July 3, 2006

Chico: Must see TV... And we're back, just in time for Five Good Reasons...
Gordon: Phil - we start with you, as Chico gets to edit this.
Chico: I hate you, Gordon =p
Gordon: I know you want to be a game show host. Give me 5 good reasons why you should take over for Bob Barker.
Philip: I wouldn't want to take over for Barker. I'd just do the LIVE show.
Gordon: Ok - 5 Good reasons why you should do the live show
Philip: It's in Vegas which is where I live, I got a bunch of clips in my collection to attract audiences, I'm a nice guy, I know all the games, and I love to see contestants win.
Chico: Sweet.  Okay, Travis... we haven't touched on So You Think You Can Dance in a while... Give us Five Good Reasons why we should.
Travis: 1) It's on TV,: 2) It's "popular", 3) It has a "Nigel" in it., 4) "Idol" isn't on right now...
Chico: Unless you're in Canada. Happy Canada Day.
Travis: 5) It's better than watching paint dry.
Chico: True.
Gordon: This one goes to Mike...
Mike: OK, I'll try it
Gordon: Give me 5 good reasons why we should care about the current lackluster Jeopardy Tournament of Champions.
Mike: 1. It's an annual rite of passage. Just like the sun rises every morning and sets every night, each year's main event for Jeopardy! is the Tournament of Champions, 2. It's only lackluster right now because there are no standout 5+ day champs thus far, 3. It's a great challenge for those of us who think the daily Jeopardy material is cake, 4. It'll (hopefully) be the last time we
see some of the lackluster champs mentioned in answer #2, and I'll toss #5 to someone else.
Chico: 5) Quoting Bill MacDonald... Even bad Jeopardy! is better than no Jeopardy! Boo-yah!
Mike: Excellent response.
Gordon: There you go. Chico - you got one for Rob?
Chico: I do.
Rob: Ok.
Chico: Rob... give us five good reasons why GSN didn't call on anyone else to
assemble their list of the 50 greatest games of all time.
Rob: Ok, shouldn't be too hard.
Chico: Nah, not really.
Rob: 1: It was probably more cost effective to have an In-House panel decide. 2: The panel wouldn't pick any games that would cost them too much money to even air clips (read Viacom games). 3: The panel would pick at least 7-10 GSN Originals to put on the list. 4: The whole project was rushed and thus they did it themselves. 5: Just to prove to the viewers that they care about the network, and for the verification of their own egos.
Chico: Going for 5 reasons why the show is set for failure amongst fans, but hey, it works, right?
Gordon: It works. Now, Mr. Block...
Jason: Yes sir.
Gordon: Usually, I have the mean 5 Good Reasons for my buddy Chico. HOWEVER, I actually have a good one for him that's relevant, so I save the mean one this time around...for you.
Jason: Uh oh.
Chico: For once! =p
Jason: What did I do to deserve this?
Gordon: Well, there's a first time for everything. So Jason, give me 5 good reasons...Why Master of Champions should be the most watched program of the Summer.
Jason: Wow. I think I can do this. 1. It showcases people with unusual
talents that not many people can do or try. 2. Rope Jumping Cars need a place other than ESPN to flourish.
Chico: heh
Jason: 3. Did you see the flexibility of that female archer...yowza! 4. It increases the economic uptick of unicycle manufacturers! and... 5. You need SOME place to put all these wackos...so this should be the place.
Jason: Done.
Chico: We would've also accepted any part of Lisa Dergan's body.
Jason: True.
Chico: Okay, Gordon.. Got one you'll really enjoy.
Jason: Get em good, Chico.
Chico: Kimberley Locke's got a new album coming out... Jon Peter Lewis is releasing a single... Mario Vazquez is on the radio right now. Five good reasons why losers are getting in the act. Go.
Gordon: 1. I wouldn't exactly call a woman with a #1 single with 8th World Wonder a loser. 2. AI2 fourth place finisher Josh Gracin has a pair of #1 singles and 4 Top Ten Country Hits. 3. AI2 Runner-up Clay Aiken also has a number one single and is an Adult Contemporary Maven with Invisible. 4. It's not just #1 hits - Diana DeGarmo and Jennifer Hudson are both starring on Broadway. 5.
Even Media Hos need to eat, too.
Mike: My #6. Having seen her at a GSN event last year, Kimberley Locke is HOT. So she deserves it by her good looks :-D
Chico: I didn't say she wasn't hot. :-)
Gordon: #7. I'm sure that Joe Van Ginkel still has his Amanda Avila poster on his wall.
Chico: I didn't say she wasn't hot, either. :-)
Gordon: Now - 5 for you, Chico. Sort of under the radar this week - Univision now has a new owner - Haim Saban. Give me 5 good reasons why us game show people need to be following this story.
Chico: 1) The last time this person bought a network, we got two new games out of the deal, Outrageous and I Can't Believe You Said That, so we know that Mr. Saban is game show friendly. He did after all give the world "I'm Telling".
Jason: (shudder)
Rob: And Couch Potatoes as well.
Chico: I said he was friendly. I didn't say anything about quality. and thanks, Rob :-)
Jason: LOL
Mike: I liked Couch Potatoes
Rob: Couch Potatoes was cool.
Chico: 2) This opens the door for a more diverse programming landspace, including game shows. 3) Could mean more than a year for Que Dice La Gente on Telefutura, owned by Univision. It's signed for a year, you know.
Jason: I didn't.
Chico: 4) The upcoming Vas o No Vas, if it hits, means that Univision will want to get in on this. 5) We just love it when things stir up. *slumps back*
Gordon: Thank you, Chairman
Chico: I'm okay... I'm okay... I need a break, though.
Gordon: We'll take one - and get to THE BIG FINISH - right after this!
Chico: Good idea..

(Brought to you by Stain Reaction, Should you get an answer wrong, Lori Beth Denberg and Danny Tamberelli come from behind and slime you. What have Lori Beth and Danny been up to these days, anyways?)

Chico: ... I couldn't tell you.
Gordon: I expect them and the rest of the All That Crew to be on the next Celebrity Fear Factor
Chico: Don't give Endemol any ideas. It took us a long time to get rid of Fear Factor as it is. Okay, not much time for a real big finish, so we'll just get a couple mails out of the way here. First one is from Martin Yeung. Thanks, Martin!
Jason: Thank you Martin

Jason: A man after my own stomach.
Mike: I have a very simple answer, one Martin probably doesn't want to hear. Own a popular, expensive restaurant in a big city.
Chico: Or lose on Hell's Kitchen, that failing. The way I understand it, challengers are featured on an invite-only basis.
Mike: I'm real sure it's by invitation only.
Chico: Unless you lost and want a rematch. Kinda like a boxing match in that respect. We all remember the Donna-Morimoto duels of the last couple of years. They're split right now. The Tetsujin won the first, the challenger won the second.
Gordon: Well, Martin, should you actually own a big restaurant, you can go to the Food Networks Website. Or go to www.fox.com to apply for Hell's Kitchen 3.
Mike: Cleveland's top chef was on Iron Chef America earlier this year. He lost, but represented the city very well.
Gordon: Next e-mail?
Chico: Next is from our good friend David Howell.
Jason: Hey David. Thanks for writing.

Chico: Thanks for your comments, David...
Jason: If my memory serves... (Iron Chef Reference)
Chico: Heeeey... Who's the Chairman here? :-D
Jason: Simon settled out of court with the producers of AI so that they couldn't bring X Factor here.
Chico: Ah, right.
Jason: When he reupped his new contract.
Chico: Second point. We're not disputing where DoND came from, but the idea of the Monty Hall problem persisting in the game has to have more than just face value accompanying it. It's classic game theory.
Jason: Right.
Chico: Do I keep the bird in the hand or trade it away for a possibility of a larger sum? Classic game theory. You could even say that Jeopardy.. Survivor... hell, even Idol uses it. Really fascinating stuff.
Jason: Very fascinating.
Chico: As for Poker Face... I really can't wait to see what ABC will do with it. If they even go so far as to import Ant & Dec... then I know that they mean business with this.
Jason: That should be fun if it works.
Chico: I think it'll work. It's like a poker game meets Jeopardy. It's not what you know, it's what I can make you THINK I know. There's a third level to that, but after that, it get all mind-numbingly confusing. But Gordon knows what I'm talking about. The meta game and the meta meta game so to speak.
Gordon: Exactly. The mind game on top of the mind game
Chico: Exactly.
Jason: A mystery wrapped in a riddle wrapped in an enigma.
Chico: Okay, mail bag. Empty. The challenge: fill it. The address: wlti@gameshownewsnet.com. We love reading. We love answering!
Gordon: We won't give you a million dollars, but you may see your name here.
Chico: And isn't that better than a million dollars?
Gordon: if you're a media ho, it is.
Jason: We don't have the budget. All our money is going to GSC5.
Chico: Next week, the last show before the live show. Special thanks to Philip Cousin for hanging out!
Jason: Phil, great time.
Travis: Again, Phil, welcome to the Alumni Lounge!
Chico: Big thanks to Travis, Rob, Mike, and Jason. For them and everyone at Game Show Newsnet, I'm Chico Alexander... and I can do Ricki Lake's job...  I really really can.. *Call me*
Jason: So can we all...no offense.
Gordon: This is Gordon Pepper, wishing everyone a pleasant game over,
Travis: GAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAME OOOOOOOOOOOOOVERRRRRRRRRRRRRRR
Jason: spread the love and hug it out.
Mike: And a happy happy 230th birthday to this great land we call home. (No offense to Jay Lewis, David Howell, or any of the other readers not from the U. S. of A.)
Chico: And spread the holiday love :-)