On Gear Live: Steve Jobs to WSJ: App Store rakes in $30 million in first month

Deal or Deal Has Its First Millionaire

Posted by Veronica Santiago
Categories: Games, Prime Time, NBC, News, Video

Deal or No Deal logo

After nearly three years, the wait is almost over. According to , Deal or No Deal will have its first millionaire very soon.

The surprise announcement was made during Thursday night’s finale of . (You can see that clip after the jump.) Since the date of the milestone wasn’t revealed, it’s not known how many suitcases aided the winner in their mission. In the program’s ‘Million Dollar Mission’ - which will be implemented again next season - an additional case worth $1 million will be added to the mix after each failed attempt.

Find out which overly-excited contestant finally wins when returns on Monday, August 25.

Click to continue reading Deal or Deal Has Its First Millionaire

Read More | Futon Critic

Advertisement

Tuesday Ratings: Wipeout Wipes Out Competition

Posted by Veronica Santiago
Categories: Drama, Food & Home, Games, Music, Prime Time, Reality, Sci-Fi/Horror, ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, The CW, Hell's Kitchen, Ratings

American Gladiators‘ ratings slide didn’t stop another reality competition from making a splashy debut yesterday. Last night, Wipeout had the best debut for any freshman summer series since last year. The show gave the ABC a win in the demos while NBC had a hold on the viewers.

8pm
Wipeout

Click to continue reading Tuesday Ratings: Wipeout Wipes Out Competition


Celebrity Feuds Win for NBC

Posted by K.C. Morgan
Categories: Games, Prime Time, Reality, NBC, Editorial

Celebrity Family Feud

The first ever spin-off of , a game show which itself was originally a spin-off, premiered last night on NBC. Very few changes to the standard show format, along with celebrities and much larger cash prizes helped NBC pull down promising ratings for this summer show.

Feud first began airing in 1976 with host Richard Dawson at the helm. His charm, slightly chiding nature and constant kissing quickly cemented him as one of TV’s best-loved hosts. In those early days, owned the show, which was canceled by the network in 1985.

The show was born again on in 1988, this time with petite Ray Combs holding center stage. This version was officially canceled in 1993, but continued as a syndicated version (amid some host troubles) until 1995. The show would not return again until 1999 on FOX as a daytime syndicated spot. Nine years of set changes and host changes have kept Feud on FOX ever since, with re-runs always available on GSN. 

Click to continue reading Celebrity Feuds Win for NBC

Read More | NBC

This Week on TV (6/23-6/29)

Posted by Veronica Santiago
Categories: Comedy, Drama, Games, Music, Prime Time, Reality, Sci-Fi/Horror, Specials, ABC, Bravo, Cable, CBS, FX, FOX, MTV, NBC, Showtime

Celebrity Family Feud

(You can view TV Envy’s Summer Television Programming Schedule here.)

MONDAY (6/23)

  • I Love the New Millennium (VH1, 10pm):  “Eight-part series featuring stars reminiscing about pop culture phenomena of the new millennium begins with the year 2000.” Is it too soon to wonder what VH1 will cover in 2011?
  • Legally Blonde the Musical: The Search for Elle Woods (MTV,10pm):  “The ladies perform with a canine costar: Bruiser, the dog from the musical.” I had no idea revived Punk’d.
  • Psychic Kids: Children of the Paranormal (A&E, 10pm):  “A 14-year-old boy, who claims to see spirits of people and animals, is introduced to siblings close to his age who supposedly have paranormal gifts.” I’m always happy when freaky kids find someone to play with.
  • Weeds (Showtime, 10pm):  “Celia’s hard time in county lock-up gets harder when her cellmate decides to make Celia her ‘special girl’.” Yeah - that would definitely suck.

Click to continue reading This Week on TV (6/23-6/29)


TBS Makes a Hit…or Mistake?

Posted by K.C. Morgan
Categories: Games, Reality, ABC, Cable, CBS, NBC, Editorial

TBS

Get Smart. Indiana Jones. Re-making old classics is the latest trend on movies…so why can’t the same technique be applied to TV? I’ll admit - I’m a huge fan. Any game, any time, I play along and I usually do quite well. True TV game-players know where the best action can be found: GSN. But in this age of old-is-new, where past ideas are suddenly no longer passé, the classics come alive. In this case, it’s Match Game.

A show with a long history that just got a little bit longer. Match Game originally hit the air in 1962 on NBC, running for seven seasons before cancellation. This is not the most famous version of the show. Match Game didn’t hit its real stride until it found a home on CBS in 1973. The episodes have resulted in some of the most popular programming GSN has ever ran, and for good reason.

I can summon this up for you in just two words: Richard Dawson. 

Click to continue reading TBS Makes a Hit…or Mistake?

Read More | Hollywood Reporter

Truth in TV: Can Anyone Win Big?

Posted by K.C. Morgan
Categories: Games, Prime Time, Reality, FOX, Gossip

Moment of Truth

Eight juicy episodes have been watched by millions, and the promos for the show just keep coming. I must admit, FOX’s is truly a guilty TV pleasure and I’m entranced the entire time the show is on the screen. But after seeing so many come and go, one question remains: can anyone win big on this show?

It all sounds so very simple. You sit down and answer questions - truthfully - as family and friends (oh yeah, and the live studio audience and the millions of home viewers) look on. Answer 21 of them without telling a fib, and you’ll walk away half a million bucks richer. And yet, no one has done it. In fact, no one has even come close to doing it.

Why? The show uses a polygraph, commonly called the lie detector, to determine which questions will be asked. Prior to taping, contestants get strapped in and asked at least fifty different questions. From this pool, twenty-one of those questions are selected. Polygraph results, to this day, are highly controversial. Statistics show that these machines are not 100% accurate - more like 80%, depending on the amount of questions asked. This means that far fewer than half (50%) of the contestants on The Moment of Truth will be completely free of polygraph error during their rounds of questioning. 

Click to continue reading Truth in TV: Can Anyone Win Big?

Read More |

Game Show AMNE$IA Premieres On NBC

Posted by Jacci Lewis
Categories: Games, Prime Time, NBC, Editorial

Description premiered on last night and all I can say is - this is not your father’s game show nor is it a cheap ripoff of This is Your Life.

Game shows are inherently cheesy. The whole premise of doing some odd collection of tasks in order to win a prize precludes any sophistication or real style. Not that it isn’t entertaining to say, watch someone figure out how much Top Ramen, pantyhose and a coffee maker cost (The Price is Right), but generally the viewer agrees to suspend any expectation of real humor or insight in order to watch someone try to make a few bucks or win a new car.

Amne$ia is different somehow. Maybe it is the delightfully droll host or a better crop of contestants, but this show may just be an exception to the cheesy game show rule.

First of all, the premise is interesting: one contestant, all the most important people in his or her life and the chance to win big bucks by remembering the most minute details of their past. Sounds easy, right? I mean afterall who knows you better than yourself? But would you recall your 3rd grade music teacher’s name? How about her classroom number or even where you sat? Those are the kinds of facts that Amne$ia producers mine from contestant’s lives to try to stump them.

Click to continue reading Game Show AMNE$IA Premieres On NBC


Post-Strike Television Schedule

Posted by Veronica Santiago
Categories: Action, Animation, Comedy, Drama, Food & Home, Games, Music, Prime Time, Reality, Sci-Fi/Horror, Sports, ABC, CBS, FOX, NBC, The CW, Hell's Kitchen, American Idol, Apprentice, The - Donald, Dancing With The Stars, Desperate Housewives, Grey's Anatomy, House, Lost, Medium, Prison Break, Survivor, The Bachelor

Now that we have come to the end of the , it’s time to once again update our television programming schedules.

Mid-season replacements have had seen their debuts shuffled (e.g. New Amsterdam), some programs are coming back with new episodes (e.g. Scrubs, 30 Rock) while other shows aren’t slated to return until next year (Pushing Daisies).

Here you can find a compilation of the 2008 post-strike schedules for the five major networks.  I would highly recommend printing this out since there are major changes across the board.

Two notes:

  1. This is the updated schedule as of May 6.  Be prepared to see more changes and settling in the weeks to come.
  2. The list consists of premieres and dates for new episodes.
  3. If a particular time slot/network is not mentioned, either nothing has changed or no specific announcement has been made yet.

How I Met Your Mother

MONDAY
8pm:

  • Dancing With the Stars, ABC
  • My Dad is Better Than Your Dad, NBC
  • The Big Bang Theory, CBS
  • Bones, FOX (new as of 4/14)
  • Gossip Girl, CW (new as of 4/21)

8:30pm:

  • How I Met Your Mother, CBS

9pm:

  • Two and a Half Men, CBS
  • House, FOX (new as of 4/28)
  • One Tree Hill, CW (new as of 4/14)

9:30pm:

  • Samantha Who?, ABC (new as of 4/7)
  • Rules of Engagement, CBS (returns 4/14)

10pm:

  • The Bachelor, ABC
  • CSI: Miami, CBS

Click to continue reading Post-Strike Television Schedule


Deal or No Deal: How Far Will They Go?

Posted by K.C. Morgan
Categories: Games, Prime Time, Reality, NBC, Gossip, Ratings

Deal or No Deal - Howie MandelThere’s no nice way to say it: has had trouble in the ratings department the last few seasons. In an ever-increasing attempt to compete with the runaway success of and keep their own reality contest relevant, the network has launched a promotional tactic that’s doing nothing but mounting: The Million-Dollar Mission.

Every time a contestant on fails to win that million-dollar case, another million gets added. As of Wednesday’s Idol-competing episode, they were up to 13 (that’s right 13) million-dollar cases. The contestant has been chosen and the game is under way…but will she go far enough to get the prize?

According to the show’s official site, the mission will continue through next week. NBC is also throwing a special Deal or No Deal episode at fans Thursday night to drum up more excitement and ratings for the show. Host says he won’t give up until a million is given away…but how long will that take?

Read More | NBC

Shining ‘Moment’ for FOX

Posted by K.C. Morgan
Categories: Games, Prime Time, Reality, FOX, American Idol, Ratings

Moment of TruthWednesday night saw the arrival of the show I’ve been anticipating most: on . Wisely, the network premiered this new game show right after number one . Scoring 23.2 million viewers, it’s safe to say the show was a success. (It’s the biggest ratings for any premiere this season.) Meanwhile, Idol won 26.8 million viewers, far outpacing ’s and Mandel’s million-dollar mission. For weeks, Moment has been getting quality promos and a lot of ad time, so it’s no surprise the followed. But…how good is the show, really?

Click to continue reading Shining ‘Moment’ for FOX

Read More | Hollywood Reporter

Advertisement