The sudden and shocking of passing of TV writer, producer and host Ken Ober turned a lot of heads. Here's one of Ober's head (ahem) getting turned, for a change.
Collin Quinn, Ober's longtime friend and Remote Controlco-host, posted a hilarious picture on his Twitter page of himself, Ober and the uber-cute Kari Wuhrer on the set of their equally hilarious game show.
I'm tempted to let Bob use this for our weekly Subtle Subtitles post, but am worried the funniest of the comments will get us banned from every library in the country assuming, of course, that reading is still going on in America's libraries.
I remember when Wipeout premiered on ABC there was a lot of talk about what sort of contract the contestants had to sign because there was a very good chance that someone could get seriously injured getting punched in the face or sliding off of giant balls and ramps. Turns out they have to sign a pretty extensive contract.
And now comes word that a contestant that was taping an appearance on the show has died.
This might sound more overdue than According to Jim's cancellation, but one of TV's greatest creators is getting the Hall of Fame treatment.
Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry will join the ranks of the Television Academy's Hall of Fame next year at a special induction ceremony at the Beverly Hills Hotel.
Other inductees include Candice Bergen, production and art director Charles Lisanby, announcer Don Pardo, Tom and Dick Smothers and game show producer Bob Stewart. Is there anyone that they left off the list?
The term "adult video games" sounds admittedly dirty, so we'll steer clear of that and call CBS Consumer Products' upcoming line of TV series-based titles "grown up."
CBS announced in a press release that they're breaking out a line of games related to hit shows that aren't exactly on the kids' radars -- what with their rock n' roll and their Hula-Hoops and their "Beavis and Buttheads." You'd expect to see console or computer games based on The Clone Wars or Battlestar Galatica, but Diagnosis: Murder and Hollywood Squares? What would Paul Lynde say?
But, those latter two shows are on the list, with a PC & Mac game heading our way in 2010 for Diagnosis and an iPod Touch and iPhone game of Squares coming next year.
The Price is Right is full of bloopers, bleeps and blappers. But only one word can describe this: blooptastic.
One of the show's models (what are they called now? Drew's Dames? Carey's Chicks?) was modeling a prize, specifically a remote controlled skateboard, and...well, you can probably imagine what happens next. And if you can't, please get an imagination upgrade.
I'm not sure if it seems like it should be more episodes or less, but The Price is Right has been going strong since 1972 and they're going to be celebrating their 7000th episode on November 5. I guess that seems right, it's just that when a show is on for 37 years you lose all track of the number of episodes.
Here's a behind the scenes look at tomorrow's show.
Something about the syndicated Who Wants to Be a Millionaire seems off this season. It might be the gimmicky "Tournament of Ten" that they've been building towards; it starts next week. Or it might be the bumped-up money tree they've instituted, paired with tougher questions; now it's easier to get the first safety level (now $5,000) but much more difficult to get to the second (still $25,000).
But what might also be off is that the producers have been mixing in some very young contestants into the show, and when they're on, the program screeches to a halt.
Why? They're too young. Even if they're the most book-smart kids on the planet, their knowledge of pop culture and historic events goes back maybe ten years, and those questions are a large part of the stack most contestants get.
The rules of Jeopardy clearly state that you are not eligible to be on the show if you have appeared on the show already (unless it's a special show and the producers choose you). So why was Jeff Kirby allowed to be on the show this past Monday when he was already on the show in 1999?
When you think about, the "Phone-A-Friend" lifeline on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire has always been lame.
In theory it sounds good: if you don't know the answer you call a friend to see if they know. You even get to choose a few friends for your list so you can have people with different specialties/knowledge. So why did it fail so often? Friends that contestants called either got the question wrong, weren't that sure of the answer at all (forcing the contestant to use another lifeline to narrow it down more, like 50/50), or they couldn't even get their answer out before time ran out and the call was cut off. It always made me nervous.
So now we have a shiny new, 21st century edition of Let's Make A Deal. How does it stack up to the Monty Hall classic?
For the most part, the show hasn't changed a bit. Sure, some of the prizes are different now: satellite televisions and HDTVs. But there are still three doors and small boxes and big boxes and trading cash or prizes for what's behind or under those doors and boxes (and most of the prizes are the same: furniture and appliances and trips). We still have people dressed as cowboys and bananas and clowns and chefs so that hasn't changed.
But what about the hour-long format? The old show was 30 minutes. Does expanding it to an hour ruin things?
Seems like the networks are on a game show-buying frenzy. NBC has Perfect 10 coming up, and now comes word that FOX will bring the British game show The Cube to America. If you've never seen the show, the object is to bring an ice cube from one city to the next before it melts and if you do you win $1 million.
Producers say they've developed easily replicated challenges because they want us to play along at home, like how we yell prices to contestants on The Price is Right. There are no prizes for participating at home, unless you count having to figure out what to do with an entire roll of toilet paper strewn about your living room.
They're even going to set up a website where we can see 50 demonstrations of tasks people on the show might be asked to perform. Which means we can start right now trying to figure out what those might be. Fold a basket full of inside out shirts? Match 50 pairs of socks with your feet. Stack empty bottles of laundry detergent on top of one another on top of a running dryer. Sound off with your ideas!
I guess if there's one good thing about Guiding Light being canceled is that CBS replaced it with a game show. I'm not sure if Let's Make A Deal is the game I would have chosen to remake, but it's better than having another Dr. Phil-ish show on the schedule. Here Price is Right host Drew Carey welcomes LMAD host Wayne Brady to the network. It starts Monday.
Terry Kniess, the Double Showcase winner on The Price is Right who got his bid right on the money, may have been a "dark day" for Drew Carey, but he's no cheater.
In fact, there have been more egregious and blatant attempts to guarantee a win in a pricing game by skewing the odds in their favor, sometimes right in front of the host's eyes.
For instance, here's a "Shell Game" contestant who does something so outrageous, so ballsy, so completely devious that Bob Barker can't help but rip her to verbal shreds in front of the entire nation. And not only does she get away with it, but she actually wins the game!
The show no longer has a set-in-stone jackpot in the final "Fast Money" game that the winning family plays. Instead, at the start of the show, each family starts with $15,000 in their "Jackpot" and then there are five quick "Bullseye" rounds where the familes have to guess the number one answer to a question. Question one gives you $1000, question two gives you $2000, and so on. Whatever you win is added to the bank and that's the amount you play for. It's great if you get a few questions right, but not so great if you don't (this is actually something they had on the show in the 90s and have brought back).
The sudden and shocking of passing of TV writer, producer and host Ken Ober turned a lot of heads. Here's one of Ober's head (ahem) getting turned, for a change. 
I remember when Wipeout premiered on ABC there was a lot of talk about what sort of contract the contestants had to sign because there was a very good chance that someone could get seriously injured getting punched in the face or sliding off of giant balls and ramps. Turns out they have to sign a 
This might sound more overdue than According to Jim's cancellation, but one of TV's greatest creators is getting the Hall of Fame treatment. 
The term "adult video games" sounds admittedly dirty, so we'll steer clear of that and call CBS Consumer Products' upcoming line of TV series-based titles "grown up."
Something about the syndicated 
When you think about, the "Phone-A-Friend" lifeline on Who Wants To Be A Millionaire has always been lame. 
Think 
Terry Kniess, the Double Showcase winner on The Price is Right who got his bid right on the money, may have been 
We've seen changes to 
Andy Richter: The TV Squad Interview
Have any questions for Vik Sahay of Chuck? Ask them here!
Mike Henry and Daryl Hall on a Cleveland Show Thanksgiving
