TBS Makes a Hit…or Mistake?

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

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 game show 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

• Tools:
• Permalink
• Comments (0)
• Digg This
• Share on Facebook
• Forum Discussion
• Email this story

FOX Tests Contestants in ‘The Moment of Truth’

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

Over the years, FOX has really pushed the limits on what can be considered acceptable television viewing – especially when it comes to the network’s reality lineup. Shows like Temptation Island became titillating, guilty pleasures, while the Who Wants to Marry a Millionaire extravaganza inspired plenty of attention-grabbing headlines. FOX became famous for reality with American Idol, and has tried re-creating that success with several similar carnations of the hit series. But now, the network is doing something a little different with The Moment of Truth. Unlike the hit Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader?, this is not the sort of game show you’re going to want to watch with your kids.

You’ve probably seen the trailers. A single contestant sits in a chair in the middle of a huge audience. The stage is in the round, so the pressure comes from all angles. The contestants are asked questions of a highly personal nature – do you really care about starving children in Africa, are you repulsed by obese people, have you ever cheated on your wife? Here’s the twist – the contestants are hooked up to a polygraph machine, also known as a lie detector test. One contestant will even have to face his own father, a man who was not a part of his life. It’s a little sadistic, highly compelling, and just the formula FOX needs to continue the network reputation as being cutting edge.

Click to continue reading FOX Tests Contestants in ‘The Moment of Truth’

Read More | Reality TV World

• Tools:
• Permalink
• Comments (0)
• Digg This
• Share on Facebook
• Email this story