There's Absolutely Nothing To Write About

At least Monday's Labor Day...

Aaron

It's Kind Of Sad

Every year I look forward to Labor Day and the Fall Rush, and every year, I end up really, really disappointed. The fact is, I already know what I'm going to say about all six shows, because I say it every year.

Let's imagine that the start dates I posted last week are indeed correct (and while I'm not 100% sure, I'm mostly banking on the fact that they are). I will now give you, in brief, what I am most likely going to end up saying each week during the "Fall Rush". We'll see how much of it is correct.

September 5 (Thursday After Labor Day)
Who Wants To Be A Millionaire: Cedric The Entertainer is the most horrific game show host...well, probably ever, and it is incredibly sad that he is who we are getting to host what is supposed to be a hard quiz show.

September 19 (Thursday After September 16)
Wheel Of Fortune: Of course nothing's changed. It's Wheel Of Fortune. The only way something will change is if Pat Sajak retires, and who knows if that will happen.

Jeopardy: Of course nothing's changed. It's Jeopardy. The only way something will change is if Alex Trebek retires, and who knows if that will happen.

Family Feud: Nothing has changed - including that fact Steve Harvey is, in my book, utterly obnoxious. Sigh.

September 26 (Thursday After September 23)
The Price Is Right: Nothing has changed, including the fact that this show needs a rest. It was past its prime long before Bob Barker retired, Drew Carey has failed to reinvigorate it, and now it's time to stop.

Let's Make A Deal: Nothing has changed, which is a very good thing as this is easily the best game show on television right now.

So there you go. We'll see how much of that stays the same. The sad fact is, I'm looking forward to some upcoming  kids game shows (Win Lose Or Draw on Disney Channel, Japanizi on Disney XD, and Junior Just A Minute on BBC Radio 4 Extra) a lot more then I'm looking forward to any of the above.

I don't know when those kids game shows will premiere. Sorry.

Aaron

I Really Hope This Is Right

I'm only going to post one thing today: what I believe to be the season start dates for September 2013. Emphasis on "believe". I could easily be wrong.

September 2: Who Wants To Be A Millionaire

September 16: Wheel Of Fortune
Jeopardy
Family Feud

September 23: The Price Is Right
Let's Make A Deal

Like I said, I really hope I'm right.

Aaron

It's Not Worth It To Review The YouTube Episode Of Knightmare

As for The Chase, let's make two things clear:

• This show is going to flop. They all do.
• Game Show Network is not producing this show because they think it will be a hit. Game Show Network is producing this show as an attempt to say to serious game show fans "See? We're just like you!"

That having been said, let's give credit where credit is due.

Congratulations, Game Show Network.

You didn't screw up The Chase.

I don't think you did, anyway.

I'm not explaining The Chase from the ground up - it makes no sense in written description anyway. Suffice to say the game is completely unchanged from the British version save for the switch from four to three team members, which honestly is an improvement in my book - four team members seemed to me to go on too long. Yes, referring to Mark Labbett almost exclusively as "Beast" got old, but it was no worse then the British version's having the Chaser enter dramatically with lots of smoke and stuff before EVERY SINGLE ROUND.

Is Brooke Burns awful? Of course she is. Are the commercial breaks in the middle of rounds? Of course they are. Does it really matter? As I said, this show is going to flop. Let's enjoy it while we can.

Congratulations, Game Show Network.

You didn't screw up The Chase.

I don't think they did, anyway.

Look at it this way - Brooke Burns may be awful, but starting in September, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire is going to be hosted by Cedric The Entertainer.

Aaron

Trying Again

I have this pipe dream that I'll get back to regular postings here...

The big news: the Game Show Network version of The Chase premieres on August 6 (five days from today), hosted by...gulp...Brooke Burns. Who knows, maybe they won't screw this one up - though as I've said before, it will be declared the best new game show in years even if they do.

Moving on from that, how about some kids game show news?

• The legendary British kids game show Knightmare is soon going to have a new episode exclusively on YouTube. This isn't a fan project, mind you: it's officially licensed, professionally produced, and features the return of Hugo Myatt as Treguard the dungeon master. Now, the problem with any reiteration of Knightmare, as more then one person has pointed out, as that it's really easy to fall into the trap of making lots of little nods to the show's past and thus rendering it impossible to take it seriously as a game show. Well, that and the fact that one episode means no rollover and thus no suspense - if there's five minutes left in the show and the team is on Level Two, you immediately realize they're not getting any further. Still, who knows, maybe they'll get this right - it will supposedly be up on YouTube by August 10 at the latest.
• Remember I Survived A Japanese Game Show on ABC? Yeah, I never watched it either, and by all accounts it was more reality-competition show then game show - but it is nonetheless being reformatted into a five-day-a-week kids game show on Disney XD, set to premiere later in the year. 
• Finally, I love British radio comedy panel game shows, but this is ridiculous - the BBC has announced that 2014 will see the premiere of Junior Just A Minute as a segment on The Four O'Clock Show (the kids show on BBC Radio 4 Extra - it's hosted by Mel Giedroyc, but the Just A Minute segment will of course feature Nicholas Parsons). The idea is apparently to team kids up with adult comedians - Jenny Eclair and Josie Lawrence have been mentioned as team captains.
• Moving away from kids game show, the third 24 Hour Game Show Marathon will apparently be on August 31. Really - here's the link. Go donate, OK? They've made less then $100 so far. 

The Chase next week...assuming I actually post next week.

Aaron

Hey Look! Some News!

Let's see here...

• The Game Show Network version of Minute To Win It will have a sneak preview episode on May 23 before its official premiere on June 25. The host is Apolo Anton Ohno, and the grand prize is $250,000.
• According to a report I read, something really, really amazing is going to happen on Wheel Of Fortune during the month of May. I've committed myself to watching five days a week through the month to find out what it is, but of course it will be on May 31 and it won't be anything exciting.
• Remember Win Lose Or Draw? Does anybody remember Win Lose Or Draw? I certainly don't - it was canceled when I was three. Still, Win Lose Or Draw is being revived as a kids game show on the Disney Channel, with Justin Willman of Scrabble Showdown as host. Huh.
• I try to stay away from reality-competition shows here, but this jumped out at me: NBC is putting together a show called The Million Second Quiz, in which a bunch of contestants are locked in a house (or a building, or something) and essentially asked questions round the clock. The grand prize is $10,000,000, but winning it will probably require you to answer every question right for the whole 1,000,000 seconds or something. For the record, 1,000,000 seconds amounts to about twelve days.

There -sound good?

Aaron

How Am I Supposed To Review This?

Well, I told you I'd make another attempt at regular posting.

I told you I'd start with a review of the Wait Wait Don't Tell Me cinecast on May 2.

I just got back from said cinecast.

How am I supposed to review it?

There isn't a whole lot more to say then "Ever been to a taping of Wait Wait Don't Tell Me? They pointed a camera at it!" If you haven't been to a taping of Wait Wait Don't Tell Me...I've done it three times. You can go into this blog's archives and read my report from when I went to see the show at the Wang Theater in Boston in 2012. It's a lot of fun, but it's not something they need to do a cinecast of. If you don't believe me, here are three notes from what I saw tonight:

•  They had a musical guest, Sharon Jones, who played and sang for the cinecast audience between rounds. Why, I couldn't tell you. They've never had that at the Wang Theater.
• Not My Job guest Steve Martin went on so long, they had to skip the Listener Limerick Challenge. 
• After the main action of the show was taped (and again, they skipped the Listener Limerick Challenge), Sharon Jones performed one more song, after which Peter Sagal turned to the camera and said something like "That's it. We're shutting down the live feed." Then they did. The screen went blank. The auditorium lights went on. Everyone got up and left. They could easily still be doing retakes for the live audience in New York (and yes, the were doing the cinecast from New York, not Chicago). Who knows, maybe they actually went back and taped the Listener Limerick Challenge. 

If I'm making it sound like this wasn't fun, I'm sorry. The sad fact is, I've seen Wait Wait Don't Tell Me live at the Wang Theater in Boston three times, I went to the cinecast, I watched the TV special on BBC America, and I'm still seriously considering buying tickets to see them live a fourth time on August 29 when they're going to do a taping at Tanglewood (a music hall in Lenox, Massachusetts - the Boston Symphony Orchestra plays there a lot).

Man, I'm weird.

Aaron