TVSquad

The new seasons of both Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy started this week, and while most of the games are exactly the same, both shows debuted a couple of new things that might have hardcore game show fans talking.

First, WOF. They're in Las Vegas this week, and the game hasn't changed except for one thing: they've gotten rid of the "Free Spin" card! This doesn't have the same impact as Darrin being replaced on Bewitched or William Petersen leaving CSI, but when you take something away from hardcore game show fans, they can get pretty rowdy. I don't know if that will happen here since "Free Spin" has been replaced by a "Free Play" space on the wheel. If you land on this spot, you get to do anything you want: choose a consonant, ask for a vowel, etc, and if you're wrong it's OK, you don't lose your turn.

If you go by all of the various stories in the media, it would seem that TV viewers just aren't into award shows anymore. The ratings are often down year to year, and if people are tuning in it seems to be more for the fashions, the red carpet, and maybe to see a particular category/performance by someone on the show.

So it's interesting that there are so many new genre award shows popping up. TV Land has had their own awards (The TV Land Awards) for a number of years now (the latest airs next week with Neil Patrick Harris hosting), and Bravo has The A-List Awards, whatever they are (it aired earlier this week). Now GSN is getting into the game (no pun intended) with The Game Show Awards, a show dedicated to giving awards to game shows, game show hosts, even game show sponsors!

OK, so this is juvenile, but being juvenile is fun, isn't it?

I've often wondered why we don't see more of what happens in the video after the jump. It's a clip from a Wheel of Fortune episode from Sea World. The contestants are spinning the wheel and picking letters for the puzzle, and during the game, the last word in the puzzle is revealed to have the letters S, H, I, and T in it. Of course, there's a letter in between those letters so it's not like the show has gone scatological all of the sudden, but for a few moments, the biggest game show in the world had that word on its puzzle board for all to see. Pat and Vanna and the players don't say anything about it (though I'm sure it was in their minds), and if anyone in the audience laughed you can't hear it.

Funny that the category is "Before & After." I guess that word would be the "after."

The way that game show fans feel about Wheel of Fortune is so well-documented it has sort of become a cliche. Wheel of Fortune is for a certain type of person, and shows like Jeopardy are for another type. I don't know if I agree with that.

There's something for game show fans in each show, whether you're solving a letter puzzle or trying to answer a question about ancient Rome or literature, though I can certainly see why one would appeal to a person and the other wouldn't. But I have to admit that I drifted away from Wheel of Fortune for many years because of contestants such as the one from last night's episode.

If you watch a lot of TV like I do, you often go through patterns. You'll drift away from a show for many months or even years, and then you start watching an episode one night and find yourself watching the show on a regular basis again (I'm talking about watching the shows on TV, not DVD). Here are a list of shows that I've found myself watching again recently, usually at 1 in the morning when I should be in bed.

1. Home Improvement. What a good show this was, and the type of show you don't see much of anymore, a sitcom shot on video in front of a live audience (most filmed-before-a-live-audience sitcoms today, like Gary Unmarried and Old Christine, have that film look). I think a lot of people dismiss this show because it was about a guy who was more into cars and tools than reading and emotion, but the show was a lot deeper than that.

Remember this name: Michelle Loewenstein. No, she's not running for political office, or a network executive, or part of a sex ring that Charlie Sheen participated in at one time or another (and, what sex rings hasn't Charlie Sheen participated in?). You want to remember that name because Michelle became Wheel of Fortune's first million dollar winner.

If you recall, a few months ago we mentioned that Wheel, now in it's 26th syndicated season, was upping the maximum amount a contestant could win during the Bonus Round. The only thing they needed to do was hit the million dollar spot on the wheel (slotted between two Bankrupts, those bastards), not get another Bankrupt throughout the rest of the rounds, chance on hitting the right slot on the bonus wheel (a 1 in 25 shot) and solve the Bonus Round puzzle. Seemed like a pretty big feat to accomplish.

You may or may not be watching Wheel of Fortune right now since its currently in repeats. I mean, it's not as fun to watch these shows when you already know what the answers to the puzzles are. But, I digress. If you have been watching this top-rated syndicated game show over the last week or so, you'll know about the big thing that is coming up for the 2008-09 season. And, when I mean big thing I really mean one million big things.

Next season, Wheel will join the ranks of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, Million Dollar Password, and Million Dollar Naked Concentration (copyright me...don't make me come after you) by offering a million dollar cash prize. It won't be a part of the regular game, though. According to the promotions it will be part of the Million Dollar Bonus Round. This jump to a seven-figure cash prize is the biggest for Wheel since going from $25,000 to $100,000 as the premium cash total.

So, if you are interested, go ahead and register to be a contestant right now at the official Wheel of Fortune site. Don't dawdle, because the 26th season of Wheel (35th overall since premiering on NBC) begins in September.

My knowledge of law and patents never got past reruns of L.A. Law, so I have no idea if this guy from New Jersey has a case or not.

The gentleman claims that he approached reps from Merv Griffin's company back in 2001 and pitched them the idea for a game show based on crossword puzzles. He says he even came up with the idea of the game's "twist" where you can take the other person's spot. He also patented the game. Now he has filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court that says Merv's company took his idea and made the syndicated game show Merv Griffin's Crosswords (a show that I've tried and tried to get into but haven't been able to - though "Ty Treadway" is one of the great game show names of all-time though).

I remember reading an interview with Griffin where he said that he had been working on the idea for a crossword puzzle game show for years. Griffin, as you know, created Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy!

Oh, the humanity! Wheel of Fortune is not all frivolity and fun. Merv Griffin knew what he was doing when he created this venerable game show. Drama, ensues! You think it's so easy spinning the wheel, buying a vowel, laughing at Pat Sajak's jokes and ogling Vanna's gorgeous gait? Well, it's not. Under all that pressure you'd be surprised -- or maybe you wouldn't -- to see how some people simply come up short in the solution department. The letters all float together and instead of spelling a word you know as well as your own name, you pick the wrong consonant and you're WAH-WAHed in shame and regret. The fortune goes to the next player and you're left with egg on your face.

Watch these great examples and you'll see what I mean (a sample is after the jump). Like Jay Leno's simple "man in the street" questions about common knowledge, you see that there's no telling how stupid people can be, especially with a camera and microphone in their face.

[via digg]

If you're not familiar with the name Roger King then you are most certainly familiar with the company King World Productions and the TV shows that they have produced.

King was the current CEO of CBS Television Distribution. King World merged with the network in 2000. Among the many shows that King World brought to the world: Oprah, Wheel of Fortune, and Jeopardy. Those shows have been so successful that we'll even forgive the company for unleashing Dr. Phil on the world. When he got to CBS, King was responsible for the syndication of shows such as Everybody Loves Raymond and CSI.

King died of a stroke in Florida over the weekend.

Here's a question I got that should be easy for all you game show fans...

Jamie writes, "Can you help me figure out the name of a game show that I watched about 20 years ago? It was like a board with words on it and you had to win to get to pick the covers off the board and it would like reveal for instance a needle + N + (then a pile of hay) with the answer to the puzzle would be a needle in the haystack!!! PLEASE HELP ME!!!!"

Well, I am hardly a game show expert but that sounds like Concentration to me. Although if you watched it twenty years ago then you were probably watching the relaunched version called Classic Concentration hosted by Alex Trebek.

The Game Show Network will have a special tribute to Merv Griffin, who died earlier this week of cancer at age 82.

On Saturday and Sunday, August 18 and 19, GSN will run two different Griffin marathons, from 10am to 3pm. The shows included in the marathons will include a Chuck Woolery-hosted episode of Wheel Of Fortune and the first episode that featured Vanna White. We'll also see the first NYC-based episode of Wheel (not sure why this is so special, but I guess I'll wait and see) and a Jeopardy Masters Tournament of Champions. On Sunday night we'll see a 1960 episode of Play Your Hunch, a game show Griffin hosted, and then at 3:30am we'll see a To Tell The Truth episode that Griffin guest hosted.

That's a lot better than their tribute to Kitty Carlisle earlier this year, when they ran her game show appearances in the wee hours of the morning and that was it.

Businessman and talk show host Merv Griffin died last night of prostate cancer. He was 82. Rich had told you the other day, there were rumors floating around that Griffin was very ill and that it didn't look good. Those reports turned out to be true.

Griffin started as a singer in San Francisco and had roles on TV shows and movies, though he went on to greater fame as host of The Merv Griffin Show, the daytime talk show that lasted several years.

The news is not good for 82-year-old talkshow host and game show producer Merv Griffin. It is being reported that the TV legend is in grave condition after a return of prostate cancer.

Griffin was admitted to Los Angeles' Cedars-Sinai Medical Center back in July for a recurrence of the cancer, which he first battled in 1996. Various media outlets, such as Entertainment Tonight and KNBC, are reporting that the prognosis is not good and that Griffin is currently in the hospital's Intensive Care Unit. Griffin's representatives have yet to reply to press inquiries.

Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! creator Merv Griffin is being treated for prostate cancer.

Griffin is hospitalized at Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. The cancer was discovered last month during a routine doctor's visit. According to his son Tony, Griffin is getting "great care." His doctors wanted to treat the cancer in a controlled setting, which is why Griffin has been hospitalized, and Griffin remains optimistic. Griffin went through prostate cancer once before.

Griffin has another game show coming up, Let's Play Crosswords. The show will premiere in syndication this fall across the country.