Twas reported a while back that NBC was going to go gonzo with DonD the week of 12/10 with 6 hours in 4 nights.

NBC just upped the ante to 7 freakin' hours of Deal:

Mon 12/10 **This is where NBC added the additional hour ***
8-9p Deal or No Deal
9-10p Deal or No Deal
10-11p Deal or No Deal

Tue 12/11
8-9p Deal or No Deal

Wed 12/12
8-9p Deal or No Deal
9-10p Deal or No Deal

Thu 12/14
8-9p Deal or No Deal


/All of a sudden, I have an urge to listen to Men At Work...

The thing is, I wonder if this was the original plan anyway and not strike-related (since it's in the December dead zone)...NBC isn't killing the DOND goose- it's flatout massacring it...

I don't know if this was the original plan or not for w/o 12/10, but for the w/o 12/17, we'll also be seeing a ton of Deal and the new Clash of the Choirs show on the Peacock...some of the other shows in for that week are scripted, so we may see even more game/reality.

Anyone want to place bets that we see Identity resurrected? Maybe even Super Millionaire on ABC?

Now's the time for CBS to resurrect Match Game. Use the panel from the Game Show Marathon. Use old questions, just not the ones where the logical answer is "penis." All you need is a host. Martin Short?

Or they could bring out Press Your Luck. That worked well during the Marathon. They probably couldn't use old questions, but it's not like Fremantle bothers with union writers anyway.

Somehow, I think either of those are more likely than ABC trotting out Super Millionaire.

Where Deal is concerned, I have a feeling that some of these episodes, especially on Monday, will be repeats from earlier.

I just hope that NBC doesn't use the strike as an excuse to cram DOND down our throats.

Another thought...maybe Million Dollar Password will be coming up sooner than we thought.

Of all the game shows, theoretically, Password would require the least amount of writing, no?

rugrats1 wrote:

You know, nobody's forcing you to watch this stuff....

(Off to see what TCM is showing in December....)

<scenario>
Alright, you've got 4 clues up on the board..."Cat", "Dog", "Horse", and "Cow". What's the puzzle?
</scenario>

All but the most simplistic list puzzles require at least a little though put into them. A good staff can create puzzles that are appropriately difficult for each situation faced. Certainly more difficult than writing, say, According to Jim.

Who says they have to use the "Password Plus" format? Classic Password was a great show (and more difficult, I might add) without the the puzzles.

I agree actually...I mentioned in another thread that a slightly modified version of the '75 civilian format could work very well..(I think you have to go with a Alphabetics-type bonus instead of the 3-stage bonus they used, but the Qualifying game can get more contestants in)

As I mentioned before, I'm a casual fan of the show (especially since I tune out the parts of the show that spoil it). But with seven episodes in a week, including all evening Monday (with some of these possibly reruns), you have to wonder if the programming director was on psychedelics when he was watching "Millionaire".

The scheduling guy right now at NBC is Vince Manze, who also runs the NBC Agency and thus responsible for how NBC packages itself for years, including the things we all hate like promos spoiling game shows and "don't miss the first five minutes of this week's 'ER'!"

I still expect that they're trying to dump those six Wednesday shows that got/are getting pre-empted for "Phenomenon" (which is staying on the air despite its crummy ratings--one would think that Reveille is producing the show instead of Granada America). Strange, considering that they would need those episodes if the strike is going to wear on--or will they just order more "DOND"s than originally planned?

Aren't there a few un-aired episodes of this?

At least 1. Rich Fields' episode

"Can you tell me Number 7's identity?"

"Shenanigans, Penn. 'No-Talent Hack' isn't on the board."

Why? It sucked then, it'll suck now.

Remember kids, the networks are still in the business of making money, and they'll do it with or without scripted programming. They just may have to foist more crap on the public in order to stay in the black, but they ultimately don't care what kind of drivel we lap up, as long as we're lapping it up.

Considering the weeks we're talking about are December 10 and 17-Does'nt NBC program Holiday specials anymore?

Don't they air It's a Wonderful Life after the Macy's Parade?

In recent years, NBC has aired Wonderful life at least a couple times during the season. Do they still air White Christmas?

Yes, but they'll probably all air next week. I mean, we're already almost two-thirds of the way done with the holiday season...or so it seems.

Seven episodes of DoND. Yet, they've ditched The Singing Bee and 1 Vs 100 is still in the cupboard. I doubt they will revive Identity. They could always do a cheap budget trick and import the UK episodes (a.k.a. Idonnity) since the adverts would fill the show to an hour. Only problem is, people will fall asleep in the first 15 minutes.

Back on topic. Is there confirmation they are pushing the boat with a Christmas special?

Their week-before-Christmas roadblock this year, following "DOND" two years ago and "Identity" last year, is a Danish format called "Clash of the Choirs," which is D-list celebs conducting school and church choirs or some such. BBC Worldwide America's producing the show (so they can say "From the producers of 'Dancing With the Stars!'" in the promos)--did the Beeb do this format in the UK?

This is while ABC's trying out the week-before-Christmas roadblock concept this year with the return of "National Bingo Night." We shall see.

Not yet. BBC One have given the green light to go into production on Saturday nights in the new year.
http://www.digitalspy.co.uk/programming/a7...choir-wars.html
The Saturday night lineup is already reserved for Strictly Come Dancing, Robin Hood & Who Dares Wins (The Rich List) at the moment.

Late word from the networks:

Deal or No Deal has now been scaled back -- From 7 hours in 4 days to only 5 hours over 3 days.

"Journeyman" has replaced the 3rd hour of DOND on Monday 12/10, while an additional running of the eternal classic, "It's A Wonderful Life" will pre-empt all programming on NBC Friday night 12/14.

/Now I'm just waiting on the "Duel, Deal, Or No Deal" 2-hour block!

Be on the lookout for "The Deal Wheel", a huge Plinko board with a roulette wheel at the bottom, which gives a contestant a 50/50 chance to double his or her money, or lose half of it. Five of the double spaces are Triples, so you have a 50/50 chance of at least doubling your money with the chance to triple. There's still that 50% chance of halving your money, though. Check it out on December 12th.

The Price is Deal or No Wheel of Fortune?

/And if your case number matches what Richard Dawson wrote down on his little blue card, we'll give you an extra $5,000.

Smart. THIS is a form of Double or Not Double that players might actually go for...say someone deals at $200K. If losing the roll of the dice still leaves them with six figures, they might actually bite.

I think I'd actually watch a show or two to see if people try it.

Ya know, this is actually neat....ripping off as many games at once. Yay Endemol! :)

I may or may not watch...if they actually improved the main game (ie zero gimmicks, slightly better deal offers...oh....and a better contestant pool*) instead of changing the "bonuses", it'd be a sure fire watch for me.

*deadly surprised they haven't gotten some of the (ex-?)TPIR 420 fratboys on a double-case game yet....so I guess it's still not the worst.

This may have been mentioned elsewhere, but NBN has been at best delayed while ABC uses the week to put "Duel" on display.
/It's a shame Dennis Weaver couldn't have hosted

IIRC, they have aired "Miracle on 34th St." in the afternoon in recent years, including this one.. 12-2pm (EST) is the Dog Show, then 2pm-4pm is the movie.

ObGameShow: The host of the Dog Show is the same host of the Feud.

Family isn't here yet, so a quick update. American Gladiators starts on January 6th and 1 VS 100 finally returns for its semi-anticipated season debut on January 11th.

Part of me thinks I should be excited about this, but I just can't help but feel a sense of dread. Somehow, someway, I know they'll muck it up.

/Come on, Hulk Hogan?
//Still better than Theismann
///Will events still be "visually interesting?"

It will at least be an entertaining premiere hour, either as a show or as a train wreck.

Probably. My question revolves more around the whole "capable of producing dramatic moments" thing.

That entire week is special, actually:

December 10th: "Winner Takes All". In the two hour episode, three games will be played. Whoever deals the most money takes home everyone's money. Just in review for people confused, if Player 1 gets $200,000; Player 2 gets $250,000; and Player 3 gets $300,000; Player 3 leaves with $750,000. The other two don't look like they're leaving with anything.

December 11th: It's a special Broadway episode where they are getting a 16 piece orchestra and playing songs from some show called Wicked. People at home will be able to see the contents of some of the cases before they are revealed also via some post-production trick. Doesn't really add anything special, but whatever. This will be the episode of the week to avoid.

December 12th: This is "The Deal Wheel" episode including NBC whoring from cast members of "The Office".

I'm personally waiting for the obligatory "contestants who overcame hardship to make it on the show" sob stories.

/and the obligatory crying contestant ©
//and the female contestants in spandex
///obligatory fap fap fap

IMO -- now that it's being pitched for syndication, NOW's the best time to test out gimmicks (i.e. Aussie deal) to get viewers comfortable to any/all changes that will be on the syndie show.

Yeah, it's just some show. Some random show.

Wicked? Never heard of it.

C'mon, at least do a LITTLE homework before you play the Dismissive Card.

/mmmmm Spandex
//I'll be back in 40 seconds
///okay, 20 seconds

Aside from the mo'money potential here, I love this idea, mainly because it adds something to D/nD that hasn't been seen before : an actual competition between contestants... Now there will finally be a real strategy to this insipid show.... how long do I play, and will it be enough to win the game against the other two contesti?

Here's hoping they're smart enough to keep the three players isolated, so that no one knows how the other players are doing...

For as much as they've screwed up what was already a pretty marginal show I gotta think they HAVE to have figure out that they have to at least do this. Otherwise, the third player's game plays itself, at least up until the point where the pass the other two, and then it goes back to the standard DoND question of how greedy they are. Which, given that the winner will very likely take home a half-mil or so, won't be very.

They're setting themselves up for failure, too. Say one of the first two players does fairly well, and Player Three completely crashes and burns, right out of the gate, such that there is no mathematical way in hell that they can accrue the $300K offer they need to beat one of the others. That would be PAINFULLY bad television, watching them play a game that we already know at home is only augmenting the prize pool for someone else.

There are actually all kinds of logistical questions here: for example, will the Banker still have their usual "wiggle room" in these games, or are they going to have to adhere to a strict mathematical formula? They'll never tell us, of course, but OH MY GOD is the possibility of rigging ripe if the wiggle room exists.

There are ways they can do it that MIGHT work, and I'll take a Crowburger with cheese if they do, but I don't see them thinking it out that much. It'll probably be a huge rating success anyhow, because John Q. Public is a moron, but for those of us with any clue at all, it's going to be bowling-shoe ugly.

Sandler, paraphrasing the Wedding Singer : "See? Chris Lemon gets it. I don't understand why Endemol doesn't get it."

However, there is one fail-safe device they can pull:



What's stopping them from putting the three games in the order that they see fit, and then bringing the 3 players on stage at the end? Let's say player 3 crashes and burns after 2 big wins... Well, put players 3 game on the air first!

Again, they have to keep the players isolated to do this, and they better make damn sure no one in the audience is saying a word.

It has big potential for problems, but I, the optomist this Thanksgiving, thinks this is their first bright idea in a long time.

If there's one thing that Endemol is good at, it's editing a show to look the way they want it to look. There's no doubt in my mind that the three contestants may end up appearing out of order of actual taping.

That being said, it will be interesting to see how they handle the audience side of things, since to ask the audience not to say a word is totally contrary to how they stage a typical game.

Really? I'd be more inclined to think that the winner will probably take home whatever they win + $300 + $75, or something insipid like that.

If it's cheap enough, it doesn't take a lot of viewers to turn a profit.

/as for the movies and specials, that's what Saturdays are for
//if the strike lasts all season, I think the networks should burn off the unaired episodes of cancelled series
///can't be any worse than Cavemen
////I can't believe nobody went for the obvious "Wheel or No Wheel" line

I'd like to think everyone is really sick of the joke.

Whoosh?

On whose part? Not mine, I don't think.

I interpreted Alex's remark as an intentional ironic minimization, but I may indeed be in the wrong.