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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Going Back Already

Well, I hope you had a good holiday. I enjoyed yesterdays Match Game marathon. Seeing the Convy pilot was a treat. Well, two shows that returned to the lineup in October only leased 50 episodes. Starting Friday, both Jim Perry's Card Sharks and Press Your Luck cycle back to their respective starts, where they started in October.

Well, I'm disappointed, as I was looking forward to seeing more 1983-1984 shows or Press Your Luck and certain episodes of Card Sharks. But it's not meant to be at this time I guess. I mean, I'm grateful for a couple reasons. One, they aired Press Your Luck and 1983 episodes for that mattered, which have never aired on the network, ever, or rerun for several years. Plus I thought the show would never return after it was pulled a few years ago. So seeing these shows were cool, although the first couple weeks were kind of bland, so that's a little disappointing. At least the show holds on.

Plus, also shows like Dick Clark's Pyramid, Card Sharks, Press Your Luck , and Password are on the schedule at the same time. Put stuff like Card Sharks and Password or Dick Clark's Pyramid and Press Your Luck haven't been seen on together for years, so it's been kind of cool. Oh well, life moves on, and I still haven't seen all of the episodes they've leased. Plus the network still has done some cool things.

Pressing My Luck

Trying to get back into blogging. I'll do another post.

I do have wishes of shows I'd love to see on GSN again. One of them is the original Press Your Luck. Honestly, when I discovered this show years back on a GSN rerun, I was instantly hooked. This has always been one of my favorites, and the only reason I would quit watching is if there was something else important I needed to do. Peter Tomarken was a good host, and the game was just fun. Plus the whammies were pretty funny. Here's a collection. Who could ever hurt a whammy.

I would be happy if GSN brought it back, even if it is the same 1984-1985 episodes. They're still fun, I haven't seen all of them, so, come on BRING IT ON. Or not, there's a good variety of episodes on Youtube.

Online Pick of the Week (4/8) - Second Chance, 1977 Game Show Episode

Well, this last week, one upload rarity (no it's not High Rollers 74) but the next best thing is an episode of the erased and short lived Second Chance with Jim Peck. This show is what Press Your Luck was based off of. This is pretty cool, considering the fact these are super rare to come by. Well, it's not mine (I can't upload yet, still learning), well, enjoy.

Second Chance my online pick of the week.

My Personal Top 10 Favorite Game Shows

1. Match Game 1973-1982 versions. Loved it, very funny, amazing host, announcer, gameplay and it was just funny.

2. Card Sharks (Perry/Rafferty) 2 best versions, the 1978 version was the best, Perry was a great host. Rafferty did good too. Loved the gameplay, it was fun.

3. The Price is Right with the exception of Davidson's version, this is a very good show. Each one is great, and each host contributed something great to put on the table

4. Family Feud (Dawson/O'Hurley/Karn/Harvey) Great hosts (listed in order of favortism) fun show, surveys, been around a long time. Sorry, Combs and Anderson sucked at hosting this show.

5. Password (All Versions). Fun word game to play. Allen Ludden was an awesome host. All other hosts did good too, especially Regis.

6. Let's Make a Deal - Monty Hall did great on the original 1963 version, that was a great team. The current version also is good too.

7. Pyramid -  With the exception of the John Davidson sorry revival, this show was amazing, an extension of password. Very fun. The 1980's versions were the best. Donny Osmond did OK, and the 70's versions vere fun too, not as exciting, but it was just getting started. Cullen did good too.

8. Press Your Luck - I have always found the whammies fascinating. This was a fun show for me, and Peter handled it well.

9. Blockbusters - This was also a fun quiz show IMO. Both Bill's did well. Bob Holness was amazing, and the UK version is great

10. Who Wants To Be a Millionaire (The Regis Years) - Regis was the best. I love the show, and I thought he handled it well. I never really got into Meredith. Yeah she's lasted longer, but my heart belongs to Regis (when it comes to Millionaire)


Other shows that I enjoy. Deal or No Deal, Wheel of Fortune, Jeopardy!, 1 vs. 100, Russian Roulette

Online Pick of the Week (10/9) Rayburn's 11

Hi. I've been busy lately with school and all. In response to last week's pick, I chose this. When I first heard Splanky, it reminded me of the music from Rayburn's 11 (just a wee bit) so I thought for this week, I'd do that. Rayburn's 11 started in October 2007 and advertised the older game shows on the lineup. It was resurrected in November 2008. Here is the original 2007 version.

Rayburn's 11