Van Ginkel's 11: Eleven Short-Lived Game Shows That Deserve to Be Revived (7-26-02)

With the upcoming reappearance of the Mastermind-esque word guessing and bingo hybrid game Lingo on Game Show Network on August 5, I have come up with eleven short-lived game shows that I have watched during my relative limited time among the living which I think are in need of reviving.

Please note that these are shows that I have WATCHED. That means that, for example, Whew! (while a nifty and fun concept, and certainly a show worth sneaking back on to television) is not on this list; I never watched it when it was on.

If there is a show you would like to add to this list, PLEASE e-mail me with your entry; make sure it's in the sure general format as I have my eleven here.

Unless noted, I would host each show myself. Meanwhile:

<Jim Lange>And heeeeeerrrrrrre they are….</JL>

Speaking of Jim Lange…

Bullseye (Syndicated, 1980-2)

I could not possibly write this list without including this classic, the first game show I ever watched. This Barry and Enright quizzer is well known for its classy and cool-looking set (designed by John C. Mula), and sensation Hal Hidey musical score.

What I would keep: Gotta have the cool set; it would have to be updated for the 21st century, but if it has the line of neon stars, the smokin' game board, and the nifty "bonus island" platform, it should be just about alright. A re-recording of Hal Hidey's score is absolutely essential, IMHO. The main game format, contrary to popular belief, is quite solid, but…

What I would change: the dollar values in the main game should be equivalent to the difficulty of the questions, like they are on other quiz shows. A revamped bonus game that relies less on luck, and more on skill and daring should replace the "dodge the lightning and get three bullseyes" game. And frankly, I never saw what this game had to do with bullseyes, darts and archery (the British show by this name actually uses a dartboard to determine point values for questions), so I would mix in a small-but-yummy dose of sci-fi and rename the show Project: Bullseye.

Strike It Rich (Syndicated, 1986-7)

The ONLY Kline and Friends show that actually had any worth to it. How do I know? Ask Michael Barrymore, the British actor, musician and comedian who hosted its UK counterpart for over a decade. Could actually make a comeback, since it was Thames Television (now owned by FremantleMedia) who produced the British version.

What I would keep: Hal Hidey strikes again. Some folks don't particularly like his Strike It Rich score, but I like it myself (I've been looking for the closing theme for a LONG time…thanks Jamie Locklin for posting it on your site).

What I would change: my revival would be closer to the British format than to the original 80's game. Three teams of two (marrieds, steadies or just friends), one answers questions (contracts are two, three or four questions out of seven answers), and one runs the game path screens (the three paths have 10 screens instead of 7). The British had prizes like the original game, but I would load the screens with CASH (ranging from $500 to $5000). The bonus game adds a question box to the dollar sign (arrows on the UK version, mine would use diamonds) and bandit combo; right answers turns the screen into a diamond, wrong answer makes it a bandit. Bonus game players would choose $20,000, $30,000, or $50,000 to play for.

Finders Keepers (Nickelodeon/Syndicated, 1987-9)

One of my favorites as a kid. Its format is almost Card Sharksian in nature as it stays with one unifying theme: look through a small environment to find an object that's the solution to a clue, and do it quickly.

What I would keep: Gotta have the life-size eight-room house, breakaway front-game set, and Edd Kalehoff's great musical score (music is a big thing with me). The overall format is absolutely perfect.

What I would change: Stick with the electronic pencils in the hidden picture round, and for God's sake you Nickelodeon chickens, where I come from, Finders Keepers is played for MONEY, not points. Thank you.

Speaking of Nickelodeon…

Think Fast (Nickelodeon/Syndicated, 1989-91)

Most folks think that it was Double Dare, Nick's legendary quiz/stunt game, that was the heir-apparent to the Beat The Clock mantel…nope, it really was Think Fast. The meat of Dare was the quiz game; the stunts were just window dressing (making Dare more like Truth or Consequences with questions that could actually be answered correctly). Think Fast, on the other hand, was all stunts, and stunts that tested brainpower along with physical ability at that.

What I would keep: if I have to keep mentioning theme songs, then…anyway, the main format is just fine, and the Brainbenders are a fun and esoteric feature of the game (gotta add new kinds of Brainbenders, though). The Locker Room was always fun and exciting.

What I would change: instead of two teams of two, I would have three single players playing against each other. Also, the last game in each round would be a toss-up quiz game (lots of different quizzes though; but always the three players trying to buzz-in to answer a question, problem, puzzle, etc.). That means there would be a central base (lecterns for the host and players) that the contestants and host would return to after each game.

Wipeout (Syndicated, 1989-90)

I'll just bet that original host Peter Tomarken had a hand in creating this game; after all, it's unlikely that if he hadn't, he wouldn't have been a supervising producer, nor would the show's theme song wouldn't be called, "Peter's Theme."

What I would keep: the basic idea is sound, but…

What I would change: no stupid bidding round…if I want to watch two players bidding against each other, I'll watch them play Bid-a-note on Name That Tune. The first two rounds play like the first round of the original format. However, the low-scoring player isn't eliminated until the second round. The remaining players play a seesaw-type round, alternating answers until one player wipes-out twice (wherein their opponent wins), or until one player finds the last answer (wherein they win). This favors the player who starts, so players alternate going first. After a best two-boards-out-of-three round, the winner plays for a car (the bonus game is the same as in the original format). The seesaw and bonus rounds feature survey questions along with the general knowledge material.

Pictionary (Syndicated, 1997-8)

Like Strike It Rich, Pictionary was produced by Kline and Friends, but it really wasn't their show; it was more of a revival of the classic 80's game Win, Lose or Draw, which was a collaboration with Burt Renoylds and Bert Convy. This version was more like Sketch Concentration; an elaborate set of symbols (which NEVER would have been permitted in the board game) was used to communicate certain kinds of clues, and contestants were encouraged to try to draw the phonetic sounds of the answer as opposed to simply drawing the answers themselves.

What I would keep: somebody go find John C. Mula so he can design another awesome set, please. The bonus game and the traditional two-celebrities-and-a-contestant team configuration are solid, but…

What I would change: my version would be somewhat closer to the board game; one- or two-word answers only in the celebrity rounds (making the game more like Sketch Password), and divided into categories (like in the board game: Person/Place/Animal, Object, Action and Difficult, which would be worth double on the show). The celebrities each play one category, then the contestant plays the linking word round (the linking word concept was actually nifty, and limiting it to the contestant's drawing round makes it more interesting and special). Scoring is just like it was on the original Pictionary: $100 for each correct answer. This is one of the few shows on this list whose theme I didn't really care for. Oh, yeah, and NO ALAN THICKE, PLEASE.

Caesar's Challenge (NBC [Syndicated in Los Angeles only], 1993-4)

Although he didn't create it, writer/producer Harry Friedman (currently the mastermind behind the Jeopardy! and Wheel of Fortune, which lately is a lot more fun than it has been) brought a Heatter/Quigley-type influence to this short-lived gem, the last network daytime game show on NBC for almost a decade. This quiz/scrambled word hybrid was fast, exciting and fun to play along with.

What I would keep: I find it hard to believe that composer Stormy Sacks hasn't been able to find television composition work, although I doubt that he's out in the streets somewhere playing his saxophone for change. His soulful score for Challenge (and for the infamous 80's version of Hollywood Squares) is sensational. The front game is perfect.

What I would change: if I want a gladiator to spin the scrambled-word-slot-machine, I'll get Raye "Zap" Hollitt, thank you very much. The letter-cage bonus game was nifty, but it was almost impossible to win at first. I would start a first time player with FOUR letters in their correct positions in the word, adding one extra letter for each consecutive win. Players would play for CASH in the front game instead of having to buy prizes with their winnings.

Smush (USA Network, 2001-, still running but not for much longer)

If Bob Boden should somehow come across this article, I have a suggestion to make…sneak into Michael Davies' office, and negotiate with him to bring this diamond-in-the-rough to GSN. This entertaining and fun-to-play-along-with quiz/word connecting game was invented by software developer Jellyvision (specifically You Don't Know Jack creator Harry Gottlieb). The players who made it to the Chain round on this show were simply awesome.

What I would keep: everything. Ken Ober, long missing from television, is a powerhouse here in his native element: a party setting with lots of people hanging around. There is not one thing I would change.

What I would change: except the network it aired on…that and the jackpot for the Money Round ($8,000 originally, $10,000 on my version).

Speaking of Jellyvision…

You Don't Know Jack (ABC, 2001)

I'll say this for Carsey-Werner: they make good sitcoms (although that's not saying much). One of the world's most awesome computer games got a mediocre television adaptation, albeit one that aired on ABC primetime.

What I would keep: Jack co-creator and writer Tom Gottlieb, brother of Jack creator Harry, reprising his computer-game role as announcer Cookie.

What I would change: just about everything else. My Jack would follow the computer game format to the letter. Paul Reubens is fun as Pee-Wee Herman, but he can't host game shows for Jack. A comedian IS necessary for this show however, and I would get either Dennis Miller or Denis Leary…or better yet, maybe I could shanghai American Weakest Link head loon George Gray, who would have a field day on this show. I dare say he'd be even funnier here than he is on Link.

Debt (Lifetime, 1994-6)

Michael Davies' first game show was a kitsch-classic. Wink Martindale was at his best on this show, a parody of Jeopardy! where you could go home with NOTHING! (in other words, with all their bills paid off)

What I would keep: the overall format was great. I didn't much care for the bidding round, but it was more fun here than on other shows.

What I would change: air it on a different network, please. Also, I'd get a new theme song (where's Hal Hidey when I need him?).

And finally…

Monopoly (ABC, 1990)

Possibly the most underrated game show ever. Merv Griffin's genius turned the legendary board game into a fun and exciting half-hour quiz.

Nifty Monopoly Fact: if you visit toy and game shops regularly, you've probably noticed all of the Monopoly collector's editions with the umpteen different themes to them. With a few exceptions made by Parker Brothers/Hasbro themselves (like most of the Disney games), these gorgeous (but horrendously expensive) games, made by licensee USAopoly (who have extended their line of themed games into Clue, Yahtzee and even Pictionary!) are a revival of an old tradition of renaming the board's street names (still in use all these years overseas, judging by all of the international editions with their own country's street names on the board). According to The Monopoly Companion, this tradtion dates back to Monopoly's original form, The Landlord's Game, first made in the early 1900's. Originally created to promote a political issue, the Single Tax, various college gamers took up the game and revised it into the format we know and love. But it was Pennsylvania engineer Charles Darrow who transformed the game into the physical form (the game board, and the Atlantic City street names) familiar to the American public, and formally named the game Monopoly.

What I would keep: the overall format is awesome, except…

What I would change: in the front game, each player would get two randomly chosen properties (and the appropriate cash for each) to start (much like the short-form rules for the board game). Mort Lindsey's original 50's doo-wop theme is cool, but for a game invented in the 1930's, I'd rather have a big-band theme for this show (anyone seen the Brian Setzer Orchestra…or how about Big Bad Voodoo Daddy?).

 

And that's all of them. Again, if you have a show you'd like to add to this list, e-mail me your entry (in the format I have my Eleven) at gameshowman@winning.com.

 

Here's our first outside entry, from Anthony Friedline:

Winning Lines (CBS, Summer 2000)

Not really one of Dick Clark Productions' best shows (note from Game Show Man: it was Stone-Stanley and Celador), and doomed to be seen as a clone of Millionaire, but between tweaking the format and giving the show redecoration, who knows? Clearly a desperation bid by the network execs, and treated as such, it never had a chance, which was a pity.

What I would keep: Keep the 'Wonderwall' intact...one of the best conceived bonus rounds I have ever seen. The musical score was decent, and the intro was much better than the first opening to Millionaire.

What I would change: First, the network. CBS doesn't care about game shows...only reality like Survivor and Big Brother. Find a better network, or put it in syndication. Second, get a better--and younger--host. Sorry, Dick, but you aren't as good as you were on Pyramid. My choice? Peter Tomarken. Game show veteran, and can react quickly, as demonstrated on Press Your Luck. Third, ditch the entire first and second round format...too impersonal. Almost anything would be better than how it was on the show--25 minutes of boredom to get to the Wonderwall. Finally, give it a more upbeat, less imposing set, save for the Wonderwall. The set looked like a copy of Greed or Millionaire, and it was treated unfairly because of it. In short, change everything save for what I would keep.

Game Show Man says: I'm not sure I would revive Lines, but I would certainly try to get the nifty Wonderwall game back onto American television. I absolutely agree that Lines' score (written by Who Wants to be A Millionaire's Keith Strachan) was fabulous.

 

 

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