Nor Are There Any New Game Show Ideas

COMMENTS (22)

• When it comes to game shows it’s either remakes, revivals, or rip-offs of old shows or shows from other countries. So this really isn’t a surprise.

  Of course this is the same network that turned down my game show Celebrity Shocker, where contestants have to answer questions right, or a celebrity guest gets an electric shock. We made the mistake of having Paris Hilton as our celebrity guest in our pilot, and the contestants wouldn’t even answer right when asked their own name. The power bill bankrupted the production company, and the soundstage smelled like singed hair extensions.

  

  Watch, I’ve probably given them an idea now.

  Comment by Furious D — Monday August 3, 2009 @ 8:54am PDT  Reply to this post

• There are tons of new ideas for game shows…. but no one wants them. Everyone goes with what worked before because they’re afraid to take a chance on something new… It’s why you see so many comic book movies and sequels. No one wants to take a risk anymore. LMAD bombed pretty bad last time they tried it, though.

  Comment by Friend of Game Show Writers — Monday August 3, 2009 @ 9:25am PDT  Reply to this post

• White people love Wayne Brady, because he makes Bryant Gumbel look like Malcolm X.

  Comment by Matt — Monday August 3, 2009 @ 9:25am PDT  Reply to this post

• Really Nikki, are you surprised? Hollywood hasn’t had an original idea since Jeff Zucker thought Ben Silverman could save NBC and we all know how that turned out.

  Besides, people like the same old crap warmed up and sprinkled with a few new bells and whistles otherwise there’s just no explaining Michael Bay.

  Anyway it’s best to keep Wayne Brady employed so he’s not out “choking any bitches”.

  Comment by Curtain Number Two — Monday August 3, 2009 @ 9:30am PDT  Reply to this post

• So, *that* is what’s replacing the longest-running scripted program in broadcasting history?

  Comment by Daniel — Monday August 3, 2009 @ 9:51am PDT  Reply to this post

• I have an idea for a game show. It’s called MEAL OR NO MEAL. It’s the same setup as DEAL OR NO DEAL, except the contestants are homeless people and they are competing for food.

  Comment by Alex — Monday August 3, 2009 @ 10:19am PDT  Reply to this post

• Well, I always liked “Let’s Make a Deal” when I was growing up in the 60s.

  Let’s hope Wayne Brady is able to give it a good go.

  Comment by HelenofPeel — Monday August 3, 2009 @ 10:42am PDT  Reply to this post

• the idea that their no ideas in hollwyood is a kind of childish over-simplification. their are plenty of new ideas in Hollywood. Just like their were plenty of new ideas in Detroit for thirty years. Problem is no one in power wants or understands new ideas.

  Comment by Anonymous — Monday August 3, 2009 @ 10:55am PDT  Reply to this post

• Yes the public deserves much better than a proven concept with 14 seasons of popular success behind it.

  Where is the more deserving remake of BEAT THE CLOCK?

  Comment by Lytton Strachey — Monday August 3, 2009 @ 11:06am PDT  Reply to this post

• Part of the charm of the old DEAL was Monty Hall himself. He had that great mix of charm & smarm. Trying to make it about the games themselves will be lost – would PRICE be as interesting w/out Bob, or even Drew?

  Comment by F. — Monday August 3, 2009 @ 11:20am PDT  Reply to this post

• Um, only TV stations can lose licenses, not TV networks.

  Comment by Ryan — Monday August 3, 2009 @ 11:25am PDT  Reply to this post

• Shit! What about $1,000,0000 PYRAMID? They shot a pilot for that too, and it stayed much closer to the original, unlike that Donny Osmond-hosted crapfest a few years ago. I’d much rather see that back than another parade of stupid people in bad costumes winning major appliances.

  Comment by uncle vanya — Monday August 3, 2009 @ 11:45am PDT  Reply to this post

• Thanks Matt, you gave me an idea for a Bamboozled sequel.

  Two uptight Buppies get sent to a rap record label/mobile bbq disco (or some equally stereotypical ‘urban’ business) and hire two Wiggas to teach them how to act black.

  Comment by Evil Preppie — Monday August 3, 2009 @ 11:48am PDT  Reply to this post

• People are dumb and the networks only treat people dumber. It would be great to see some better TV from networks, but they have their research. The American viewing public will probably lap this crap right up. Num, num, num, num…

  Comment by Oren Ampersand — Monday August 3, 2009 @ 12:24pm PDT  Reply to this post

• I made a deal years ago. Not to watch CBS.

  Comment by Young Person — Monday August 3, 2009 @ 12:56pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Nikki,

  This will instantly fail just like a lot of these other game show ideas and at least ABC is smart enough to only bring Millionaire back for two weeks and then hoping never to see it again. Over-exposure and too many celebrities are killing these shows. This won’t last.

  Comment by Richard — Monday August 3, 2009 @ 1:05pm PDT  Reply to this post

• So now you’re the determiner of worthy game show ideas? The American public loves Let’s Make a Deal — has for decades. But you think we deserve better, huh?

  This is what the new column is going to be like? You’d be better off giving the money back and getting hungry again.

  Comment by Janey — Monday August 3, 2009 @ 6:31pm PDT  Reply to this post

• “Bum Fights” anyone?

  Comment by Anonymous — Monday August 3, 2009 @ 10:26pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Interesting to see CBS is giving Deal a one-hour slot, obviously following the Price Is Right model (and the fact that so many network prime-time games are hour-long formats, anyway).

  If I’m not mistaken, Deal briefly went to a one-hour format on ABC back in the 1970′s after Price found success with it. Hollywood Squares and Wheel of Fortune also experimented with 60-minute versions, but eventually regressed back to half-hours. Technically, Price and Deal have similar games-within-a-game formats, so perhaps it will work this time. Obviously Monty Hall thinks so, and he’s keeping control of the show this time around, unlike with Big Deal a few years ago, which tanked and Hall disliked for its crudeness.

  Personally, I would’ve like to have seen this show paired up with the Pyramid revival… or perhaps even a remake of Press Your Luck. The latter show continues to draw good numbers on GSN and has been a cult favorite for years — although the people who loved that show the most are now skewing too old to be advertiser-desirable!

  Perhaps I’ll get my wish. CBS is hinting that As the World Turns is not long for this world. If Deal turns into a hit, expect CBS to start leaning on ATWT hard.

  Comment by Christopher Francis — Tuesday August 4, 2009 @ 12:13am PDT  Reply to this post

• I’m going to reserve judgment till i see the show, but as far as creativity at the network level is concerned you’re right.

  The recent revival of LMAD with Billy Bush was dealt a death blow when Monty Hall was brought in to do a guest-shot deal with a contestant who had been on the show 20 years ago. Hall slipped back into the MC role like he had never left and newbie Bush looked like a teenage pretender.

  Let’s hope Brady is good for this. He handled non-pro contestants well on “Don’t Forget the Lyrics.”

  –t

  Comment by Tod Hunter — Tuesday August 4, 2009 @ 6:27am PDT  Reply to this post

• why do they keep picking has-been entertainers for these things…the format is perfect for pitchmen…give that ShamWow guy this show, guaranteed success…plus it’s a product placement wet dream

  (note that Regis Philben’s turn on Millionaire also worked because of his pitchman-like qualities)

  Comment by Waiting for the collapse — Tuesday August 4, 2009 @ 2:04pm PDT  Reply to this post

• Hey, there’s a great thought give— the ShamWow Guy the gig…Weekend at Bernie’s comes to CBS. Doofus

  Comment by Wet Brain — Wednesday August 5, 2009 @ 10:51am PDT  Reply to this post