June 11, 2005

Gordon: We are back for an incredible 9th season!
Chico: From Somewhere in America, the Summer Spectacular edition of WLTI is on!
Gordon: I once again welcome my esteemed colleague Chico Alexander.
Jason: 9th Season, huh?
Chico: Yeah, we're going by official British count here :-) And I welcome the yin to my yang, Gordon Pepper.
Gordon: Thank you - we have some veterans and some interns with us today. Let's start with the veterans.
Chico: First up, the master of the Block party, from Beat the Block, 95.5 PLJ and STILL undefeated, Jason Block!
Travis: My word, are they throwing ringers at you?
Chico: Tell us what famous face you managed to knock off over the recess :-)
Gordon: Uh.... some stuff happened during the break, Chico.
Jason: Well...I am not undefeated there. I lost.
Travis: Awww...
Chico: *GASP!*
Eric: sniff
Jason: My record is 20-1.
Gordon: (Mozart Funeral Dirge plays in the background)
Jason: I lost to a guy by the name of Mike Leger...who you all may know on the Millionaire boards as Killer Tomato.
Chico: Tomato....
Travis: Holy crap. 20-1. That's still impressive.
Gordon: So you got eaten by a killer tomato?
Jason: Yes.
Chico: Should've brought the pepper.
Gordon: Watch it, buddy.
James: Attack....of the Killer Tomatoes!
Gordon: The person bringing out the bad movie references is another long veteran - I introduce to you with Millionaire, James Dinan!
James: Howdy folks.
Gordon: The final veteran, who was hoping that he would be able to Beat the Block first - Mr. Travis Eberle.
Travis: I still want to win Ben Stein's money.
Gordon: What about Ken Jennings’s money?
Travis: I could take a whack at that...
Chico: I think Jason, Brad Rutter, and Nancy Zerg all proved that he's fallible. Now we get to the two new kids on the block - first up, our new poker guy, Johnny Orgovan!
Jason: Hey Johnny - welcome to the nuthouse.
Johnny: Hey guys!
Gordon: Welcome Johnny.
Johnny: I’m 25 and love GAME SHOWS! And poker!
Travis: That's a good start here.
Jason: You should fit right in.
Chico: Hey! I'm 25 and I love Game Shows... and poker :-)
Travis: I will be 25 in two months, and I love game shows, and mildly enjoy poker...
Gordon: Should we get a hotel for the 3 of you?
Travis: SWM ISO...
Jason: (plays 70's porno movie music)
Gordon: The other nut comes to us from the land of Reality (and Schwabbie) Recapping - Eric Pierce!
Jason: Hey Eric.
Eric: If I'm a new kid can I be Joey, I want to dance with Ashly.
Chico: Good choice!
Jason: How old are you Eric?
Chico: Are you 25 and do you love game shows?
Eric: And there is nothing wrong with reality TV.
Chico: just as long as it doesn't suck.
Jason: Depends on the type...diff from my opinion 2 years ago.
Eric: I’m 23, I like long walks off short piers and occasionally I stop to watch Are You Hot?
Travis: Strike one!
Chico: LOL
Eric: ok, so some TV is bad.
Travis: So close, Eric. So close.
Jason: We had hope.
Eric: Hope has left the building.
Gordon: Eric - What was your favorite thing about Are You Hot?
Travis: (My aunt was there?)
Eric: Just how the Laser Pointer of Death as really pointing out everything that was wrong with that show.
Chico: OKAY.... As you know, we've been gone for the last three weeks on separate quests for ... whatever. Here's a rundown of what happened. Starting with... Brad Rutter... The new king.
Jason: The man.
Chico: Aragorn, if you will.
Jason: The Giant Killer.
Eric: Rutter is the King.
Gordon: Praise the new boss - even better than the old boss.
James: All hail King Brad!
Eric: The King of "Coconuts".
Johnny: Wonder who would win if Brad faced Ken without a third player?
Travis: Oh, it would have been even MORE messy.
James: Brad.
Chico: Probably Brad. Jerome wasn't much of a factor.
Travis: Sadly, no. And I think Jerome figured it out early, too.
Chico: Gotta love the guy, but he wasn't a factor.
Eric: Still have to go with Brad.
Jason: Brad is the coolest cat I know. He wiped the floor with Ken.
James: Jerome was the third wheel on the Jeopardy bicycle.
Gordon: I agree with everyone, it wouldn't have mattered who you stuck in the third spot.
Johnny: Think Brad could have matched the streak though?
Eric: No
Travis: Anyone could have matched the streak.
James: Depends on who he played, categories, etc.
Chico: And you have to love that Brad and Ken were both amicable about it.
Jason: It was a nice J! Love Fest. Ken was getting 500K. Jerome was getting 250K. And Brad was getting his 2M.
Chico: And Alex gets nothing :-)
Eric: Oh Alex gets plenty, trust me.
Chico: When would you say that a streak borders on intimidation?
Travis: Ten games.
Johnny: 10 games?
Travis: Sure, why not.
James: I think when Ken reached 15-20 games, the intimidation factor came into effect.
Travis: By that time you know it's not a fluke.
Gordon: I’d think 5 would be enough to show that it's not a fluke.
Chico: We'll get to yesterday's game in a moment, speaking of flukes :-)
James: A few players weren't intimidated (Matt Ottinger for instance), but several others...
Travis: You never know, the material could be easy, the players not bright...
Chico: You could have a brain fart in Final Jeopardy!. You just don't know.
Jason: One of the people in my group at "Can You Beat Ken" was Rom Kimbro, Victim #74
Chico: That's what's interesting about it. You just don't know.
Travis: I remember...four people who played against him. Out of 150.
Chico: Two more than I remember.
Jason: He said a lot of people had the deer in the headlights look in game 74.
Johnny: Jeopardy is a JOKE now. The ANSWERS aren't even ANSWERS anymore...just CLUES.
Jason: Are you a Jeopardy hater Johnny? :-)
Johnny: Nah, not a J! hater
Travis: They've always been clues.
Chico: Not so different than usual. Or hell, even Fleming era.
Travis: "The answer is..."
Eric: Just now they are blatantly obvious, I think it's mostly UTOC withdrawal.
Johnny: 5280. How many feet in a mile.
Travis: "5280 feet" would be a (mildly) better clue.
James: Agreed...I'm now getting a majority of the questions again :-)
Travis: What was my white cell count last night?
Chico: What was my BAC last night?
Gordon: What was your BAC last night, Chico?
Jason: What was the number of runs scores against the Yankees pitching? :-)
Eric: I'll have what he's having.
Travis: Ow. No love lost for the Yankees. :-)
Jason: I am a Yankee fan. I bleed pinstripes. They stink now.
Chico: Okay, moving on, we also crowned a new American Idol... and Gordon is pissed.
Travis: What else is new?
Chico: And I can't blame him. For the first time in four years... America got it wrong.
Jason: Why are we pissed, Gordon?
Gordon: I’m not pissed - just mildly disappointed that the person who won is not going to be the person who should have won.
Eric: I'm pissed too, did anyone sing like they wanted to win that final?
Travis: Should have won? I...is confused.
Chico: Person who won... Carrie... Not the person who should've won, Bo.
Travis: According to what? Your Magic 8-Ball?
James: Nothing against Carrie Underwood, but she's just not unique. She doesn't stick out compared to the rest of the "divas"...both pop and country.
Gordon: Carrie was definitely the most consistent singer in the group - but she was not the most talented.
Chico: She was consistently underpar, if that's what you mean.
Jason: I thought Bo was pretty talented.
Eric: Agreed, and consistently robotic.
Gordon: And consistently got the lyrics wrong.
Jason: She is performing at CMA Fanfest this weekend.
James: Bo was different...and the audience went for safe.
Eric: It a small wonder that she won.
Travis: I would have been happy either way. What was the margin of winning?
Chico: No idea.
Gordon: From what I heard, it wasn't close. Something like 70% to 30%
Travis: By that definition, none of the top four would have been worthy. It's a popularity contest, not about who is the best performer or most technically proficient.
James: Have a feeling you'll see Ruben-Clay II, where the runner-up sells more records than the winner.
Chico: Agreed. And apparently so did America, because he's number one in presells (and he was on the Daily Show, which counts for a lot if you ask me).
Gordon: Idol has always been about a combination of looks and talent, but for the first three, the talent part coincided with the look part and the winner was proficient at both. This time around, it seems like the prettier person won it over the more talented one - which is a first.
Eric: Hit it on the head right there, welcome back to high school.
Travis: Yeah, but there's not a "Talent portion" and a "Looks Portion". It's all about the vote.
Chico: Not so different from any modicum of modern pop music.
Gordon: There's always been a segment where looks made the difference and overcame any talent deficiency - Vanilla Ice, Milli Vanilli, etc.
Chico: Moving from season enders to season beginners, as we saw a week of good stuff launching, and a week of ... not so good stuff launching. First the week of good stuff.
Jason: The Next Food Network Star.
Gordon: And Speaking of Vanilla Ice - Hit Me Baby, 1 More Time!
Chico: Dancing!
Travis: I hope Tom Bergeron is soaking ABC for all they're worth.
Chico: Me too. Nice to see Tom get props like that after H2.
Jason: People like Dancing... go figure.
Eric: Has America gone crazy?
Chico: Or has ABC employed the hypnotoad :-)
Jason: We did predict this to be a push last time around I believe.
Eric: I bet to the real ballroom dancers are mad they aren't getting more of the spotlight.
Gordon: People like dancing as a SUMMER show. We'll see if they like it when
it goes up against CSI or Law and Order.
James: It's a simple show that the whole family can watch -- kind of like WWTBAM when it started.
Travis: True, James, but I don't think it's got the staying power that Millionaire could have had.
James: Agreed... it's going to have problems as a mid-season replacement.
Chico: I was actually at the hospital when the second episode aired. We couldn't stop talking about it. If a show can get perfect strangers to come together and talk, it's good thing. Whether that can translate into something permanent? Well.. I doubt it. What would that be?
Gordon: The Summer shows are perfect for just that - the Summer. CBS figured it out. NBC, with their moving of Last Comic Standing, didn't.
Travis: It seems like Tom is playing the whole deal as a joke, or parody of other shows. Does anyone else notice this?
Chico: I think that's just Tom. He never takes himself too seriously.
Gordon: I also think he's playing it up the right way.
James: Agreed...Tom was never the serious type.
Chico: Anyone who saw Pepsi Play for a Billion 2 knows that.
Eric: A little bit maybe, but that seems to be his persona, he can't get away from AFV.
Travis: That's the stone cold truth. Play for a Billion proved that.
Jason: Tom was never serious.
James: And you have to have a little sarcasm hosting a show like that
Travis: OK, take out Tom. Could the show work with, say, Art Fleming, if he were alive? Someone serious?
Chico: Probably...not.
Jason: No.
James: Bruce Forsyth hosts the version in Britain, so it COULD work.
Gordon: I don’t think it works it you make it serious. It's a silly show and best when treated as such.
Chico: Wouldn't be as light, as jovial.
James: Wouldn't be as successful, but it could work.
Chico: Bruce Forsyth isn't as serious either.
Jason: You need a bit of fluff.
Chico: You need fluff.
Gordon: Fluffernutter.
Chico: Which you could bring into Hell's Kitchen, apparently.
Eric: And have smashed into your chest.
Chico: That also launched, and Fox is happy about the returns.
James: Fox is always happy about the returns.
Travis: Returns?
Chico: You know "coming in third is a triumph".
Jason: Ratings.
Travis: The numbers, I figured.
James: Fox was happy with Forever Eden when about 8 people were watching it.
Gordon: Any show that lasts longer than Playing it Straight or Forever Eden Fox is happy about. Actually, the ratings for the second show were higher than the first, so Fox should be happy about it.
Travis: Set that bar low, Fox. Whoof. And yet, they killed two viable quiz shows. (sob)
Chico: Greed and It's Your Chance of a Lifetime. I thought the latter was more of a rip than the former.
Johnny: That was a MILLIONAIRE CLONE.
James: But not The Chamber...PLEASE NOT THE CHAMBER.
Eric: Bring back Greed!
Chico: Hai!
Travis: Oh, I should not have opened that can of worms...
Chico: Heh.
Gordon: If you brought back Greed, would it get the ratings?
Jason: Yes.
Johnny: Greed at least had the Terminator.
Chico: Put at the right time, yeah.
Jason: Without question.
Travis: Fix the game first, then worry about the ratings.
James: Depends on the time slot.
Eric: Needs to be redone, a little faster, but yes.
James: It could work as a syndie with a couple of tweaks.
Travis: This is neither the time, nor the place. Hell's Kitchen did get me thinking about something, though. Why does every show go with two teams and vote to remove? That's all. Chug along.
Gordon: Ok - going back to the subject - those were the good shows. Then we had the not so good shows...
Travis: Anyway. On to Sucktown..
Chico: Okay, with the week of good comes a week of bad, when you had two shows that premiered to either critical or numerical lackluster. First up, the Scholar, a show with its heart in the right place.
Johnny: I think the Scholar is pretty cool, actually.
Jason: But the ratings in the cellar.
Chico: Give kids a shot at a full-ride college scholarship.
Travis: $300,000. Where can you blow that kind of scratch in four years?
Gordon: I actually thought the casting was good.
Travis: Subpar host, good game...
Gordon: Well, the rules are confusing, and that could turn away the viewing public.
James: Frankly, the concept is a bit uncomfortable....watching people compete for a scholarship isn't my idea of entertainment.
Eric: the kids are nice and all, but who wants to watch all of the smart kids that made them feel dumb in high school.
Chico: Anyone who watched "Under One Roof" and "The Rob Nelson Show" knows that Rob Nelson is as dull as day-old dishwater.
Travis: I'd rather watch this than Weakest Link, and have the dummies skate away with the prize.
Jason: This is another case of anti-intelligence bias on the ratings part.
Eric: Well, agreed. But this is where the street smarts, book smarts competition should have been held.
Travis: Oh, that could have been HUGE.
Gordon: So the reason why we don't want to watch the show is because we don't want to see people who are better than ourselves?
Jason: Bingo.
Travis: And yet J! and Millionaire toddle along. I don't quite buy it.
Gordon: Millionaire is not about people better than us - it's about living the American Dream.
Chico: Because they're pretty much regular. They don't think of themselves as smart.
Eric: In Millionaire, it's common man against the house, we want to see the house lose.
Travis: True.
Gordon: In Jep, we marvel at the contestants because we play along with them.
Chico: Therein lies the rub.
Gordon: I do think that the rules are confusing and that Rob Nelson may not have been the best choice of a host.
Travis: Might not? I'd have him 1001st out of the Top 1000 candidates.
Gordon: And maybe the public wants to see less of people being smart and more like them acting like morons...
Chico: And speaking of anti-intelligence, though.... Fire Me... PLEASE!
Travis: Heh. Glad to see Dave back in front of the camera.
Jason: Dave Holmes...the guy who should have won that DJ Search.
Gordon: This. Show. Sucks.
Travis: Why does it suck, Gordon?
Gordon: Not only is it not funny (though I do think the police coming in to arrest the contestant was a nice touch), I also think that it's bordering on obnoxious for any work place who has to stop production for a TV show that they aren't aware about.
Eric: Don't fire me please; this is like an hour of candid camera, not bad.
James: Candid Camera got old after a few episodes...this got old after six minutes.
Travis: It's got simple rules, an amusing format...
Chico: And Dave is a whiz on the host front.
Travis: It's not going to last more than a month, but it's still fair.
Chico: More so than... that guy who DID win the DJ search.
Eric: Where is Jesse Camp anyway?
Chico: *shrugs*
Eric: Somewhere with the victims of Ken Jennings I guess...
Chico: So host, good. Format, classic. The combined sum total... ouch.
Travis: We could have done worse. Cupid 2.
Chico: You. Hush.
Gordon: I’d rather watch Cupid 2 than this.
Chico: You might've just jinxed us to that.
Eric: Supposedly the owners are notified of this happening. Not the managers there, the store proprietor.
Travis: Granted, I'd rather see a revival of $64,000 Question, but there you are.
Chico: Ehh, we'd rather see a number of things.
Eric: Agreed.
Jason: A lot of things.
Eric: A LOT of things.
Gordon: Explain to me how this got better ratings than The Scholar and The Cut.
Eric: People are superficial.
James: It aired after NCIS...which does HUGE ratings.
Chico: That's Tuesday :-) Then we have the Cut, which saw a good game .. but no good numbers.
Jason: The Cut (whose recap will be on the site soon).
Travis: It's Survivor: High Fashion, right?
James: And, IIRC, ratings for Fire Me fell 25 percent from NCIS.
Eric: I'd say Apprentice: High Fashion, but sure.
Gordon: Pretty much, though I was expecting the show to be more Project Runway than Apprentice.
Jason: It tried to copy the Apprentice from the lettering to the camera angles to everything.
Chico: But it works, you know?
Eric: No, that would have made the show good
Jason: Try to be original.
Travis: Two teams, vote to kick someone out. Again. I think I'll take a pass on this one.
Chico: Yeah. Nothing we haven't seen before... But still, it works.
Gordon: I agree with Travis. It is a good show, but there has to be a better way on having it formatted.
Chico: And for that, it deserves some props.
Jason: It seems too much like a copy and not an original...and "You are out of style..." Trez Cheez Whiz.
Travis: One could argue: why mess with a format that works, with the two teams/vote.
Gordon: It reminds me of Race to the Altar from a few years back. It was good, but nothing original and it tanked in the ratings because of it. I can see The Cut in that same direction.
Travis: Altar tanked because the show was Saturdays at 8...
Chico: True. People aren't that dumb.
Gordon: It didn't start on Saturday - it started on Wednesday and then got banished to Saturdays.
Travis: Ah. If it picks up steam, someone will let me know.
Chico: Will do.
Johnny: Meanwhile TPIR does fine Saturdays at 8...what gives?
Jason: It’s the show, plain and simple.
Travis: TPIR is a known entity. You know what you're in for each time.
Eric: yeah, a losing million dollar spin.
Johnny: Still, its in the death slot, but still getting the ratings.
Chico: Understatement of the week :-) And that's what happened on our summer vacation. Okay. Time to get cerebral.
Travis: I'm tapped out. :-)
Chico: Cue the Brain music!
Gordon: Roll that beautiful Brain footage.
Eric: Duke!

(Jason hands everyone the Ron Burgundy jackets, “Move Closer to Your World” plays... From the four corners of the globe to your frontal lobe, this ... is Brainvision News.)

Chico: Where's my Afro?
Jason: What is our first story this week?
Eric: back in the 70's
Chico: Good segue, Eric. You're learning :-)

MTV is set to launch "The 70s House" in which players will have to live, think, and act as they would if they were in the 1970s.

Chico: Too Brady Bunch?
Travis: It's 1895 House. In 1970.
Jason: They need a lot of weed.... :P
Eric: This is just and excuse for another Real World sex romp.
Gordon: I may need a whole lot of crunk to get through watching it.
Jason: True.
Chico: Like we need another one of those :-)
James: Blah.
Travis: Do they understand that their target audience was not even born yet?
Johnny: Good point.
Jason: That’s the point :-) MTV's version of the 1970's.
Eric: According to the story, yes, shockingly.
Travis: And the old people aren't watching MTV.
James: MTV has been struggling with original programming in recent months, and this is the best they can do? Just bring out Gary Coleman and Barry Williams, and everyone will be happy.
Chico: Just a questing... you remembers when MTV played music?
Travis: Bring back Remote Control and Idiot Savants.
Chico: YES!
Travis: Yeah. I was FIVE YEARS OLD.
Gordon: Turn it Up would be good, too.
Jason: Thank you Travis.
Eric: I'd pay for those shows to come back.
Jason: I was on Turn It Up.
Travis: I never did see Turn it Up, so I can't say.
Gordon: I know you were - I found the tape with you on the show =)
Jason: I have the master tape :-)
Chico: How'd you get the master?
Eric: MTV should pick up You Don't Know Jack and redo that too.
Travis: MTV: The network for games?
Eric: They've already got the dating games
Johnny: I miss the Blame game
Travis: You're the only one, Johnny.
Gordon: I miss Trashed.
Travis: That was amusing. :-)
Chico: AHEM deviation!

Speaking of the Network for Games, GSN gets the rights for all of The Amazing Race - including the recently completed series 7. In addition, they also get first repeat rights on Seasons 8 and 9 after they are aired.

Jason: HUGE acquisition for GSN.
Travis: I think GSN is going to take a bath on this.
Jason: This is big.
Chico: Oh yeah.
Eric: Yes, but GSN is not going to become great with one big acquisition
Johnny: Bigger than the Mole?
Jason: I didn't say that.
Gordon: I think GSN will get the ratings. Don't forget that they only need a 0.5 for a hit and The AR didn't take off until season 5.
Travis: This is nearly a hundred episodes of a known quality product.
Jason: I just said the acquisition was good. GSN still blows.
Chico: And also big for the Race, as you have Jerry Bruckheimer figuring that this gives us a shot at the Race from the beginning, since it's only come on its own recently.
Gordon: So that leaves 4 seasons of Catch-up.
James: And people would like to catch the first 4 season of TAR.
Eric: Which they will spend in one-a-day episodes.
Jason: I am going to play catch up.
James: But I have a feeling GSN will take a ratings bath with this...reruns of reality shows do not do well in the ratings.
Travis: One a day? If they didn't blow it already, that's the death blow.
Chico: Well, we'll see as...

We also have Survivor heading to OLN (at a hefty price) and Top Model going to VH1.

Travis: Weekly, or two a week I could understand.
Gordon: With 60+ episodes, 1 a day would mean 3 months of programming
Eric: GSN, need to listen to their name and bring back games, Game shows are low budget, take advantage!
Travis: And then it goes to Rerun Hell. They're in what, cycle eight of Greed?
Eric: Burn, baby, burn.
Jason: I have been on GSN about 5 times now.
Eric: God, that's painful.
Travis: All for Millionaire?
Jason: Yes.
Travis: (thought maybe your Wheel shows got on there sometime.)
Eric: 5 times, wow, the power of repeats, get any royalties?
Travis: Nope. Notta dime.
Johnny: LOL.
Eric: too bad, so sad
Chico: I can se a union for that.
Travis: So, TAR is at best a gamble on the part of GSN.
Chico: Regrettably :-)
Jason: Thanks for reminding me of THAT :-)
Chico: Also on the Brain today...

Ken Jennings' new game for Comedy Central is in its run-through phase. That's all we know about it, though.

Chico: They are casting.
Jason: (grumble)
Travis: No format, host, nothing?
Eric: Anyone signing up?
Jason: I got nothing.
Chico: I would reckon so. For the chance to knock off Ken Jennings?
Travis: Not until we get more word on what the deal is.
Gordon: I signed up and got an email back =)
Travis: Do we even know that you play against him?
Jason: Bite Me, Gordon. I got nothing.
Eric: ouch.
Gordon: James, what did you get?
Jason: Either they have totally missed me. Or they don’t like me.
James: Got an e-mail back with the show, and I sent them back an application.
Gordon: Yep - same here.
Jason: You have GOT to be kidding me. First Gordon, now James...what the heck :-)
James: The show's application asked do you think you can beat Ken Jennings? My answer...I did a couple of years ago, so I know :-)
Jason: During the NY tour to promote his board game, I BEAT KEN JENNINGS...
Chico: "Hey Ken... Remember me?!"
Jason: No one loves me...
James: But alas, I'm not eligible, since I know Ken, but I can certainly be a run-thru player if asked.
Eric: It's on comedy central, makes you wonder.
Travis: "You missed your question, so here's your penalty shot of hot sauce!"
Eric: Penalty shot? You have to drink to buzz!
Chico: I don't know. WBSM was on Comedy Central.
Johnny: Anyone think it's gonna be a Ben Stein remake?
Jason: They are trying for it not to be.
Chico: Aww.. but that was good!
Travis: It would be hard not to make the subconscious connection.
Gordon: I think it will be different - I think it will be closer to the Can You Beat Ken board game, which is very Trivial Pursuitish.
Travis: I had heard that part of the show would be rotating smaller games, like TPIR. What news on that?
James: The show is definitely going to have a Ben Stein-ish feel to it. Also.. it's going to have a tug-a-war between being CC outrageous and KJ modest.
Johnny: Which isn’t a bad thing.
Chico: I gotta get on the ball, I suppose :-)
Gordon: and Michael Davies's gang will be part of the planning around it, so it should be a quality show.
Jason: Yup.
Travis: Doesn't necessarily mean the audience will bite, though.
Chico: That's also what they said about Studio 7.
Gordon: Even brilliant game show minds can have a bomb once in a while.
Eric: On a buzzer, or in knowledge is the question.
Chico: Heh... Okay Gordon, next?

Delays, delays, delays, NBC is delaying both The Biggest Loser 2 and Average Joe 4 to later on in the Summer.

Gordon: Is this because they think it will be a hit or is it because they think it could be trouble?
Jason: Trouble.
James: Trouble.
Jason: At least on the Joe's side.
Travis: T-R-O-U-B-L-E.
Chico: Trouble.
Eric: Pop-o-matic bubble.
Travis: Summer is easy pickings for a known ratings winner.
James: I mean they already changed Average Jane to Average Joe 4 -- what's the deal with that?
Chico: NBC has been one giant stream of trouble as of late.
James: Plus, wasn't the show supposed to premiere back in October?
James: Along with the Contender? :-)
Chico: Yes, yes and yes.
Gordon: I think Joe is trouble, I think the biggest loser which will be Men Vs. Women, is being repositioned so it could fill any Summer gaffes.
Eric: why would there ever be a summer gaffe? =)
James: And didn't NBC announce Loser spinoffs?
Chico: Companion shows.
James: I need an aspirin :-)
Gordon: And finally...

The new season of what show will have a $10,000 prize, a new model, and officially 65 episodes?

Jason: LINGO!
Eric: L-I-N-G-O.
Jason: Will it be taping during GSC time? :-)
Eric: I guess Chuck got tired of Stacy.
Johnny: Oh yeah, cant wait for Lingo. I like Stacey though.
Jason: Stacey is in this month's Stuff Magazine...yowza.
Travis: New model, though... hmph.'
Chico: Well Stacey has an actual career now. :-)
Travis: Lingo doesn't need a model...
Gordon: I like Stacy... naked and pinned up in my room, thanks to her centerfold. Whoo-hoo!
Johnny: Easy there, Gordie.
Chico: True.
Travis: Is $10k for a one-ball Lingo, or regular?
Chico: So far, all I know is $10K.
Eric: Probably have to fill the entire bonus lingo board for 10K.
Travis: I...don't think that's possible.
Chico: Nope. Not at all possible.
Travis: 12 balls in bonus lingo.
Eric: Not with their level of contestants and that is the point isn't it?
Travis: Uh huh. Good for GSN to realize that Lingo is a good show, even if not a good game.
Chico: It's light entertainment. Cheap and easy.
Travis: That's the truth.
Jason: There are so many lines...I'll just leave it alone.
Chico: Right. That's Brainvision News. Again, thanks to our friends at
Buzzer! the Game Show Blog for that. Next up, part two of the summer blockbuster Push or Flush :-)
Jason: Ok.
Eric: Whee!
Chico: But first, the arena of Mortal Game Show Combat in WLTI's Vs.
Gordon: A final note before we get into the break - congratulations to Mark Wahlberg, who will be leaving the TPIR show for...the Antique Roadshow?!!?
Chico: Yeah.
Eric: Antiques Roadshow baby! The classiest show he's done in a while
Jason: That is a huge jump up!
Travis: I now have two reasons to watch public television now.
Chico: What was the first?
Travis: "The Red Green Show".
Eric: Good point.
Chico: Ah.
Gordon: Don't forget Cooking Under Fire.
Travis: Break time!
Chico: Yes. We'll be back.

(Brainvision News is presented by Hatch's Local 335 Guild of Reality TV Stars. Fighting for our piece since 2000)