Game Show NewsNet - State of Play

Summer School - June 15

For today's lesson, we are going to talk about something that Chico likes to say a lot. The word is 'schadenfreude'. The definition is 'to take pleasure from someone else's misfortune'. It's a silly little word - and a word that we volley around a lot on WLTI.

So why is this word coming into play this week? Because we're now going to discuss another thing that Chico talks about a lot - Paris Hilton. That's hot...ok, maybe not, but millions of people are riveted to whatever the heck she does. More people could tell you where she has been the whole week than what's been going on in the Gaza Strip this week.

That leads us to this - GSN has created 'The Prison Life', which spoofs our favorite hotel heiress. your job is to create license plates by stomping Hilton Tags at the right time and avoiding hitting Paris's video game dog 'Clinkerbell'. Three screw-ups in a round end the game.

Before you scoff at this concept, listen to the numbers - the game receives the highest number of plays in it's first week than ANY other GSN game. That's right, Paris did better than Chain Reaction and Lingo. I could only imagine how much money GSN could have made from it if they charged people to play. It doesn't mater though - they are still going to make a ton of money from the ad rates they will be getting from the internet eyeballs.

So that is schadenfreude in a nutshell. Everyone is taking pleasure from Paris Hilton's misfortune... even Paris. Not only are we a society that likes to see people get their comeuppance, we don't mind letting other people capitalize from it. The general public is enjoying the drama, as the GSN websites indicate, and of course GSN won't mind the extra publicity. Even Paris may benefit, as Hilton-mania can only increase the chances of her landing another show or getting a boost from her line-up of various products.

Schadenfreude for everybody!

Bob is gone...maybe. That still won't stop us from continuing the Price is Right Game List - and how to have an edge on the games.

Joker - If you do get stuck with this crappy game, play it like you would do Plinko when it comes to the prizes - try to figure out what number in the tens slot that an item should be.

Let 'Em Roll - If you get a lot of money early, seriously consider bailing. Getting three numbers or more as 'cars' in your first roll gives you a 66% chance of better of winning the car, but getting only two or less cars in the first roll drops the percentage to under 30%. Sure, you can't leave with less than $500, but how annoying is it to turn down $4,000+ and only walk with $500?

Lucky Seven - If you don't know what a number is, going '4' or '6' will cost you a few bucks, but it won't wipe you out of the game early. The last number is almost always 5.

Gordon Pepper knows you're down and out and feeling really crappy. When he sees how sad you are, it sorta makes him... happy. E-mail him at gordon@gameshownewsnet.com.