Got some really good information this weekend. Fremantle officially got the rights to Let's Make A Deal in early 2009. Since then they've been working on getting it back on TV around the world (a pilot shot in Australia recently). I found out Saturday morning that CBS is looking at LMAD for the afternoon slot left vacant by Guiding Light. Hosts are being brought in this week to do trials. A pilot is going to be shot in Australia once it's all sorted out as well.

So Pyramid and Let's Make A Deal both up for that afternoon slot. Not bad, eh?

This is good news. Let's Make a Deal works quite well as an hour-long program without drastic changes, an added bonus.

I find it interesting that it looks like a game show will occupy the 3 PM time slot, only the second time a network game has aired in that time period in 30 years. I am of the opinion that this is an excellent time to air a game show (the kids are home and college students are out of class). In the mid- to late-1960s, when CBS and NBC counterprogrammed each other in daytime (if one had a game on, the other had a soap, and vice versa; reruns were also used to counterprogram), the afternoon games were the ones that got the highest ratings. When did this change and why is it changing back?

If this is done more like the Game Show Marathon version, and less like the Billy Bush version or Big Deal, this could be pretty awesome.

And if this is paired with a half-hour Pyramid revival, we'd have a pretty neat two hour daytime game show block.

Don't question. Just be happy if it works out!

I wonder if a new LMAD would have the same reliance on games involving pricing grocery items, given the game program currently airing on CBS.

And boy, it'd be great if Mark Summers, Todd Newton, Chuck Woolery or Wink Martindale hosted! (Just thought I'd get that out of the way.)

Not where I live.

I, too, question the effectiveness of having LMAD and TPiR placed so close to each other. Maybe they'll move The Insider to daytime or something and have LMAD in the 7:30 slot.

FINALLY I CAN BREATHE, lol. I have known about LMAD being in the works for quite sometime. When Monty did his radio interview a few months ago, CBS was the network who was interested. To my knowledge the show will not be an hour. To clarify something, Fremantle has owned LMAD since 2007. In fact their two year contract was almost up, but they renewed last minute when CBS was interested in the revival. From what I was told, CBS is looking at Pyramid and LMAD to fill Guiding Light's spot. Now there is one other secret I cannot tell, and that is regarding the host. HOPEFULLY, they may not have to audition too many of them....

If I were running CBS (and I'm not), I'd make LMAD a 45 minute show and expand TPIR to 75 minutes, thus forcing the affils to clear both shows in pattern. You really wouldn't have to add anything to TPIR except commercials.

As far as host, maybe Joe Rogan, who seems to be able to build up tension and has appeal to the ladies.

Yeah, I know one of the potential hosts is going at it today. Wishing him all the luck in the world.

They've got some good hosts lined up for us. Some definite fan favorites.

This is actually a pretty good idea. Extra plugs, extra time on both shows for bits of business (which has been sorely lacking on TPIR), and less of a tune-out factor. Not sure the affiliates would be happy, though.

All I've got to say is yippee! Pyramid/Deal would be pretty swell. But, here's a thought. The local CBS affil, WNEM was notorious for being a station that hadn't carried Guiding Light for over ten years. Not until they created their MyNetwork offshoot did they begin to air the program, which makes me wonder: If/when this comes to fruition, will WNEM air the game show block as scheduled by CBS, or will it be relegated to My?

I don't know what to say. A Pyramid/LMAD block would be flippin' sweet. LMAD seems like a format that is well-suited for any timeslot length, since the format can be made pretty flexible.

Has there been any other indications of what CBS might do in that slot besides game shows? It just seems weird that Pyramid and LMAD are essentially the only ones talked about.

It pretty much depends on the affiliate (or the station's owner) whether it wants to air whatever CBS chooses to replace GL. Unlike the prime time shows and, apparently, The Early Show, the affiliates have the option of airing the CBS daytime shows wherever they want, or not at all.

Looking at what WNEM currently airs at the likely time slots for the GL replacement, it all depends on what WNEM chooses to replace "Tyra" at 10a -- Banks moves to the 3-5p MyNet bloc this fall.

Is the proposed LMAD pilot being considered for a 30-minute or 60-minute show? When the "Pyramid" proposal was announced, it was suggested Pyramid would be tooled as a 60-minute program, so I'm curious if CBS would be looking at 60-minute LMAD or a LMAD/Pyramid block.

James

Then, Price can stop playing friggin Freeze Frame every day, and play more games that take longer to play. Never been a fan of the minute long game.

BTW, Don't a lot of British shows air in 15 minute multiples, rather than just 30 minutes?

TVNewser reported a few weeks ago that there was talk about expanding The Early Show to 3 hours, but the report sounded more gossip than hard fact. It was noted in a previous post that Early Show's ratings aren't that great, and there is doubt CBS could justify making the show a 3-hour affair.

A talk show is also said to be under consideration, but nothing has been said about possible hosts or formats (there were several hosts under consideration for fall 2009 syndication whose shows never got past pilot or pre-pilot stage -- TD Jakes, Marissa Jaret Winokur, Paula Deen, Valerie Bertinelli and Paula Deen come to mind).

There has been no talk of expanding or picking up a soap opera to fill the slot.

CBS could also decide to give the slot back to the affiliates, but The Eye has yet to suggest this.

And who, last time I saw him doing UFC coverage, now looks like Billy Mays. (Who wouldn't be a bad LMaD host, actually. Certainly no Vince Shlomi, though.)

Sounds good on paper but I'm reserving judgement until I see some video. Fremantle is the company that gave us Louie Anderson and Richard Karn. Need I say more?

Why are the emcee candidates such a hush-hush secret? Are you guys under non-disclosure agreements?

Well -- see what happened to Dan Patrick?

/I'm Kidding
//the new spinoff to I'm Telling

This sounds pretty awesome, esp. if it's a Pyramid/Deal hour.

My question: is GL techincally designated to the 10a or the 3p slot, on paper? I know some mention it airing at 10 in their area, but Norfolk airs at 3. A 10:00 hour of game(s), leading into TPiR seems more logical, although Curt's idea about 3p working for students is a good one as well.

/And it would give me something to watch at work!

CBS's press site suggests that both are "official" slots.

I think officially it's 3PM, 10AM is an alternative. Then there's some stations where it airs at *9AM* (WSBT for one.)

EDIT: Move one post up.

Umm no, I'm not interested in seeing 15 more commercials for power chairs and Diabeetus aids.

I don't know what Alex was told, but with what I was told, Alex is right on when he says the list of candidates has some fan favorites. I am not under a non disclosure agreement, but I am not saying too much as to not betray trust.

Does that mean we'll get to see the reincarnation of Temptayshun Dollarz???

/Hopefully not.

This is the exact thing I'm under. I'm friends with the person who told me. This person asked me just to say that CBS is looking at LMAD for daytime and to not mention the hosts. The minute I get the OK I'll be blabbing about it. I'd just rather not lose communication with this person over this specific thing I was asked not to mention. Hopefully you understand.

So essentially, yes. You're under a non-disclosure agreement, legal or otherwise.

How *is* John Ricci, anyhow?

Nonononono, I haven't talked or associated to him in an extremely long time (probably since my Combination Lock debacle with him) nor do I have any desire to whatsoever. He can enjoy working on Bunco.

I hear he's developing a game show pilot based on Cat's Cradle.

...followed by the exciting new game show, Silver Spoons.

So if I'm following the clues correctly, it's going to be Ty Treadway. What does this portend for a third season of "Crosswords"?

Reruns, reruns, and more reruns. This time it's "The Worst of Crosswords."

No, that was season one.

Exactly

I'm developing a game based on Mindreaders. Working title: Celebrity Ouija Boards.

You guys say that now, but just wait until you're old enough to start needing all that stuff. :)

Actually, I think I've been seeing fewer of those stereotypical elderly ads the past couple months. Also, it seems that more of the products and prizes are sponsored compared to earlier this year.

Anyways, if TPIR were to expand to 75 minutes, I would imagine that about 10 minutes would go to content and about 5 would go to commercials, which follows the current ratio.

Really? I haven't noticed any difference, and last I heard (which was just a couple weeks ago), they're still shelling out money hand over fist on the designer fashions and Apple electronics that Drew insists on giving away.

Well I Hope NBC can try a pilot for a revival of Concentration.

This article from Variety suggests that a revival of The Dating Game might be paired with LMAD. I'd rather have Pyramid, but hey, it's still a game show.

I'm intrigued that CBS has so many games they want to try out, but if this is true, I must admit, I'm less than thrilled at the prospect of a new "Dating Game". Just seems like a mismatch for Deal, not to mention it seeming out of place for a daytime audience.

/Yes, I know it aired in network daytime
//40 years ago

I think Nesquik Pure Silk and Gorton's have become fairly frequent sponsors recently. On the prize side, it seems that they're definitely not offering as many appliances as before, and they were (and are) rarely sponsored. In general, the electronics are still unsponsored, which comes as a big surprise to me. Both sectors have a dozen brands, and I thought one of them might find a few plugs worthwhile.

I was pretty sure that the Apple love was coming from Drew's general direction. He was gushing about the nearby Apple Store early on his first year. I'm more surprised to hear that the fashions were started by him. That seemed like a demo play to me, so I was thinking CBS had more to do with that decision. As a bit of an aside, have you noticed that Drew's been fawning over more of the prizes in general? So far he's said that he owns a MINI, those expensive headphones and a couple other prizes when they've been offered. He also mentions it whenever they offer a trip to someplace he's been, and a recent trip made me think it was made somewhat on the fly. My point is, how much of the current prize warehouse now consists of sponsored prizes rather than Drew's Favorite Things? Are they rejecting sponsorships of "uncool" brands or products in the belief that paying more for cooler prizes will garner higher ratings or more desirable demos.

Back to CBS's fiddlings, am I the only one surprised they didn't decide to extend Bold and Beautiful and give half an hour back to affiliates? Seemed like the path of least resistance to me.

It would appear to me they didn't even bother to search for sponsors, and are instead putting up what Drew likes first.



You're getting to the crux of our little byplay a few weeks ago about this very issue. Drew pretty much makes it no secret when he was behind a prize or idea, because he'll tell you how cool it is on the air. I really don't have a lot against him, I just find it interesting. I wish they'd find a happy medium and take more of the sponsored items they seemed to have no trouble getting last season.

-Jason

I saw that too, and it seems so wrong I almost wonder if somebody made an error. Dating Game has never been particularly successful when it isn't paired with Newlywed Game, and even then it was always the weaker of the two.

First Pyramid gets consideration, than LMAD, now the Dating Game? Not too happy about the latest developments regarding TDG. Pyramid & LMAD are just good enough for me anyways. Makes me wonder who in CBS brought up that idea.

As far as LMAD goes, we should know by the end of the month when they shoot an unaired pilot. By that time, we may have a host too. Still would've like to see Pyramid & LMAD paired up. Oh well.

There's rumors going round that "The Joker's Wild" is also one of the candidates, as I saw here:

http://www.mibuzzboard.com/phpBB2/viewtopi...37&start=15

Now that works for me! Do it as a best 2 out of 3 games, winner plays the bonus and maybe earns extra spins on the way.

/just a thought.
//wonder why it works for me? Hmmmm

If you asked this question five years ago, I would agree with that sentiment. Today, that's no longer the case.

In today's economic environment, as well as depressed ratings throughout the genre, it doesn't make sense to expand a current soap opera or add a sudser to the lineup. All of the current sudsers have seen their budgets slashed in recent months (GL and ATWT changed the way they film to save money, Y&R and DOOL have booted 'legacy' cast members to save $$$, and ABC ordered an across-the-board salary cut for soap actors), so I doubt CBS would go against the grain and expand B&B.

JD

Yeah, and I'm gonna get in bed with Heidi Klum tonight.

Here's another former game show host that has yet to be discussed when it comes to being a viable LMAD host candidate -- George Gray.

He did a great job hosting Syndie Link, and I believe he can make a great wheeler-dealer when it comes to enticing people to go for the curtain or the box. But I'm worried that he could be too persuasive and/or condescending -- None of the other LMAD hosts that I can recall (including Mark "Freakin Studs" DeCarlo) ever rubbed a bad deal in the faces of the contestants.

De Carlo could be another viable candidate as well. Just keep all of those Stoned-Stanley changes locked away and we're good to go.

I call shenanigans on that, but I do think if two games are to fill a half-hour, a light game (LMAD, Dating) should pair up with a harder quiz (Pyramid, Joker), IMO.

I want the Challengers as a possible replacement.