When I was a kid, I remember watching Soupy Sales. He had a children's show, The Soupy Sales Show, on channel five in the New York area and he was a wacky, funny guy. He had bizarre creatures around him, puppets named Pookie and White Fang and Black Tooth. Soupy did outrageous things and often ended up with a pie in the face. In a lot of ways, there might have been no PeeWee Herman if there hadn't been a Soupy Sales. In my memory, I always liked Soup and liked his show. On Thursday, Soupy Sales died at the age of 83.
In addition to The Soupy Sales Show, Soupy was a comedian. He played clubs and did shtick, and all through the 1960s and 1970s he was a regular on game shows, including What's My Line, To Tell the Truth, Match Game and Hollywood Squares.
I guess if there's one good thing about Guiding Light being canceled is that CBS replaced it with a game show. I'm not sure if Let's Make A Deal is the game I would have chosen to remake, but it's better than having another Dr. Phil-ish show on the schedule. Here Price is Right host Drew Carey welcomes LMAD host Wayne Brady to the network. It starts Monday.
Terry Kniess, the Double Showcase winner on The Price is Right who got his bid right on the money, may have been a "dark day" for Drew Carey, but he's no cheater.
In fact, there have been more egregious and blatant attempts to guarantee a win in a pricing game by skewing the odds in their favor, sometimes right in front of the host's eyes.
For instance, here's a "Shell Game" contestant who does something so outrageous, so ballsy, so completely devious that Bob Barker can't help but rip her to verbal shreds in front of the entire nation. And not only does she get away with it, but she actually wins the game!
The first network for kids has had some cult classics on their hands. Recently, however, they really haven't released anything remotely memorable, even in the minds of our easily amused, sugared-up youngins.
That's because they have really strayed from the genre that made them so great: game shows. Strayed really isn't a strong enough word. Replace strayed with "shunned with the fervor of an Amish elder who spots a member of his ordnung waiting in line for the new Palm Pre."
Thankfully, the network has learned from their mistakes and re-animated the ghosts of their most classic game shows with Brainsurge.
ABC's newest stunt game show Crash Course looks exactly like the kind of show that bloggers and critics watch just so they could put their "Suck Extinguishers" to good use.
And yet 45 minutes of TV viewing later, I'm not even feeling the need to break the protective glass. On the surface, it appears to be just another reality/game show with typical contestants having their ids scared for life for cash and/or prizes and most of it is just that.
And even though it met those stereotypical expectations, I still didn't hate it. Part of me actually kind of (gulp) enjoyed it. Did I just swallow my brains along with my pride?
Don Lipp passed away last Thursday at age 70. No, I didn't recognize the name either, but as I was reading his obituary I had this incredible flashback to the mid-70s and one of the game shows he produced: The Moneymaze! (I've seen it spelled two ways - The Moneymaze and The Money Maze.)
I remember I was excited when it premiered, because it had this outrageously large, complex (and probably expensive) maze set. Couples would compete against other couples, and when it got to the maze part one spouse would guide the other through the maze on the way to a big money prize.
Game show fanatics will be pleased to learn that network game shows are returning to daytime television. Finally, people who take actual sick days will have something else to look forward to other than another mind-bending dose of NyQuil.
CBS has confirmed they are replacing the outgoing Guiding Light with a remake of the classic Let's Make a Deal.
The ex-Tiffany network has already shot a test pilot of the updated show with smiling crooner Wayne Brady in the host's chair. Brady hasn't officially won the job, but he's the front-running favorite. CBS executives are expected to make Brady's deal official later today at the Television Critics Association hoedown, unless, of course, he chooses to go for what's behind Door Number Two. Don't do it Wayne! It's just a lifetime supply of goat feed!
I've been a strong believer in bringing game shows back to daytime television. If soap operas continue to die, I certainly want to see game shows in there instead of another daytime talk show about nuns who cheat on their transvestite cousins.
When it was announced that Guiding Light wouldn't be coming back, it was rumored that game shows might be taking its place on the CBS lineup. Now it looks like that's true.
Oh my God. Maybe the Unabomber was right, about how technology could weaken humanity and destroy us all. Not about sending bombs in the mail. That was and always will be a big no-no.
The system is being developed in the same vein as "Deep Blue," the computer that defeated chess champion Gary Kasparov. The Jeopardy! system nicknamed "Watson" is part of IBM's ongoing attempt to overtake humanity by whooping humanity's ass at their own games. An IBM spokesman estimated humanity's spirit will finally be broken when they perfect a computer system that can beat the world's greatest Chutes and Ladders player.
Remember when Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? was the prime time sensation, a timely game show that people actually talked about the next day, and then ABC ran it so much they ruined the whole thing? Well, ABC is bringing the show back for a limited run this August, and Regis Philbin will host once again. In celebration, here's a bunch of videos of people blowing easy early questions.
Now thatGuiding Light is destined to become another sad memory of lonely housewives nationwide, CBS is hoping an old daytime tradition will pull them away from their housework.
And for those of you now engulfed in hate flame who've found the fuel to write some snide comment about my Mad Men-ish view of soap opera viewers and women, please calm the #*$& down. One, I realize this is not the 1950s and women don't all strive to stay at home barefoot and pregnant. And two, who the hell else watches soap operas? Only male hair salon stylists and hospital patients who don't have the physical ability or cognitive capacity to operate a bed remote.
There are some forces in the universe that should never be messed with: the sun, black holes and Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek. Take it from someone who knows.
The man has the unholy ability to make ANYONE look stupid on national television. He can make an Ivy League PhD appear as though he went to city college. He can turn a Midwestern elementary school teacher into someone no parent would entrust their child with for eight hours a day. His trademark "Oh, sorry" alone can make a world renowned neurosurgeon look like a jabbering mental patient who doesn't know the name of the bone that houses the human brain.
So it's no wonder that politicians are scared to be seen in the same camera shot with the man.
Since the reality television boom isn't going to end anytime soon, this could be a lucrative career path for the up-and-coming toddler who likes to ham it up with a microphone. After all, in this time of economic woes, what could be a better goal than glam, glitz, red carpets, and Emmy awards?
The reality show genre encompasses the gamut from talent contests to living in the jungle to living in a house with insufferable drones and drama queens and beyond. As a result, the hosts for these shows are going to be a varied lot, as well. Who are these people? How did they get where they are? And, more importantly ... what do I think of them? Read on.
The hours of preparation have been grueling. The amount of studying has been tedious and boring. The sacrifice required to reach this moment has been great and punishing. I didn't shower for two days and the smell almost set off the fire alarm in some of the smaller rooms.
Now the only weapons I have at my disposal are my nimble fingers, my rapid comprehension and my ability to remember everything I've read in the span of four days. We're about to go head-to-head with the razor-toothed man eater that is the Jeopardy! contestant test.
It's more than a little ironic (or tragic, depending on how much you give a rat's ass) that the most successful game show in the history of American television has never had a truly worthy home game. One worthy enough to give to loser contestants so they can win against their own friends and family at home because God is a cruel comedian.
Now after more than 35 years on the air, there is such a game: The Price is Right video game. And it's so well done and fun that it could crush the soul of a 300-pound linebacker from Obetz, Ohio who lost out on his chance to be the only guy in town who owns a Chrysler Crossfire.
When I was a kid, I remember watching Soupy Sales. He had a children's show, The Soupy Sales Show, on channel five in the New York area and he was a wacky, funny guy. He had bizarre creatures around him, puppets named Pookie and White Fang and Black Tooth. Soupy did outrageous things and often ended up with a pie in the face. In a lot of ways, there might have been no PeeWee Herman if there hadn't been a Soupy Sales. In my memory, I always liked Soup and liked his show. On Thursday, Soupy Sales died at the age of 83. 
Terry Kniess, the Double Showcase winner on The Price is Right who got his bid right on the money, may have been 
The first network for kids has had some cult classics on their hands. Recently, however, they really haven't released anything remotely memorable, even in the minds of our easily amused, sugared-up youngins. 
ABC's newest stunt game show 
Don Lipp passed away
Game show fanatics will be pleased to learn that network game shows are returning to daytime television. Finally, people who take actual sick days will have something else to look forward to other than another mind-bending dose of NyQuil. 
I've been a strong believer in bringing game shows back to daytime television. If soap operas continue to die, I certainly want to see game shows in there instead of another daytime talk show about nuns who cheat on their transvestite cousins. 
Oh my God. Maybe the Unabomber was right, about how technology could weaken humanity and destroy us all. Not about sending bombs in the mail. That was and always will be a big no-no. 
Now that 
There are some forces in the universe that should never be messed with: the sun, black holes and Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek. Take it from 
Since the reality television boom isn't going to end anytime soon, this could be a lucrative career path for the up-and-coming toddler who likes to ham it up with a microphone. After all, in this time of economic woes, what could be a better goal than glam, glitz, red carpets, and Emmy awards? 
Andy Richter: The TV Squad Interview
Have any questions for Vik Sahay of Chuck? Ask them here!
Mike Henry and Daryl Hall on a Cleveland Show Thanksgiving
