Classic Game Show: "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?"

I feel so old when I hear that shows like "Who Wants to be a Millionaire?" have been on for 10 years. OMG! But it's one of the best shows of the past 25 years. "Millionaire" has become a part of America. It's amazing. It seems everyone in the country (and the world) knows the question "Is that your final answer?" The fact that it was (and is) such an international phenomenon is a testimony to how successful the show has become and, most likely, will continue to come! In America, Regis Philbin became even more successful than he was before. It's amazing! The show itself was awesome. A simple premise...answer 15 multiple-choice questions correctly and win $1 million! The questions are easy enough that the normal person at home would be answer them at least until the $8,000 level (this is no super difficult "$64,000 Question" stuff), but still hard enough that the individuals that make it to the top truly are seen as intelligent. It's also fun to see normal people win a lot of money on TV, a simple, common solution that still works. The money was also an awesome factor. It was the first show to give a true chance to give away a million bucks. Other shows had before ("The $1,000,000 Chance of a Lifetime", for example), but it was the first to do it so easily and one of the first (if not the first) to give it all in a cash payout. The lifelines were also amazing. Phone-a-Friend, 50/50, and Ask the Audience were PERFECT to include in the show. Audiences also love to see people that need help being helped. The original primetime was killed because of the overexposure of the program (there were MANY weeks where the show was on for 5 days a week, FAR too many for a normal primetime show) and the constant special editions (after the first celebrity version was a hit, they went TOO FAR!!!). It survived in syndication though and has since been consistently the #3 game show in syndication (after "Wheel" and "Jeopardy!"). Meredith has made a perfect transition. And, with various changes (the change to Switch the Question to the current Double Dip and Ask the Expert [no more 50/50] and the addition of new graphics and the TV screen in the back of the studio) and no millionaires since 2003 (WE NEED A NEW ONE!), "Millionaire" is still one of the most successful game shows on television. It literally changed television game shows for the better (there are still $1 million game shows being produced almost every season for primetime) and left as mark that will never be removed. That's MY final answer!!!

Kevin $

Drew's "The Price is Right" 3/09

Drew Carey has pretty much sucked as host of "The Price is Right" since he has took over the hosting role from Bob Barker. "Price" is generally agreed to have been going downhill since he became host. One of the highlights is the inception of R. Brian DiPirro as the new director. Not saying Bart Eskander or Marc Breslow or especially Paul Alter are horrible. Not at all, but his inception has brought at least a few changes to how Drew's "Price" was. For the first time in a while, we're seeing more classic looks during the show. The turntable is turning for the first time before the games are presented (a note hardcore fans have been raving about for at least a decade), there are new and fancier graphics, and Rich Fields was shown on camera telling someone to "Come on Down!" It's crazy awesome! Definitely a good choice as director. Doing well Mr. DiPirro!

Kevin $

Classic Game Show: "Split Second"

"Split Second" is a short-lived game show that most people don't remember besides major viewers of daytime '70s or '80s TV and hardcore game show fans. I suggest watching a video of it on YouTube. Both the Tom Kennedy (original) version and the Monty Hall (1980's) version are both good and worth watching. It's a fairly fast-paced show with a major emphasis on trivia and questions and a very, very cool scoring format. It's great! The complete luck in the bonus round is one of the downfalls, but I assume they figure they should make the bonus round really simple for such a difficult game. One of the coolest things about the original Kennedy is that Ford was the sponsor for the cars, so you got a nice choice of a Ford car, a cool marketing move. I don't really have too much more to say, but a lot of people that have seen the show and know it's history think it definitely ran far shorter than it should have. I completely agree!


Kevin $

Live "Wheel" during Spring Break

So my Spring Break was AWESOME!!! I went to L.A. for the first time and it was GREAT! Simply amazing! I did one of the things I have always dreamed of. I watched a live taping of "Wheel of Fortune", one of my favorite game shows and the first game show I've ever watched live! And, let me tell you...IT WAS AMAZING!!! Truly, one of THE best experiences I have ever been a part of in my entire life! I loved just about every minute of it. The stopdown that happened was awesome! (you'll see what episode when it airs) The bad solves were cool (although saddening)! The million dollar space is as enticing as always! It was just great. I knew EVERY puzzle except ONE (the same puzzle none of the other contestants knew), proving even stronger that I should be a contestant on the show. I SOOO should be! It also proved to me that my goal and wish of being a game show host is absolutely real. I ABSOLUTELY want to do that for the rest of my life. The ease in which Pat does "Wheel", the fun of random contestants every "day", the tough job of telling a contestant a good thing or bad thing after a stopdown...all of it gives me a true mental orgasm. I HAVE to do it forever! Long story short (or is it too late for that?)...if you're EVER living in Culver City or going to visit CC, get some tickets for the show. It will be highly worth your time! It's just as engaging in person as it is on TV. GO FOR IT! Only spoiler in this blog post: The set truly is smaller than it appears to be. lol. I sat in the studio and wondered how they even maneuvered the puzzleboard in such a small space, keeping in mind that the show was in an NBC studio first then the Bob Barker Studio at CBS Television City after that, so maybe it was different, but I have no idea how it even worked before the new puzzle board. Anyway...AMAZING TIME!!!

Kevin $

http://www.wheeloffortune.com/

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wheel_of_Fortune_(U.S._game_show)

Classic Game Show: "Jeopardy!"

"Jeopardy!" is not one of my favorite game shows of all time, but one in which I HIGHLY respect. With the exception of the change in host in '84, an increase in dollar amounts, constant change in sets, the elimination of every player winning money, and the elimination of prizes for the running up in the syndie version, AND the elimination of the 5-day limit, "Jeopardy!" is the one game show that has changed the LEAST! It's SOOO weird watching a clip from the original year of "Jeopardy!" and hearing the EXACT same "think" music that WAS on "Jeopardy!" every year before this year. It's so weird. Everything else is the same. The same format....the same answer-question format...the same everything in terms of gameplay. I REALLY respect "Jeopardy!" because a number of people will think it's boring sometimes (and at times it is...truly), yet it's STILL the #2 show in syndication. Not game shows, but ALL syndication. It's amazing how successful it still is. It's AMAZING!!! "Jeopardy!" is great and LONG LIVE ALEX TREBEK!!!

Kevin $

"Classic" Game Show: "Scrabble"

So I talked about "Pyramid" one time previously and now i'm discussing a really awesome show "Scrabble." I absolutely love that show. It's amazing!!! Chuck Woolery, post-"Wheel" and pre-"Love Connection," is at the top of his game. "Scrabble" is THE perfect job for someone preparing to host "Lingo." Although the show is NOT truly amazingly similar to the actualy board game, it is still an awesome game. it's really cool watching it and I would LOVE a home game version of the show. It's really cool. I truly love the show. I definitely suggest any person who has NOT seen the show to watch it. YouTube or DailyMotion or etc. It's GREAT!!! I would LOVE to see a return. NBC Daytime....listen up!!!

Kevin $

Wheel of Fortune's 5000th Episode=BUST!

So I watched "Wheel of Fortune" last Friday to see the 5000th episode of the nighttime version of the show (keep in mind "Wheel" was on for about 8 years before the syndicated version even began and lasted for 6 1/2 more after it started, so there's probably more than 7,500 episodes altogether of "Wheel of Fortune" in the United States). I was very, very excited. I definitely was ready to see a great show similar to the 3000th episode and 4000th episode. A show full of clips and a special guest or two. A mention of Merv's death (that never happened on-air at all) and a new clip no one has ever seen, plus clips from the last 5 years that obviously couldn't have been shown during the 4000th episode. (Insert the Bankrupt sound here) I was completely wrong. All that aired was a run-of-the-mill episode of "Wheel". Special guests playing would have been cool (Chuck Woolery anyone?) or something...anything, but no. NOTHING! The only special things were: Pat mentioning it was the 5000th show every 3 minutes (annoying, but it was ok), outtros to commercials highlighting things that were "in" in 1983 (irrelevant to the 5000th) episode, the clip of Pat and Vanna kissing when Pat left the daytime "Wheel" (overplayed, but still cute to ppl who haven't seen it), and Pat and Vanna with a cake that says 5000 on it. Besides that, it was completely normal. I was HIGHLY disappointed in "Wheel of Fortune" and Harry Friedman and everyone. It was disappointing. The only true highlight of the show (besides "Wheel" being the #1 syndicated show for this long, which is AWESOME) is the fact that the winner CHOSE the $100,000 in the bonus round. Great setup to a great 5000th win right? WRONG! The selection of the puzzle HOT WAX in the bonus round screwed almost any chance of winning it on such a monumental night. Another fault of "Wheel". Overall, I was just truly very disappointed, but, even after all this (as was the song Vanna walked out to for a few years in the '80s), "I'm a Wheel watcher. I'm a Wheel watcher."

Kevin $