Why do people ask "Is this a game show?"

[Lingofan97]

Yeah, how many fall asleep to Match Game?

More people wake up to it with the treatment GSN is giving it right now. New lease of MG at 11:30am will do almost twice as well as Chain Reaction, despite the death hour

[phgellis]

From 8 to 9:30 three morning a week I have to undergo a medical procedure--they have GSN on the TV. I assure you, I frequently sleep thru Match Game at 8:30. I manage to wake up in time for PW+ at 9 tho...

[CaseyAbell]

New lease of MG at 11:30am will do almost twice as well as Chain Reaction, despite the death hour

Please. In the latest complete week June 25-29, Chain Reaction averaged 161K viewers at 11:30AM. Old episodes of Match Game would pull 300K+ viewers against first-run TPiR? Um, okay.

If Match Game (or just about any other show) manages 200K+ against TPiR, GSN is most grateful.

[Lingofan97]

Please. In the latest complete week June 25-29, Chain Reaction averaged 161K viewers at 11:30AM. Old episodes of Match Game would pull 300K+ viewers against first-run TPiR? Um, okay.

If Match Game (or just about any other show) manages 200K+ against TPiR, GSN is most grateful.

Sure, why not. MG can score great at 11:30am. 300K would be a rare number, maybe once every two weeks. MG would average then all over the 200K's, and maybe an airing a week under 200K.

This right there is what Super Password gets at 11am, with 300K numbers every now and then, a number dipping below 200K, but mainly in the 200K's. Chain Reaction is just too modern too early.

With the way the schedule is working right now in the mornings, it's either 11:30am for a new Match Game slot, or possibly 9:30am. Otherwise, MG is stuck in the early early morning

[CaseyAbell]

This right there is what Super Password gets at 11am, with 300K numbers every now and then, a number dipping below 200K, but mainly in the 200K's.

No. In the latest complete week June 25-July 1, Super Password did a 188K average at 11:00AM, with only two shows in the very low 200Ks. This is typical. The week before, Super Password did a 184K average, and again no episode rose above the very low 200Ks.

[Lingofan97]

No. In the latest complete week June 25-July 1, Super Password did a 188K average, with only two shows in the very low 200Ks.

Looking at ratings from the whole month of June, Super Password averaged 218K, 188K, 184K, 200K, and 195K. 3 of 4 numbers are higher than the one you gave, so you just seem to focus on "Bad". Anything near 200K is impressive looking at how many people work, and other TV competition, where you may have one or two numbers out of five wearing that average down.

I think Match Game fans would actually watch at 11:30am, rather than other spots on the schedule. That's the best time slot before noon, since GSN isn't going to air classics right now past noon.

That being said, something...Super Password has pushed 300K, or very close to it at least five times within the past five weeks looking back at Douglas numbers.

[CaseyAbell]

Looking at ratings from the whole month of June, Super Password averaged 218K, 188K, 184K, 200K, and 195K.

Exactly. Those are hardly numbers in the 300K+ range, as you were predicting for Match Game.

[Lingofan97]

Exactly. Those are hardly numbers in the 300K+ range, as you were predicting for Match Game.

These episodes of Super Password too have been run through GSN before, which GSN could lease a totally new season of Match Game/Match Game PM that hasn't been seen on GSN in a decade or so, or even never if that has happened like with The $25,000 Pyramid's "Never Before Seen on GSN episodes."

I mean with the schedule now, what's a better time slot for a classic like Match Game? GSN isn't going to air a new lease of MG when most GSN employees is still asleep at 5:30am PT

[CaseyAbell]

GSN could lease a totally new season of Match Game/Match Game PM...

Sorry, but there are no "totally new" seasons of Match Game. It's all been seen on GSN before. And there's no reason to believe that any Match Game eps could consistently pull 300K+ numbers against first-run TPiR. Come on, let's keep some perspective here.

[Lingofan97]

Sorry, but there are no "totally new" seasons of Match Game. It's all been seen on GSN before. And there's no reason to believe that any Match Game eps could consistently pull 300K+ numbers against first-run TPiR. Come on, let's keep some perspective here.

MG did have a poor run at 11am and 11:30am. I'll admit that, but also those episodes had rerun abuse. But 300K numbers have happened at 11am at least, a few times in May, and another few times in June. I think 12:30pm for a new season of Match Game, or Wheel of Fortune would be great.

I think WOF could pull decent numbers at 11:30am against TPIR, but it's GSN, so who knows.

[phimat37]

I think WOF could pull decent numbers at 11:30am against TPIR, but it's GSN, so who knows.

Nothing is bound to do "well" at 11:00am and 11:30am. But, it wouldn't be such a bad idea to put Wheel at 11:30 as a lead into Jeopardy.

[Lingofan97]

Nothing is bound to do "well" at 11:00am and 11:30am. But, it wouldn't be such a bad idea to put Wheel at 11:30 as a lead into Jeopardy.

Wheel of Fortune should do well at 11:30am as a Jeopardy! lead in, but Wheel could do better at 12:30pm in the place of Lingo. Right now a Super Password hour would be good at 11am, since the second episode in an hour block of shows usually does better than the first 95% of the time.

Otherwise, I would move The $100,000 Pyramid to 11:30am, Card Sharks at 10am where it did best. Plus, we have a potential new 100K lease coming

[pzimm7778]

The recent thread about Minute to Win It and Guy Fieri's hyperbolic claim that it "isn't a game show, it's a life-changing show" got me to thinking.

I've seen it all too often. People point to this or that series, usually one that isn't very popular with the fanbase at large, and try to accuse it of not being a "real" game show, as if the entire genre would be forever tainted if it were to include this series among its number. The attitude, to me, seems to be along these lines:

• Given: I like game shows.
• Given: I do not like Series X.
• Ergo: Series X cannot be a game show.

On the surface, any first-year logic student might conclude this is sensible given the available data. However, it proceeds from a false assumption: That if someone likes game shows, it naturally follows that they must like all game shows. This is, IMO, an incredibly silly supposition that I think many people here make -- in many cases, without even knowing they're making it.

I'll use myself as an example. I consider myself a baseball fan, but does that mean I have to like every one of the 32 teams at the MLB level? Of course not! I despise the Yankees, hate the Red Sox, and detest the Phillies. (All due apologies to their fans on these boards, of course; no personal slight to you intended.) But does that make me less of a baseball fan, because I have my own personal preferences when it comes to team loyalty? Absolutely not.

Even applying this logic to entertainment genres is silly. Sure, it's easy to say "I'm a sci-fi fan," because so many people naïvely think "sci-fi" is a monolithic genre all its own. In truth, there are many different types of it -- military SF, space opera, speculative fiction, even "alternate history" -- and it is simply unrealistic that someone would actually find all of these subgenres equally appealing.

Let's spell it out right here. A game show is, by definition, a program in which one or more non-professionals play a game or other competitive contest, usually for money and/or prizes. Simple as that. (The "non-professional" aspect is important, as it prevents such outliers as poker tournaments and even televised sports from being considered as "game shows.")

Here's a simple litmus test: Consider The Gong Show. Would you consider The Gong Show to be a game show, or at least in that genre? If your answer is any flavor of "yes," then by your own definition you've just counted American Idol, Dancing With the Stars, The X Factor, America's Got Talent, and even Star Search as game shows. That doesn't mean you have to like them or even watch them... but it does mean you have to include them, however grudgingly you may do so, as part of the genre. The Gong Show may have been played for laughs, but it was still a legitimate contest subject to S&P by-laws. "Talent contest" is perfectly legitimate as a subgenre, and the larger "game show world" is by no means weakened as a result of including it.

That which we call "reality TV" is a bit harder, because it's a relatively new format in television terms. However, the reality camp seems to have itself divided into subgenres: One in which an actual competition is involved, and one that is just a documentary. If the show features two or more players/teams competing for a prize awarded by the producers, and the show is subject to S&P as a result of this contest, then you can at least argue for it to be considered a game show. This would include the likes of Survivor and Big Brother, as well as fringe shows like Food Network's Chopped. It would NOT include stuff like Pawn Stars, Storage Wars, Deadliest Catch, or shows of that nature.

When you step back and examine the situation dispassionately, attitudes like the one I described -- "If I don't like it, then it can't be a part of the genre I love" -- become harder to justify. Is it really that important for people to like every game show they've ever seen, that they'd stretch logic to the breaking point to exclude stuff they don't like from it?

Food for thought...

I won't go through this whole thread but I'll answer your question. I had an argument with an idiot on the AT40 message board last week and basically pistol whipped him into submission even though he wouldn't admit it with what I am about to define here. It's the same mentality on another that had some moron telling me because I had no desire to watch the NFL Networks 2012 regular season schedule unveiling for each team I wasn't a true football fan. I had said I could find what I cared most about (jaguars schedule) online within 5 minutes of the time this show started. He scoffed.

What do both of these people and the people you are asking about have in common? They are not fans. Fans, even big fans can think logically, be rational, and accept everyone who is a fan may not view things the same way they do. These people in question are actually fanboys and fangirls. They do not think logically or rationally. The object of their affection can never be altered, is the center of the universe, and is always right. If you do not agree, then you are not a TRUE fan. GSN just recently axed one of the biggest ones this board has ever seen. Anytime you see threats made to stations about canceling a game show, boycotting networks because they replaced x show with something other than a game show, and other stuff like this that's a sure fire sign of fanboydom. Again, game shows are the center of their universe so naturally they are what everyone clamors for more of. If you don't, then you are a moron who should have your head examined.

Now apply that logic to your point. Fanboy likes game shows a certain way. It can only be that way. When it isn't it obviously cannot be one because they do not like it and they like all game shows because they fanboys. It wrecks their whole universe and logic to think they might not like one. And if you dare think it can fall into that stratosphere, is one, or want the complaining to stop then you are obviously not a fan because if you were you'd side with them. It is what also leads to "pro show they don't like comments" having their motives questioned and if they are an operative because they signed up to post the 1 comment. Meanwhile, the "anti show they don't like comments" are championed as prime examples of why airing such a show is a bad idea because these wonderful people signed up just to state they disapprove.

So long story short, the people you describe are fanboys and fangirls. Unfortunately they are many places, not just here.

[jus4hugs]

The recent thread about Minute to Win It and Guy Fieri's hyperbolic claim that it "isn't a game show, it's a life-changing show" got me to thinking.

Let's spell it out right here. A game show is, by definition, a program in which one or more non-professionals play a game or other competitive contest, usually for money and/or prizes. Simple as that. (The "non-professional" aspect is important, as it prevents such outliers as poker tournaments and even televised sports from being considered as "game shows.")

Here's a simple litmus test: Consider The Gong Show. Would you consider The Gong Show to be a game show, or at least in that genre? If your answer is any flavor of "yes," then by your own definition you've just counted American Idol, Dancing With the Stars, The X Factor, America's Got Talent, and even Star Search as game shows. That doesn't mean you have to like them or even watch them... but it does mean you have to include them, however grudgingly you may do so, as part of the genre. The Gong Show may have been played for laughs, but it was still a legitimate contest subject to S&P by-laws. "Talent contest" is perfectly legitimate as a subgenre, and the larger "game show world" is by no means weakened as a result of including it.

That which we call "reality TV" is a bit harder, because it's a relatively new format in television terms. However, the reality camp seems to have itself divided into subgenres: One in which an actual competition is involved, and one that is just a documentary. If the show features two or more players/teams competing for a prize awarded by the producers, and the show is subject to S&P as a result of this contest, then you can at least argue for it to be considered a game show. This would include the likes of Survivor and Big Brother, as well as fringe shows like Food Network's Chopped. It would NOT include stuff like Pawn Stars, Storage Wars, Deadliest Catch, or shows of that nature.

When you step back and examine the situation dispassionately, attitudes like the one I described -- "If I don't like it, then it can't be a part of the genre I love" -- become harder to justify. Is it really that important for people to like every game show they've ever seen, that they'd stretch logic to the breaking point to exclude stuff they don't like from it?

Food for thought...

KUDOS
KUDOS
to your article....Seven months ago, I wrote something similar to your thoughts, when GSN promoted DWTS, although it was a flop for GSN audience..

[jus4hugs]

What about Celebrity-only shows, where they play for charity?

Celebrities [contestants]are participating and playing in a game show, such as, FF, Jeopardy, RU smarter than 5th grader, Celebrity Apprentice, for a charity/organization are winning money

On the other hand, celebrities who are guess on a game show are playing and supporting the contestant [non celebrity] to win..