136 replies to this topic

[missouri tigers]

Did anyone else watch this show?:

[Sodboy13]

DEAD!, on May 10, 2011 - 12:25, said:

When I was in England, I watched one episode of "The Cube"
http://www.itv.com/e...inment/thecube/
I also came across "The Million Pound Drop" and "Are you Smarter Than a 10 Year Old?"

Love love LOVE "The Cube". It's everything Guy Fieri's Douchebag Dare isn't: Compelling, well-presented, well-paced, and fun. (Though the Australian version of "Minute To Win It" did the format quite well.)

And the Winner's Circle bonus round on "The $XX,000 Pyramid" has to be the all-time best.

[trekbkr]

nash61, on May 10, 2011 - 18:03, said:

I actually saw this when it aired.

Her quick analysis of the puzzle was impressive.

The first word had to be either "I've" or "I'll".  No other word in English fits the pattern of an apostrophe after the first letter.  Guessing "L", then, gave her the first word.  The second word then was most likely either "had" or "got".  The third word then was most likely "a", since "I've had I" and "I've got I" make no sense.  The rest, helped out by the placement of the "L" she'd guessed, and knowing there was no "R", was good intuition -- pun intended.

For the most part, Wheel of Fortune grinds my gears.  Buying vowels is beyond stupid, and the contestants never fail to leave a lot of money on the board -- which makes the conspiracy theorist in me insist that Pat actually signals them to stop spinning and solve.  It's usually a very leading-sounding "What would you like to do now?" type of question -- you can almost see him winking at them or giving them a hand signal that it's time to be done.  Drives me nuts.

[cmm]

Sodboy13, on May 10, 2011 - 19:06, said:

DEAD!, on May 10, 2011 - 12:25, said:

When I was in England, I watched one episode of "The Cube"
http://www.itv.com/e...inment/thecube/
I also came across "The Million Pound Drop" and "Are you Smarter Than a 10 Year Old?"

Love love LOVE "The Cube". It's everything Guy Fieri's Douchebag Dare isn't: Compelling, well-presented, well-paced, and fun. (Though the Australian version of "Minute To Win It" did the format quite well.)

And the Winner's Circle bonus round on "The $XX,000 Pyramid" has to be the all-time best.

Especially during tournament week on the Dick Clark versions.

[Ben5]

trekbkr, on May 10, 2011 - 19:16, said:

For the most part, Wheel of Fortune grinds my gears.  Buying vowels is beyond stupid, and the contestants never fail to leave a lot of money on the board -- which makes the conspiracy theorist in me insist that Pat actually signals them to stop spinning and solve.  It's usually a very leading-sounding "What would you like to do now?" type of question -- you can almost see him winking at them or giving them a hand signal that it's time to be done.  Drives me nuts.

I see your point, but I doubt there is any conspiracy to it. Most of the contestants are not the type to go in with any kind of strategy other than solve the puzzle (and if it's a Prize Puzzle, solve it quick). The people who watch are causal fans who get used to having it on at the same time every night, not the kind who would pull the infamous "Press Your Luck" style win.
I did see one guy who was very savvy of the game. After he did his spin for the bonus round, he asked Pat if he was going to hold his hand to lead him to the spot (like he does with the women). When he called out his bonus letters, his last one was 4. It was funny, but you could tell it was antics that the crew almost never deals with.

[Mockba]

A page and a half, and no one mentioned Remote Control?  For shame.

[OMMF]

Mockba, on May 10, 2011 - 20:29, said:

A page and a half, and no one mentioned Remote Control?  For shame.

Great MTV game show topped only by Idiot Savants.



Favorite cable game show of all time? Clash! on Ha! before it was Comedy Central. I was only 10 and yet it appealed to the intelligent side of me.

[the admiral]

Winners' Circle is the best part of a show, though I don't think Pyramid itself is the best show. That's probably Jeopardy. Some of those sixth subjects on $100,000 tournaments, I don't know how anyone ever got. Stuff like "Things You Contemplate" or "Things That Are Gradual," easy enough to give the list, but you practically have to surgically extract the operative word out of the other person.

[crashcarson15]

habsfan1, on May 10, 2011 - 12:02, said:

This was awesome...

YES. Russian Roulette might be the best game show ever.  That's my childhood in one show right there.  (Plus the fact that my girlfriend supposedly lived with Mark Wahlberg when she was like 1 also helps. )  Also, loved Greed, Millionaire, and Weakest Link out of that turn of the century group.  Lingo's always been a favorite of mine.

Don't think I've seen Press Your Luck mentioned, that was a great one.  As was Match Game and Family Feud.  Jeopardy!'s a classic, and I really can't stand Wheel of Fortune.  Friend vs. Foe was also pretty good, as is any game show from that era.  Also, Supermarket Sweep was the most interesting of the game shows for sure.

But really, I love game shows.

[fkaKrock5cent]

I loved Who Wants to be a Millionaire. The funnest part for me was the "Fastest Finger Round" to decide who got to play next round.  I remember that the overly-dramatic music used to freak me out because I watched when I was really small.  Also, my friend dated Pat Sajak's daughter for a short time.

[crashcarson15]

Although you can't mention game shows without this...



Just sayin'.  Click on the related "Part 2" and "Part 3" to keep watching

[habsfan1]

From 2000-2006 is when the Game Show Network was the most fun to watch. I loved the modern version of Whammy: Press Your Luck as well as many other shows that originally aired during that period. Nowadays, the only thing that airs on GSN are poker tournaments.





Kennedy, the host was damn hot! I had a crush on her and I enjoyed the show mainly because of her.

[the admiral]

Was Friend or Foe the one that was a big exercise in Nashian game theory? That probably could've been a lot cooler if it hadn't been originally produced for a low-end basic cable channel.

[willmorris]

the admiral, on May 12, 2011 - 09:38, said:

Was Friend or Foe the one that was a big exercise in Nashian game theory? That probably could've been a lot cooler if it hadn't been originally produced for a low-end basic cable channel.

Yeah, Friend or Foe? was set up to be a giant Prisoner's dilemma.  How do we split the pot?

If both go "Friend", then the pot splits equally.
If one goes "Foe" and one goes "Friend", then Foe gets all the money.
If both go "Foe", no money is awarded.

Consider that if you go "Friend", you either get half the pot or none of the pot.
If you go "Foe", you either get all the pot or none of the pot.

In theory, no money should ever have been awarded because you should always go "Foe".

[Coast2CoastAM2006]

2 page thread and no mention of this?

[the admiral]

You know, Will Ferrell didn't do a very good Alex Trebek at all. In fact, none of his impersonations were ever very close to who they were supposed to be.

[McCarthy]

I've always thought the same thing, though I like his W. His trebek was more like a pompous know-it-all who happened to have a mustache and also the name Alex Trebek. He didn't sound like him at all. It always kept me from enjoying the Celebrity jeopardy sketches as much as everyone else seemed to.

[knnhrvy16]

the admiral, on May 12, 2011 - 10:13, said:

You know, Will Ferrell didn't do a very good Alex Trebek at all. In fact, none of his impersonations were ever very close to who they were supposed to be.

As far as matching the voice and all, youre right in that he wasn't very good with Trebek, however with his other ones, I think he intended his impersonations to be exaggerated to make the character somewhat outrageous. Take Harry Caray and Robert Goulet, for example. Did either impersonation "nail" the voices of the figure? Not really, but he brought out the traits of thier personalities in such a way that it made them seem believeable, while still being odd and outrageous. I don't know if that all made sense, but basically what I'm saying is that in exaggerating the character, it added a new element to that character that you otherwise wouldn't see in a more nailing-the-voice based impersonation. He made Goulet talking to a ram in his convertible in the woods seem believable, Neil Diamond throwing his agent over a bridge seem believable, and Harry Caray talking about a moon made of spare ribs seem believable. Am I making sense? (I'm not asking that in a put-down way or anything, I'm just honestly asking if I'm making any sense )

Anyways, I don't mean to get too off topic, just want to put my humble two cents in.

[the admiral]

Half of Chicagoland does a better Harry Caray than Will Ferrell. not impressed

[RyanB06]

Did somebody say Double Dare?