Saturday, February 2, 2008

TV08:Gameshows

Last year was the big game-show revival. We remember the over-hyped 1 vs 100 and Andrew O'Keefe's the Rich List. And there was even the so-so Contest... remember? Then there were the continuing ones- Bert's Family Feud, Deal or no Deal, Temptation, Who wants to be a Millionaire, National Bingo Night, Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader and The Singing Bee. Out of these only 3 are confirmed to air in 2008.
This means we will have to brace ourselves for another onslaught of flashy new game-shows.
Now, the biggest one is probably The Power of Ten hosted by Steve Jacobs. Steve is a pretty funny guy and the success of this show depends on whether or not it is too similar to Family Feud. Nine will probably try and place more influence on the comedy and less on the game-show itself, which is understandable, because the Nine thinks that we are all sick of your traditional Question-Answer shows. But I think that this show will do OK.
Of course there is Out of the Question, which I have talked about enough already.
The Moment of Truth is another attempt by Nine to obtain a fresh, successful game-show which hopefully generates a bit of controversy- as the American version did. It will be interesting to see who hosts this, because I think most people would be turned off by another Eddie McGuire show. How about some new talent... anyone?
Nine has also snapped up Hole in the Wall- based on a Japanese gameshow- my tip (and hope) is that Nine will come to its senses and scrap this idea before they become a laughing stock.
And that's all for the new game-shows. Of the returning ones, I think the Rich List and Deal or No Deal will continue along well, just as long as Andrew O'Keefe doesn't become too over-exposed and become a turn-off to viewers.
Are You Smarter than a Fifth Grader will continue to do OK and hover around the 1m mark like it did last year.
Hopefully Temptation comes back, as it is a good show with no fancy frills or gimmicks like most of these other shows, and if you want to win, you have to have good general knowledge, not have to know what percentage of Australians drink milk from the carton.

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