Like a bad penny or disco music, TV game shows used to turn up every few years just to remind us all of their existence.
But now it seems there could be an actual resurgence, especially since so much of contemporary television is founded on the idea of competition.
The unexpected hit NBC has had with Deal or No Deal has now begat the summer replacement series Gameshow Marathon, which starts tonight (CBS and CTV, 8 p.m.). Based on a British TV concept, the show airs twice weekly and is hosted by former daytime talk-show host Ricki Lake, who steers a dubious list of celebrity contestants, including Leslie Nielsen and former Trading Spaces host Paige Davis, through a changing roster of classic game shows each week.
The first outing has the stars playing The Price Is Right, with most of the entertainment value pegged to the notion that celebrities really have no idea how much household items cost. Subsequent episodes of Gameshow Marathon will have the contestants playing Beat the Clock, Let's Make a Deal, Family Feud, Card Sharks and Match Game, with all winning proceeds going to charity, naturally.
Gameshow comes into the already fertile landscape of competitive television, which includes everything from ratings winners American Idol and Survivor down to the lowly likes of So You Think You Can Dance? At CBS alone, reality TV's mix of elimination and humiliation shows no sign of tapering off, with a seventh edition of Big Brother and the second of Rock Star slated to begin in July.
It's been seven years since a pure game show made its comeback in prime time, when Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, also based on a British hit, became an instant freak phenomenon in North America. Even ABC was surprised at its numbers, and certainly no one expected Regis Philbin to become the most-watched person on television.
The game-show floodgates briefly opened in the summer of 2000 as the Millionaire buzz prompted another prime-time entry, The Weakest Link, likewise based on a British series. Here is where the reality-TV trademark — humiliation — kicked in: Most people watched just to see snarky host Anne Robinson insult the contestants.
Copycats came fast and furious, but the more ridiculous the concept, the more the viewing public lost interest. The rebirth died a painful death with the launch of Fox's low-concept Greed — a stripped-down Millionaire clone with Chuck Woolery as host — and The Chair, a woeful ABC effort hosted by John McEnroe in which a player's heart rate was monitored as he or she was subjected to fire, ice and live alligators in hammocks snapping at their faces — literally. The Chair marked the unofficial checkout to the game show's stay in prime time in 2002.
Then came Deal or No Deal with minimal fanfare last December. Amid all the competitions (singing, dancing, dating, surviving) on TV, here came a show that harkens way back to seventies cult classics like The Joker's Wild, in that it doesn't require any talent at all. A lucky pick determines everything.
Each episode of Deal or No Deal opens with the cheerful pronouncement from Toronto-born host Howie Mandel: “I promise you — no crazy stunts, no trivia, no skill.” This is followed by the introduction of an invariably blue-collar contestant who talks briefly about his or her family. Then, 26 young women strut out on the stage, each displaying a slim silver briefcase. It's made clear each briefcase holds an undetermined dollar figure. The contestant picks one case, which stays unopened. The remainder of the game involves the random selection and opening of the other briefcases in hope of finding the one with a million dollars inside.
After the first six, an unseen entity known as “the Banker,” begins bidding on the unopened case; the price rises as the other cases are eliminated and the contestant wavers between short-term gain or the big payday. Witless relatives and loved ones act as advisers and germ-phobic Mandel winces whenever winners hug him.
Deal or No Deal is the only bright spark for NBC, which finished the season in fourth place among the U.S. networks. It's the most-watched show on NBC, and often ranks in the top five of all U.S. programs. It will bookend the prime-time schedule next fall, and the network is developing another game show, 1 vs. 100, for next season.
Evidence of Deal's drawing power will come in the first-season finale. Airing June 5 on NBC and Global, the grand prize is bumped to $5-million (U.S.) and includes an appearance by Céline Dion — because she's the favourite singer of the final contestant, a high-school guidance counsellor named Casey.
Dion does not work for scale, and her entire purpose in the finale is to serenade the Banker while Casey mulls her options.
Also coming soon: Treasure Hunters (NBC, Global, June 18), a game show variation on a pre-existing reality product. The new series features multiplayer teams scurrying around the globe on a scavenger hunt for clues situated in historical sites and landmarks. It sounds an awful lot like The Amazing Race, though NBC claims otherwise: “It's inspired by the success of books like The Da Vinci Code,” according to senior executive Jeff Gaspin.
The prize money continues to roll out with summer's most-anticipated new show, America's Got Talent (NBC, June 21), a free-for-all open to all ages and all performance disciplines. Thousands have been practising in their basements for their one big chance to perform and win the million-dollar prize.
America's Got Talent is co-conceived by American Idol judge Simon Cowell, who failed with his recent American Inventor for ABC, but will likely guarantee a large audience on the strength of who's in the host chair this time around. Yes, Regis Philbin — age 74 — is back in the game-show business.
