The game show thread

[fuzzygobo]

The Price Is Right is a much better vehicle for Drew than his last gig, To The Power Of Ten.
The one difference between Drew and Bob Barker, in Bob's days, if a contestant lost, he would pull a sad face, "Aww, too bad, Dagmar! You're walking out with nothing!"

With Drew, even if they didn't win the car, "That's okay, shake it off. You still won the oven mitt, you're gonna spin the wheel, and you got to meet ME!!! 8)"

There's definitely a contagious energy on Drew's set. Even the chance of winning a can of baked beans causes some contestants to fall and roll on the floor.

Over on Jeopardy, a five day champion who wins a hundred grand could barely fart, let alone clap.

 

[fuzzygobo]

I'll do you one better for "Worst Game Ever". Friend Or Foe, hosted by Kennedy (now a Fox news reporter. One side note, I never cared for people with no last name. Sting, Bono, Cher, Madonna, Beyonce, etc. As Denis Leary used to say, "Pull that bus over to the side of the Pretentious Turnpike!") But might I digress.

The object of the game, you had three pairs of contestants. After each round, a pair got eliminated, and the losers would walk off stage, blaming the other for losing. Nice.

In the final round, there's a pot of five thousand bucks. The surviving pair each cast a vote.
If they both vote "Friend", they split the money.
If they both vote "Foe", nobody wins.
Now here's where it gets screwed up.
If one votes "Friend" and the other votes "Foe", the Foe gets the money, the Friend gets nothing.
The level of greed and poor sportsmanship when the Foe wins is disgusting. What values does this teach? Being a friend isn't worth it? Reward greed and acting like a total ***hole?

I don't know how Kennedy could sleep at night hosting this steaming turd.

 

[Drtooth]

I don't know how Kennedy could sleep at night hosting this steaming turd.

Probably gave him loads of experience for working with Fox News.

HAYYYOOOO!

Anyway, it's time to speak up for two classic children's game shows.

Double Dare and Carmen SanDiego.

I remember when Double Dare was actually syndicated back in the 80's before Nick bought them back up. Hey. Side note, remember how they had syndicated shows that weren't meant for the lowest class in society? Anyway, what more is there to say about Double Dare? It was one of the few kid's shows that got a full spoof comic in Mad Magazine. That alone tells you it's highly successful. Only other ones I can think of are 3 Sesame Street parodies (Reality Street, a series of 3 short Sesame Street parodies like "Mafia Street," and If Sesame Street caved into the Radical Right or something like that), and both Batman and X-Men cartoons from the 90's.

Then there was the not quite as good knockoff, "Fun House" which I remember existing, but was unremarkable enough to forget details and specifics.


And then, the first game show on PBS Kids, Carmen Sandiego. Loved that one, especially the special animated video clues. It's how I found out Uncle Phil was Shredder (Acme Shredder-Net). A great series with a great host and great music. Educational, but never dull. Then they changed it to the history one which wasn't as good.

Now, as for the "Worst" game shows, while I don't think these are indeed the worst, I hate the concept behind them. Things like WipeOut and Hole in the Wall (can you believe that CN tried shoving that in their during their horrible CN Real rebrand?) that are ripoffs of Japanese game shows. Only, on Japanese TV they'd be a short 15 minute, maybe half hour block (and frankly Japanese TV is a lot more of that and celebrity round tables talking about nonsense than Anime, which only exists late night, early morning for the kiddies, and on specialty channels). Not bloated hour long or night long blocks. THAT's why they suck here. The novelty of these shows runs out in about 5 minutes. And sure, you could say they're the spiritual successor of Double Dare...if only there was no trivia and Marc Summers would heckle you roundly the entire time instead of constant encouragement. HEY! Whaddaya know, I found another great thing about DD in comparison to an "adult" game show that's far more juvenile.

 

[mr3urious]

In the final round, there's a pot of five thousand bucks. The surviving pair each cast a vote.
If they both vote "Friend", they split the money.
If they both vote "Foe", nobody wins.
Now here's where it gets screwed up.
If one votes "Friend" and the other votes "Foe", the Foe gets the money, the Friend gets nothing.
The level of greed and poor sportsmanship when the Foe wins is disgusting. What values does this teach? Being a friend isn't worth it? Reward greed and acting like a total ***hole?

Ah, the "Prisoner's Dilemma" mechanic. At least in Friend or Foe, there were only a couple thousand dollars at stake at most. But then you get to shows like Golden Balls, Take it All, and Divided where there is tons on the line, making it sting all the more when those prizes are lost. The latter has to be the worst of the lot because the contestants bitterly argue over who deserves the most money. Watch this vid and prepare to lose your faith in humanity even more.

And then, the first game show on PBS Kids, Carmen Sandiego. Loved that one, especially the special animated video clues. It's how I found out Uncle Phil was Shredder (Acme Shredder-Net). A great series with a great host and great music. Educational, but never dull. Then they changed it to the history one which wasn't as good.

WitWiCS was definitely a fun show. Rockapella totally stole the show, as did Lynne Thigpen as The Chief (and even appeared in later editions of the computer games because of it!). The final round with the running back and forth placing the markers on the maps was real brutal, but that was intentional as PBS couldn't afford to pay out the grand prize of a trip across any one of the U.S. states too often.

But Where in Time, which had a much lower budget, took that up to eleven with its final round. You had to run toward "Time Portals" to answer either-or questions read very slowly by the announcer, and if wrong, had to do a time-consuming physical task to escape. It was a miracle if anyone captured Carmen Sandiego.

 

[mr3urious]

Answer: On a related note, this game show host has just had his 76th birthday today.

Question: Who is Alex Trebek?

That is correct!

 

[D'Snowth]

Anyone remember SUPERMARKET SWEEP? I remember watching that show every afternoon when I was younger . . . but in retrospect, I really don't remember why. In fact, it's been so long since that show was on that really the only thing that actually sticks out in my memory from that show was whenever the contestants would race down the aisles, they'd play that same music that was used on Dexter's Lab when Dexter was dancing in the shower on his first day of school.

 

[Muppet Master]

Anyone remember SUPERMARKET SWEEP? I remember watching that show every afternoon when I was younger . . . but in retrospect, I really don't remember why. In fact, it's been so long since that show was on that really the only thing that actually sticks out in my memory from that show was whenever the contestants would race down the aisles, they'd play that same music that was used on Dexter's Lab when Dexter was dancing in the shower on his first day of school.

Ya, I remember I would watch that when I was younger, it would air at 7 followed by Shop Till You Drop.

 

[charlietheowl]

As some fans of the show would say, Bob was the G.O.A.T (a.k.a. the greatest MC of all time!). Drew's no Bob Barker, but he's improved vastly ever since he started almost a decade ago. He does have his moments where his comedian persona slips in, but in general he's become a great host on the show. George Gray's pretty good as well, but often times he gets a bit goofy and wacky on air, and tends to exaggerate his build-ups and descriptions of the prizes (i.e. speak in a foreign accent for prizes manufactured outside the US). I kinda miss the classiness Johnny Olson and Rod Roddy had, but George has been okay for the last five years.

You've also gotta love and appreciate the returns Bob makes to the set occasionally. Alas he didn't return last season, but he'll probably make another special appearance the upcoming 45th season, I hope!

I have mixed feelings about George Gray, as I think he tries too hard to be goofy and wacky sometimes, but who knows how much of that is forced on him by the production staff. The staff has done a good job of updating the set and bringing some games into the 21st century, but sometimes it seems like they're always trying to force a laugh instead of letting it happen.

 

[mr3urious]

I have mixed feelings about George Gray, as I think he tries too hard to be goofy and wacky sometimes, but who knows how much of that is forced on him by the production staff. The staff has done a good job of updating the set and bringing some games into the 21st century, but sometimes it seems like they're always trying to force a laugh instead of letting it happen.

The early years of the Drew era were awkward at best and downright painful at worst (the infamous "Fried Chicken" showcase comes to mind), but he has since grown into the role nicely, as has George. At the very least, we should all be grateful that Drew at least gives George and the others their time to shine, something that Bob was trying to stifle near the end of his tenure.

The most annoying thing to me about the announcing, and to many others, are how the descriptions of the grocery items are handled nowadays. I know most of them were purchased at a store by the staff rather than brought in by the sponsors, but mention their names at the very least! If you're going to go the generic description route, why not cover up the labels with duct tape while you're at it?

 

[fuzzygobo]

Watched the production credits of Price, and one producer is Adam Sandler.

THAT Adam Sandler????!!!!