Shark Bytes

One thing i HATE with GSN - and every network does this - is when they "shrink" the closing credits of a show just to promote some other piece of crap they have coming up. I'd like to see the closing credits, see the old "consolation" prizes that contestants used to get, the copyright of when the show was 'taped'. I mean, why show any of the classics if you aren't going to show ALL of the classic?

I understand the love for 70s game shows- that was the era and on a consistent basis it has yet to be matched. The 70s set the guidelines and set the standard for the gameshow and the element like lighting, celebrity contestants, the MC, the simplicity of play and so on. But whoever posted Chain Reaction is no good did not look at it. This is a classic golden age style show and it doesn't have the clues blasted on the screen for us to read and other things that hurt the playability of some of the 70s counterparts. Put it in the ranks with Dawson Feud, Press Your Luck and others. And unlike others it is universal- the clues are ones that aren't based on pop culture or the rate of inflation. That means that it can be rerun forever.

There is now good and bad. WHere is $1.98 Beauty Paegant, Gong Show, the original Press Your Luck, Dawson Feud and maybe 80s Wheel of Fortune. My email for shows that are easy to learn and hard to play with a 2000 version of a Wink Martindale and so on probably payed off with Chain Reaction. You can play along and it is challenging plus it runs without a hitch.
And this is how to do the Millenium version of the classic 70s Golden Age game show and yes I forgot Tic Tac Dough and Jokers Wild should come back unless they make suitable new shows to replace them. THe only problem with Chain Reaction is that one contestant will blow an easy one and then the other side gets give me after give me or today one g man nailed great answers with 1 letter clues about 6 times and they were all wrong and the chicks get give mes as a result and the come from behind to win. So there is a little too much luck but you know it's great after being annoyed by the Billionaire countdown man idiot Dick causing players to lose on 20-100,000 pyramid and not even apologizing and acting like he is a major stud and genius plus not being able to play along to have a competent host in Dylan who doesn't make mistakes- are there lots of edits?- and a game show that runs smoothly and is not only possible to play along with but also fun to do this to. Except while he makes great user friendly but sarcastic one-liners and show empathy for players well- he does say five seconds to answer too much- like for every contestant who doesn't get a give me or lucky guess or shows they are above average. Finally he got it right and goes about the 5 second to answer rule that you need to answer because it makes a funny answer and we can laugh at you- somebody must have told him what to say in the ear piece. That ruled. But other wise finally another game show classic after too difficult to understand and weak shows like Lingo or the complex and stupid physical challenge shows with couples and singles and American Gladiator like challenges. Man what's the deal with that- c'mon there are a handful of formats that work for game shows, use them and make them run as smoothly as Press Your Luck and maybe sometimes add the Whammy level gimmick and hilarious contestants and bingo you have a winner. Look to the 70s and outside of Dick Clark or Password with the answers loudly on the screen.
Please don't give us the annoying Match Game celebrities screwing up wins for contestants so unjustly and while drunk/stoned acting like Rock Stars so undeservedly- minus Richard and Charles Nelson of course they are always cool. But hey while I haven't seen too much of Winkler's shows- finally somebody got an after 70s era gameshow really right with Chain Reaction despite its flaws although 80s era Wheel is great with the Dalmation and I guess that era ended with Press. Before the goofy answers for puzzles that you get if you know the logic of the writers not if you play it well and the rest of that Wheel was probably cool too and the set-up was a lot cooler. What happened to that show?. And Jeopardy is cool too except they edit it big time and act like if you can't be as flawless as them you're an idiot. And the talking/beeping means you can't play along and there isn't enough drama and love/hate winners to overcome that for me- when there is then it becomes cool- plus I can't remember stuff with that many questions to make it more meaningful but it's cool. But so I stick with Chain Reaction for now. But Chain Reaction is the way it should be I don't have to have expert knowledge in a category and I can play along and the rest of it. So that's an improvement for 2000 shows. It's kind of weird to watch it on the DVR at night and not in the morning before a class or in the afternoon after school or at 10 in the morning- 10 seems to be the ultimate time for play-along non spoof game shows which should be on after the Local News at 6:30 or around midnight but I guess I'm getting use to the new hours for Game Shows. Regis is a pretty cool show except that on MIllionaire they have the fake answers and the well that one only partly worked for me. It had elements of a classic but then they screwed Norm for charity and Regis lied to him for like sick kids when they make god knows how much off it and man Regis goes be lucky you got that much- the cold hearted bastard. And he seemed to mean it- he has a chip on his shoulder for not being big as a lounge singer like Goulet and not getting to be like Douglas or Griffith. Well you are straight Regis and did you get lots of leads on Broadway like Goulet? I hope game shows can get back to the spirit of the 70s and Press with easy to learn hard to master playability that is universal and doesn't require speciality degrees and a cool host maybe some Whammy level gimmicks. Man I miss the whammies. I wish there was a great version of Press for Mac with the Whammies and new questions on the internet except how can we have a Wink Martindale as Host? After Press Your Luck and Dalmation Wheel the gameshow just died on us and that was an American institution. It bums me that we had to get inferior shows from England to bring it back. What the hell is this all about- nobody but nobody nails the game show like Americans did in the 70s. Oh and can GSN bring back a New Let's Make A Deal except the host can't be campy and real over the top he must be like a Wink or Monty and then the contestants are cool. I swear for junk food entertainment we've gone away from most sit-coms and dramas and moved towards Reality more- maybe that will swing back after the strike. I would say bring back the spoof Game Show like Barris gave us but then GSN will give us annoying over the top guys instead of the great over the top Rip Taylor and the talent will always be people who can bend in sexual ways and the show won't last more than about 3 or 4 months even though it will receive mega-promotion and marathons every other day. Too bad Barris nailed the spoof and I miss his work. My favorite word group for Chain Reaction so far is h(and) c(ream). c(ream) p(ie).

if there is so little that I can think of to do that I will sit down and watch reruns of game shows, I think that I will just shoot myself.

GSN is getting much better. With a new president, GSN has reinstated the B&W hour to 7 days a week, They are bringing back Wheel and Tic tac Dough on Monday, and they are showing promos promoting the classics instead of just promoting their primetime junk.

I see big things coming to GSN this year.

It is getting worse and I'm aware of that. Most of all, credit crunchers taking away the tradition of tv format. They're missing a lot of shows. The older Pyramid, Tic Tac Dough, etc. We should petition for bringing back Dawson's Return of Family Feud.

Don't know if anybody else noticed this but GSN put in an extra commercial break durin' 'Millionaire.' If ABC didn't do it originally, why did GSN? Peace.

GSN is getting better, they are now airing (Super Password), (Double Dare) CBS, (Body Language), and (The All New Beat The Clock) on Sunday Nights, and (Trivia Trap) and (Now You See It) 1974-75 on five nights a week at 1:00 AM and 1:30 AM, Tues, Wed, Thu, Fri, and Sat, They did even better the day after Thanksgiving airing 20 Game Shows! now if they would just get rid of those damn credit crunchers, Poker Shows, (Anything To Win), (The Amazing Race), DED, and the rest of the garbage, it will be better again!, Keep The Classics, Drop The Originals and Paid Program Advertisements!

I really love word games. so watch GSN often. What irks me is Shandi's using suggestive remarks or comments with double meanings on Lingo. Watching Chuck Woolery shows that you can be decent and clean and still be attractive and charming. Shandi is such a beautiful young woman, and so intelligent - she doesnt need to cheapen herself by being suggestive. Come on, Shandi, let's use those natural talents; you don't need dirt!
Joyce Allard

GSN jumped back, like I hoped they would, with the reinstatement of 'Who wants to be a millionaire' every night except Monday. Now, if they could just get rid of 'High Stakes Poker,' that'd really be great! Peace.

What's with not airing Mark Goodson productions game shows? I think mostly during mid 90s. Who own these episode packages? Why can't GSN air it? The Goodson production should at least give these episodes. I want to see the post 94 episodes of Family Feud. You know what I'm talking about. The Richard Dawson's Return and Louie Anderson. Why only Richard Karn's episodes only air, and it's the later half of the episodes. I also want to see The Price is Right.

GSN jumped yet again. I was watchin' 'Password Plus,' when durin' 1 of the puzzles, a black strip came on and obliterated 1 of the clues. That same clue was also censored when the contestants and Allen Ludden said it. What could posssibly have been said in 1980 that couldn't be said today? GSN's gone too far with censorship, this time! Peace.

To Dave Wollenberg:

I totally agree with you! I see i'm not the only one to notice GSN shows too many feminine product commercials. There's that same commercial for rephresh every commercial break!

I hate when they squeeze the credits to show ads: I miss the days when you could watch a show and see the credits and hear the closing music of a show

What a great idea! If GSN is really bringing ad dollars in,you'll have enough revenue to start a GSN2! That way,you can show the newer crap you're showing now,& on GSN2,you can show the REALLY good classic shows like the '70s "Price is Right"(remember,Bob is gone,so we'll need it),What's my Line,To Tell The Truth,Concentration,the "original Jeopardy" with Art Fleming,Hollywood squares with Paul Lynde,etc.Then,after 1 year,see which channel has the most ratings(GSN2) & take the other one off!