March 20, 2005

Gordon: This is Gordon Pepper. Usually, I have some cute sort of snappy entrance, but due to this week's death of a game show icon, we start this week's WLTI on a very somber note.
Chico: We're going to try and press on as best we can... I'm Chico Alexander, and from somewhere in America... this special edition of WLTI ... is... on.
Gordon: Thank you for joining us. We have a full house today. Our panel this week includes Jason Block, James Dinan, Joe Van Ginkel, Don Harpwood, Alex Davis, Brian Moore and Joe Mello. Good morning to all of you.
Jason: Good morning.
Brian: Morning.
Don: Good morning.
Joe M: Hello
Alex: Hi
Chico: Of course, we would start with the big stories this week, but really, and truly regrettably, there was only one big story this week...
Gordon: We start the show with quite easily the most somber news of the year. Long time game show Icon Peter Tomarken passed away this week.
Jason: He also lost his wife in the crash. He was volunteering for Angel Flight West when his plane had engine trouble and crashed into the Pacific Ocean.
Alex: You know. Just death itself wasn't the bad part. It was the tragic way it happened. Way too early for him.
Jason: And if he would have crashed on land, according to reports, there was a chance he could have made it.
Chico: Very much so... I mean, here you have a case of someone just... doing what he loved to do, and for this to happen... it hurts a lot.
Jason: It hurts a lot, because he was an icon for the 80's babies.
Chico: Just about to get into that..
Alex: It was extremely weird. I know it sounds bizarre, but since he's so high up in our world, you'd never think it would happen to someone like him.
Brian: Yes, but it could happen when you don't expect it to.
Chico: I mean, you hear about this rabid fandom toward the guy, right? Even to cult like status...And it's mostly among the fans my age or Brian's or Alex's...
Alex: I was never a giant fan of his, but he had some die hard people.
Chico: And understandably so. Because if you look at the whole picture. You have the more mature fans gravitating toward Bill Cullen and Art James... Who do we young'uns have? You know what I mean?
Alex: Yeah.
Chico: He was our host figure.
Jason: Game Show Hosts are few and far between. And we always thought he would get another shot at something.
Gordon: The older people like Jason and myself still have some of ours, but it's only a matter of time until we lose people like Tom Kennedy, Bob Barker, Wink Martindale, Betty White, et al.
Joe M: Such is what happens with the passage of time.
Jason: And all of those people have been in our popular culture for years outside of game shows. I mean a lot of young people know Bob Barker from HAPPY Gilmore.
Chico: And I still maintain that Adam Sandler should have put up a better fight than that :)
Gordon: Us game show fans have been blessed, when you look at it - there haven't been many deaths in our generation in the game show community, so when we finally hit our first tragic one, it hits hard.
Chico: But if you think about Peter... the only REAL thing you think about if you're a child of the 80s is either "Press Your Luck" or the show with the Whammies, etc. This is what we grew up on. This is what we know. This is why we're particularly hurt... It's like the end of the innocence almost.
Jason: The show itself, and him as well, was and is part of popular culture.
Alex: He never really got a fair shot. He either got good formats with crappy clearances, or a terrible format. Except for PYL.
Chico: Could you say that the show made him what he is? After all, his CV wasn't that great either in breadth or stature.
Jason: The show made him and he made the show. It's a rare combination.
Alex: Oh he was the show. They could have had a voice over computer that said "Press" and "Pass" and the show would not have been the same. He made it what it was.
Joe M: I'd say PYL was his greatest stage and was a damn good springboard. If he ever got a show that worked, he would still be who we came to know and love.
Gordon: Tomarken in my mind is one of the most underrated hosts in the game show world. Everyone has seen him in PYL, but he has proven himself in Hitman, Wipeout and even Paranoia as a very competent host.
Chico: Very much so..
Jason: Wipeout was an incredibly underrated show.
Travis: I'm with Block on this one. Wipeout should have lasted longer.
Chico: Also agreed.
Alex: I still think he and Paranoia would have been a big hit had it been on another network, but I digress.
Gordon: Now THAT should have been a show that the FOX Network (not cable network, but real network) should have gone after.
Chico: Well, Hitman... and there's a page run by Mike about this... but from what I read, Hitman was an underrated gem.
Gordon: Hitman was a classic show. Though it would have given you nightmares if you were studying for the SAT's. Wipeout was a show that definitely should have lasted longer, but the clearances (we saw it at 2am) were dreadful.
Brian: Never seen Wipeout until they repeated on USA.
Chico: I remember only seeing one original run ep of Wipeout... at 10:30a... on an independent station that we got crappy reception on. This was the years before the first thing we did when we moved into a house was hook up cable.
Jason: But back to Tomarken, you can see a lot of what Todd Newton does in Tomarken's style.
Gordon: You can see Tomarken in both Todd Newton and Mark Walberg, but neither of them have completely captured what Tomarken can do.
Travis: I think it was his general style. He made the contestants feel comfortable and was always joking with them.
Alex: Honestly, I will never understand the giant cult following he had. However, he did keep games moving along at a good pace and made stuff very exciting.
Chico: What made Tomarken so good... I guess it was the Joe Schmo factor. I mean, you'd probably look at him and say "Yeah, he's one of us..."
Joe V: Few men have done so much with so little. He only did a handful of shows, but one of them, Press Your Luck, become a generational icon, and it was his skill hosting that made it that way.
Travis: I remember a specific instance on both PYL and Wipeout when that happened.
Gordon: Tomarken was able to not only joke with the contestants, he was able to put strategy into the game and move the game along at the same time. He was the master of game pacing.
Alex: I've never seen GSN work so fast on a tribute. GSN called and emailed me within around 30 minutes of the news being put out.
Jason: GSN had to.
Alex: Oh I know they did, but I didn't expect that soon.
James: Tomarken was the face of GSN for several years
Joe M: Peter wated to see people win and be happy. Plain and simple.
Don: Indeed.
James: My favorite memory was a personal one of mine -- I won a computer as an Internet contestant on Paranoia -- it was a big deal for me and my family to watch Peter congrat the Internet winners of the day, and see my name "in lights"...along with four other players, of course.
Chico: Same here... but it was the last show, so instead of seeing my name in lights, I got the funeral dirge.
Joe M: heh. That's funny
Brian: Damn.
Jason: He was the guy who let the contestants have the spotlight, and not him. Most hosts nowadays get that. Back then, it wasn't the case.
Alex: That show should have stayed longer. Whoever thought a big money game show would survive on a cable network was a moron. But Paranoia was my favorite show he did
James: Agreed...Paranoia was a fun show...but Fox Family had no business doing a big-money quiz
Chico: Especially when they didn't know how in the first place. You could tell that they were flying by the seat of their pants... even with someone like Peter at the helm.
Alex: I'm happy he wasn't on Whammy. What would have just ruined him and Press Your Luck for me.
Chico: Yeah. I mean, you see him host that one round?
Alex: Not even he could save the abortion that was season 1 Whammy.
Gordon: I thought Peter would have done an excellent job on the show, to be honest, and I think he would have been back to the old Peter after a week of shows.
James: Peter was rusty, for sure, but he still had it.
Jason: I mean look at what Peter Marshall did on Game Show Week. He was a little rusty too.
Gordon: I think after the weeks worth of rust was gone, we would have gotten classic Peter, I mean Todd is capable, but he's not Peter.
Chico: Still brings you to a tear thinking about it...
Jason: Very much so.
Chico: Seeing the new breed and the old guard todgether... it does something to you, you know?
Jason: It does. Mr. Tomarken, thank you for all the joy you have given all of us.
James: Amen to that
Travis: Salute!
Chico: Very much so.. I believe a moment is in order...

(silence)

Chico: Godspeed, Peter. Tell Rod we said what up...
All: (standing ovation)
Joe M: I'd pay to see what hijinks Rod and Peter are doing up there. :-)
Chico: One can only wonder...Him and Rod and Michael Larsen... together. All I can say is to quote Peter in saying "If there is a God, he'd better watch his pockets."
Joe M: Peter Tomarken vs Gene Rayburn.....oh my goodness
Chico: Getting back to normal round here, let's do the news...
Travis: Someone dust off my jacket, and I'll fire up the choppler...
Joe M: Choppler?
Gordon: Roll that Beautiful Brain Footage

Doug:  (impersonating Mark Thompson) From the four corners of the globe...to your frontal love... this is WLTI Brainvision News... with the award winning Brainvision News team.

Jason: (hands jackets off with special black armband on them)
Travis: Yes, Joe.
Joe M: Ah, Doug Morris always makes a cloudy day brighter
Chico: He has atendency to do that, yeah. First up...
Travis: *Chopper takes flight*
Jason: Mice starts running
Travis: *Boop*

Last week, we reported that GSN may be taken away from New Yorkers... But it seems that GSN isn't going down without a fight, with rabid fans clamoring... and succeeding to get the carriage back.

Chico: If you're living in Binghamton, the channel has moved to 124 on the digital tier.
Joe M: And good for them for supporting what they watch.
Jason: Agreed. Keep fighting the good fight.
Travis: *Applause*
Chico: It'll be there for 60 days, pending an agreement between Time Warner and GSN.
Joe M: GSN has to find an identity and fast
James: In a perfect world, there is room for both GSN and the Mets channel :)
Chico: GSN has to find their old identity in a new world.
Brian: And if they don't, they're screwed!
Joe M: Anything To Win is a perfect example in a microcosm
Alex: Yeah, February's ratings aren't that great
Chico: I heard that their 0.4 held, but they lost a few viewers.
Alex: Yep, 4K viewers - And a loss is a loss no matter what
James: Agreed
Travis: True.
Alex: The network's only big ratings getters are Millionaire, Anything to Win, and High Stakes Poker
Chico: Lingo?
Brian: And what about Greed?
Alex: I don't classify a .3 as a big ratings getter. Family Feud gets more. Greed, that's passing at around a .3 like all the other shows they run to death, like Dog Eat Dog. In my opinion, with the lack of ratings it's getting, Amazing Race goes down in history as the worst acquisition they've ever made.
Gordon: They could have taken that 6 million and created 4 or 5 new shows instead of a show that's having ratings problems on CBS.
Alex: GSN has major issues. They have a giant library and choose not to use it.
Gordon: GSN needs new programming and a trademark show that they don't run into the ground.
Chico: Basically, GSN won a battle in a bigger fight. Now they have to do right by the viewers instead of a focus group (yeah, like that helps). And I know it's out there. Law of Average, you know?
Travis: That was the first thing I learned in my Cable Programming class. FOCUS GROUPS DON'T HELP!!
Alex: Russian Roulette was confirmed a 3rd season before GSN switched. So was Whammy.
Chico: They could've kept those shows... But they chose not to.. But that's another argument for another day.
Alex: This is what GSN's major issue was. They felt that FOX Reality was going to be a competitor and they wanted to crush them. They weren't going to end up being competitors, and GSN is now hurt badly.
Chico: They HAD a decent network.
Joe M: Exactly
Travis: Keyword: Had.
Joe M: *ding*
Travis: *Boop*

We have more on the Game Show Marathon. Your host is Ricki Lake. The contestants include Leslie Neilsen, Lance Bass, Kathy Najimy, Paige Davis and Adrienne Curry. The games include Press Your Luck, Family Feud, The price is RIght Card Sharks and Match Game, and the guest celebrities include...wait for it...Betty White!

Travis: They begin taping TOMORROW AFTERNOON!!
Chico: Thanks, Joe...
Joe V: Hopefully I'll be able to confirm that: I'm going to the first taping tomorrow at CBS Television City.
Travis: I'm on Spring Break this week...and I CAN"T GO!!
Chico: Damn job. Next! Woo!
Travis: *Boop*

NBC has decided to quietly and mutually end their relationship with Discovery Kids. What that means for its Emmy-nominated Endurance series is unclear at the moment, but one thing is assured, this fall it will not return to NBC.

Jason: Kids Deal or No Deal? :P
Chico: It's too soon.
Joe M: Well aside from Endurance, what else did they have that was good?
Alex: Some of the Deal contestants have the IQ of kids, so that can be argued.
Travis: That'd be cute though.
Brian: I don't know about Operation Junkyard.
Jason: Or Trading Spaces: Boys v. Girls
Chico: Well, aside from Endurance... that's it, really. Darcy's Wild Life, I don't imagine people like me getting into... and Flight 29 Down was just .. Lost, the kiddie version. And you know what I feel about Lost to begin with, so...
Brian: And the DK channel, had repeats of ZooVenture.
Chico: The other Animal Planet quiz show.
Brian: The Canadian-based Wild Guess?
Chico: No. Between residuals for those shows and Beauty and the Geek... JD Roth should be a very rich man. All 3Ball Prods. needs right now is a solid quizzer...and they're set.
Joe V: Hmm..
Chico: And I know they can do that. I have the idea... I just need the questions and the quizzard and the graphics and ... well. everything else. Call me, JD... We'll talk over coffee...
Gordon: Next article...
Travis: *Boop*

Wowowee is back on the air after a month after the stampede that killed 71 people. The hosts were smiling like nothing happened, but everyone is still being investigated.

Jason: That's not good.
Joe V: nope.
Chico: The families involved in the tragedy say it's too soon.
Jason: I would think so.
Joe M: My question is that if a month isn't enough, then when?
Chico: No one can really answer that question
Gordon: I think that, like the Tomarken situation, life goes on. Sure it hurts, but you have to keep living.
Travis: Right.
Chico: Very true.
Joe M: I'm not saying whether the hiatus is long enough or not, I'm just saying that it was a break (which was needed) and considering how the show skews towards the impoverished and brings them hope, it's a touchy situation.
Jason: Well said, Joe.
Chico: Also very true.
Gordon: Sure - but you don't kill a program that's been doing so good because of a stupid case of mismanagement. That's like killing the golden goose because someone forgot to cook the egg before eating it and a salmonella outbreak happened.
Joe V: Indeed.
Chico: We'll just have to see where this story goes. We're going to be following it, you can be sure...Meanwhile, who's ready to get Fully Loaded?
Jason: Sure.
Brian: I do!
Joe M: I'm a minor......
Gordon: (Shields Joe)
Travis: MMkay
Joe V: Lock and load, maaaaan.
Travis: *Boop*

An interactivity study from GSN and Ball State has recently completed and the result is as follows...Television viewers not only prefer the highly competitive nature of interactive television programs, but also enjoy interactive commercials.

Jason: Really?
Travis: Quois?
Jason: Like webpages and the like?
Joe M: The only interactive commercials I want to see are the ones that let you turn them off. XP
Chico: More like TiVo Screens and set top boxes and what not. Taking from the article, if I may...On average, 76 percent of viewers playing along with the program also interact with advertisers' interactive commercials. The majority of participants were disappointed if a commercial break did not include an interactive commercial, which may be evidence of demand for more interactivity.
Which begs the question... what the hell is an interactive commercial?
Joe M: Anything that makes the fans think they have power
Jason: I dont know.
Don: Sounds like something where you see a product, and you can push a button and you buy it just like that.
Joe V: Heh.
Chico: Very Jetsons like, but I don't think that's what the study had in mind.
Joe V: Sure hope not.
Joe M: I wonder if it's like Shoot the Ducks and win an iPod.
Chico: I think they mean the bonus questions that usually happen during the ads on GSN interactive. We've all seen'em right?
Don: Good thing, too. If I saw one of those Hoveround commercials, I wouldn't want to find myself hitting a button to buy one when I'm trying to hit the mute button.
Jason: Right.
Travis: Ouch
Joe V: That would suck.
Chico: Now that everyone is relieved by that (although if there was a button marked .... well, we won't get into that here)...
Joe V: What about the Wheel TV game?
Chico: The Wheel TV Game... is out. I got this one at Radio Shack. It's about $15.
Joe V: This is the Jakks Pacific Plug and Play game, right?
Chico: Yep.
Joe M: So what did you think, Chico?
Joe V: I have it too.
Chico: And check this... the Wheel... spins.
Gordon: Ooooh
Joe M: OMFGLOLBBQ
Joe V: Truly nifty. The controller has a built in Wheel spinner that controls the onscreen Wheel.
Travis: BBQ indeed.
Don: Sweet.
Chico: This reminds me of the throwback to the NES versions. It's very compact, very authentic.. and hey, the Wheel spins. You can't not like that. It's in stores now. Go get it.
Joe M: It's like the Deluxe WoF handheld, but better!
Joe V: Only has three regular rounds, though...and no $5,000 space?!?! With the $5,000 ON the Spinner? WTF?
Chico: Yep. I didn't get that either.
Travis: That makes less-than-normal sense.
Joe M: Perhaps it was a art oversight
Chico: or a graphics oversight.
Joe V: And only ONE Mystery space in the Mystery Round.
Travis: That makes even-less-than-normal sense.
Chico: So it's basically good if you're a fan of Plug & Play Games. If you're a Wheel of Fortune diehard, you can find better at WheelofFortune.com.
Joe V: Absolutely...or on EBay. :D
Travis: Touche, salesman.
Joe V: Or do like me: use Powerpoint to make your own inlays for the Deluxe Wheel replica. :D
Chico: Or you can just build your own damn wheel out of cheap plyboard. It's been done :)
Gordon: Speaking of cheap, who wants some hos?
Chico: *plays Ludacris' "Area Codes"*

In this week's Media Ho Report, we have Tom Bergeron and Kelly Monaco hosting the Emmys...

Joe M: Tom hosting the Emmys should be interesting.
Joe V: Can I have some Kelly Monaco for St. Patty's Day? :-D
Joe M: I think you missed the boat on St Patty's, Joe.
Travis: Only if you're good.
Joe M: I'll take Kelly Monaco for Easter, Alex :P
Joe V: I guess that means I have to wait.

...The Bachelor is hosting Architects to be the next Media Ho...

Chico: NO!
Gordon: Sorry, Chico

...Kellie Pickler is getting a note from her imprisoned father, while Leroy Wells is serving time. Meanwhile, you can audition to be a media ho to skate with Torville and Dean...

Gordon: Speaking of Kellie Pickler, we see some footage of her performing on a DIFFERENT talent show - a regional TV one, thanks to the folks of TVsquad.com
Chico: Of course, most of that is just what was linked from wvotefortheworst.com
Gordon: True, but she's not the ho of the week.
Chico: How about Kevin Covais, who dumped his girlfriend to be on the show?
Gordon: I was about to get to that. And it's actually not to be on the show, but to be single to try to snare more votes.
Joe M: Okay, it's official. Kevin's a prick.
Chico: So he's the ho of the week
Gordon: But no, he's not the ho of the week, either
Chico: Then keep me in suspense no longer...or at least indulge in my idiocy.
Gordon: The ho of the week doesn't go to a person, it goes to an organization which quite nicely exemplifies the whole wackiness of American Idol.
Jason: OK...which is?
Gordon: Pinnaclesports.com!
Joe M: Lemme guess. AI trading cards?
Gordon: They are the group that actually sets up the sports odds on internet betting on the Idol guests.
Chico: Ah, the people who had Ace Young to win, then switched to Chris Daughtry after actually watching the show! Of course!
Joe V: lol
Chico: Makes so much sense!
Jason: (shakes head)
Gordon: Chris is 7-2 to win, while Mandisa is at 11-2.
Joe M: I'd like to see this betting on King of Vegas ;-)
Chico: How about it, Spike?
Jason: But you can look at them every week and laugh at their odds.
Joe V: lol
Gordon: And those...are your hoes.
Chico: And that... is Brainvision. Okay, shut'er down.
Jason: Good mice.
Travis: *Mmmmmmmmmmmmmooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooop*
Chico: When we return, our tribute show continues with... what else, Bargain Hunters and Whammyville. This is WLTI, ripping the genre a new one since 2002.

(Brainvision News has been brought to you by Swipeout. It's the new game where every answer is on a credit card...but be careful if you get the one that eats out your bank account. Waaa waaaaaa).

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