Someone Else's Words -
March 23 As
anyone can attest to, I'm not that good with words, but
I do have a lot of quotes to fall back on should I need
to make my point clearer. I have decided to use that
method in reporting the Numbers Game this week, starting
with...
"Deal or No Deal is
still on TV." -Alex Davis, Buzzer: The Game Show Blog
This week, "Deal or No
Deal" cemented itself as the most popular traditional
form game show in the nation, as it is among the top 10
shows viewed last week. The three shows, in order...
Friday, March 17: Deal or
No Deal, without competition from "The Ghost Whisperer",
beat out all comers, including Tom Bergeron's "America's
Funniest Home Videos" and NCAA opening round play (damn
you, George Mason... damn you to hell for screwing my
bracket up). The show took first in households with a
7.6/14, first in viewers with 12.31 million, and first
in the demographic with a 3.8/12. This show ranked #20
for the week in viewers.
The combination of Deal,
Las Vegas, and Conviction gave NBC the night.
Monday, March 20: one day
after my father's 61st birthday, Deal or No Deal
continued its winning ways with a first-place finish in
households, 10.1/15, in viewers, 16.60 million, and in
the demo, 5.5/14. Even against Fox's cult-hit "Prison
Break", this episode ranked #10 for the week in viewers.
The combination of that,
The Apprentice (which placed fourth in its time slot
among viewers against CBS's comedy block, Fox's "24",
and ABC's "Supernanny"), and Medium gave NBC a seven
percent increase for the night.
Meanwhile, the Donald is
having nightmares of Jon & Charlie, Jack Bauer, and a
British nanny telling him that he's been very very
naughty. Hey, some people think it's a nightmare,
alright?
"Necessity is the
mother of invention, it is true, but its father is
creativity, and knowledge is the midwife." -Jonathan
Schattke
The big premiere in
broadcast games was Simon Cowell's take on "Made in the
USA," "American Inventor." It premiered last Thursday at
8p over two hours, where Survivor and CSI would usually
go were it not for March Madness. As a result, it's the
13th most watched show on television with 14.15 million
viewers and a 5.4 in the demo, good for ninth. While
this is scores better than "Made in the USA," we can't
forget that ABC is taking advantage of a unique
situation, in which two of the most popular shows on
television outside of "American Idol" are still
competing against special programming.
Tonight, it moves into
its 9p slot. Next week, "Survivor" and "CSI" return.
We'll see if viewers will still give this show a patent
to exist, or if this was just a case of "there's nothing
else on and Simon Cowell's name is attached."
Speaking of which...
"It's about being an
original. Never compromise." -Simon Cowell
Fox gets to crow about
Tuesdays for the next few weeks, as the blowout of
singers continues on American Idol. The show helped Fox
to the win two nights ago, as the toughest room in
American played to 32.77 million viewers.
Will it get bigger as the
show moves closer and closer to the coronation? It
always has...
"Always look on the
bright side of life." -Monty Python
Syndicated ratings are
down for the week and the year. The previous week, Wheel
of Fortune had a 9.2. The week of March 6, a 9.0, down a
bit from that level, but down six percent for the week.
The week of regional college action, though, it's more
than expected. Same with Jeopardy!, a little down from
last week's 7.4 with a 7.3, also down 10 percent from
last year's UTOC play.
Elsewhere, Millionaire
leveled off from last week with a 3.4, down three
percent from the year before. Family Feud had a 2.1,
down five percent from the year, and one-tenth from last
week.
So all is as its should
be in the world of the syndicated game. What will next
year have in store?
The Weekly Rant, or
Joanna Gleason, Jennifer Convy, and now Riley Mandel...
This week, it was
announced that Ricki Lake would be hosting the upcoming
"Game Show Marathon" for CBS. Our resident expert on all
things TPIR Travis Schario, who gets to be on TV again
thanks to Ohio News Network... lucky dog... then sent me
this graphic...
All that need be said,
really. I mean, as much as this is a salute to the game
show, or a way to cash in on the growing celeb-reality
craze, it's a safe bet to say that FremantleMedia would
do well to not mess this up, because the fandom is a
fickle beast.
And as easy as it is to
mess up, it's just as easy for us, the audience, to give
Ricki and the show a fair shake. After all, who saw
Maury Povich as host of "Twenty-One" in 2000? Anyone? We
can all think of one person who said "Maury Povich can't
host a game show to save his life!"
But he did. And for a man
who was admittedly a fish out of water, he was pretty
capable of doing his job.
So give Ricki Lake a fair
shake. Give her one episode.
Then you can blast her
all you want.
Chico Alexander never
dreamed of being a talk-show host. E-mail him at chico@gameshownewsnet.com. |