GSN, What Do I Think? What Do I Watch?

I have to say since I've been back, I've really enjoyed watching GSN. I enjoy each of the old shows airing. I've DVRing Match Game 78 in the mornings. These haven't been seen since the first part of 2004. Those have been nice to see. I also catch The New $25,000 Pyramid before I head off to school each morning. I really enjoy these early shows. It's also good to hear my favorite announcer Jack Clark on the show. Sometimes I even catch the Wheel of Fortune episodes too. Sure they're fairly recent, but they're still fun. I'm generally asleep during Card Sharks and Press Your Luck but I try to catch them if I can. I hope Jim Perry's version of Card Sharks finds its way back to the schedule.

I haven't caught any of the new shows yet. It's not that I'm not interested, I just don't have time. Maybe I'll watch some Divided this weekend. It looks interesting, and it's getting renewed for a second season this year. Cash Cab is now on the network too as of this week. There's still some good stuff on the network.

GSN Leases, My Speculation

I returned on December 1st. Prior to that, GSN renewed their leases on their older shows they've been airing. Last September, GSN began airing Match Game 77 picking up from a previous lease from a few years ago. They also leased episodes from 1987 for Bob Eubanks Card Sharks, 1979 episodes from Jim Perry's Card Sharks and 1984 episodes of Press Your Luck. And also last June, they leased the first few months of The $25,000 Pyramid from 1982. Of course when I returned, Jim Perry's Card Sharks had been pulled from the schedule.

I have a couple of observations. From what I've read on the internet, the previous lease of Match Game included the first syndicated season from 1979-1980, and CBS episodes ranging episodes #1216-#1455 (which is the finale). Accounting for the episodes skipped about 350 episodes aired. This current lease starts from episode #921. If they go until episode #1215, the episode before the previous lease, counting skips it's about 280. My guess, either they've leased just that. Or if it's close to what it's been in the past. My guess if they were to round off the number to say 400, they could've picked up Match Game 73 as well. With the episodes they've got for that (counting skips) you have 113 episodes (including the first Match Game 74 which was not part of any recent lease). That would put you close to 400 episodes. I guess we'll see.

Another interesting item to note is The $25,000 Pyramid. They're currently airing episodes from June 1983. I'm guessing with that leasing history, we're going to be rewinding back to the 1982 Premiere soon. However, on the GSN schedule, I noticed episodes for next week feature celebrity guests as Teresa Ganzel & Charlie Siebert. According to the episode guide, they played together in November 1987. So I don't know. I guess we'll see.

I'm Back

Hello to anyone that may be reading this blog. I am back after a 3 year hiatus on this blog. Hopefully I can get back into posting more than I have. A lot has happened since I've last posted. GSN has changed it's schedule several times adding and taking away shows, leasing new shows, new originals and whatnot. However, I won't review those. Oh, and BUZZR debuted since then. I don't have the network so I probably won't be talking about that too much.

I'll also be posting a few more of my religious thoughts, having returned from serving a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. So I'll just post a few thoughts. If you don't like those posts, ignore them.

So, I'll throw a post here in a minute. So, enjoy what I've got.

GSN Giveth, and GSN Taketh Away

Well, Beginning April 21st, we have some interesting daytime changes. It hasn't been confirmed by PDF schedules or online schedules yet, but Directv has them. Here they are.

9:00am - Password Plus (Replaces Blockbusters)
9:30am - Whammy! (Replaces Press Your Luck) (This hurts)
10:00am - The $25,000 Pyramid (Replaces $ale of the Century)
10:30am - $ale of the Century (Replaces The $25,000 Pyramid)
11:30am - Lingo (Woolery) (Replaces The $100,000 Pyramid)
2:30pm - Chain Reaction (Replaces The Pyramid)

Well, there you have it. I don't know what the Weekend schedule has quite yet. But it looks like Blockbusters, Press Your Luck and The $100,000 Pyramid depart the schedule. Shame. I like Blockbusters and was thrilled when GSN brought it back last December. One of my favorites, and Bill was a great emcee. Was fun to see it back. Fun while it lasted. Same with Press Your Luck. I love Whammy! don't get me wrong, but not in the place of the original. Then again, the same 57 episodes have been repeated a lot in the last year. And $100,000 Pyramid goes away once again. That'll probably be back before we know it. Then again, we haven't seen weekends yet.

Glad to see Chain Reaction back. As for Woolery, please be just Woolery, no co-hosts. I'd definetley watch.

Starts April 21st. There may be more. Maybe Blockbusters and Press Your Luck on weekends at 9:00am.

Goodies

Well, Wink Martindale has a YouTube Channel, Facebook, and Twitter. Wink has uploaded a playing of the pricing game, Shower Game!

The concept is you step into a shower. If you get showered with confetti you try again, if you get showered in cash you win cash. If you get showered with a key, you win the car.

Simple right? Well, this game is offensive. It looks like something you'd find in a concentration camp. I normally hate people who get offended easily, but this is a pretty tasteless setup. Luckily it was retired quickly. And the format was stupid anyway. At least we've now seen it. Just a few more to go.

I wonder what else Wink will have for us? Maybe those other lost games we've never seen before.

Greatly Unfinished

Wow. Wow! WOW!! Went to see the Port Angeles Symphony last night. I of course was impressed. Adam Stern is a marvelous conductor. These were great selections from last night.

First was presented an Overture of Hebrew Themes. Great piece, really good. The second piece really caught my mind. This is a song I haven't heard. Schubert's Unfinished symphony. Wow, I enjoyed both movements, however, the bass line in the first movement was really cool. I have it stuck in my head. I love the strings sixteenth note pattern. Really good. I thought the Symphony performed it really well. Good work.

The second half though had Alexander Tutunov, a Russian pianist as the soloist. Wow, this guy was AMAZING! He played really well and it really added to the piece. What a joy to watch. Of course we were treated to 2 encores at the end of the concert. Wow I wish I could even dream about being that good. Really a great night.

Remembering a Legend - Geoff Edwards

Didn't I just do one of these? Unfortunately I did, and I'm doing it again. Shortly after the passing of Jim Lange, I read that Game Show Great Geoff Edwards passed away yesterday after complications of pneumonia at the age of 83.

As a game show fan, this is a really sad week. I remember when Richard Dawson died just a few weeks after Dick Clark. This is even more difficult, week by week is simply sad.

Geoff was one of my favorite hosts. He could handle each and every game well. He had a great sense of humor with each show, and was geniunley nice with each contestant. He knew each game, how to play it, and well.... he was just amazing. He had several fun moments, whether humorous, or just big money wins. I especially liked the work he did on Treasure Hunt presenting the prizes (or the klunks). He is very underrated in my opinion. He's done shows such as Jackpot!, Treasure Hunt, Play the Percentages, The Big Spin, and Chain Reaction.

 Although I dind't care for the 1986-1991 version of Chain Reaction, the only good thing about it was Geoff. It was very cheap, low-budget, and could be dull, but Geoff was the only good part. He did sub for Bill Cullen in 1980 while Bill was on Password Plus. 

R.I.P. Geoff. We'll miss you

Predict That Future

Well, the month of March is upon us. And soon, April will be here. With GSN's track record over the past few years, they usually make changes, whether it be adding adding new shows, or switching episodes, they do stuff. So, why not make predictions just for fun?

Here are mine with each show. Keep note these are only my predictions.

• Match Game - Will keep the same 1975-1977 episodes. 

• Blockbusters - Will end up leaving. My guess it will be replaced with Jim Perry's Card Sharks with the last set of 1981 shows.
• Press Your Luck - Will get a different set of episodes. My guess, more 1984 shows.

• $ale of the Century - Will get a different set of Syndie shows, from where they left off

• Super Password - Will get a different set of episodes, from where they left off.
• Password Plus - Will get a different set, somewhere from the Ludden run.

Well, these are my predictions. What are yours?

Scheduling History

Most times they change some things up in April. In fact, because I can, here's what they've done in regards to the oldies in April.

2009: Shows such as Child's Play, Blockbusters, Press Your Luck, Card Sharks (Both Perry and Eubanks) To Tell The Truth (O'Hurley and Collyer), & What's My Line? are removed from the schedule. In addition to Sony shows such asPyramid with Dick Clark and Hollywood Squares, Match Game PM, Dawson Nighttime Feud, and original recipe Passwordare added to what other versions of those shows are already there. Oddly enough, Let's Make a Deal stayed but was removed in June 2009. 

2010: Match Game (PM and SYN), Family Feud (Dawson SYN and Combs) and Password are removed from the schedule. Match Game goes from 1978 to 1974, Dawson Feud goes from 1983 to 1980, and 200 episodes of Perry and Eubanks Card Sharks are added to the schedule.

2011: Nothing happens. In April they were focusing on the originals. 2 of which bombed. 1 of those still has a weekend slot?!?!

2012: Both Eubanks and Perry Card Sharks leave the schedule. Password Plus and Super Password are added. 

October 2012: Jim Perry's Card Sharks and Press Your Luck are added to the schedule. Both Password revivals remain on the schedule as well. Usually things like this hadn't happened in October.

2013: New leases on Match Game, Press Your Luck, Password Plus and Super Password and $ale of the Century added to the schedule.

December 2013: New $ale of the Century lease and Blockbusters with Bill Cullen added. 

So who knows what's going to happen. It could be another 2011 where nothing happens.

Remembering a Legend - Jim Lange

I hate doing these kind of posts. I really do. I learned yesterday that game show host Jim Lange passed away Tuesday at the age of 81.

Jim was one of my favorites in general. Every show he hosted he handled well. He has hosted shows such as Name That Tune, Spin Off, The One Million Dollar Chance of a Lifetime, The New Newlywed Game, Bullseye, and most notably The Dating Game. 

In my view every show Jim hosted, whether I liked it or not, he did amazing. He knew the game well, interacted well with the contestants. Overall those who worked with Jim didn't seem to have a bad thing to say about him.

My personal favorite Lange show would be Bullseye. He did the show well, and he hit the Bullseye in that regard. He also hosted a special week of Newlywed Game shows in February 1984. Even though that was a short time, he's my favorite Newlywed Game host out of all those who hosted. Sorry Bob.

R.I.P Jim. We'll miss you.

If you wish to watch some of Jim Lange's work, check out various YouTube clips. Also, GSN on Wednesday March 5th will pay tribute to Jim by airing 8 episodes of The Dating Game from 8:00am-12:00pm eastern time.

Old Tyme Gossip

Today marks the 40th anniversary since Tattletales debuted on television. It debuted February 18, 1974 on CBS. Bert Convy hosted this Newlywed Game clone. It ran from 1974-1978. Several celebrities and their spouses competed, answering various questions. Correct answers earned money. The studio audience was divided into 3 sections. Those people split whatever was won. Various celebrities appeared on this show, including several game show hosts. In fact, in 1974, Gene Rayburn hosted a week while Bert Convy played the game. They did a few more emcee weeks where hosts such as Gene, Bob Barker, Richard Dawson, and Jack Narz, and a few others hosted while Bert played the game.

The show was cancelled in 1978, but returned in 1982, with the same set, and a new theme. Unfortunately some of the 70's regulars did not appear on this version. However, several new celebrities appeared on this version. It ran until 1984.

I loved this show. It gave me several laughs. Too bad I didn't have GSN when they aired it. I thought Bert was the perfect fit for this. He made mistakes, but not ones that screwed up the game (yeah I'm talking about Super Password). Happy 40th Tattletales.

January Changes - Deal Reaction

Well, GSN shakes up the schedule on Monday.

First, at noon, Shop Til You Drop goes bye-bye. Lingo with Chuck Woolery takes that spot. It will be season 5. With it being a double run, dare I hope to see the Season 2 episodes with just Chuck?

At 3:00pm, Chain Reaction drops off the schedule completely. Replacing it is Deal or No Deal with Howie Mandel, the NBC version.

Karn Feud disappears from weekdays. Shop Til You Drop gains another hour at 5:00pm.

My thoughts. Interesting to see Shop Til You Drop expand in the afternoon. 2 hours seems a little much though. Then again it does lose the noon slot. Good to see Lingo and Deal or No Deal back. Both good shows. Sad to see Chain Reaction go. It's been doing good numbers for the network. Oh well, it's be back soon. Starts Monday January 20th

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 :)