Megustav Holst

Having had the opportunity to work with the Port Angeles Symphony Orchestra, I've been exposed to some different music, and reintroduced to some. One of them would be Gustav Holst. We played the First Suite in E Flat. Very wonderful piece of music.

However my personal favorite would be his 7 Movement Suite, The Planets. Excluding Earth, and with Holst's brilliant insight that Pluto would never be a planet, it captures the various moods of the planets. For example, Mars: Bringer of War, or Neptune the Mystic. This suite is very open to interpretation. Various groups have done well. My favorite, the Philadelphia Orchestra's version, under the direction of Eugene Ormandy. They do it best, and put the most feeling in it. OK, I will admit there could be more in Jupiter.

Beautiful piece. Listen to it. I dare ya. You'd enjoy it, as well as his other works. (NOTE: The picture is Eugene Ormandy conducting Jupiter: The Bringer of Jollity)

The Barker Days

Happened to catch Bob's brief return on The Price is Right today. I have to say, I like Drew, but when it comes to The Price is Right I always associate it with Bob Barker himself. That's who I grew up watching. I remember watching way back in the day, when Rod was still on camera. Then I moved on to him and Rich. I began watching (or caring) full time when Season 35 started. I actually cried when I heard that Bob Barker would be retiring. Then I started watching the earlier episodes. Back then I had no idea Barker had black hair, but I quickly fell in love with the show even more.

So I eventually settled into Drew, but Bob's who I grew up with and who is my favorite. 35 Years is a good accomplishment. Too bad the backstage crap that went on takes away my respect for him as a human being.

New Design

Hello all. This blog as a fresh new look. The picture is from the 1972 Pilot Episode of M*A*S*H. There's still some changes on the way, such as up to date GSN schedules, more frequency of posting, and other links. I plan to actually get this up and going. So keep checking in and enjoy.

Let's Go Shopping

If you tuned into GSN this morning, you saw $ale of the Century. What made it special, or different from seeing it on a normal day was the era of shows. First off, the theme song was a little different (and IMO more lively), Jay Stewart was announcing, there were 3 bargains, No instant cash, players picked the fame game numbers, the Pyramid clock was there.....and most different, players went shopping for prizes as opposed to guessing word puzzles where you could be potentially screwed over.

This morning they aired the first 8 episodes of the 1985-1986 syndicated version. Jim was still there hosting and reading questions, and Summer was there looking good as usual. The earlier episodes seemed more exciting than the other ones. With the shopping episodes, winning the game was not only important, but how much you scored determined what would happen. My favorite endgame was the Winner's Board. Maybe GSN will eventually show that. Very excited that these are now gonna air in the mornings (in place of the 1988-1989 shows). Nice to hear Jay Stewart again. Also looking to see some of the runs of big winners like John Goss or Alice Conkwright.

Holiday Marathon Review

Well, Thanksgiving is probably one of my favorite days of the year. I woke up and caught the last few minutes of Family Feud with Richard Dawson. Jim Perry was a fast money player. Then, for the first time in several years, Ray Combs was on my television set. Now, I understand that here on the web Ray is considered one of the best. As I've said before, I disagree. After watching both episodes (fighting to stay awake) I was reminded as to why I no longer like Ray. He tried too hard to be funny, and was a lousy emcee. It has nothing to do with what he did. While he didn't try to be like Dawson, I've come to find that his style just doesn't fit my tastes anymore.

But I was reminded that Ray was not the worst. After that, it was 2 episodes of Louie Anderson Family Feud. The only interesting thing about the episodes were Brande Roderick. Other than that, Louie was just downright putrid. I fell asleep during the second show. He mumbled, and looked about as interested as dead leaves. That's all I caught. I didn't catch the Roker episode. I was helping get Thanksgiving dinner moving forward. I do miss Richard Dawson's version on the network though, I will admit that. It was nice to see again.

End of an Era

How about a non game show post for the first time in awhile. One of my favorite bands, The Church will soon be coming out with a new album. Unfortunately, Marty Willson Piper will not be present. This article announces that Marty has been replaced with Ian Haug of Powderfinger. As Steve Kilbey has said "If you can't dig it, I'm sorry. This is my f*#king band after all and has existed at times without Peter, and in the beginning without Marty, and for times in between when he went AWOL."

Marty was not available, and has been doing some of his own work.

I had the opportunity to meet Marty in February 2011 in Seattle when they performed their tour there. He seemed like a nice fellow. But time moves on and things change. I personally will miss Marty. He's contributed a lot to this band, and is a great musician. But the band will move on. I for one also welcome Ian Haug. Never heard of him or his work, but it will be interesting to see how he does with the band. It's a new addition that I find welcome. I have no disrespect to Marty and wish him well in the future. Kinda sucks that they'll probably never perform together again. Well, let's see how they do with this new album.

Returns and Acquisitions - What's Happening to GSN next

Well, GSN used to be very predictable, when a show would lose a spot for Harvey Feud. The next set of changes at GSN, well, are very unexpected, but are very...well, if you like older shows, you're in heaven, or something like that. These changes start December 2nd.

First, Blockbusters with Bill Cullen returns to the network after nearly 5 years of being nowhere on the network. The episode start is #312, so it looks like the last 60 episodes of the run. This replaces the 9:00am episode of Super Password. Convy and crew still have the 11:00am slot for now.

Second, it's not a show change, but a switch of episodes. The 1985-1986 episodes of $ale of the Century will air at 10:00am continuing from the Black Friday marathon. The 1988-1989 episodes disappear. So this means different music package, endgame, and Jay Stewart are around now.

Then, the most interesting change is at 4:00pm. Shop Til you Drop with Pat Finn (don't know which run, I'm assuming it's the 2000 PAX run, I mean GSN did air one of those shows a few years ago). The episodes will repeat the next weekday at 12:00pm. (so what airs Tuesday at 4:00pm will air Wednesday at 12:00pm). The shows get the full hour.

Well, this is very interesting. I do prefer Shop Til You Drop over Supermarket Sweep by far, so I can live with that. I'll watch (or record). I hope it lasts awhile.

Very glad to see Blockbusters with Bill Cullen return to the network. This is one of my favorite Game Shows. I would always watch it on weekend mornings. Also good to see a Bill Cullen show on the network. I will definetley be watching (or recording) this for sure. Hope it fares well in the ratings.

As for Syndicated $ale gaining a spot on the regular schedule. Yes I'm happy.

These changes start Monday Shop Til You Drop, that starts on December 3rd)
December 2nd (except for the Noon

Thanksgiving Weekend - Some Different, and Several Same

I should return to more blogging. I've given a few posts, but I'll give some more. So here's Thanksgiving on GSN this year.

On Thanksgiving, it's all Family Feud. Steve Harvey? Yes from 2:00pm and onward. Before, it's everyone else. And I mean EVERYONE. Dawson gets the 8:00am hour with 2 shows (1 with Sammy Davis Jr. Hosting, and then the Game Show Hosts episodes). Combs gets 9:00am, Anderson 10:00am, Karn 11:00am, O'Hurley 12:00pm, and Roker 1:00pm. Yes they're all celebrity shows.

Well, this is interesting. Dawson gets his first exposure since his removal last spring. He'll be good to see again. He was my favorite. Like that GSN's usuals are present, wouldn't be a normal day without them (some sarcasm there) As for everyone else, it must be turkey day.

Al Roker was not a bad host, it was the celebrities that turned me away, like the Kardashian's or Hugh Hefner's girlfriends. Considering I don't like those who are popular, that turned me away from the show. I've grown to dislike Combs more and more, so I probably won't watch. There is an Opryland show though, so I might (Bill Anderson is there). Louie.........Yeah I hope this is a one time deal. His voice sucked, his hosting sucked, and yeah. He didn't want to be there and eventually grew really bored (worse than Dawson did). Probably a one time deal like Match Game 98 (I Hope). Card Sharks 2001 is probably due to pop up sometime soon.

As for Black Friday, Steve gets everything from Noon eastern onward. Before that, 1985-1986 Syndicated episodes of $ale of the Century. That works for Black Friday with shopping. They're airing the First 8 episodes of that version, with the Shopping era. Some speculate that version will air soon. I think so, but not for awhile. Well, I'll be tuning in (or DVRing and saving). The earlier episodes were much better. The music package was better, more energy, better endgames. We'll see what happens. If the Syndicated version makes its way to the network, I'll be watching. If not and they stick with the 1988-1989 NBC shows, OK. I thought the show would never come to the network. Sometimes it's good to be wrong.

As for the overabundance of Harvey. No problem. I just won't watch :)

Remembering a Legend - Marcia Wallace

I hate coming across death notices, especially if it's a name I recognize. I went browsing at the Game Show Paradise boards, and saw a notice that Marcia Wallace had died at the age of 70.

I've been watching The Simpsons for several years. Krabapel was always one of my favorite characters. Her signature laugh, and her character, very enjoyable. Marcia was the perfect voice for that character. I'll miss that character.

I knew Marcia better on Game Shows. I first saw Marcia on Match Game with Ross Shaffer on a 2004 rerun. I later saw her on the Syndicated version with Gene Rayburn, then, yeah, the episodes got earlier. She was one good panelist, always giving the most interesting answers. Yeah she didn't match anyone until 1975. Needless to say, everyone made a huge deal of it. She was always fun to watch.

Marcia also did Password Plus, Super Password, The $100,000 Pyramid, and Card Sharks with Jim Perry. One of my favorite moments was on Card Sharks when Bill Daily made a dumb move in the game and still managed to win. Her reaction was priceless, and of course Bill was happy. Very funny moment.

R.I.P Marcia Wallace
1942-2013

She will be missed and her contributions to television will be remembered.

30 Years and Premieres

I'll take a moment to do 2 posts in one for 2 shows that debuted 30 years ago. First we start with one of my favorite Game Shows, Press Your Luck. Press Your Luck debuted 30 years ago today on CBS, replacing Child's Play. Peter Tomarken was the host of this game. Players answered questions to win spins, and then pressed a button which landed them on a random spot. Yeah sounds bland, but watching it is fun to see if they keep their winnings and how far they can go. If you hit the Whammy, that's it, you lose your money and are one step closer to being out of the game. I've always enjoyed this show. It ran for 3 more years. I loved the Whammy animations, and of course if you're a kid, they're like the coolest things in the world. My favorite episodes were when a contestant passed spins to whammy someone out, and all 3 finished with zero. It was all Joe's fault. Who could forget Michael Larsen when he won (or cheated, depending on your view) $110,000+ on the show. It was a good show. GSN aired the 1983 episodes from October 2012-March 2013. GSN currently airs the show in reruns. It ran until September 1986, and GSN revived it in 2002. That can be seen on Weekends.

The other show that debuted was the Nighttime Syndicated version of Wheel of Fortune with Pat Sajak and Vannw White. The popular show was originally in daytime with Chuck Woolery and Susan Stafford. Chuck left and was replaced by Pat Sajak. Susan left and was replaced by a then "unknown" Vanna White. Needless to say, she is not unknown today. The show still goes strong, and is still pretty good. The first few seasons had shopping then they switched to all cash. The show just started its 31st season.

Happy 30th to these 2 wonderful shows.

Feud Funnies

Well, I love watching funny Family Feud moments. Anytime (on any version, even Louie and Combs) just makes you wanna laugh. One of my favorites is from This Episode. The girl responds to the Question "Something You Squeeze" with the answer Peanut Butter. Everyone laughs, but I guess when I was young (after this aired, years of course) I had a squeezable peanut butter thing. Oh well, guess that was after the time.

However some are just plain stupid. Just like This episode. Name an animal with 3 letters in its name. It goes from dumb, to dumber. Frog. Wow, that's just stupid. Alligator, wow. I remember first seeing this and banging my head against the wall. Yeah, but I also laughed.

Heck some answers, well made Richard laugh. Like the September episode. Overplayed yes, but the fact that Richard just won't stop laughing, I think it's priceless.

Funny moments. Several others like A Vegtable you Marinate "Grape" or a Yellow Fruit "Orange". Sometimes you crack under pressure though, and it provides hilarious results.

Just One of Those Moments

Well, went YouTube hunting today, and came across a rather funny moment from the show Scrabble. If you wish to view this, here. If you prefer complete squeaky clean stuff, then turn away. It's not really all that bad, just a little bit risque.

Sometimes on game shows, you just get those moments that are just, well, you know, wow. Some things can line up just perfectly, and some things line up to make.. well something like this.

The clue is "Consuming Desire." And of course the letters happen to come up in an order that.. well, just a little risque. And of course, the letters they drew were stoppers, so the word just came up there. Chuck himself was eager for that word to get solved. Of course, the audience was laughing throughout this, and I chuckled a little bit.

Goodbye From 7 1/2 earlier

Well, in my DVD collection (turns out someone decided to delete the $ale finale off the DVR, oh well, I'll wait till next time it airs), I thought I'd give this the Third exposure. The Jim Perry Card Sharks finale, which was a former Online Pick twice.

Well, in watching it, I am once again reminded of why Jim Perry is one of my favorite hosts. The finale was good, and Jim invited his wife up again, and thanked the staff at the end.

Jim of course still had a heartfelt goodbye, and it showed he truly enjoyed doing it. I have to say as I have in the past, Jim has the best finales. Of course over both $ale and Card Sharks, Card Sharks was my favorite.

The End

Hey all. Well, with yesterday being my birthday and all :), GSN gave me a present, even if it is a day late. After not being seen anywhere for several years (except on YouTube), the March 24, 1989 finale of $ale of The Century has been broadcast on TV. I have to say, I've really gotten into this show, and I appreciate getting able to see it on TV. Up until April, it hadn't been seen on TV in my lifetime (I'm 18), so this has been spectacular. And I've enjoyed watching Jim Perry too, so it's a bonus. He just did well at anything I've seen him host. He's just a natural. And bringing his wife June on stage, and thanking the crew, and all other stuff, well, yeah. He looked like he enjoyed doing them too.

Anyway, thank you GSN allowing me and others to see this on TV, not just in YouTube form. Can't wait to get this to DVD

Spirit of 76

Well, with GSN's new lease of shows, we hit a huge turning point in Match Game. OK, not that big, but it's great to see it again. Tomorrow at 8:00am, Match Game 76 returns to the network, and we leave 75 behind... for now. Long awaited since, well... I don't know, but we're getting it. We expected to see it sometime in 2011, but we then found out GSN leased about 400 episodes, and we would not be seeing them.

Well, there are several things to look forward, like Gene Breaking Down the Door for the first time, or Mike Douglas. If there's anything I'm looking forward to it's Marvin Hamlisch's episodes, which air, this week. Also several other funny episodes, but then again, just about every episode is a funny episode.

Starts tomorrow at 8:00am EST.

Antics

I love Match Game. Even during the syndicated run, there was some funny stuff. This episode contains lots of funny stuff, including Charles taking the PM sign.

That's what I loved about Match Game is its focus on Comedy slightly more than its focus on the game. Even after Richard Dawson left, the show still had some good stuff, until the 1981-1982 season, when it was just routine. Before hand though in the Post-Dawson era, there was still much stuff that's worth viewing. Yeah, they were drunk acting stupid, but that's a thing of the past. I just loved the craziness.

Of course before hand with Richard (even in his pissy days), it was a laugh riot. Like this moment. Very Match Game was for the laughs. Still it was always exciting to see someone win.

funny, and all they did was screw around. The show was more of a comedy show IMO, and if you were in it for the game, you were missing a lot. And even during the game, we got some funny stuff too. Yeah the dumb answers sucked, but you gotta good laugh out of them.

Overall, one of my favorites was McLean losing his shirt. That was funny. So many good moments on just about every episode.

Sadly the 1981-1982 syndicated season lacked the humor, which is why I found it kind of bland. Although McLean did put in some good moments too.

Hey T.C.

I've never liked cats. They're a nuisance, and they're awful pets. However, the only cats I like are the animated ones that live in a dirty New York City Alley. I'm talking about the old Hanna-Barbera Classic Top Cat. Started in 1961 and ended in 1962 after 1 season. You'd think it wouldn't have had any affect, and would be widely forgotten, and well, it kind of is, however it has been rerun on Boomerang/Cartoon Network for awhile.

The story is about a gang of cats, with their leader, Top Cat or T.C. as he is commonly referred to. Other cats in this group are Choo-Choo, Spook, Fancy, Brain, and his close friend, Benny the Ball. T.C. is always looking for schemes to make money, and will usually stop at nothing. However, the police officer, Officer Dibble is always on to him and the gang making sure they don't cause trouble. Usually there's some criminal they catch, they get the reward, and it goes back to the police station.

I don't know why, but I enjoy it very much, one of my favorite cartoons. Don't know why, but it is. One of the classic episodes is The Maharajah of Pookajea. It's usually the episode aired a lot in reruns, or on DVD selections. One of my personal favorites is T.C.Minds the Baby where they find an abandoned baby. That's always been one of my favorites.

Can't Hold Me??

Well, I've seen my fair share of strange music videos. So why not add another one? This one was released last week by Macklemore, titled Can't Hold Us. Well, I watched the video. First, it looks in the beginning like it features a Black version of Albus Dumbledore. Then the video is pretty much a montage of different people carrying a flag that says The Heist. However, it was shot in many areas such as New Zealand and Seattle, and other areas. As weird as it is, it's pretty cool, and the song is pretty catchy.

Pretty good features, including a guitar solo, a brass section, pretty good, and the lyrics are mostly clean. So yeah, I enjoy it. Yeah it's still a little strange though, I can't do anything about that :)

The Middle of the Pack

Well, about a year ago if you would've asked me what I thought of the ABC sitcom The Middle you would've heard negative reviews from me. However things can change. This is now one of my favorite TV shows, and also regular TV appointment.

The show takes place in Indiana and is a family that each has different problems and all that other stuff. Mike and Frankie (a female) Heck are raising their 3 kids, Axl, Sue and Brick. Axl is their oldest, currently a Senior in High School for this season. He is currently in a relationship, and is a slacker. Sue is the extremely awkward middle child, that has no friends, tries out for everything and fails. And Brick is just socially challenged.

Frankie nararrates the series, with different things going in their lives, trouble at work, school and home. It's very funny with each new adventure they face. It's what makes Wednesday nights awesome!

A New Interest

Well, with the recent debut of Sale of the Century on GSN, I have to say, I should've gotten into this years ago. During the last week I've been watching episodes of Sale from 1985-1989. I've actually seen a Sally Julian episode, and was disgusted by that. The Menning episodes are OK too.

This show makes me appreciate Jim Perry as a host even more. He's good, reads questions well, and shows his humor.

And the show actually has an interesting format as well. Some of the Instant Bargains are hilarious, and everyone seems to work well. Yeah the prizes look like crap today, but a lot of shows do, and I watch for the gameplay anyway, so what do I care? So, after Having seen a few episodes, the winner's board is my favorite end game. The last one was too hard, and the first one was OK.

I'm now into it, and am grateful GSN picked it up. I hope it does well for the network, because I'd like to see more than the final 65. Jim and Summer are a great team. Of course my favorite Jim Perry work is still Card Sharks but this is a very close second.

GSN Daytime Changes Next Week

Well, I've been on a long vacation, that should've ended 2 days ago :) Well anyway, next week GSN is revamping its daytime schedule.

8:00am - Match Game 75 (1975-1977 Episodes)

8:30am - Match Game 75 (1975-1977 Episodes)

9:00am - Press Your Luck (1983-1984 Episodes)

9:30am - Sale of the Century (1988-1989 Episodes)

11:00am - Super Password (1986-1987 Episodes)

and for Weekends, we get the 1981-1982 episodes of Password Plus with Tom Kennedy.

Well, I for one am excited for these changes. Very excited to finally see some more Match Game 75 and more Press Your Luck. Not extremely excited for the final season of Password Plus but it does have Tom Kennedy which hasn't been seen forever. More Super Password episodes are always welcome.

As for Sale Of the Century all I can say is wow, I thought this show would never set foot on the schedule.  Well, good thing I didn't necessarily bet my life, otherwise I'd be in huge trouble. It's a decent show, and I will enjoy it. I mean Jim Perry is an excellent host, so it's gonna be good. Starts Monday April 1st.

Yeah, we give up Dawson Feud and Card Sharks but oh well. They'll probably be back. This is the first time Dawson Feud has not been on the GSN lineup.

Chuck's Back

Well, looks like GSN is changing a part of the schedule again. Jeopardy! once again disappears from the schedule. And they haven't finished out the season yet. Oh well, some things I still would've liked to see, but oh well, life moves on.

It's replacement is something that is not on the schedule at the moment. Chuck Woolery's Lingo. According to the PDF schedules, it will be Season 5, with Chuck and Shandi.

Well, I enjoy Lingo but the Chuck and Shandi seasons weren't my favorites. They were OK, but I don't know, it just doesn't click with me. I just don't know. I didn't mind Stacey Hayes that much, but I personally think Lingo is best with just one host. I do prefer the Bill Engvall version over Chuck and Shandi, but of course, you can't beat Chuck solo, during his first two seasons. I'm sure 2003 episodes will turn up again soon. Might take a long time, but they'll be back, and I'll be watching. So Starting Monday February 25th at 11:30am, Woolery Lingo replaces Jeopardy!

I Love a Good Show

The last couple weeks, the GSN board has had a conversation about people who only give praise to older shows, or something like that. Well, I'll state my opinion on what I like about the genre.

Well, there's new shows, and well... older shows. I will admit most of my collection includes, well, majority older shows. There are many on the internet who clamor for older shows to be in abundance on the airwaves. Unforutately time is moving on, and it will keep going on. My favorite game show is turning 40 in July. Wow, I'm only 17, maybe I should re-evaluate my life. But they're getting older, and people want newer stuff. That's what the casual viewers want. That's why Steve Harvey is on 6 times a day, because the young casual audience (or even old) wants Steve, because he's new.

Then you have a small group of people that are complete purists. Yeah, there are some out there. If Richard Dawson is not hosting the Feud or if there's color in the picture (Other than black or white), then it's considered trash and therefore deserves no attention at all. I'm sorry but I don't buy that. I believe that both eras are great. (Note: I know some people on the GSN boards appreciate both, and I'm not attacking you).

I appreciate both eras, old and new. Today I love shows such as  The Price is Right with Drew Carey, Wayne Brady's Let's Make a Deal, Steve Harvey's Family Feud, and of course Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! I loved the revival of Pyramid with Mike Richards. However that didn't fly with the audience. Within the last 10 years I've enjoyed stuff such as Deal Or No Deal, 1 vs. 100, Catch-21, Lingo even Bill Engvall's too, The Power of 10, Family Feud, Catch-21, Whammy!, Russian Roulette and countless others. However, there's still some crap among there. Who's Still Standing and Take it All are awful. I understand getting new concepts out there, but they aren't working. So I enjoy many newer shows, and kind of don't mind over abundance of them, because I know more people like them.

However when we cross the timeline, I do have some favorites over there too. Match Game, Card Sharks (except Eubanks doesn't count as a favoite) Family Feud (Dawson), The Price is Right, Press Your Luck, Pyramid, Password and many others. There are multiple episodes made for each, some have several incarnations. However stuff like Ray Combs Family Feud, To Tell the Truth except for Moore Ward and Trebek, and even older episodes of Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! just don't appeal to me. OK, I like some older WOF episodes. Somethings are forgettable like Gambit or The Dating Game. Which also don't appeal that much, even though some absolutely adore.

So, when I was younger I used to openly like Game Shows, however, I keep it private now, as it seems weird to enjoy older shows. I still do, but now no one knows. If the show's good, I watch it. If it sucks, I don't bother. I don't care if it was 1974 or 2004, if it's good I'm watching. That's how every game show should be treated. Not based on age. I'm grateful GSN even still shows older programming in a time where it's becoming less popular. I don't care if it's only 50 episodes, or if the credits are being crunched, or if there's ads on the screen. We should be grateful we're seeing them.