It's not every week that you see four different DVD sets for game shows released, but that's what we have this week: "Best Of" sets for'The Price is Right', 'Password', and'Match Game '73', as well as a special set for the Richard Dawson 'Family Feud' episodes. I actually might buy the first three (not really a big 'Family Feud' guy). Having DVDs for classic episodes of those three game shows might be fun.
I'd like to see someone come out with a sampler DVD set of short-lived game shows or even well-known game shows that will never get their own full sets.
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Betty White and Password are forever linked together. She played the game great and her husband Allen Ludden was the host of the show. Now White has appeared on Kathy Griffin: My Life on the D-List to play the game against Kathy's mom, and of course you know that Kathy and her team would pick a controversial word to play with. The word itself isn't dirty, but the clues and the discussion of the word certainly are.
I love GSN, but there are several things wrong with it.
I don't know about you, but I've had it up to here (hand planted right around nose height) with Who Wants To Be A Millionaire? The network airs the show way, way too much. I'm sure it's popular and there are probably promotional considerations involved, considering it's actually a show that's still on the air (GSN airs both the older Regis Philbin episodes and the newer Meredith Vieira ones), but we really don't need the show on as much as it is.
What would I put on instead? More classic game shows!
For some reason, I didn't know that Jake and the Fatman was out on DVD (or I knew at one point and just forgot). Is this something I want on DVD? I'm tempted, because it's a show that you'll probably never see in syndication again. It's probably way down on my list though. Password might be fun. I gotta start buying these game show releases at some point.
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Here are the weekly TV ratings, by number of viewers.
Um, OK, I had to do a double take (or maybe a triple) when I saw these ratings for Lost. Number 1 for the week?? I knew it would do better since it was the season finale, but the top spot, up 18 spots from last week? That's pretty cool.
The new edition of Password took the number 3 spot. Meanwhile, the number 18 show really kinda baffles me.
1. Lost (ABC) 2. Two and a Half Men (CBS) 3. Million Dollar Password (CBS)
Here's the thing about game show revivals: you have to satisfy people on two levels. For fans of the old show, you have to make the gameplay of the new show familiar enough to keep them happy and coming back. And, in order to attract new fans, you have to modernize and add touches that will suck in viewers and help build drama. That's one of the reasons why most new game shows have Who Wants to Be a Millionaire-style darkened sets with swirling lights, and depend on ominous music and tight camera angles to create drama.
Million Dollar Password, premiering Sunday at 8 PM ET, has all of that. They even nabbed Millionaire's original American host, Regis Philbin, to give it that extra bit of primetime oomph. But does it work? Well... sorta. Fans of the Allen Ludden / Tom Kennedy / Bert Convy incarnations might be dissatisfied with what they've done to their old favorite, but even an objective observer can see that the gameplay has some flaws that are going to need to be worked out for the show to succeed.
Since CBS will debut a new, updated version of the classic game show Password this Sunday at 8, I thought it would be a good idea to talk about one of the great episodes of The Odd Couple, appropriately titled "Password." (it's also Jack Klugman's favorite). It's the one where Oscar is asked to go on the game show and he gets to choose his partner. Will he choose Felix, a nut for the show, or his girlfriend, who isn't too, um, bright? The answer after the jump...
In an announcement that most who remember the older versions of Password would consider a no-brainer, it has been revealed that Betty White will be returning as a guest panelist on CBS' new Million Dollar Password series. And, really, if she wasn't even being considered would it even be Password?
White, who is 86-years-young, was a staple of the original version of Password when it started back in 1961 as well as the revived 70s and 80s versions of the show. Much of that connection came from her marriage to original Password host Allen Ludden. White and Ludden were married in 1963 and remained together until his death from stomach cancer in 1981.
The summer schedule on NBC won't be filled with just reruns, apparently. The network wants to up their game quotient. That said, American Idol's producer, FremantleMedia North America and NBC are planning a celebrity version of Family Feud. Although there have been multiple variations of the Feud -- daytime, syndication, board game, internet edition, et. al -- this will be the very first time the game show will air as a regularly-scheduled primetime network show. John O'Hurley, who is the current host on the syndicated Family Feud, could be anchoring NBC's primetime celeb affair, but that has not been announced as yet.
Remember the '88 Writer's Strike? Well, while it didn't impact scripted television as much as the current strike, as it occurred largely during the off-season. Yahoo! reminds us that it was during this period that a network was finally willing to take a chance on an unscripted series. Nineteen years later, Cops is still on the air. And back then, reality wasn't even a genre.
Now, networks are all about this alternate form of entertainment/schedule filling. Even if the strike is resolved relatively soon, it may be too late to save the new year's schedule, and thus reality shows are being picked up by the bucketloads to fill the gaps. If the strike continues much into 2008 look for more and more to be put on the air.
Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.
I love GSN, but there are several things wrong with it.
ABC Family has a Secret Life of The American Teenager marathon all night.
At 7, CBS has a new 60 Minutes, then new episodes of Million Dollar Password, Cold Case, and The Unit.
At 8, CBS has a new 
Here are the new TV DVDs, in stores tomorrow.
At 7, NBC has more U.S. Olympic Trials, followed by a new Dateline. 
(Originally aired Dec. 1, 1972)
In an announcement that most who remember the older versions of Password would consider a no-brainer, it has been revealed that 
The summer schedule on NBC won't be filled with just reruns, apparently. The network wants to up their game quotient. That said, 
Remember the '88 Writer's Strike? Well, while it didn't impact scripted television as much as the current strike, as it occurred largely during the off-season. 
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