Lock In Those Lineups!

Well, we now know what the new "companion show" to Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? is - and thankfully, we got the good outcome. The second confirmed new syndicated show for September 2010 is a five-day-a-week version of Don't Forget The Lyrics. Since Wayne Brady obviously isn't coming back (the move to Los Angeles means Let's Make A Deal will probably be back next year), the new host is Mark McGrath.

In my book, this is good news. I like Don't Forget The Lyrics - yes, I know it's a Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? clone, but so are half the game shows that premiered since Millionaire. Besides, Fifth Grader was changed pretty heavily for its five-day-a-week version (the jackpot went down from $1,000,000 to $250,000) and I'm guessing this will be too. We'll have to wait and see.

As with Fifth Grader, Don't Forget The Lyrics will rerun on MyTV (where it will replace Deal Or No Deal - face it, that show's dead) and on a Viacom-owned music cable channel - in this case, VH1. Why VH1 and not CMT, where Fifth Grader reruns? Easy. CMT is the current home of The Singing Bee.

Remember the whole battle between those two shows? Well, maybe "battle" is too strong a word - it lasted about a month before Wayne Brady beat out Joey Fatone. Frankly, I think that Don't Forget The Lyrics won because a Millionaire clone is what people have come to expect of game shows. I actually never saw The Singing Bee with Joey Fatone hosting; I eventually watched the CMT version with Melissa Peterman and was underwhelmed by the low payout (only $10,000) and host who seemed to be trying a bit too hard. Don't Forget The Lyrics, while certainly a Millionaire clone, built up some real suspense; The Singing Bee just sort of went on, with no real difference between the different games.

So let's recap: in September, we'll probably lose Deal Or No Deal, but gain Cash Cab and Don't Forget The Lyrics. We'll have to wait and see what, if anything, replaces As The World Turns.

I'm still hoping for Press Your Luck.

Aaron