*Deep within somewhere in America, in a bank vault-like setting, Gordon and Chico stand by a Deal-or-No-Deal type briefcase...*

Chico: 2007 was one heck of a year... If you missed it...

*opens case*

"Rosie is a loser."
"I am not smarter than a 5th grader."
"Let's give'm something to talk about... other than haiiiiiirrrrr..."
"... Apolo & Julianne!"
"Noooo BINGO!"
"I want to thank you very very much for inviting me into your homes for the last 50 years. I am deeply grateful. And please remember... Help control the pet population. Have your pet spayed or neutered. Goodbye, everybody!"
"Time to play the Power of 10."
"Our players are now in the control of the questioner."
"Welcome to Merv Griffin's Crosswords."
"During your Harry Potter bit... I'm guessing it was... 15 minutes ago... I got the call. It's a done deal. I'm the new host of The Price Is Right."
"... Helio & Julianne!"
"The Writers' Guild of America is on strike."
"Let's Duel."

Chico: ... you missed a LOT. It's a good thing we haven't, isn't it, G?
Gordon: I miss 2007 already...sniff...well, some of it. And the amazing thing is that despite the fact that it's supposed to be slow now, it's still as amazing as ever. So much so that this is going to be a SUPER-SIZED year in review. Because not only are we doing a Year in Review, but we're also going to be doing a regular show!
Jason: Can we fit it all?
Don: I hope so.
Ryan: Wowza!
Chico: It's okay, man.. It's okay. And now, January to December, as play goes rewind, down to the very last minute... from Somewhere in America, the Supersized 2007 Year in Review episode of WLTI... is... ON!
Gordon: And believe it or not, these people have been with us the whole year. Starting with Wheel of Fortune recapper and weekly columnist Jason Block.
Jason: Another great year in the game show world. Always an honor to be here.
Chico: Next up, Millionaire writer and professional doughnut Don Harpwood.
Don: What a year it has been, eh?
Chico: Oh yeah.
Gordon: And finally, our correspondent for Canadian Idol and other shows, Mr. Ryan Vickers
Ryan: Hello everyone! A pleasure to be here!
Chico: Okay, folks. We've got a LOT to get out of the way here, so let's begin... at the beginning, shall we?

JANUARY 2007

Gordon: (Plays Final Fantasy X Chapel Theme)
Chico: January 1... nothing happened. Well, there was a little poker show on NBC, Poker After Dark, but that's it. January 2... nothing happened..
Gordon: If we're going to do this all 365 days, you're getting a boot to the head.
Jason: I've got the boot right here.
Chico: Heh.
Ryan: What about Jan 7th?
Chico: ... nope.
Ryan: Just thought I'd ask, it's my b-day :-)
Jason: Ha.
Chico: Oh yeah, Ryan turned a year older, but that's it. You know, we could do this all day, but let's just go to January 3rd, okay?
Don: Good idea.
Jason: Yup. Anything happen on the 3rd?
Gordon: January 3rd was our first primetime premiere of a show. Said show - the first of 2 editions of Beauty and the Geek.
Jason: Ah. Not a bad show.
Chico: Nope. Not really.
Gordon: Not a bad show. A questionable finish in the second edition by having the audience vote on the winner though.
Jason: Yes. I don't like that.
Don: Yeah, that felt weird.
Chico: Trying to fix what wasn't broken to begin with. It never turns out well.
Gordon: No it doesn't. The audience should never be able to participate in a social experiment
Jason: Then it becomes a favoritism contest. Never good.
Chico: But still, it was pretty interesting up until that... especially with the male beauty/female geek thing.
Jason: That was a nice twist.
Ryan: I thought that was a good twist. Although it took some of the romance out of it.
Chico: Romance? WHAT romance? =p
Don: lol
Gordon: That was cool. Lets go through some of the January shows - The Apprentice LA, Grease: You're the one that I don't want, The White Rapper Show (and yes, we're getting a sequel to that), I Love New York (which we got a sequel to), Gay Straight or Taken, Cowboy U, and Top Design. And, oh yes, Nashville Star and American Idol
Jason: May I comment on Nashville Star?
Chico: Go right on, sir.
Jason: Angela Hacker was one of the best undiscovered voices in country in a long time. The first time I heard her, she was it.
Gordon: I'll also add that this was the first year that the best vocalist was not on American Idol.
Jason: It was Angela Hacker. Plain and simple.
Gordon: No it wasn't. We'll get to who that is...later on in the show.
Jason: AH.
Chico: A twist =p
Gordon: Though I think Angela was better than the Idol winner, Jordin Sparks. I'll make her the second best ...talent...this year.
Jason: Ah :)
Ryan: Wait. Although it's foreign, on Britain's Got Talent, you've got to give points to Paul Potts.
Chico: Agreed.
Gordon: I agree as well.
Jason: He was one of the best stories all year.
Chico: But I think this year, more than any, proved that the Idol machine was all bark and no bite. Didn't used to be like that.
Jason: This was the year that Idol believed its own hype. They got lazy.
Chico: As a result, we got the likes of... Sanjaya. Proving that we're no longer out to make a genuine star FIRST. We're out to make good television.
Ryan: I hate to ask, but isn't that the point of most of the talent shows?
Jason: Now it is...it didn't used to be.
Chico: I'm with Block on this.
Gordon: It used to be 'lets see who we can bring out there and sell us lots of albums and make us lots of money'. I miss the good old days when we were only being exploited musically.
Chico: Now it seems like all of America is being screwed out of proper viewing time.
Gordon: Note to advertisers and programming executives: Sponsorship without creativity does NOT make good television.
Chico: Just ask Geritol.
Gordon: We move from Sanjaya to...Rosie.
Don: Oh, boy.
Gordon: If you wanted to be in the game show news this year, no one was more active than Rosie O'Donnell.
Chico: Let's see... feuding with Donald...

(DING)

Gordon: Don't forget going after American Idol with the Special Olympics

(DING)

Chico: and then trying to stump for TPIR.

(DING)

Gordon: And then her feud with Elizabeth Hasselbeck, which may have led to her departure from The View.

(DING)

Jason: And calling American Idol racist for not taking Antonella Barba out, but kicking out Frenchie Davis.

(DING)

Gordon: And then an end of the year confrontation with Hulk Hogan. Though I must say that it was Hulk's doing, not Rosie's.

(DING)

Chico: She was just a thorn in everyone's backside.
Gordon: Now no one's saying that Rosie is not very talented. She is an amazingly talented woman who has had a lot of game show roots. She's done a lot in the industry - Star Search, Bravo's Celebrity Poker, got to $500,000 and was a $32,000 Lifeline on who wants to be a Millionaire. We're just requesting that she uses said talents for the power of good, and not evil.
Jason: She isn't going to listen. Sorry G.
Chico: Because, you know, that isn't going to happen. Seems like she's hooked on her own attention-grabbing hubris right now.
Gordon: We can always dream.
Don: It would be nice if she would, but yeah, it doesn't seem too likely right now.
Gordon: Meanwhile, we have 1 vs. 100 in full swing. January became the first real month of television's newest reality show...The next Bob Barker.
Ryan: Dave Price, c'mon down?
Don: ACK!
Chico: Umm... no? How about George Hamilton?
Jason: Mario Lopez!
Chico: Mark Steines? Rosie O'Donnell? John O'Hurley? Rich Fields?
Don: So many choices... They certainly had their work cut out for them back then.
Gordon: Fortunately, we get a resolution to this that everyone seemed to like later on this year. And now....

FEBRUARY 2007

Jason: The month of my birth :) 40th next year.
Gordon: We go into February Sweeps, with things good...and not so good.
Chico: The good? Survivor Fiji.
Gordon: Larry wins $250,000 in the Last Man Standing match in 1 Vs. 100
Jason: Cool!
Ryan: I was cheering for Annie Duke, I'll be honest.
Gordon: Also good - the Jeopardy Teen Tournament Players, as math decided the victor in one of the best tournaments ever. The bad: We find out that many people...are NOT Smarter than a 5th grader. Though the show itself, winds up to be good.
Chico: Bad for the contestants... good for Fox, who finally has a quiz show hit after canceling Greed so long ago.
Gordon: You mean The Rich List wasn't a quiz show success?
Chico: You WISH it was.
Don: Heh.
Ryan: An unfinished run is unfinished business.
Jason: Yes it is
Gordon: We also started The Amazing Race All-Stars, and ...yes, we did call both the correct final 3 AND the winners.
Chico: It's never any fun when we're right :-) But it seems that the show was almost history thanks to the All-Star season.
Gordon: Fortunately, it wasn't. Unfortunately for Raul Torres, he loses $263,000 to the mob.
Jason: On a very easy question.
Gordon: Well for you, being a Washington DC resident.

What is the capital of the United States?
a) The city who's mayor is Richard Daley
b) The city who's mayor is Adrian Fenty
c) The city who's mayor is Gavin Newsome

Chico: Again, only easy if you know the mayors of major US cities.
Gordon: And then we had, to end February....Boobygate.
Chico: No comment :-)
Gordon: Were the naked pictures roaming around the web of American Idol contestant Antonella Barba? Was it not her? We'll never know, but it almost certainly cost her a shot to be in the Final 12.
Chico: Moral of the story, basketballs are for the court.
Jason: and remember lollypops are for candy stores
Gordon: And so we dribble into...

MARCH 2007

Gordon: Angela Hacker wins Nashville Star
Jason: A great end to a great show
Gordon: We look for a Pussycat Doll and Dance with the Stars
Chico: One winner went on to grab fame's brass ring... the other... not so much and is named after a continent.
Gordon: And is no longer a Doll. We also get an underrated gem that did get renewed for a second season - Bullrun
Chico: Bullrun was basically The Amazing Road Race...
Don: I thought it was a neat show.
Gordon: But a fun little road race in that
Chico: I didn't say it wasn't fun. It was pretty cool.
Jason: Bill Goldberg showed he wasn't that bad of a host. It was a decent 2nd rate show.
Chico: Good for Spike, anyway.
Ryan: Can they bring back Joe Schmo then?
Chico: If there ever was a show beginning to come back... heh.
Gordon: Uh....no.
Chico: Meanwhile, Identity came back with another set of shows. It would be the last set... for now. But unlike the first set of shows, this one was just, at least I thought, something to say that they threw it together to get something on the air.
Gordon: And let's stick all the women in bikinis! We also see the start of some smoke which will turn into a full fledged fire later on in the year. In the UK, there were some signs of 'call-in phone mis-management.
Chico: Smoke which would spill over stateside. Speaking of call-ins, who remembers this scramble:

030.

Jason: LOL
Ryan: James Bond's kid?
Don: Oh, I remember that. lol
Chico: Here's a hint... *takes off shirt* I AM A SPARTAN!
Jason: Transformers?
Ryan: SPARTA!!!!!!!!!!!
Gordon: What about this one:

Y O Y O O Y
O Y O Y O O
Y O Y Y O Y
O Y O O Y O
O Y Y O Y O

Chico: The return of the YO-YOS!
Jason: Ack!
Gordon: Remember that. By the way, the answer was...get ready for this...396.
Chico: Wha?
Jason: Huh?
Gordon: That was the mess we knew as My Games Fever, which thankfully bought the farm this year.
Chico: As did any OTHER text-in-and-lose show.
Ryan: Text2Win?
Chico: Gone.
Ryan: Midnight Money Madness?
Chico: Gone.
Ryan: The all new $100,000 guess the number in my head?
Chico: Gone. Please don't give anyone any ideas.
Gordon: And let's not forget...The 3 way tie.
Jason: Jeopardy?
Gordon: Yep. That happened in March, too.
Chico: Sure did. And we have a kid and a question to thank. And history is made.
Jason: The 3 way tie should have NEVER happened.
Chico: and yet it did.
Gordon: And also - the night where a pair of million dollar cases were taken on Deal or No Deal - and neither one was held on to.
Chico: That would set the tone for many Deal stunts to come.
Jason: And the guy who sold out as early as he did...not the smartest thing he could have done.
Gordon: And we have Idol news for the wrong reasons as the Mario Vasquez caught fooling with a guy mess gets exposed.
Jason: Mario was trying to make this guy his own "Gallery"
Gordon: Ugh. We also hear about CBS picking up a new show called 'Power of 10'. Little do we know then just how pivotal this show will be in the upcoming months.
Jason: We all thought it was going to be Card Sharks with Family Feud thrown in.
Chico: We'll get to that in a bit, but first, who wants to chug into...

APRIL 2007

Gordon: Shear Genius shows up
Chico: And a changing of the guard at the WPT. But first, a great was lost. Kitty Carlisle Hart was basically one of, if not THE, first iron woman of the game show world.
Gordon: An amazing talent.
Jason: And she was a huge patron of Arts in the US. She was one of the few people to be on game shows for 6 decades and a class act all around. Never saw her on TMZ.
Chico: Never caught her with her trousers down. People can stand to learn a lesson from her.
Don: Indeed.
Gordon: Meanwhile, we get shows that I could have sworn were April Fool's Jokes - Thank God You're Here and The Great American Dream Vote
Chico: One didn't last a whole month, and the other... well, we just wish it didn't.
Jason: Yup...another part of shows that didn't stick
Ryan: There's a French Canadian version of Thank God You're Here now...
Gordon: I'm sorry, Ryan.
Ryan: Merci.
Gordon: Sanjaya gets booted from American Idol
Chico: Oh yeah.
Jason: And the world breathes a sigh of relief.
Gordon: Idol gives back, and Howard Stern goes away. And we have weird things show up on The Price is right as Bob Barker is leaving. For example, a mom and a daughter make it to Contestant's Row. My Games Fever goes away as well.
Jason: WOO-HOO
Chico: And did we also mention that GSN picked up the rights to WPT?
Gordon: We just did. And now...

MAY 2007

Chico: We have a new champion dancer (Apolo Anton Ohno), a new champion singer (Jordin Sparks), and two words... NOOOOO BINGO!
Gordon: Lots of shows came to an end. Lots of shows got a beginning. Shows got beginnings that we hoped quickly turned into ends. National Bingo Night... That would be one of said shows.
Jason: That gets a season 2...what gives?
Chico: The internet makes you dumb?
Gordon: That's not the only thing that makes you dumb. Brooks Leach returns to Deal or No Deal and wins $400 to go with the $10 he won last time. And we had another unlucky contestant win...a dollar and left $136,000 on the table.
Ryan: Noooo bingo?
Jason: No luck
Gordon: We see a few Million Dollar questions on 5th grader - none of them answered correctly for the million. Dreamz screws Yau Man, leaving Earl to win the million on Survivor.
Jason: We thought that was biggest boneheaded move on Survivor....:)
Chico: Until a few months down the road. We also lose another game show favorite to the ages, as we said goodbye to Charles Nelson Reilly.
Gordon: Cliff Galiher wins the Jeopardy College Tournament. We also get 2 shows that will make history...for the wrong reasons. On The Lot and Pirate Master, both debuting in May, are the Summer's biggest bombs, with OTL's episodes being cut in half and Pirate Master not even finishing the season on network TV.
Jason: We wanted originality...we didn't get it.
Gordon: and Oprah plays Deal or no Deal for Charity
Chico: From the moment I saw those two shows, I thought that this summer was going to be rough.
Gordon: Rough it was, going into...

JUNE 2007

Gordon: Age of Love, anyone?
Chico: No.
Don: Another dating show? Pass.
Gordon: American Inventor 2?
Chico: Nice try, but no.
Gordon: We did have some nice points. The Next Best Thing was a cute idea, while the stalwarts of America's Got Talent and So You Think You Can Dance performed. And speaking of which, I would like to congratulate Terry Fator as being the most talented performer this year.
Chico: But June would be the month when Bob Barker made his final bow. Complete with confetti-man.
Jason: At that point we STILL had no replacement host. Bob said he would stay on. And caused a bit of a controversy when he said that he thought Rosie would make a good host at the Emmy Awards.
Gordon: We thought he would be staying on. While that was going on, we had the battle of the Karaoke song shows, featuring The Singing Bee Vs. Don't Forget the Lyrics
Chico: Forget about which one would be the better of the two, it was a race to see which one would get to the air first, and as is Fox's way, they deny just ripping off the format.
Don: Even though they're both about getting the lyrics right.
Chico: Although, if you ask me, we all know they did.
Gordon: The race was won by NBC. The battle was won by FOX, as they have a solid Thursday night block and the Singing Bee is being relegated to burn off status.
Ryan: Shame, that, I really enjoyed the theme nights on Singing Bee.
Chico: Agreed. This was just a case of mismanagement on NBC's part. A summer show, unless it's a breakout, should remain a summer show.
Jason: NBC has been mismanaging programs all year. I agree.
Gordon: This isn't the first time NBC has done that. Last Comic Standing, anyone?
Chico: Yep.
Gordon: The only show that avoided that curse is The Biggest Loser.
Chico: Even got better, but we'll see when the new season airs. Aaaaand that's halftime =p

*whistle*

Chico: Players return to your locker rooms, and we'll come back to take on the rest of the year. This is the We Love to Interrupt 2007 Year in Review and it's always.... ALWAYS... glad to see ya.

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