer doubled the prize to $8,000.
And with some tweaking, it certainly could be another small-budget GSN word game.
MikeSant318
4May 18th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
OK - the ultimate Smush chain:
Original Santa from Miracle on 34th Street + Lead singer of No Doubt + Righteous Babe of alt music + original maker of Spaghetti-O’s + ‘99 film where Kevin Spacey lusts after Mena Suvari + first animated film nominated for Best Picture Oscar + Rolling Stones classic from 1978…
EQUALS…
EdmundGwen(n)StefAnidiFrancoAmericanBeautyandtheBeastofBurden!
TOP THAT!
JD Nole
5May 19th, 2008 at 4:04 am
Good to see I’m not the only one who remembers this show and thinks it should return! I was a Ken Ober fan since his days as the quizmaster on Remote Control and I love word games, so this was a nice fresh approach. Could have done without some of the skit smushes though. The video captures the esence of the game and relly makes me want to see it again.
Michael Davies (WWTBAM, GSN’s Chain Reaction) is listed as an executive producer…could he bring this back on GSN as part of his current Sony deal? Or do the rights to the format belong to the video game company? Could be a good replacement for Lingo re-runs IMHO.
Neville
6May 19th, 2008 at 9:51 am
I loved (smush) and I’m glad that I’m not the only person who remembers it! Maybe this’ll be one of Alex’s hints like when Russian Roulette returned to GSN’s lineup! (albeit ony in repeats)
@MikeSant318: I started a (smush) group on Facebook about a year and a half ago, and we created some pretty long ones. Try this one out…
1962 Anthony Burgess novel with the repeated line “What’s it going to be then, eh?” + Fruit smoothie that lends its name to a food servce chain + 1599 play with a character named Portia + Dish invented in 1924 in Tijuana + Kitchen tool containing a bowl and strainer + Third largest subregion of China + The voice of Aslan in 2008’s “Prince Caspian” + Jimmy Buffett’s ninth album or the first song from it + Anime series of the 90s with characters named after planets + Sister of Dweezil, Ahmet, and Diva and song of rocker Frank =
A Clockwork Orange Julius Caesar Salad SpInner MongoLiam NeeSon of a Son of a Sailor Moon Unit Zappa
Alex Davis
7May 19th, 2008 at 10:03 am
haha, I wish it was a hint, man. But sadly it’s not. This is not one of the revivals. Just a show I really loved a lot that got screwed over by its environment at the time. This and Debt are basically the only 90s shows I’d love to see GSN get reruns to.
This is Jellyvision’s show. It was just produced by Michael Davies. So sadly Davies can’t do that much if I am correct.
Doug Morris
8May 19th, 2008 at 12:47 pm
Title of Paul Simon song that begins “A man walks down the street, he says why am I soft in the middle now” + first and last name of owner of BuzzerBlog
MikeSant318
9May 19th, 2008 at 5:43 pm
Doug: “You Can Call Me Alex Davis”
Neville: VERY NICE!
shelly
10May 20th, 2008 at 9:00 pm
Personally, I liked the set for Smush (it’s supposed to resemble an apartment; the audience are seated throughout the set, instead of in front of it, as if they were partygoers). IMO, it was/is the most original set on any game show. It’s too bad USA didn’t give it a proper chance.
I think the bonus round logic must have been that after you got $4,000 for 4 correct, the 5th correct answer doubled the prize to $8,000.
Yep. Personally, if I revived this show, I’d make the top prize $10,000.
And now I’ve gotta go look it up on the ‘Tube.
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