Where
Do You Get This Stuff?
Gordon Pepper
"Where do you get all that wonderful dirt?"
That is a question that I get asked on a very regular
basis. How do you know this stuff? When we look at the
stats of our site, they jumped when we got to Jeopardy!
and the fact that we knew the exact date of Ken's
departure. We have also outscooped much of the press on
other events as well in our quest to be one of the
premier sources of your game show news and
entertainment.
So how do we do it? We do have spies that go to tapings.
We also have a large network of people, many of them
formed through the past Game Show Congresses that we
have attended (PLUG - http://www.gameshowcongress.com
PLUG). We will be giving you more details on that event
when we get closer, but I can't stress how fascinating
and fun that event is. It continues to get stronger
every year and this year should be huge as well. PLUS,
you'll get to meet people like myself, Jason Block, Joe
Van Ginkel, Jason Hernandez, Robert Seidelman, Jeff and
Julie Suchard, Ryan Vickers, Josh Yawn, and other GSNN
contributors.
But let's go back to the topic. During our conference
calls, we chat about all sorts of rumors going around.
Most of them wind up to be true (though some of which
turn out to be Vaporware). So what did we chat about
this week? I'll tell you, but I won't say who said it. I
also warn you that this is SPOILER information, so if
you don't want to know, then 1) do not highlight the
text below, and 2) turn back and be happy with what you
have read
1. The Jeopardy! tapings
leading up to the finals (which, conveniently enough, have been closed-set to avoid information leaking out) are complete, and if you are looking for a
Jennings/Rutter/Spangenberg match-up, you're not getting
it or anything close to it. I asked the source, "if
comparing it to the NCAA's, and you seeded everyone, would
you get - instead of a 1 Vs. 2 Vs. 3 - a
1 Vs. 7th Vs. 14th," the source said unfortunately, yes.
Though we don't know who wins, that does not bode well
for people who are hoping that Jennings faces off
against the cream of the crop.
2. They are taping Jeopardy! episodes while we talk, as
the Tournament ends in a few weeks and the Jep! season
ends in July. Expect someone to start getting into a
Jennings-like roll, but since the taping is not done
yet, we don't know if that person will continue into
September.
3. A MAJOR music person who has been involved with game
shows for over 30 years has expressed coming to GSC4 and
will be trying to do so as long as his schedule works
out.
4. Traditional game shows may not be appearing at NATPE,
but they are still appearing. The new game show trend
seems to be that it's much easier to pitch to one
specific network and have them sign on than try to get a
deal through syndication. The rumor mill persists that
two remakes of classic shows will be rearing themselves
up on television in the next couple of months. At least
two new traditional shows may be following suit, but it's
too early to get excited about these shows yet.
Again, take these all as grains of salt, but this is
what we deal with on a daily or weekly basis. We also
know that people don't like to be spoiled, and we take
careful consideration to make sure that you won't be
spoiled if you don't want to but we have the
information in case you do. Just like fine wine, game
show news and facts have to go through a lot before we
send them out to you, because our readers deserve only
the best.
We are down to 3 idols.
There is no longer reason for a safe, trouble or out,
because no one is safe. Let's do a quick look at the
contenders
You
have outperformed Carrie Underwood and you sure look
like the favorite to me to win this. You have the total
package of talent and charisma. Just be careful of
mailing in a performance the judges don't like that
and neither does the audience.
You
are clearly in second place right now. If you and
Vonzell perform equally, I think you get into the
finals, but you need to outsing her and win some of your
base back from Bo. You need to come out and give a
dynamite effort, because if you don't, you are coming in
second.
Like
Anthony, you had a golden opportunity to grab a lot of
Scott's vote. Like Anthony, you did not put out your A'
game and despite Scotts fans votes, you still wound up
at the bottom. That tells me that there is a big gap
between you and Carrie/Bo, and only a lights out effort
from you and as really bad effort from Carrie will get
you to the finals.
Adding it up, it looks like your two finalists are Bo
and Carrie, but I think that Tuesday night will be a
huge key in this and it wouldn't shock me to see
Vonzell replace Carrie in
the finals instead. We'll see in a week who will be
belting it out to be the American Idol of 2005.
Gordon Pepper can be reached at gordon@gameshownewsnet.com. |