Here's the final ISIHAC recap of the season:
Opening: “We present I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue, the antidote to panel games. At the piano is Colin Sell, and your chairman is Jack Dee.”
Recorded at: Corn Exchange, Cambridge
Panelists: On Jack’s left, Barry Cryer and Graeme Garden. On Jack’s right, Tim Brooke-Taylor and David Mitchell.
Scorer: “And always ready to keep a keen eye on the team’s points as they grow, please welcome the delightful Samantha.”
Game One: Uxbridge English Dictionary
Way, way, too many pirate jokes.
Game Two: Sound Charades
Lionel Blair, laser display board, and… Hamish and Dougal’s French equivalent, Marcel and Gaston (really!)
Game Three: Mornington Crescent
“The Mornington Crescent Handicap Hurdles”…basically, lots of sound effects are mixed in. Mrs. Trellis thinks she’s writing to the Prime Minister.
Game Four: The panelists must complete the titles of celebrity autobiographies.
Game Five: Just A Minim
We actually hear Colin shouting at Barry when asked where they are in the song. We also get the proper whistle at the end…when, naturally, Jack is the one talking.
Game Six: Beer Lover’s Film Club
“Bring Me The Creamy Head Of Alfredo Garcia” is included, of course.
Closing: “Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor and David Mitchell were being given silly things to do by Jack Dee, with Colin Sell setting some of them to music. The program consultant is Iain Pattinson, and the producer is Jon Naismith.”
Now, while we still don't have the start dates, I think now is a good time to, yet again, go through this fall's lineup and see what is happening to each show. I'll start by saying that we actually do have the start dates for two out of seven syndicated shows: Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? and Family Feud start their new seasons on September 13. Let's see...
Wheel Of Fortune\Jeopardy\Let's Make A Deal: No major changes.
Family Feud: Steve Harvey is the new host, the show is now taped in Orlando, and the Bullseye round has apparently been dropped, with the Fast Money jackpot at a flat $20,000.
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?: The format is being tinkered with yet again. There will apparently be a new lifeline (not that we know what it is) and a few other changes. Let's hope for the best.
Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?: The rumor going around is that the board is going from ten questions to eight, with each question being worth a bit more money. We'll see if this turns out to be the case.
Don't Forget The Lyrics: The format has reportedly been changed heavily, with the show that offered $1,000,000 in primetime now having a jackpot of $50,000. The new host is Mark McGrath.
Cash Cab: Well, remember, these are reruns of episodes that have already aired on the Discovery Channel.
The Price Is Right: Rich Fields is no longer the announcer, and the plan is to try out a few comedians on the air.
I really, really hope we get the start dates soon, and that the BBC finally makes the inevitable announcement that Jack is the new host of ISIHAC. I don't want to recap that show forever.
I'll try to find an episode of Letters And Numbers (the Australian version of Countdown) next week.
Aaron
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Bring On The Wrath Of The Hardcore Game Show Fans
I have some news I want to look at, but first here's my recap of the ISIHAC episode broadcast July 19:
Opening: “We present I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue, the antidote to panel games. At the piano is Colin Sell and your chairman is Jack Dee.”
Recorded at: Corn Exchange, Cambridge
Panelists: On Jack’s left, Barry Cryer and Graeme Garden. On Jack’s right, Tim Brooke-Taylor and David Mitchell.
Scorer: “Please welcome the lady who loves to score wherever we go, the delightful Samantha.”
Game One: Round One
Jack says that the first round is called “round one,” but it’s actually the movie prequels game again.
Game Two: One Song To The Tune Of Another
The lengthy explanations are back!
Game Three: Spot The Connections
Jack reads a list of seemingly random things, and the panelists must find the connection between them.
Game Four: The “continuity announcers introducing TV shows with catchy names” game again.
Game Five: The panelists play guests at a party boasting about their accomplishments, and each try to outdo each other. They must change what they’re boasting about every time Jack bangs his gong.
Game Six: Hospital Songbook
Closing: “Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor and David Mitchell and being given silly things to do by Jack Dee, with Colin Sell setting some of them to music. The program consultant was Iain Pattinson, and the producer is Jon Naismith.”
Now, a few bits and pieces of news:
Opening: “We present I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue, the antidote to panel games. At the piano is Colin Sell and your chairman is Jack Dee.”
Recorded at: Corn Exchange, Cambridge
Panelists: On Jack’s left, Barry Cryer and Graeme Garden. On Jack’s right, Tim Brooke-Taylor and David Mitchell.
Scorer: “Please welcome the lady who loves to score wherever we go, the delightful Samantha.”
Game One: Round One
Jack says that the first round is called “round one,” but it’s actually the movie prequels game again.
Game Two: One Song To The Tune Of Another
The lengthy explanations are back!
Game Three: Spot The Connections
Jack reads a list of seemingly random things, and the panelists must find the connection between them.
Game Four: The “continuity announcers introducing TV shows with catchy names” game again.
Game Five: The panelists play guests at a party boasting about their accomplishments, and each try to outdo each other. They must change what they’re boasting about every time Jack bangs his gong.
Game Six: Hospital Songbook
Closing: “Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor and David Mitchell and being given silly things to do by Jack Dee, with Colin Sell setting some of them to music. The program consultant was Iain Pattinson, and the producer is Jon Naismith.”
Now, a few bits and pieces of news:
- Rich Fields has been let go of as announcer on The Price Is Right, and the plan is to replace him with a comedian who will serve as a sidekick to host Drew Carey. We don't know who it will be yet. I'm going to stop there before I entice the wrath of the hardcore The Price Is Right fans.
- Carnie Wilson is leaving The Newlywed Game. We don't know who's replacing her, but the rumor going around is that Bob Eubanks will be coming back. Needless to to say, if it's anyone but Bob Eubanks - it doesn't matter who - it will entice the wrath of the hardcore game show fans.
- Hole In The Wall, a game show so frequently reported as awful that I never watched it when it was on Fox, is being revived as a kids game show on Cartoon Network. The very mention of that show entices the wrath of the hardcore game show fans.
- Finally, the really big news appears to have arrived: this isn't 100% confirmed yet, but according to more and more reports, As The World Turns is being replaced by...a talk show in the vein of The View. I'm disappointed, but I can't say I'm surprised, and I'll be even less surprised when this entices the wrath of the hardcore game show fans.
If you're wondering, we still don't know the start dates for five-day-a-week shows this year.
Hopefully we will next week.
Aaron
Thursday, July 15, 2010
World's Wackiest Game Shows: Alas, ISIHAC Isn't One Of Them
Here is my recap of the ISIHAC episode broadcast July 12:
Opening: “We present I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue, the antidote to panel games. At the piano is Colin Sell, and your chairman is Jack Dee.”
Recorded at: Sands Center, Carlisle
Panelists: On Jack’s left, Barry Cryer and Graeme Garden. On Jack’s right, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Sandi Toksvig.
Scorer: “And always ready for a quick score, please welcome the delightful Samantha.”
Game One: Uxbridge English Dictionary
We get the classic lengthy explanation.
Game Two: Pick Up Song
Jack: “You should sing along teams, and continue when Samantha turns the volume down. If, when the music returns, you’re within a midge’s minim of the original, I’ll be awarding points, and points mean what they drink in Somerset. What do points mean?”
Audience: “PRIZES!”
Game Three: One pair of panelists has cooked an elaborate multi-course meal at their house, and the other pair must criticize it as much as possible. That’s what Jack explains, anyway – it quickly turns into all four panelists trying to create the worst dinner party possible. Jack claims the whole thing is a tribute to a TV cooking competition. The round ends with a gong.
Game Four: Jack gives lyrics from love songs for the panelists to “complete”.
Game Five: Swanee Kazoo
Jack: “Listeners will be fascinated to hear that Colin has been in the studio dubbing Elton John. Obviously he had to practice on an old leather football first.”
Game Six: Farmer’s Film Club
Including, of course, Bring Me The Herd Of Alfredo Garcia.
Closing: “Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Sandi Toksvig were being given silly things to do by Jack Dee, with Colin Sell setting some of them to music. The program consultant was Iain Pattinson, and the producer was Jon Naismith.”
Now, moving from ISIHAC to another type of incomprehensible game show, World's Wackiest Game Shows premiered Tuesday...and what had apparently been conceived of as a show where Todd Newton would appear as a contestant on a game show in a different country in each episode somehow ended up being reduced to Todd standing in front of a superimposed background, showing clips of weird game shows from around the world. I had only heard of a few of them, but still, I got the idea pretty quickly - lots of bizarre stunt shows.
It was actually a lot better than that makes it sound. Todd's commentary was well put together and funny (at many points he was saying exactly what I was thinking), many of the clips were subtitled in English (an absolutely simple yet brilliant move), and yes, there were a few shows mixed in that didn't consist of contestants eating ants. The one that jumps out at me: a Brazilian game show in which ten models bang their fists on a table, and a contestant must figure out which of the twenty hands is holding a coin. That's it. This is apparently an internationally exported format - and Todd was as bewildered as I was.
In all honesty, the only real complaint I have is that the show is just that - a bunch of clips of unusual game shows. I think there should be some other element added here. Even if we ignore the aforementioned original concept, I know how to use Final Cut Pro - if you had given me all those clips and enough time, I could have put together more or less the same show. Still, Todd could host just about anything, it's clear that the producers genuinely like game shows, and the show was funny, which is more than I can say about something like Late Night Liars.
For the record, I seriously doubt that most foreign television is actually like this. In fact, I distinctly remember being in Japan and seeing something like "World's Weirdest Television" in the English-language TV listings, being broadcast that night on a station in Tokyo. That's right - the Japanese think our television is weird.
Speaking of Todd Newton: it was recently announced that he will be hosting Family Game Night on The Hub. That still sounds like a bad idea for a game show to me, but like I said, Todd can host just about anything.
Aaron
Opening: “We present I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue, the antidote to panel games. At the piano is Colin Sell, and your chairman is Jack Dee.”
Recorded at: Sands Center, Carlisle
Panelists: On Jack’s left, Barry Cryer and Graeme Garden. On Jack’s right, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Sandi Toksvig.
Scorer: “And always ready for a quick score, please welcome the delightful Samantha.”
Game One: Uxbridge English Dictionary
We get the classic lengthy explanation.
Game Two: Pick Up Song
Jack: “You should sing along teams, and continue when Samantha turns the volume down. If, when the music returns, you’re within a midge’s minim of the original, I’ll be awarding points, and points mean what they drink in Somerset. What do points mean?”
Audience: “PRIZES!”
Game Three: One pair of panelists has cooked an elaborate multi-course meal at their house, and the other pair must criticize it as much as possible. That’s what Jack explains, anyway – it quickly turns into all four panelists trying to create the worst dinner party possible. Jack claims the whole thing is a tribute to a TV cooking competition. The round ends with a gong.
Game Four: Jack gives lyrics from love songs for the panelists to “complete”.
Game Five: Swanee Kazoo
Jack: “Listeners will be fascinated to hear that Colin has been in the studio dubbing Elton John. Obviously he had to practice on an old leather football first.”
Game Six: Farmer’s Film Club
Including, of course, Bring Me The Herd Of Alfredo Garcia.
Closing: “Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Sandi Toksvig were being given silly things to do by Jack Dee, with Colin Sell setting some of them to music. The program consultant was Iain Pattinson, and the producer was Jon Naismith.”
Now, moving from ISIHAC to another type of incomprehensible game show, World's Wackiest Game Shows premiered Tuesday...and what had apparently been conceived of as a show where Todd Newton would appear as a contestant on a game show in a different country in each episode somehow ended up being reduced to Todd standing in front of a superimposed background, showing clips of weird game shows from around the world. I had only heard of a few of them, but still, I got the idea pretty quickly - lots of bizarre stunt shows.
It was actually a lot better than that makes it sound. Todd's commentary was well put together and funny (at many points he was saying exactly what I was thinking), many of the clips were subtitled in English (an absolutely simple yet brilliant move), and yes, there were a few shows mixed in that didn't consist of contestants eating ants. The one that jumps out at me: a Brazilian game show in which ten models bang their fists on a table, and a contestant must figure out which of the twenty hands is holding a coin. That's it. This is apparently an internationally exported format - and Todd was as bewildered as I was.
In all honesty, the only real complaint I have is that the show is just that - a bunch of clips of unusual game shows. I think there should be some other element added here. Even if we ignore the aforementioned original concept, I know how to use Final Cut Pro - if you had given me all those clips and enough time, I could have put together more or less the same show. Still, Todd could host just about anything, it's clear that the producers genuinely like game shows, and the show was funny, which is more than I can say about something like Late Night Liars.
For the record, I seriously doubt that most foreign television is actually like this. In fact, I distinctly remember being in Japan and seeing something like "World's Weirdest Television" in the English-language TV listings, being broadcast that night on a station in Tokyo. That's right - the Japanese think our television is weird.
Speaking of Todd Newton: it was recently announced that he will be hosting Family Game Night on The Hub. That still sounds like a bad idea for a game show to me, but like I said, Todd can host just about anything.
Aaron
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Well, That's One Big Question Answered...
First things first - here's my recap of the ISIHAC episode broadcast July 5:
Opening: “We present I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue, the antidote to panel games. At the piano is Colin Sell and your chairman is Jack Dee.”
Recorded at: Sands Center, Carlisle
Panelists: On Jack’s left, Barry Cryer and Graeme Garden. On Jack’s right, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Sandi Toksvig.
Scorer: “And please welcome the lovely lady who will be sitting on my left hand for the evening, the delightful Samantha.”
Game One: A repeat of the Movie Prequels game from episode one. “Hello Mr. Chips,” “Schindler’s Search For Pen And Paper,” “I Wish Those Lambs Would Shut Up”… you get it. I’m assuming the giant kitten joke in Jack’s introduction to the game is a reference to something...anybody know what?
Game Two: One Song To The Tune Of Another
No, still no lengthy explanation. Tim sings the words of the theme to Bob The Builder to the tune of the Habanera from Carmen…and yes, that’s the bit of the opera you’re thinking of.
Game Three: One pair of panelists tells a well-known story while the other pair plays random sound effects (at equally random intervals) that the first pair must incorporate.
Game Four: A game that seems to be played nearly every show – the panelists must play continuity announcers introducing TV and radio shows picked solely on the basis of a catchy title.
Game Five: One pair of panelists has an unusual medical condition (shown to the audience via the laser display board) that they must convey to the other pair (who are playing doctors) by asking questions about it.
Game Six: Hardware And DIY Songbook
Closing: “Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Sandi Toksvig were being given silly things to do by Jack Dee, with Colin Sell setting some of them to music. The program consultant was Iain Pattinson, and the producer was Jon Naismith.”
OK, now for the big news. After weeks of fruitless searching, I finally found the answer by tracking down the show's Facebook page. The Australian version of Countdown, titled Letters And Numbers, will premiere on August 2. The host will be Australian newscaster Richard Morecroft, the Numbers judge will be Lily Serna and the Letters judge will be David Astle.
Countdown, as I've said, is a format that originated in France. The French title is Des Chiffres Et Des Lettres, which translates to Letters And Numbers...I'm going to stick with calling it Countdown. It's a word game, a lot like Scrabble...but unlike Scrabble, it's never going to be known in America. It really pains me to say that, but I know it's true. It would never work in America...unless you put the Scrabble name on it.
It is now that I start begging: come on, The Hub! I hate to say this to you, but Pictureka just sounds like a revival of Finders Keepers and Family Game Night...can you honestly think of a lamer idea for a game show than "Families play mini-games based on various Hasbro games"? Just do Scrabble. I don't care how you do it. It can be like Countdown, it can be like the board game Scrabble, it can be like the game show Scrabble (which was an excellent game show despite having little to do with the board game)...heck, you can make up a messy kids game show and call it Scrabble for all I care. I really, really want some sort of recognition of this sort of word game on American television. You're a new, unknown cable channel. You can't afford big prizes. Why not make a virtue of that? Countdown never has prizes!
OK, no more begging...no more to say either, really. I'll try to track down an episode of Letters And Numbers so I can give my review. Next week: more ISIHAC and a review of World's Wackiest Game Shows.
Like I said, the former should be part of the latter.
Aaron
Opening: “We present I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue, the antidote to panel games. At the piano is Colin Sell and your chairman is Jack Dee.”
Recorded at: Sands Center, Carlisle
Panelists: On Jack’s left, Barry Cryer and Graeme Garden. On Jack’s right, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Sandi Toksvig.
Scorer: “And please welcome the lovely lady who will be sitting on my left hand for the evening, the delightful Samantha.”
Game One: A repeat of the Movie Prequels game from episode one. “Hello Mr. Chips,” “Schindler’s Search For Pen And Paper,” “I Wish Those Lambs Would Shut Up”… you get it. I’m assuming the giant kitten joke in Jack’s introduction to the game is a reference to something...anybody know what?
Game Two: One Song To The Tune Of Another
No, still no lengthy explanation. Tim sings the words of the theme to Bob The Builder to the tune of the Habanera from Carmen…and yes, that’s the bit of the opera you’re thinking of.
Game Three: One pair of panelists tells a well-known story while the other pair plays random sound effects (at equally random intervals) that the first pair must incorporate.
Game Four: A game that seems to be played nearly every show – the panelists must play continuity announcers introducing TV and radio shows picked solely on the basis of a catchy title.
Game Five: One pair of panelists has an unusual medical condition (shown to the audience via the laser display board) that they must convey to the other pair (who are playing doctors) by asking questions about it.
Game Six: Hardware And DIY Songbook
Closing: “Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Sandi Toksvig were being given silly things to do by Jack Dee, with Colin Sell setting some of them to music. The program consultant was Iain Pattinson, and the producer was Jon Naismith.”
OK, now for the big news. After weeks of fruitless searching, I finally found the answer by tracking down the show's Facebook page. The Australian version of Countdown, titled Letters And Numbers, will premiere on August 2. The host will be Australian newscaster Richard Morecroft, the Numbers judge will be Lily Serna and the Letters judge will be David Astle.
Countdown, as I've said, is a format that originated in France. The French title is Des Chiffres Et Des Lettres, which translates to Letters And Numbers...I'm going to stick with calling it Countdown. It's a word game, a lot like Scrabble...but unlike Scrabble, it's never going to be known in America. It really pains me to say that, but I know it's true. It would never work in America...unless you put the Scrabble name on it.
It is now that I start begging: come on, The Hub! I hate to say this to you, but Pictureka just sounds like a revival of Finders Keepers and Family Game Night...can you honestly think of a lamer idea for a game show than "Families play mini-games based on various Hasbro games"? Just do Scrabble. I don't care how you do it. It can be like Countdown, it can be like the board game Scrabble, it can be like the game show Scrabble (which was an excellent game show despite having little to do with the board game)...heck, you can make up a messy kids game show and call it Scrabble for all I care. I really, really want some sort of recognition of this sort of word game on American television. You're a new, unknown cable channel. You can't afford big prizes. Why not make a virtue of that? Countdown never has prizes!
OK, no more begging...no more to say either, really. I'll try to track down an episode of Letters And Numbers so I can give my review. Next week: more ISIHAC and a review of World's Wackiest Game Shows.
Like I said, the former should be part of the latter.
Aaron
Thursday, July 1, 2010
World's Wackiest Game Shows: ISIHAC Should So Be One Of Them
I have some news I want to discuss today, but first here's my recap of the ISIHAC episode broadcast June 28:
Opening: “We present I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue, the antidote to panel games. At the piano is Colin Sell, and your chairman is Jack Dee.”
Recorded at: The Centaur, Cheltenham
Panelists: On Jack’s left, Barry Cryer and Graeme Garden. On Jack’s right, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Jeremy Hardy.
Scorer: “And here to keep a trained eye on the team’s points, please welcome the delightful Samantha.”
Game One: Uxbridge English Dictionary
The lengthy explanations are back… “agog” apparently means “half finished Jewish temple"…after Tim announces that “laceration” means “young woman’s speech”, he has to explain the joke to get a laugh out of the audience, after which Jack interjects “No Tim, the audience are right.”
Game Two: Pick Up Song
Jack: “Each should sing along with his record until, at my signal, Samantha turns the volume down. If, on the music’s return teams, you’re within a gnat’s crochet of the original, I’ll be awarding points, and points mean prizes. What does a Scouser do with a crobar?”
Audience: “PRIZES!”
Let’s face it, I can’t top that.
Game Three: Sound Charades
Lionel Blair, laser display board, and Hamish and Dougal…who could ask for more?
Game Four: A Version Of Cheddar Gorge
One pair of panelists has a problem; the other pair are experts on said problem who must alternate words of everything they say. The round ends with a gong.
Game Five: Any Questions
It may be named after a British radio political talk show, but it actually consists of Jack reading out “questions from loyal listeners” for the teams to “answer.”
Game Six: Swanee Kazoo
Jack: “Listeners will be interested to hear that back in the late 70s, when Sting first started touring his band, the police asked Colin to be in their lineup. He was picked out by mistake, locked up, and missed the concert.”
Closing: “Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Jeremy Hardy were being given silly things to do by Jack Dee, with Colin Sell setting some of them to music. The program consultant was Iain Pattinson, and the producer was Jon Naismith.”
Moving on...
It must have been a year or so ago that the Travel Channel aired a single episode of a show called Are You Game? The premise: veteran American game show host Todd Newton travels around the world appearing as a contestant on game shows in different countries.
Now, that's a great premise, one that could potentially introduce American audiences to some great game shows from around the world...but I didn't watch the first episode, because the country was Japan. That's too easy. If it had been anywhere else in the world, I probably would have watched...but everybody's made fun of Japanese game shows. I searched for a while for the second episode...but as far as I could tell, the show had been canceled after one.
I was right and wrong. It turns out what had aired as Are You Game? was the pilot, and the final retooled version of the show will premiere on July 13 under the title World's Wackiest Game Shows, again with Todd Newton as host.
I hate to say it, but that does not sound promising.
Think about it. What came to mind when I heard the title and premise of Are You Game? was Todd traveling to some far off country to appear on a game show, and those game shows being a mix of silly and serious ones. What came to mind when I heard the title World's Wackiest Game Shows was Todd sitting in a studio showing clips of people falling into mud on a silly game show in whatever country and expecting to us to laugh at how weird foreign television is. There are plenty of shows like that. We don't need a new one.
Still, I will watch this time, and cling to hope that they will get this right. I'll have my review on July 15.
As for next week, I'll have more ISIHAC.
Aaron
Opening: “We present I’m Sorry I Haven’t A Clue, the antidote to panel games. At the piano is Colin Sell, and your chairman is Jack Dee.”
Recorded at: The Centaur, Cheltenham
Panelists: On Jack’s left, Barry Cryer and Graeme Garden. On Jack’s right, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Jeremy Hardy.
Scorer: “And here to keep a trained eye on the team’s points, please welcome the delightful Samantha.”
Game One: Uxbridge English Dictionary
The lengthy explanations are back… “agog” apparently means “half finished Jewish temple"…after Tim announces that “laceration” means “young woman’s speech”, he has to explain the joke to get a laugh out of the audience, after which Jack interjects “No Tim, the audience are right.”
Game Two: Pick Up Song
Jack: “Each should sing along with his record until, at my signal, Samantha turns the volume down. If, on the music’s return teams, you’re within a gnat’s crochet of the original, I’ll be awarding points, and points mean prizes. What does a Scouser do with a crobar?”
Audience: “PRIZES!”
Let’s face it, I can’t top that.
Game Three: Sound Charades
Lionel Blair, laser display board, and Hamish and Dougal…who could ask for more?
Game Four: A Version Of Cheddar Gorge
One pair of panelists has a problem; the other pair are experts on said problem who must alternate words of everything they say. The round ends with a gong.
Game Five: Any Questions
It may be named after a British radio political talk show, but it actually consists of Jack reading out “questions from loyal listeners” for the teams to “answer.”
Game Six: Swanee Kazoo
Jack: “Listeners will be interested to hear that back in the late 70s, when Sting first started touring his band, the police asked Colin to be in their lineup. He was picked out by mistake, locked up, and missed the concert.”
Closing: “Barry Cryer, Graeme Garden, Tim Brooke-Taylor and Jeremy Hardy were being given silly things to do by Jack Dee, with Colin Sell setting some of them to music. The program consultant was Iain Pattinson, and the producer was Jon Naismith.”
Moving on...
It must have been a year or so ago that the Travel Channel aired a single episode of a show called Are You Game? The premise: veteran American game show host Todd Newton travels around the world appearing as a contestant on game shows in different countries.
Now, that's a great premise, one that could potentially introduce American audiences to some great game shows from around the world...but I didn't watch the first episode, because the country was Japan. That's too easy. If it had been anywhere else in the world, I probably would have watched...but everybody's made fun of Japanese game shows. I searched for a while for the second episode...but as far as I could tell, the show had been canceled after one.
I was right and wrong. It turns out what had aired as Are You Game? was the pilot, and the final retooled version of the show will premiere on July 13 under the title World's Wackiest Game Shows, again with Todd Newton as host.
I hate to say it, but that does not sound promising.
Think about it. What came to mind when I heard the title and premise of Are You Game? was Todd traveling to some far off country to appear on a game show, and those game shows being a mix of silly and serious ones. What came to mind when I heard the title World's Wackiest Game Shows was Todd sitting in a studio showing clips of people falling into mud on a silly game show in whatever country and expecting to us to laugh at how weird foreign television is. There are plenty of shows like that. We don't need a new one.
Still, I will watch this time, and cling to hope that they will get this right. I'll have my review on July 15.
As for next week, I'll have more ISIHAC.
Aaron
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