July 9, 2005

Chico: I'm Chico Alexander, he's Gordon Pepper. I've got the looks, he's got the brains. Let's make some money.
Gordon: We're having a GSC Part-ay! Who's serving up drinks?
Jason: (turns on the blender)
Chico: I think Jason's got drinks.
Jason: I am taking the orders.
Chico: Yep. I was right.
Jason: What does everyone want?
Rob: I'll take a Mimosa.
Chico: Beer. By the way, kids, drinking is wrong.
Gordon: From somewhere in America, WLTI....is on. And yes, you should NEVER be drinking when you are either driving or on the job. I'll take a Mudslide.
Jason: We are drinking way too early this morning...are we hung over from no more "Dancing with the Stars"?
Chico: Who isn't? Well get to all that and all your game action for this week in a moment, but FIRST... the introduction of guests...
Gordon: Joining us on this drink filled day is Mr. 22-1 WPLJ's 'Beat the Block', Jason Block.
Jason: (sips a cup of coffee) I am driving. :-)  How are we all?
Chico: Cool cool...
Gordon: Who STILL has yet to plug this show on WPLJ =(.
Chico: That was as subtle as a ton of bricks.
Jason: I am about to wrap my head in bandages.
Chico: Okay, second guest, someone we haven't seen in a while, but glad he's here, too.. Rob Seidelman.
Gordon: (applause)
Rob: Thank you Chico, BTW are you guys excited that Deal or No Deal is coming to our shores?
Jason: Yes.
Chico: We're getting to that! :-)
Gordon: I happen to be excited. It should be fun.
Chico: Very excited. It's about time.  And finally, we have a former king of games until some guy named Ken Jennings came and ruined it for him. =p
Gordon: Yep. Our VERY special guest for today's show. We are thrilled to present the biggest money winner of all time from Who Wants to be a Millionaire, Dr. Kevin Olmstead!
Jason: Whats up, Doc?
Kevin: Hello---and hey, I still have the network record, until/unless Super Millionaire comes back.
Gordon: Since both Brad Rutter and Ken Jennings winnings have come via the syndicated route (meaning a show that's seen on different networks and not on the prime time schedule), that's true. Did you give Jason your drink order?
Kevin: Orange Juice. It's early.
Jason: (opens the carton and pours the glass) Pulp or no pulp?
Kevin: No pulp.
Jason: Done. Here you go.
Kevin: Thanks.
Gordon: Well, at least the guests will be sober when the hosts are sloshed.
Jason: So do I have to give love advice to everyone?
Gordon: That would truly be scary, but speaking of sloshed, ABC executives were probably sloshed with delight when they saw the success of ABC's Dancing with the Stars. What did you think about the finale?
Rob: Two Words: Seinfeld Curse.
Jason: Two words: Major Upset.
Chico: I tell you... Don't even say that sex doesn't sell.
Kevin: I had the notion that the folks who would have voted for John and Charlotte were in bed already.
Gordon: Sex always sells. Beautiful babes in skimpy outfits sell even more. Ask Carrie Underwood. Ask Erika Jo. And now, ask Kelly Monaco.
Chico: And for the ladies... open shirts and spandex.
Rob: And all John O'Hurley had was a huge amount of talent. Yet, even with all the talent in the world, you can get shafted.
Chico: But after seeing the freestyle routine, one can't help but think that, and I'm going on what Travis Eberle said to me, John JOBBED it.
Gordon: As we all know, the results were already known even before the show aired. Is it possible that he already knew that he lost and that was the concession dance?
Rob: Probably.
Jason: Could be.
Chico: I doubt it. Results aren't the kind of things you actively tell participants.
Kevin: That's a lot of work for a concession---plus getting a smidge of time from Patrick Swayze.
Chico: Agreed. You don't get Patrick Swayze and expect to lose.  Just not possible.
Kevin: It also didn't help that they had to go first---the judges had to "leave room" to go higher.
Chico: Yeah, going first is usually a death knell. See Bice, Bo.
Gordon: If you're in the finals and the votes are already in and you're being placed first, expect to lose.
Rob: That's like opening for a bigger act. Journey for Aerosmith.
Gordon: Exactly, Rob.
Chico: That is, IF you know the outcome, and I seriously think that no one told anyone. Now, John may have had an idea... but the point is to win, not to make room for the winner.
Gordon: And that's the last act - the act that you are going to be ending your series on, so you know you want to end the series on the winner's performance. Since the producers already know who the winner is, it's truly was a performance of 'make room for the winner'.
Chico: Think we should retitle Gordon as "resident conspiracy theorist."
Kevin: Perhaps---but Kelly could have then botched it.
Gordon: I doubt it. Freestyle = Open to interpretation, which means that the judges could have scored it any way that they wanted. Even if Kelly botched it, they still win, thanks to the audience vote, which they would have gotten and gotten the tiebreaker for. And since that vote was recorded in advanced, everyone at the top already knew who the winner was even before they started the show.
Kevin: Ah---so the fix was in, regardless.
Gordon: Exactly. The judging that night was completely irrelevant.
Jason: Fix is such a bad word these days.
Chico: True.
Rob: They prefer retool.
Chico: And besides, it's not like the network rigged it to happen. No, that wasn't a challenge, Gordon.
Kevin: As far as is known, the phone lines didn't get screwed up? As opposed to American Idol.
Chico: Not this week :-)
Gordon: I don't think the network rigged the final results, as America finalized it. But because of that, that did give ABC some wiggle room to use some 'creative liberties' with the final judging segment, since it didn't matter who won. It's also not like a dance contract was at stake here, so why not have some fun with it?
Kevin: Just a rather gaudy (nay, ugly) trophy.
Gordon: Exactly
Kevin: Hey---it's their goal to juice up the ratings, to allow for Dancing with the Stars II
Jason: Or III or IV
Chico: Which is all but announced =p
Gordon: If this was for someone's career, I'd be much more agitated, but this was all for fun, so why not throw in some 'creative liberty'.
Jason: With 23 Million in the bank audience wise, although crediting Steve Beverly, the average age was 50.
Kevin: As was noted---those around 50 (as I'm rapidly approaching) aren't limited to buying denture cream and Depends, but also buy high-end merchandise....
Gordon: My attitude is that money is money, and as the age of living has been increased, that those demographics should also be increased. Maybe they'll think about it as they renew the show.
Rob: Then a renewal can be up in the air.
Jason: The renewal is a done deal.
Chico: Again, all but announced.
Gordon: Speaking of things to be announced, we have a SPOILER ALERT on the next news item.
Jason: Ok...
Chico: That's right.
Jason: So what do we do?
Chico: Meaning that when this goes to press, it'll be grayed out. To match the gray background.
Jason: Understood.
(BELOW IS THE AFOREMENTIONED J! SPOILER. DO NOT HIGHLIGHT IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO BE SPOILED BY THE OUTCOME.)
Chico: That said... David Madden... the monster.
Jason: The monster?
Chico: So far, he's won four games on Jeopardy!, almost $100,000, but more may be on the way.
Kevin: Whoa.
Gordon: According to our GSNN spies, David Madden, the current champion on Jeopardy, is the person that will be going on a Jennings-like tear to wrap up the season.
Jason: He is very very good.
Kevin: Bully for him.
Chico: You've noticed that he's playing some rather unorthodox strategy, as he's hunting for the Daily Doubles before anyone else can get ahold of them. It's pretty much, "get it before the other guys do."
Gordon: I actually like Madden's strategy, which seems to be to go after the Daily Doubles first so that it forces the competitors to beat him straight up. Notice that after he finds the Daily Doubles that he goes back to playing the categories normally downward just like everyone else does.
Kevin: The board-jumping strategy not just seeks DD's, but also keeps the opponents off-kilter--they don't know what's coming next.
Jason: He is also smart, which makes him even more formidable.
Chico: And clearly, he knows what he's doing... which makes him that much creepier.
Gordon: I think it's a combo of Board Jumping and DD seeking, but it's very effective. It also doesn't give a contestant a chance to get into a comfort zone with either the topic or the play, and it can get you flustered, just like what happened to Matt on Friday's show.
Rob: What did happen to him?
Jason: He never got in a rhythm and you need a rhythm to play.
Gordon: He actually put up a run on David, but at the end of Double Jeopardy, when trying to wrest control from him, he forgot about the category, got out of rhythm and made some costly errors down the stretch which allowed David to lock him out.
Jason: He has Jennings like knowledge, with Chuck Forrest like strategy, but like Forrest, he can back it up.
Gordon: Does he have the same charisma as Jennings and will he be able to have the same effect as Jennings did?
Chico: No, and maybe.
Jason: He has even less charisma than Jennings. He is a little on the weird side.
Chico: No argument there.
Jason: But I respect his playing ability.
Gordon: I wouldn't say weird as much as self-assured. Jennings was very mild-mannered, while Madden is more brash (and being 23, you are going to be more brash).
Rob: I have to say no both times. It's like any other champion on Tic Tac Dough who won 10+ games after Thom McKee's reign. They will always be put below Thom's Reign. Unless they win 20+ games, then they will.
Kevin: He hasn't had two summer months to start to get into the public consciousness. When's the break for reruns, such as they are?
Gordon: I believe that's in 2-3 weeks.
Chico: Which brings up the question, will multi-time champions become irrelevant in the wake of Ken Jennings?
Gordon: I don't think so. I think you need the multi-champion to learn about them and to get a sense of their personality.
Kevin: No---there will be regular TOCs that still have some bragging rights and extra money. They won't get endorsements, though.
Chico: Yep. See above comment.
Gordon: Does Madden last into September? And if so, for how long?
Chico: I give him another week.
Rob: I say until October 18.
Chico: That's an awfully exact date.
Jason: He will be on for a while.
Gordon: They haven't taped the new shows yet, so it should be interesting to see what happens.
Chico: Yes it will.. Okay, Spoiler lights off.
Jason: They were pretty bright.
Chico: Let's start talking geeks.
Jason: Haven't we been talking?
Chico: Damn.
Rob: What was that?
Jason: Ashton Kutcher=Game Show Geek
Chico: Geeks on television =p Last week was also the finale of Beauty & the Geek, and after all that buildup, the final challenge came down to... the Newlywed Game.
Gordon: Weren't you expecting to see Bob Eubanks pop up?
Rob: Not really.
Jason: That's on the "70's House on MTV
Chico: No, but maybe Brian can channel his spirit for a bit.
Gordon: I'd like to congratulate Ashton Kutcher for creating the WB's first hit game. And Ashton, if you're reading this, there's always the Game Show Congress in August.
Jason: Bring Demi and the kids.
Rob: Fun for the whole family.
Kevin: A quick jaunt over to Glendale.
Jason: Ashton is a pretty smart guy. Didn't he graduate with a degree in something really smart?
Rob: I think he was just a High School Grad, then went into Modeling before That 70s Show.
Chico: But he was a biochemical engineering student at the University of Iowa.
Jason: Chico, you did it to me too. :-) Faster than me :-). From IMDB, yup.
Chico: Sorry, dawg :-)
Rob: Did he graduate from it? Or did he drop?
Jason: He dropped out to pursue modeling.
Kevin: Hey---that's into my field---rats.
Jason: You two might have something in common, ain't that funny.
Kevin: The site I saw says graduated---but they could be wrong. There's the story that Cindy Crawford started in Chemical Engineering, then dropped to pursue modeling.
Rob: They sound like mirror stories. Both Dropped pretty smart professions to pursue modeling and have had really crappy movies come out.
Chico: You know something... that makes sense. =p Anyway, back to Beauty for a second, question: did the most deserving team win it?
Gordon: Honestly....no. As much as Richard was despised, they went through the most adversity to win.
Chico: I mean, far be it for me to determine deserving teams when it came down to who won challenges or not, but did your favorite win?
Gordon: My favorite won, but not the team who deserved it. The winner's trip into the 'gauntlet' was only their first time, whereas Richard and Mindi went in almost every episode.
Chico: The death room, as it were.
Gordon: Yep - hence though the show was fair, the team most deserving didn't win.
Chico: As is usually the case :-) Well, we have ourselves a vacuous hole, so we just say congratulations Chuck & Caitilin, and move onto something we all like... poker!
Jason: (opens my chipset).
Rob: All IN. Oh wait, wrong window.
Chico: Someone get that guy a shot or something.
Rob: Another Mimosa.
Chico: :-)
Gordon: Another Sludmide please. Uhhh...
Chico: Anyway, ProJo signed with CBS Sports for a tournament of their own, pitting amateurs against each other before bringing in four pros (that sounds familiar).
Jason: (pours the mimosa and the sludmi...er...mudslide)
Chico: Like Average Joe or the Jeopardy wing-ding.
Jason: Do you think this is the jumping the shark of poker?
Chico: Nah. I think Tilt was the jumping of the shark.
Rob: I don't think there was a jump of the shark, we just have overkill of the poker TV games. NBC's Top 64 Tourney, Ultimate Poker Challenge, WSOP, WPT, Poker Royale, Celebrity Poker Showdown, Hollywood Hold'em and Speed Channel's tournament, and Fox Sport's Poker Superstars International, not to mention various regional tournaments on other sports networks.
Chico: Yeah, but how many of those will be on the air in September?
Rob: WSOP, WPT, CPS, Poker Superstars Invitational, Poker Royale, and does anybody know if UPC got the renewal?
Chico: I highly doubt it.
Rob: Chad Brown was a poor fit.
Chico: It moved to the post midnight Sunday slots in RDU.
Rob: It is double-ran here. Saturday at 11am and 11pm. I just think that the show was poorly executed. You know you're in trouble when the person who is syndicated the show, Dan Pugilese is in the tournament.
Chico: Gordon, you're a big poker player, what's your take on it?
Gordon: I think it's just like any other sport or genre - I think that the good shows will stay and the bad ones will be weeded out. Let's not forget that Poker isn't just some over night sensation. The WPT has been on for 3 seasons. Bravo Poker has had 5 tournaments. The WSOP has been going on for well over 50 years.
Chico: I think TV poker shows do indeed exist on a bubble, and if you're on that bubble... well, you know what happens next.
Gordon: I completely disagree. Poker is far from a bubble activity. Poker has been around for awhile, and it will be around for awhile. The coverage may come down, but the good shows will always be around, and thanks to cable, there is a greater outlet. How many football and baseball shows are there?
Chico: Well, there's a whole network devoted to football, basketball, golf, soccer, tennis, and extreme sports.
Rob: There's the NFL Network.
Chico: Give us 10 years, we'll get a poker network =p
Rob: If Auto Racing can get a channel, why the heck can't Poker?
Jason: I'll watch.
Gordon: Crossing tangents, let's not forget that Poker was in a video game format long before the explosion happened. Speaking of which, we'll be getting the World Series of Poker from Activision, 'Stacked' from Daniel Negreanu (which is also going to be backed up from MTV), World Poker Tour 2k6, and Poker games from Howard Lederer and Phil Helmuth.
Jason: For all formats.
Chico: That's a lot of poker.
Rob: That's also a lot of bellybuster straight draws.
Gordon: Maybe the bad games and shows will fall by the wayside, but Poker itself isn't going anywhere, and it won't surprise me if the ratings for these shows start to match or do better than the NHL or other minor sports leagues soon.
Chico: Okay, running out of time here... Jason.. the jackets please. It's brain time!
Jason: (passes out the Brainvision News Jackets)
Gordon: Roll that Beautiful Brain Footage!

("Move Closer to Your World" plays - from the four corners of your globe to your frontal lobe, this is Brainvision News, with Chico Alexander, Jason Block, Gordon Pepper, and the award-winning Brainvision News team)

Chico: Wow... these feel great. Did you do anything to them?
Jason: Extra fabric softener.
Chico: I can tell...Anyway onto the news...

First off, last week, we and our good friends at Buzzer! The Game Show Blog reported on a substantiated rumor that NBC was sniping Deal or No Deal from ABC for its network. We can now move that from the "substantiated rumor" column to the "substantiated fact" column. Deal or No Deal is now on the fast track to production.

Chico: I'll let you know right now, I sent in my info... and it bounced back. The mail quota was full.
Gordon: A lot of people want a 1 in 26 shot at a million bucks.
Jason: Me too Chico. Twice.
Rob: I have a feeling that this will either be a hit or it will be a disappointment like the Scholar in the ratings.
Gordon: I think it will be somewhere in the middle.
Jason: We have to see.
Chico: If NBC surrounds viewers with it during their hit properties, then maybe. You look at the Apprentice, you saw heavy pub. That became somewhat of a hit...
Gordon: Apprentice with Friends - Hit. Apprentice with Joey - somewhat of a hit.
Chico: As for what they can do now... Uhh.... we'll get back to you on that.
Rob: I don't like it's chances with Martha Stewart though.
Jason: Neither do I.
Chico: Make it three.
Gordon: Make it a ménage a quartet. Next article...

In Music-in-Game-Shows News, Carrie Underwood drops to 4th and Bo Bice drops to 5th in the Billboard charts. In sadder news, Luther Vandross passed away at the age of 54. Show the man some love.

Chico: I believe in the power of love...
Rob: You have my mad props Luther.
Jason: Luther...an original and one of the best. May you and Barry White be sold out in Heaven.
Chico: We saw the man in action last Saturday night on the Feud. GSN is setting up that tribute nicely.
Rob: It's a way to go out with a bang.
Jason: One of the true originals in music.
Gordon: Next article?

Bordentown City, NJ is the first city to be cast on ABC's upcoming game-variety show "My Kind of Town".

Chico: Tell us what they can win, Gordon!
Gordon: A NEW CAR! 200 NEW CARS!
Chico: *goes nutsx200*
Rob: Triple Play Times 67 -1
Jason: 200? What cars are we talking?
Rob: Watch it be Kia Spectras or some low end crap.
Jason: It has to be.
Gordon: It could be Gem Cars!
Kevin: Who's paying the taxes?
Gordon: The people are, of course!
Chico: Haven't you seen Oprah before?
Jason: The Chevy Aveo is on Average about $15,000 X 200= 3M
Rob: That's a huge budget.
Chico: That's a lot of cheddar.
Jason: That's a ton of cheese.
Gordon: Well, didn't Oprah do that to start off last season?
Jason: Yes.  But two things happened that made things really nasty. a) she didn't pay a dime, Pontiac did. And b) she didn't pay the taxes on it...and it made her look like dirt.
Chico: Sure did.
Rob: Yet, she still is a high ratings draw.
Kevin: If this is a regular series, the network had better be paying something for the cars----the car companies are not doing well.
Jason: That's true.
Kevin: A provided at "less than retail" deal would be fine.
Chico: Davies needs a hit that doesn't have "Millionaire" in the title =p Okay, Gordon, next?

I bet you all want to know about the World Series of Poker Standings. Well, I got them for you. As of Saturday night, Poker Royale Stalwarts Sam Farha and Lee Watkinson are frontrunners, while people such as Layne Flack and Greg Raymer are very healthy.

Jason: And congratulations to Jennifer Tilly.
Chico: How's Jennifer Tilly doing?
Gordon: Got knocked out. Sorry.
Chico: Awwww.
Gordon: Here's a name, however, that you may not expect to be there... Rob Mariano.
Rob: BOSTON ROB!
Gordon: Also known as Survivor's Boston Rob.
Jason: Say what? Are you (^_^)ing kidding me?
Rob: We can't escape that guy.
Jason: Where is he now?
Rob: I thought we were finally rid of him.
Chico: Right on the nose, Rob...
Gordon: As of Friday night, Rob Mariano was still in the tournament. Though we don't know if he made the first cut, we do know, thanks to cardplayer.com, that he has knocked out a number of players.
Kevin: Hey, he needed something to do.
Gordon: BTW - the list of eliminated that he has outlasted include Phil Helmuth, Men the master Nguyen, Daniel Negreanu, and last year's runner-up David Williams.
Chico: Being a reality TV star can only pay the bills about yeah much. See Sutter, Trista.
Rob: There's that Battle of the Network Reality Stars thing on Bravo in a few weeks..
Chico: I had to get it in there!
Rob: We can't escape her too.
Gordon: Let's talk about bluffing, in a different game... Chico?

If you're in Australia, then you know that TPIR is going dark. Replacing it, what we yanks call "Hollywood Squares".

Jason: Wow.
Chico: If you're thinking in terms of the original US versions... that's a hell of a jump.
Gordon: Now why in the world isn't the US this passionate about their games?
Chico: No idea.
Rob: C-list celebs talk to B listers. See Danza, Tony.
Chico: That reminds me. Gordon? Last article?
Gordon: Finally...

Ereka Vetrini is not coming back to the Tony Danza Show. The Apprentice 1 star was told that there were going to be tweaks made, and she was one of them. Any thoughts?

Rob: Crappy show to begin with.
Jason: Danza wont survive Season 2.
Rob: Needed the tweaks, she was a bad choice anyways.
Chico: Put a giant Plinko board on the show and see what happens?
Gordon: Give a car out to everyone in the...never mind.
Chico: Bad idea.
Jason: Been there...done that.
Chico: Well, we don't have cars. But we do have Whammy shirts... Got these for $19 at the Hot Topic.
Gordon: Ooooooh. Aaaaaaaah.
Jason: So did you Gordon.
Gordon: I did indeed - got 2 of them.
Chico: Two?
Gordon: Yah.
Chico: Why two? You sweat a lot?
Gordon: I'm going to superimpose Tammy on one of the shirts
Chico: ph34r the Whammy... Okay, I will never do that again.
Gordon: Please don't. And that ends Brainvision. Shut it down, Jason.
Jason: (takes the jackets back and shuts down the superdoppler). Thanks guys.
Gordon: When we come back, we look at the upcoming shows and we do some Bargain Hunting, GSC4 Style.
Jason: Oh wow.
Rob: Cool.
Chico: But first, idiots and accurates... I don't know if that's a word, but that's coming... after the break.

(Brainvision News has been brought to you by ACME breakaway strap dresses. When you absolutely, positively need to get an audience to vote for you on a talent show.)

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