January 16, 2005

Gordon: We have enough cheese for all of the hamsters - and for you guys.
Chico:  But those who might be lactose intolerant, we have ... a toilet.
Gordon: Yay, toilet!
Chico:  That's right, last time we ended with a push/flush. This time, we're going to continue with ... a slightly smaller jury.
Jason:  I have the plunger.
Chico:  Hey, it's better than the Pokemon Kid video.
Gordon: So what are we starting to plunge with today?
Chico:  We're starting the plunge with...

Rock, Paper, Scissors... Apparently there's a league, and apparently someone thought it was a good idea to capture it on TV.

Brian:  Way too overused, flush!
Gordon: Me thinks Someone watched too much Games Across America. You know what you can do with Paper and scissors? Cut it! Flush.
Jason:  FLUSH. You have to be kidding me.
Chico:  One word... Why? FLUSH that S(^_^)! Four flushes... Everyone count!
Jason:  I think we need the plunger...count along with me...
Group:  One... two... three... PLUNGE!
Jason:  PLUNGE!!!
Gordon: Weeee (FLUSHING NOISE)
Chico:  Again, new for 2006.  Next up,

Nashville Star. Out: Leann Rimes. In: Wynonna Judd and Cowboy Troy.

Jason:  Big Push. The truest talent show on TV...sorry AI.
Chico:  I'm guessing someone read my Buzzer on that subject... or something.
Brian:  A wild guess...flush!
Gordon: I like American Idol better, but I like this show as well. It's very sound. Push it.
Chico:  Never been a fan of Nashville Star... Never will be. Stick with what got you there... Ever changing landscape gives it a flush. So we've got a 2-2 tie.
Jason:  A clog then.
Chico:  Yes.
Gordon: We'll go find some Liquid Plumr while we see the next show, which is...

March 15 gives us Top Chef, where chef Katie Lee Joel looks to find a chef who's at least as good as she is...

Chico:  Not that Herculean a task. This is the same woman who gave Morimoto five points in taste. B(^_^)h.
Jason:  Can't beat the Food Network...light flush.
Brian:  I'll give it a light flush too.
Chico:  I'm going to flush as well... I liked the concept when it was called "Hell's Kitchen".
Gordon: I like cooking shows, regardless of where they are. Bravo does not screw up occupational contests. Push.
Chico:  What about the Law Firm?
Jason:  That was NBC first. It wasn't a Bravo Produced show.
Gordon: It got to Bravo on the goodness of NBC and the idiocy of David E. Kelley
Chico:  Ah. Touche. So 3-1 Flush. Gordon'll watch it, but that's... it. Moving onto smarter career ambition shows...

America's Next Top Model.

Gordon: TATAS! Push
Chico:  The girls return after the Olympics... and I'm going to skip the pretense here.. PUSH!
Brian:  PUSH times three!
Jason:  Tyra is hot right now...she has a highly successful talk show, and to be intelligent about it...PUSH.
Chico:  That's for the blogger from season 1.
Gordon: That would be season 6, which would be...3 pairs of Tatas! Yay!
Jason:  Pig.
Chico:  Four pushes means a royal push! (DoND low-case reveal cue)
Jason:  It would be 24 tatas in total..depending on how skinny the models are. :)
Gordon: Actually, over 40, since they start the show with the audition segment
Chico:  ...Not new for 2006 :). Then comes...

"The Apprentice",

Chico: This got its groove back after a ... let's not mince words here, season 3 sucked. Season 4 didn't. Season 5?
Brian:  Since I'm not watching the show...a light flush.
Gordon: I like the Donald. I think that the show needs to reinvent itself, for fear of Shark Jumping, but it's still must-see tv for me. Push.
Jason:  Apprentice in LA--new location. Mild Push.
Chico:  I have to agree. Season 4 was a step in the right direction after misstepping all of season 3. I'll give it a pastry push. But if it goes downhill, I'll jump. I swear...3-1 push for the Donald and company.  How about...

The World Poker Tour. Back in action for season 4 with a new cohost, Courtney Friel. Other than that, it's the same game. What say you, judges?

Jason:  ALL IN--Push.
Brian:  Push
Chico:  Pushing it.
Gordon: They could have Allie G as the spokesmodel with rotten eggs in a frying pan to open up the show and it wouldn't matter. Push.
Chico:  Royal straight push! (DoND low-case reveal cue).  Back to GSN for the next two... First up...

I've Got a Secret... They're downplaying the gay panel a bit, but the game is still there. Non-gay panel?

Gordon: Who are those panelists, Chico?
Chico:  The panelists are.. Frank DeCaro, Billy Bean, Jermaine Taylor, and Suzanne Westenhoefer.
Gordon: And how are these people famous? Billy Bean was a baseball player.
Chico:  Frank DeCaro was the movie guy on The Daily Show.
Jason:  who came out recently.
Gordon: and the  other 2?
Chico:  Suzanne is a comic/actress, and Jermaine Taylor...is a comedian.
Jason:  Mild Flush.
Brian:  I'll 2nd on the mild flush.
Chico:  GSN is putting the game first, and if they can stay true to that... Pastry push.
Gordon: I will give GSN props - they have used 4 different gay people than the run-of-the-mill people we have seen every day. I hope they value the game play. Paltry push, but I will turn on this in an instant if they forsake the game play.
Chico:  Agreed! Hell yeah! So we've got another 2-2, a clog... but a mild one.
Gordon: Next?

The fifth helping of L-I-N-G-O. With C-H-U-C-K and S-H-A-N-D.... I.

Chico:  Just like season four, but with a rolling jackpot and online winners taking on the game's best.  Your thoughts...
Jason:  PUSH. I like the show.
Gordon: I am a Lingo fan. I think this could be the best season ever...as long as they don't burn all of the episodes off in 8 weeks with back to back showings. Push.
Chico:  Oh yeah, that did it for season 4. Luckily they learned from their mistakes so... Push it.
Brian:  For me...a BIG PUSH!
Chico:  a Big ROYAL push! (DoND low-case reveal cue). And finally, the one you've all been waiting for....

Three words... Game Show Marathon.

Chico:  Seven weeks, seven games, one winner...
Jason:  Mild Flush.
Brian:  I'll 2nd on the mild flush.
Gordon: I think Joe and I can do it better. Flush.
Chico:  Aside from that, Gordon. ASIDE from that!
Gordon: Tentative Push. This is one of those shows that's all in the execution.
Chico:  I agree. But it was a hit in the UK. It was a hit when Gordon and Joe did it... Surely one of our viewers is in with the Fremantle or Granada brass, can give them some work. Push it.  (DoND low-case reveal cue) And hopefully, we'll see something good come out of it. Like.. Sale of the Century, maybe? Hmm?
Jason:  Please. Pretty Please. With Sugar on Top.
Chico:  Jason's begging! He won f(^_^)ing Millionaire, for chrissakes...And he's begging!
Gordon: Grovel, Jason, Grovel!
Brian:  Come on SOTC, please be there!?
Jason:  Please oh great Fremantle people...and you know who you are. Bring SOTC back here. So the fans can watch it...and I can play it!
Chico:  Y'all know how we do. I WANNA PLAY SALE, DAMMIT!
Jason:  (fist pump)
Chico:  Even better hosting, but I'll play, too.
Gordon: ok. It's time to go to break before the Big Finish. I hate to see two grown men grovel.
Brian:  And if they do, they better not blow it.
Jason:  Amen.

(This break has been sponsored by Wail of the Century. This is what I continue to hear from Jason and Chico as they whine on why SOTC isn't here yet. Please air the thing so I don't have to hear this anymore.)

Chico:  *whaps Gordon*
Jason:  *beats Gordon with the rolling pin*
Gordon: Weeeeee....I see puppies and sparklies and floooowwwweeerrrrrssssss....(Thud).
Chico:  While Gordon gets his footing back, let me take this time to remind you that you can catch some of the WLTI brass on the Net Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour this month.:  Check out http://www.nmghsh.cjb.net for that...that's Jason, Don, Brian, Vickers, Joe, myself, and Gordon, with Jay Lewis and the two Morrises. It's neato-keen.
Jason:  I cant wait.
Brian:  Me too.
Chico:  Meanwhile, it's time for... the Big Finish! Master P telling Ashly to go somewhere with her dancing shoes... Thoughts?
Gordon: I think Master P may be going elsewhere in a few weeks.
Jason:  He makes me say uggghhh....barf.
Chico:  How about Beauty and the Geek? Who looks like a winner?
Gordon: Way too early to tell. Chris looks like the man to beat, though.
Chico:  Skating with Celebrities? Who's watching?
Jason:  Not me.
Brian:  You can count me out.
Chico:  I'll have to... I'm going to end up writing it.
Jason:  You poor thing.
Gordon: I'll be game to watch the first episode - but that would be around it.
Jason:  At least you have Cash Cab to console you.
Chico:  Not looking forward to it... but I am looking forward to that! You still have to watch it, Jason...The Chairman commands it. The Chairman also commands the bag o'mail to be opened!
Gordon: The bag is open. What do we find inside?
Chico:  First up... Dave Adams! Thanks, Dave!

Chico:  straight up burn...
Gordon: Thanks for the e-mail, Dave. I can't agree with you more. I am one of the few people that hated This is Your Life. That's going to be exploitation to the nth degree and I, for one, will try to schedule my vacation in Antarctica when the show is on.
Jason:  I hear you.
Chico:  But if you think about it, aren't all game shows exploitive to some degree?
Jason:  There are a couple of stories about my WWTBAM experience.
Gordon: True, but talking about Jason's grandmother didn't affect how he played the game.
Jason: True
Chico:  It's just in the delivery that makes it either good or not-so-good.
Gordon: There's exploitative in the know about you and how you play, and then there's exploitative in the sense of using outside forces to control how you play and your decision.
Chico:  Right. Anything else?
Gordon: DOND crossed that line when they brought in the kids, etc. This is Your Life is extremely exploitative as they bring in people from the past to play on emotions. In  my mind, it's almost the exact same thing.
Chico:  This is just par for the course when you have a show built on human emotion... Case in point: Survivor. The family challenges...
Jason:  The tapes from home
Chico:  Obviously meant to stir up some emotion. But some may argue that intensifies the will to compete.
Gordon: But that's different. The exploitation there is to see how people would react, and not put them in one situation or another.
Chico:  So you're saying exploitation for its own sake is a bad thing.
Jason:  Of course it is.
Chico:  I'm just saying that's what he's saying... but for some reason I
won't understand... people go for it...
Chico:  Probably because they can't tell the difference.
Gordon: I'm saying that exploitation where you are trying to force someone to make a decision is a bad thing. Exploitation where you don't know how that will affect the person or the game is not as bad. It also depends on the levels. In Survivor, you know that something like that is coming. You aren't prepared on that level in DOND.
Chico:  Understandable. Thanks for the e-mail.
Gordon: I have mail!
Chico:  Present it.
Gordon: This one is from Yong Hidaka. Thanks for writing in, Yong!

Chico:  Ooh! Can I answer this one?
Gordon: Take it, Chico
Chico:  First of all... it's not a pattern... It's just the way it is. You do stupid stuff... stupid stuff happens. It's not just one week or one month. It's been like that since 1972. And it'll be like that for the rest of TPIR's life.
Jason:  It all depends on what the contestants do...it's good days and bad.
Chico:  The best we can tell you is prepare for the worst, hope for the best, and expect something in between. Because that's all it is, really. The luck of the draw.
Jason:  When we are there...expect good things. We help contestants win.
Gordon: There's one thing i will agree with Yong on - Don't go to the show without having some sense of what the games are. In Ten Chances, if the blender's numbers are 4 8 and 0, don't guess $48 on the price. Don't bid $9,999 on a price in Contestant's Row.
Chico:  *ahem*popcorncart*ahem*
Gordon: I think if you did some homework - or read OUR site, then you'll get a good grasp on what the games are and what the prices should be, and then you will make your time up on stage profitable. Thanks for the e-mail, Yong!
Chico:  And if you've got a bit of correspondence you'd like to share with the rest of the world, then it won't mail itself! You've gotta do it! The address, once again, is wlti@gameshownewsnet.com. Not new for 2006.
Jason:  But next week, we have more dancing, some new singing and lots more.
Chico:  Just remains to thank Ryan Vickers, Brian Moore, Jason Block, and YOU! We have to thank you! Because you make this show happen!
Jason:  Amen...
Gordon: For Chico and everyone at Game Show Newsnet, this is Gordon Pepper, saying Game Over!
Chico:  Until next time... spread the love :)