Anyone who's read TV Squad for any period of time knows that we have a bunch of game show fans here. OK, maybe it's just me and Bob. But we've been watching game shows for years and know what works and what doesn't. A challenging premise that allows the viewer to play along? That works. Picking numbered cases at random? That doesn't (at least not after the first five episodes, anyway).
So, when I heard about the changes that were coming to the syndicated Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, I wanted to reserve judgment until I saw them. Now that Meredith Vieira's smiling face has graced my TV for the seventh season opener, I can say that I like most of the changes ... except for one. The new graphics and music are fine, the new lifelines make more sense (more on those in a second). But now there's a clock.
Yeah, you heard me; the show that once let contestants take as much time as they wanted to answer very tough questions now adds the pressure of a time limit. And that's not a good thing.
The show originally ran for five years on Comedy Central and included hosts such as Donna D'Errico and Carmen Electra. Bill Nye served as "technical adviser". ESPN promises that this time the show would be less about the female-model hosts and general silliness and more about the science and the robots destroying each other.
Welcome to TV Squad Lists (formerly 'The Five'), a feature where each blogger has a chance to list his or her own rundown of things in television that stand out from the rest, both good and bad.
I'm honestly not even sure how I came up with this, but there are a ton of medical dramas and comedies on TV. That means there's a lot of TV doctors, both past and present. So why not have some of them do battle? I think it seems incredibly logical. Peanut butter and jelly. Hot dogs and beans. TV doctors and cage-matches. So there... because I said so.
Now, with so many shows out there, some people may be wondering why I didn't choose doctors from some of the programs you'd expect. For instance, I stayed away from pitting any of the members of Grey's Anatomy in a battle royale because I figured if any of them got into a fight with someone, it'd just turn into an unexpected sex romp. By the same token, I didn't pick anyone from St. Elsewhere figuring that any fight involving someone from that show would just evolve into an inside joke that only a few people understood. Additionally, not every character I picked is from a straight up "medical" show and in one instance, I'm not sure they're actually even a doctor. Whatever... it sounds fun doesn't it?
At 50 years old, Bill Nye the Science Guy
has tied the knot. That's right, ladies. The last great bachelor is now taken (or, is that George Clooney?).
Nye married Blair Tindall, author of Mozart in the Jungle and a former concert oboist, on Friday.. Cellist
Yo Yo Ma, accompanied by MIT Media Lab Professor Michael Hawley on the piano, performed the wedding march.
6,013 fires. 30,000 BTUs. 700 arson deaths. 1 match. Burn, baby, burn. A serial arsonist is on the loose.
Up until now, Don and the rest of his team had thought the fires were being set by members of a local activist group
known as the Earth Liberation Movement. Then people started dying. First, a salesman at an auto dealership and then six
firefighters were severely injured at another explosion. But that's okay, I wasn't worried because Bill Nye came in and
saved the day.
Anyone who's read TV Squad for any period of time knows that we have a bunch of game show fans here. OK, maybe it's just me and Bob. But we've been watching game shows for years and know what works and what doesn't. A challenging premise that allows the viewer to play along? That works. Picking numbered cases at random? That doesn't (at least not after the first five episodes, anyway).
Nerds and engineering students rejoice. 
Welcome to TV Squad Lists (formerly 'The Five'), a feature where each blogger has a chance to list his or her own rundown of things in television that stand out from the rest, both good and bad.
At 50 years old, Bill Nye the Science Guy
has tied the knot. That's right, ladies. The last great bachelor is now taken (or, is that George Clooney?).
6,013 fires. 30,000 BTUs. 700 arson deaths. 1 match. Burn, baby, burn. A serial arsonist is on the loose.
Up until now, Don and the rest of his team had thought the fires were being set by members of a local activist group
known as the Earth Liberation Movement. Then people started dying. First, a salesman at an auto dealership and then six
firefighters were severely injured at another explosion. But that's okay, I wasn't worried because Bill Nye came in and
saved the day.
Six shows that I am watching pretty regularly this season
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