Episode 19.15
December 31

Lee: Dear Ben Silverman- Hire me. You cant do any worse. Sincerely, Lee DiGeorge.
Chico: Ha.
Gordon: Welcome back to the really big show.
Chico: Or if you're just joining us, where've you been?
Gordon: And when you look at 2008, that's all you really can call it. It's really big.
Chico: Especially the summer. Had a really big game summer. We had Wipeout... that was a hit. I Survived a Japanese Gameshow... That was a hit... Celebrity Family Feud... modest, but still a hit.
Gordon: Very true, but the biggest news in the Summer for game show fans would be about a show in the Winter
Chico: And that would be... The Dob. Three days into the July, we find out that TPIR's longtime producer, Roger Dobkowitz was let go for reasons... unknown.
Gordon: The Dob. Roger Dobkowitz and The Price is Right would, after 30+ years, be parting. The fallout was immediate and vocal. It became clear, especially into this regime early, that the expertise of The Dob would sorely be missed.
Chico: I can compare it to being a fan of the Chicago Bears, and having to watch the Super Bowl and your team's not playing, and all you can say is... "But I can bet your sweet bippy that the Bears could be kicking some serious ass right about now."
Gordon: More like you see the Franchise is 6-10 after getting rid of the coach that won you a Super Bowl.
Chico: Yeah, something like that. And now you have the quarterback, in this case, Drew Carey, calling all the admin stuff... you know, going above and beyond the call of duty when he's ill-prepared to do so.
Gordon: They may get back to the glory that they were, but they need to seriously cut down the number of errors on the show and Drew needs to go back to the happy host he was during his first season on the air.
Chico: He needs to find his inner Bill Cullen. Or someone needs to kick it into him. Same crew cut, same horn-rimmed glasses...He just needs to find it.
Gordon: We know its there, but its not being shown.
Chico: We hope it'll be shown before it's shown... the door.
Gordon: Very true.
Chico: Meanwhile, TLC launched its first game show, the Singing Office. With Joey Fatone, who, in two short years, has hosted more game shows than Richard Karn. The hosting... good to adequate. The show itself... well, the players were lively at least.
Gordon: The show sucked.
Chico: But the entire package left you remembering why you don't (^_^) where you eat. Gordon, you sing... quite well, actually. Do you sing at work?
Gordon: No. No I dont.
Chico: And there is a reason for that. I'm sure, right?
Gordon: Of course. But we didn't have just dogs on the show. We had Project Runway, and we also had the very funny and underrated Reality Strikes Back
Chico: Now that was a show that hit all the marks. Giving reality TV what for, you know? Excellent casting, excellent satire... Michael Ian Black was just smarmy enough to make the whole package work.
Gordon: Pretty much. It was a very fun show...which was good, because there was not that much fun going on iun July
Chico: Well, paired with it was the Gong Show... with Dave Attell...Now I liked the Gong Show. I got into the new version... but it wasn't without fault.
Gordon: It needed to get gonged off the stage.
Chico: First of all, any show with Andy Dick needs to go.
Gordon: It was a pale imitation of the original. The humor of the original gong show was wacky and zany. This humor came off as staged and forced. But wait - there's more lack of fun!
Chico: I blame dogs.
Gordon: We had some - The Greatest American Dog. High School Musical: Get in the Picture. From Gs to Gents. And...our worst show of 2008....HURL!
Chico: That made me want to...Umm... I'm all for televised competition and all, but... there are just some things you don't put on TV...Epigastric functions are one of them. Unless it's the food going in part.
Gordon: We also had - the beginning of the rumblings of what may happen in January - an SAG strike?
Chico: Now the SAG was part of a perfect storm that threatened to shut down Hollywood.
Gordon: Yes - but they didn't strike
Chico: Nope. In fact, AFTRA... bless their little Hollywood hearts... knew that what happened in January couldn't be allowed to happen again, and they reupped their deals.
Chico: That move would put the SAG gambit in Jeopardy... Double Jeopardy.... and final Jeopardy!.
Gordon: We'll see. I don't think there's any way they get 75% of the vote. I also don't see how they renew Wanna Bet, which also debuted in July.
Chico: It was hosted by one.. sorry, two, of our favorite MCs from across the pond. The only problem this show had... was filed under "everything else". Do you think there's any way we'll see Tila Tequila on TV after what happened on the finale of her show?
Gordon: No I don't. After she gets a nasty breakup after season 2, leading to the Ikki Twins taking over the franchise. We also had Big Brother 10 starting this summer, with the winner being Dan.
Chico: Did he deserve it more than the winner of BB9? Certainly. At this point, anyone does.
Gordon: Dan played a good game that actually required strategy and not calling people retards. July also had the debut of the latest GSN show - Catch 21
Chico: Which is actually a redo of an old show - Gambit. Playing the role of Wink Martindale... Alfonso Ribiero. Another shining example of "Game show hosting... Looks easy... isn't"
Gordon: The show is the same show as Gambit, for the most part, which is good. Alfonso is the same person we saw during Celebrity Duets...which is not so good.
Chico: But that gig translates into his gig on GSNLive, and that is basically a crash course in game show hosting 101. So if a season 2 comes about, expect him to be better. We're hoping for a season 2. Hell, if Chain Reaction got a season 2...You know?
Gordon: It will get a season 2. Its a cheap show to produce
Chico: Oh yeah.
Gordon: And we get one of our own on the show in August. Jason Block gets on the show and wins $1,000. He also gets on GSN's radio version of their network and wins (at least at this point) an additional $1,800.
Chico: GSN's just Jason's ATM at this point.
Gordon: We make fun of Jason - a lot - but there's a reason why he is a game show ho. He will beat you up badly.
Chico: He knows his stuff.
Gordon: The Summer shows ended. Very sad. We have music singers that went country, Glam Gods that went nowhere, and the Top 40 people left in America's Got Talent
Chico: And Broadway had a new Elle Woods thanks to MTV.
Gordon: SuperCr3w wins America's Best Dance Crew, giving Jon Cruz his second title.
Chico: What was his first?
Gordon: Star Search
Chico: Ah
Gordon: Now we go to September, the changing of the leaves - and the changing of a lot of rules on your favorite shows
Chico: I have a list.
Gordon: List away.
Chico: Jeopardy!... no change, but 25th anniversary smell. TPIR... New game, some $10,000 prizes up to $25,000. Wheel... Million Dollar Wedge... won once, heads up from their publicity brass was sent, we were angry. Que Dice la Gente... new host, didn't last long. Millionaire... new clock, categories, and lifelines.
Gordon: Dame La Pista - Zombie food.
Chico: Nyam, nyam. But all eyes would be on two new entries. First up, Deal or No Deal, syndie flavor, which is just the UK version with a wheel. And two lovely lovelies.
Gordon: Great version of the show, in my opinion. This is what the show SHOULD be.
Chico: Gone were the gimmicks and back was the strategy. It made you watch again and the numbers showed, becoming the fall's killer app. Wish we could say the same about the other two shows that launched in the fall.
Gordon: We wish we could...but we can't, because they are no longer on the air. We start with Opportunity Knocks, which only knocked for a handful of epiodes.
Chico: But ABC swears they're going to air the rest in the summer... which they should've done to begin with. Opportunity Knocks... it was a summer show. Come on. It had all the earmarks of one. I think it could have been a hit if they put it there
Chico: Yup.
Gordon: Now it's just a victim of Sloppy Seconds Syndrome.
Chico: Boo. Get off the bed, Opportunity Knocks. Trying to get my sleep up in here.
Gordon: But at least there was a show there. The same can't be said for Hole in the Wall
Chico: Let me illustrate what happened over at Fox and Fremantle for a moment. I'll be the Fremantle guy. Gordon will be the Fox guy. Hey GORDON!
Gordon: Hey Chico!
Chico: Guess what I saw?
Gordon: What, Chico?
Chico: I saw this video on Youtube of an excerpt from a Japanese game show... We could totally do a FULL HOUR of that each week! People will totally watch it! And that'll make us millionaires.
Gordon: That's great. I'll take it. Everyone can watch it. By the way, what do you think of these shares I bought from this Madoff guy?
Chico: I wouldn't hold onto those too long. But you ain't heard that from me. By the way, kids, what we just demonstrated was also "insider trading." Which is illegal. Don't do it.
Gordon: No. That's bad. Very very bad.
Chico: Very bad. Moment of Truth was going there, but then Fox put Hole in the Wall there, and the rest is history. Also in September, while I'm on history... Gordon, when I say history... people & places... sports & leisure... Arts & Entertainment... and wild card... what comes to mind?
Gordon: What comes to mind is Trivial Pursuit, the latest incarnation of the board game.
Chico: Yep.
Gordon: It's getting around the same ratings as what was there before it - Temptation - but unlike Temptation, the show is making money for the game.
Chico: Now the game itself proves to be structurally sound... but it seems that its host... one Chris Knight, former Brady kid and luckiest sumbitch to marry a model...He likes playing it safe unless he has a wisecrack up his sleeve.
Gordon: Knight, unlike Ribiero, is getting better as a host.
Chico: Now how is the show making money? I'm curious.
Gordon: The board game sales have gone up. The video game and the cell phone game (yes, there is a cell phone game) is doing well. And they have enough confidence in the show that there will be a PS3/XBOX/etc. version of the show coming out tentatively for March, 2009.
Chico: Nice.
Gordon: Which leads to this - because of the money coming in, there are substantial rumors coming through that this WILL be renewed for next season.
Chico: Well, it's always good when a well-structured game gets renewed, but more people need to watch to seal the deal.
Gordon: Of course. So if you like the show, get more people to watch it.
Chico: Tell your friends... Tell your moms. Tell your friends' moms. Or just say "Hey, I recorded a clue for it and it's airing tonight." Lots of people did that.
Gordon: Sure did. And people have made thousands from doing so - though we're not quite up yet to the $500,000 that the TV show has claimed. Yet.
Chico: One of them wasn't Jessica Robinson... only because she was busy winning a million* Yep. Deal or No Deal primetime flavor returns with its Million Dollar Mission...TWICE.
Gordon: Jessica is the first *million* dollar* winner* on Deal or no Deal. So why the asterisks? Because it was done via the Million Dollar Mission, and not legitimately.
Chico: Now come on... Million Dollar Mission got people watching, but... TWICE? That doesn't happen. And sure enough, that DIDN'T happen. So now NBC is airing at least three more eps before the end of the year... and that's it for the foreseeable future. Now it's a bad thing when a good game gets tossed to the wayside, but you saw what happened to Millionaire when they got all crazy. You elect to get all crazy, you do so at your own perils. End result... what you see today.
Gordon: Oversaturation = bad. But Haterade = good. We had ME on your TV, thanks to GSN's Play it Back Documentary series.
Chico: It was a look back at the last 37 years of game show history told through the eyes of pop culture panelists, game show hosts, game show contestants, game show historians... and one guy who happened to be local. :-)
Gordon: Nothing wrong with that :)
Chico: No. Local's good.
Gordon: Jessica isn't the only person who won the million. Kathy Cox, a Superintendent for Georgia's School District, also wins the grand prize on Are You Smarter than a 5th Grader.
Chico: So far, she's the only person to do so, but she did it because she knew the game. Even if only for an elementary education, there are things you have to know for this game. And for the moment, it was the biggest game on primetime... then Fox moved it to Fridays and all hell broke loose.
Gordon: The ratings for both 5th Grader and Don't Forget the Lyrics dropped around 50% - then started to come back up when FOX put special episodes back on Thursdays.
Chico: Hmm... You think they had something with Thursday?
Gordon: Gee, you think?
Chico: Wow. it's like... something.
Gordon: They were a strong second. Now Survivor / Million Dollar Password rules the roost on Thursdays. Speaking of which, Bob Crowley becomes the oldest player to win Survivor.
Chico: And he did it by basically.... watching everyone else step over their own toes. This led to a case of...

Chico: Last time we use the graphic, we swear.
Gordon: Until 2009, when we get a new crop of morons
Chico: Then came on the other big CBS reality game... MORONS ON THE RUN. That enabled Nick & Emily "Starr" Spangler to win the Amazing Race.
Gordon: Nick and Starr won the game...by intellectual default.
Chico: And perhaps cemented themselves as the best team to play the game... maybe. I'd like someone to prove one way or another.
Gordon: More September Debuts - My Family's Got Guts, The Biggest Loser, Ultimate Fighter 8 (with Junie Browning)
Chico: All good stuff.
Gordon: Maybe. Brooke Burke debuts with Dancing With The Stars
Chico: She ends up winning the whole thing, doesn't she
Gordon: She does. Another woman who is a financial winner this season...Paris Hilton. We get the debut of My BFF from her. And we get Inside The Box, which also makes it's debut in September.
Chico: And... promptly repeats.
Gordon: A bunch of times. Then we had MTV's Top Pop Group, which lasted 4 weeks.
Chico: And never repeats.
Gordon: Nope. And we get a bunch of The Price is Right episodes that are labeled as Do Not Repeat.
Chico: So sad. I'd be a tad miffed if I was a legit player on one of those shows.
Gordon: And with that, we move to October, where we get more shows that we won't see repeated - because they won't ever see the light of day again.
Chico: Bye bye Dame La Pista.
Gordon: Gimme My Reality Show
Chico: Search for the Next Elvira.
Gordon: Stylista
Chico: Or some such.: Ironically, a contestant on Elvira would make an appearance in another game show...This time as one of the Hunters...But we'll get to that later. October also saw a passing of a legend in Jack Narz.
Gordon: We miss you, Jack
Chico: Michelle Loewenstein wins a million on Wheel of Fortune thanks to a Leaky Faucet. With a million, she can afford to have it fixed. Tee hee.
Gordon: Sure can. Ken Jennings almost joins her, but he doesn't pull the trigger on a Million Dollar 5th grader question that he knew the answer to. Leann Marshall wins the current (and last for a while) title on Project Runway.
Chico: And another person joins the winner's club... Tomorrow Rodriguez. She too wins a Million* on Deal or No Deal. More memorable than that, though... someone who won a 10th of that amount in half the time...John Hanlin of GSN's Bingo America. He is the first to fire the Superball for $100,000. And that moment was sweet.
Gordon: Sure was. We catapult into November.
Chico: WEEE!
Gordon: And crash-land right into The Money and The Power
Chico: 50 Cent's opus. The less said about it, the better.
Gordon: Ken Jennings, who gets a lot of play the second half of 2008, shows up as an expert on Millionaire. He helped a family get to $250,000.
Chico: Cementing his status as trivia go-to guy.
Gordon: We celebrated Speed Dealing with DOND's 200th episode
Chico: Well, there are a few episodes in between, but they were all played for $2 million. Do you even count those?
Gordon: No. No I don't. Especially since they didn't win. Meanwhile, we get a flurry of good new shows. Cha$e. Estate of Panic. Top Chef NY...
Chico: Hey Gordon? Remember the chick from Elvira we mentioned about 15 minutes ago?
Gordon: I remember that.
Chico: She turned up as one of the Hunters on Cha$e. As does a dodgeballer, a few actors, a ninja, and Icey from Cram. I can just see myself on the game field... "Pretty girl running after me for a change."
Gordon: And they make good TV. 8 owners and their cats walking down a green platform or looking at a red chewy toy...does NOT make good TV.
Chico: ... No.
Gordon: The runner-up for worst game show of 2008, The Meow Mix show, shows up on November 15.
Chico: But seriously, you can't help but think... What was (insert principal on this show here) thinking?
Gordon: Meow Mix wants to do a game show. I can use the money. Sure, lets air it.
Chico: But GSN... no excuse whatsoever. You made me hate cats. I'm a cat hater now.
Gordon: Yay! Do you like Ohio State?
Chico: They're alright.
Gordon: They win The Family Feud College Tournament.
Chico: The first ever FF college tournament. And we hope it isn't the last.
Gordon: True. And finally...December.
Chico: It brings me back to you. THE story of December was, and we talked about it at length last week...Terry Kneiss. Perfect bid on the Showcase. Some said it was rigged. We can tell you... it wasn't. S&P would have TPIR's ass if it was.
Gordon: Defin9itely wasn't rigged. But TPIR has to do a better job with the items in their showcases.
Chico: Yep. And Drew has to keep his game face on at all times. Even when he's bummed about it. It's good that you're bummed, it shows you're human, but you are a showman.
Gordon: A rule for Drew to learn as he continues to host. The other big story in December - Mark Coyle and the return of Million Dollar Password
Chico: A big hit of summer becomes a big hit of winter.
Gordon: Sure does. And in 2 episodes, they give out $325,000.
Chico: It's a game show fan's dream come true.
Gordon: Mark Coyle is happy, because he avoided the bad celebrity of the hour (William Shatner). Chad Mosher...not so much, because he doesn't avoid Phil Keoghan, who deep 6's him.
Chico: Still, $25,000 for a college student goes a long way.
Gordon: Sure does. Anything else?
Chico: One of our favorite shows from the UK is getting a little bit of a face lift as we say goodbye to Carol Vorderman and Des O'Connor... and hello to Jeff Stelling and Rachel Riley on Countdown.
Chico: Will they have the staying power of Whiteley and Vorderman? Only time will tell. But I will say this... Rachel Riley... Rowr.
Gordon: Hi all! You have a big torch to carry. We also get the debut of Momma's Boys. Ick.
Chico: Ugh. Ryan Seacrest laid a big ol' dookie on the NBC schedule.
Gordon: I don't even think Michelle Aguilar, who won The Biggest loser, could work that one out.
Chico: Nope.
Gordon: We had a family affair on 5th grader. Rick Miles and his daghter Meghen both see a million dollar 5th Grader question. Meghen goes for it...and misses. Rick stops at $500,000 - and would have gotten it right.
Chico: I believe Rick's two for two in that department, as he knew Meghen's as well.
Gordon: He sure is. He also probably knew that Paris is not a country.
Chico: A classic Feud boner.
Gordon: What's up with Family Feud contestants not knowing geography?
Chico: I have no idea.
Gordon: Europe is not a country. Africa is not a country. Paris is not a country.
Chico: Paris Hilton is not a country either.
Gordon: Depends on which tourists you ask.
Chico: Europe is a band who sang "The Final Countdown". Africa is a song with a hell of a falsetto (I have firsthand experience)
Gordon: And Canada - is where they cancel their version of Idol.
Chico: Citing economic woes. Not citing ratings woes, which were... well, there.
Gordon: And Ben Silverman, who may be getting a new contract, fiddles as NBC burns.
Chico: Again... live by the deal, die by it...And that leads us... to TODAY. January to December. We made the jump.
Gordon: Yay! I feel Quantum Leaped
Chico: Alrighty, Scott Bakula. Can I be Dean Stockwell?
Gordon: Sure you can. Can you warp us to break?
Chico: Sure do. Still to come, we bring our toilet out of cold storage.
Gordon: But first, the last Brainvision of the year. This is WLTI. you give us 22 minutes, we'll give you a flashback.

(Brought to you by I Survived an American Gameshow! Imagine Wheel of Fortune... Imagine Deal or No Deal... Imagine doing nothing... and getting paid for it! IT'S EASY! Yeah, you'd LOVE to believe that)

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