October 16, 2006

Gordon: This is Gordon Pepper, and I want to thank George Bush for getting most American Gamblers out of the room so all of the foreign powers can now give their money to ME!
Chico:  This message of peace through poker is sponsored by Gordon Pepper's kitty fund... =p
Gordon: Its turning into a big nasty tiger, baby
Jason:  ROAR. And besides, thats the first nice thing I have heard him say about a Republican. :)
Gordon: That may be the only nice thing I say about a Republican...unless it's about Jason (AwwwwBarf)
Jason:  Thanks.
Chico:  Might want to mark your calendar, J. Meanwhile, from somewhere in America, the holy-crap-it's-cold-outside! edition of We Love to Interrupt is... ON! Alongside Gordon Pepper and Jason Block, I'm Chico Alexander. I just play freerolls at It'z from now and then. BTR Poker, baby.
Jason:  Back to niceness. Have anything nice to say about Sara Evans?
Chico:  Uh... good choice? You're a good person, but a horrid dancer? I hear Gordon's available?
Jason:  Bad week for her.
Gordon: Actually - to the media. I hope they are nice to her so she can settle these matters in a non-state of public display.
Jason:  To explain....Sara Evans quit Dancing with the Stars this week.
Chico:  That we know. Her people have cited divorce.
Jason:  And it came out that she is involved in a nasty divorce with three kids, 7, 4, and 2. And the usual nasty charges came out in public papers.
Chico:  Did we mention that abuse was involved?
Jason:  and pornography.
Gordon: And it's quite frankly, too bad that we have to know all about this. Should we know that Sara is getting a divorce? Probably. Do we need to know all of the sordid details? Probably not.
Jason:  Agreed.
Chico:  But let's explore this from a game point of view...
Jason:  Yes.
Gordon: Big Board Please
Chico:  Got it.

Chico:  Before you start, let me say something here...This whole fracas reminds me of the Corey Clark mess from several years back.
Gordon: I would say that the Corey Clark mess is tame compared to this.
Jason:  Very.
Gordon: You only had 1 person dealing with criminal abuse charges back then. Now you have a whole family dealing with a variety of issues.
Chico:  Agreed. Structurally, that is. The question is... how will ABC address this on one of the biggest shows on the air today? Like the Clark case, you have one person leaving.. you can't really push the show back a week.
Gordon: True - and if you're ABC, you're not going to set the cash cow to medium rare.
Jason:  So what does ABC do? They have a few options?
Chico:  Let's go to Gordon with the board.
Gordon: Well, they could do what Idol did, and make it a non elimination week
Jason:  Because lets be honest. Sara was on her way out anyway.
Gordon: I don't think Sara would have been out this week though.
Chico:  No, but in all honestly, she was on the fringe.
Gordon: Only 2 females left and 4 guys. She wasn't going to win or come close. She wasn't going to make the Final 4, BUT she would not have been out next. They could also bring back Willa Ford.
Chico:  So what seems to be the more likely scenario?
Jason:  I say non elimination.
Gordon: It's the logical thing to do, and I believe that ABC is logical. They may of course, make believe that it is and then surprise everyone, just like Idol, so they get your text votes and money
Chico:  That's ABC.com, yo.
Jason:  Do a switch at the last minute? I am shocked...NOT!
Chico:  But needless to say, this is going to be a hot topic amongst the competitors this week. I would be shocked, surprised, and floored if our resident ice queen Samantha doesn't make SOME mention of it.
Gordon: And hopefully, the remaining contestants won't feel that the deck is stacked against them
Chico:  Good segue.
Gordon: You like?
Jason:  I like.
Chico:  We like. I need the serious lights...I need the serious music... A NEW PRICING GAME HAS BEEN BORN... INTO THIS WORLD.
Gordon: (Mikey Day) waaa...waaaa...waaaaaaa
Chico:  This week on TPIR marked the debut of Stack the Deck, a grocery game played for a car. It's really simple to play, even more so to master, as we found out in its initial playing.
Gordon: And if you look at the game, it truly is stacked - in the player's favor. This is a ridiculously easy game to win if you used the right strategy and I don't know how it got off the board.
Chico: Quick refresher...The object is to take eight numbers, and put them in the price of a car. You can get up to three freebies if you correctly price three of six grocery items.   Say, you get a choice of Hot Pockets and salsa, and the price shown is $2.49... You would choose...
Jason:  The Hot pockets of course.
Chico:  Of course. You'd get a free number.
Jason:  And you can place it anywhere on the board...1-5
Chico:  This dude, first person to play it. I think his name was Adam... He got all three, and he knew where to put them...2, 3, 4. Boom, boom, boom. This essentially gives the player a 50/50 shot at the car.
Gordon: BUT...that's not where you put them. Chico.
Chico:  That's NOT where I put them?
Gordon: Nooooo. You dont put them there.
Chico:  Tell me where I put them.
Gordon: Now lets look at that board
Chico:  Hold on. I got a graphic. You love it when I come prepared, don't you?
Gordon: I do indeed
Jason:  Damn skippy.

http://www.gameshownewsnet.com/images/stackthedeck.jpg

Chico:  Now let's say you know your way around Hot Pockets and salsa, and you get all three. Freebies, that is.
Gordon: What is the last number of the car always going to be?
Jason:  0
Chico:  The car, by the way, is a Pontiac Vibe. Very important to know what the car is.
Gordon: Of course, because that answers the first question - is the first number a 1 or a 2?
Jason:  1 of course.
Gordon: So it's 1 of course. so lets see the board.

1 _ _ _ 0

Numbers left - 2, 3, 4, 6, 8

Gordon: Are we all in agreement here?
Chico:  Ya.
Jason:  Yes.
Gordon: so being that it's a vibe, have we ever seen a recent one less than 18,000?
Chico:  Not in recent memory.
Jason:  Nope.
Gordon: So, you shouldn't go for the second number first, because you can probably figure out what it is.
Chico:  I see.
Gordon: So what you should FIRST do is get the FOURTH number, because that would be a complete guess.
Chico:  Then the third, then the second?
Gordon: Correct.
Chico:  Because if you really know what car you're going for, the second number is a no-brainer.
Gordon: Exactly. Therefore, if you only get 2 products right, it's still a near slam dunk to win the game
Chico:  But it's all going to depend on what you're getting to start with. Hence and therefore, with this knowledge, the game is already half won.
Jason:  Right. If they go for El Cheapo Cars (PT Cruiser, Focus, Ranger, Aveo, Dodge Caliber) then you know.
Gordon: Sure. Of course, should you be getting into the 20,000+ cars, then the game can get ugly in a hurry
Chico:  But even so... we all approve of this new game?
Jason:  Yes.
Gordon: Yep. Id rather have a game that's on the easy side then the games we like to call 'You Can't Win'
Jason:  1/2 off, That's Too Much, et al.
Chico:  "That's Too Much" comes to mind... Speaking of... What if I told you that you could win $1 million for answering a few questions?
Gordon: What about That's Too Easy?
Chico:  But the downside... you have to get rid of teachers, waiters, summa cum laudes, Deal or No Deal models... and Jeopardy! uberchamp Ken Jennings?
What would your reaction be to that motley crew?
Jason:  They are called a mob, not a "motley crew". Motley Crue was a metal band from the 1980's.
Chico:  Fine.. Mr. Semantics :) "What would your reaction be to that mob?"
Gordon: You could probably have one heck of a party, for starters.
Chico:  Turns out that's exactly what it amounts to. Friday saw the long-awaited premiere of NBC's newest million-dollar quizzer, 1 vs. 100...and get ready...America loves it....
Jason:  You got the quick overnight ratings?
Chico:  I got your numbers.
Jason:  Oh boy.
Chico:  1 vs. 100 was the highest rated show of the night.
Jason:  Holy guacamole. I am shocked.
Chico:  7.8/13, beating a 7.3 for Close to Home.
Gordon: I think it's great for the game show community for a show to pull in those numbers.
Jason:  Agreed.
Chico:  You know what this means.
Jason:  I am the Mob. I will be part of the Mob.
Chico:  For people like you... people like me... Like Alex.. Like the
Professor... the next few months... are going to be a bitch.
Jason:  Everything might do well. The Rich List, Show Me The Money...
Chico:  Now named "One for the Money"
Jason:  ANOTHER NAME CHANGE?
Chico:  Another name change.
Jason:  Oy.
Chico:  More on that later, but back to 1 vs. 100...Simple game, really.
Jason:  May I explain?
Chico:  If you can do a better job than I can. And it's not hard, because I can't explain it for beans.
Jason:  You, as the 1, face a mob of 100 people in various professions.  When you eliminate a mob member you get cash, starting at $100 and then going to as much as $10,000. Each round Bob Saget asks you if you want to leave or go on..."The Money or the Mob". If you get it wrong, you lose the money and the mob who is left splits the cash. If you leave, the mob gets nothing. And you can
get help from the mob twice. How can they do that, Gordon?
Gordon: The Life lin...er...Moblines include Ask the Mobience, where they can see how the Mob answered one of the three choices, and then Phone a Mob, where two of them explain their answers (one right and one wrong), while eliminating an answer, which sort of leaves it '50/50'. No resemblance to Millionaire at all.
Chico:  No questions were switched during the course of the game, though.
Gordon: But they do play 'Switch the Mob' to the Mob Members who get a question wrong.
Chico:  Now you're reaching =p
Gordon: Actually, I wish that they reached out for one thing in the international version that they left out here.
Chico:  What's the one thing?
Gordon: The Bail out
Chico:  Oh yeah. Where you get a quarter of your stash if you want to bail out after you see the question
Jason:  Not a bad idea. But that would take away, the all or nothing concept.
Gordon: Yep. If you didn't want to be that mean, it would be a much more interesting game if a contestant toook 75% to bail out of the game and if the producers took that 25% left and gave it to the Mob in the American version.
Chico:  Call me really sick, but I really like the all-or-nothing concept. Makes the contestant have to think.
Gordon: Well, no - All or Nothing means that the contestant wins the million or gets nothing for it. If the Contestant walks away with part of the money, the Mob should ALSO walk away with part of the money. The 25% to the Mob is the game's way of saying that they beat the contestant. Don't forget that the Mob are contestants too. If you make that one little add, then you humanize the
mob and the game becomes a lot more compelling.
Chico:  If there is any consolation, the mob members that are remaining when the player leaves are carried over to the next game.
Gordon: But the mob wins nothing. The Mob stops the player from being a millionaire, and they get no financial compensation. Unfair, don't you think?
Jason:  Yes, it's unfair. It favors the 1.
Gordon: Exactly. Lets play out the first game again, but with the bailout. The first contestant has $135,000. There's let's say 40 people left. He quits and gets 99,000. The other $33,750 gets split up among the 40 people left, giving each one around $840. I think that's fair.
Jason:  I do.
Chico:  Yeah.
Jason:  Now the questions....easy, but with nice twists.
Gordon: The questions are cute. That being said, they are ridiculously easy.
Chico:  That said, what about the product we did get to see... The presentation's top notch... Bob Saget's clearly atop of his game, albeit with some technical help =p. The questions run the gamut from ridonkeylous to moderately easy.
Jason:  I would love to see the 3 "Internet Game Show Writers" part of the mob :)
Chico:  You hear that, Endemol?
Gordon: Add the Bailout option and I'll be there in a heartbeat.
Chico:  Back to what we got, though.
Jason:  My grade C with a potential for more fun.
Chico:  The game is solid as it plays out. There is potential for some real good carnage here, but at the same time, I can see where this can get old unless the Mob starts showing its ass, you know? Like "Come on, you candy ass brainiac... Waste me." I'm going to give this a B-. It's harmless, and it's all good for it, but we could have it so much better.
Gordon: With the addition of the bailout...A-. Unfortunately, we don't grade the games on what they look like after they are fixed. So with the game the way it is, with them not caring about the mob, ridiculous questions and no bailout mode, C-
Chico:  But still, not a bad way to spend a Friday night... you know, given the circumstances.
Jason:  And once a week is a nice thing to do. So far not much.
Gordon: Well, in a few weeks, when the NBA begins, I could be watching Laker Girls
Chico:  Or you could be watching Laker Girls on DoND this week.
Jason:  They are guest models...whoo hoo!
Chico:  Monday... Five Laker girls... one Lakers fan. Thursday... 10 Laker girls!... still one Lakers fan.
Gordon: They were willing the ball into the hoop. But to one contestant, we get one of the biggest bricks in DOND history
Jason:  This one didn't even hit the rim.
Chico:  Way to milk a metaphor.
Gordon: During the course of the game, we had a $196,000 deal offer. We get cases of $500,000, $750 and $300. The woman goes for the half court shot, only to see $500,000 in someone else's suitcase.
Chico:  Adalis Marrero.
Jason:  Why do you think players are bombing out...greed?
Chico:  People want to believe they have ... the case. Chances are... you DON'T have the case. So you get in, ride the board, get out. And should you succeed in that endeavor, the address you want to send half of that stash is Chico Alexander, courtesy of Game Show Newsnet...err, I'm being given that look again, so I'll stop.
Gordon: (Gives Chico the Look)
Chico: See?
Gordon: Seriously, Greed works. Maybe the fear that they would blow hundreds of thousands of dollars. It's just like...and yes, I'll use this analogy...gambling. Casinos make millions of dollars because players do not know when to quit and get out. This game works the exact same way.
Jason:  And as casinos go it's BILLIONS ;p
Chico:  Just like nothing.. It IS gambling.
Gordon: Exactly, and people don't know when to stop. It's not like Who Wants to be a Millionaire, where a knowdledge of a question is a key factor. The key here is luck, and you don't have an advantage one way or another.
Chico:  The only knowledge you have here is probability.
Jason:  which ain't much.
Chico:  Six figures.. Banker's board... Bail.
Gordon: How many times on Let's Make a Deal or Press Your Luck has the contestant made one move too many?
Jason:  Stop at a Zonk, Whammy...et al.
Chico:  I couldn't even begin to count. We're going to keep hammering this point home until this becomes the norm. Let's make the banker sweat a bit =p Meanwhile, it looks as if the Banker will get a little bit of company in the coming months. And as I said before, next few months... it's going to be a bitch... but only in that we're going to get a LOT to cover. Let's take a look at what we know so far...Rich List... Already in the can. Drops November 1.
Jason:  Saw the promos. I like it so far.
Chico:  Good stuff?
Jason:  Yes. The presenter is veddy British.
Chico:  He's Eamonn Andrews.  Supposedly he's one of the best. At least as far as breakfast telly goes.
Jason:  We shall see...
Gordon: If cooking is more your thing, then check out Barbecue Championship Series - Oct 22, 10pm, Vs.
Jason: Yum. Then we beam up....?
Chico:  One for the Money... or whatever the devil they're calling it these days.
Jason:  With William Shatner as host?
Chico:  Right. Still no date for it.
Gordon: Whatever it is, the taping was this past Saturday and we will have an GSNN Extra Article on it this week.
Jason:  oooh.
Chico:  Yep. We've dispatched our agents. We're hoping for a little inside info soon. Set for Life... New Year's Day.
Jason:  With Jimmy Kimmel
Chico:  That's a PR dream there, but it could be a nightmare. Here's why. What do you watch on New Year's Day?
Jason:  FOOTBALL. BOWL GAMES.
Chico:  Right.
Jason:  And recover from the hangover of new year's night
Chico:  Of course, I have no vested interest, but enough about my team. =p We'll see what the viewer response will be.
Gordon: If you prefer your games musical, we have a revival of Name That Tune coming up as well as...wait for this one...The Singing Office.
Jason:  Huh?
Chico:  Like American Idol? Like The Office? This one may be your bag.
Jason:  An interesting mix.
Gordon: I don't like people who can't sing. That sounds terrible
Chico:  This one may be a tougher sell, but then again, this is the network that gave America "Fire Me Please".
Jason:  Way true.
Chico:  and later in January, the three words Gordon's been waiting to hear since May... American Idol's back.
Gordon: Very true.
Jason:  I watched American Idol Rewind this week...Kelly Clarkson looked SO young.
Chico:  Watch someone from NC take it on name recognition alone. =p
Gordon: Just 2 short months. And yes, I have been watching Idol Rewind,
Chico:  Anyway, time for a Reality Roundup. Ready?
Gordon: Have we trademarked it yet?
Jason:  How about Gordon's "Keeping It Real"
Gordon: Let's Keep it Real...
Chico:  I'll get legal on it. (plays bridge chords of "Take Me Out")
Gordon: Showing us all that Jason Block can't predict anything correctly, the gay couple of Tom and Terry get booted from AR 10
Jason:  Ok. (laughs)
Gordon: Any words from Mr. Block?
Jason:  None. I was wrong. Go on. 
Gordon: Megg gets canned from Top Model, Stephanie leaves Survivor, and we all know what happened to Willa and Sarah.
Chico:  Yup.
Gordon: One thing that we will never see have a divorce - the hamsters.
Jason:  Never. Hamsters, Cats, and Mice are ready to rock. Jackets!
Chico:  Requisite humanely treated animals are locked and loaded. Very important that humane treatment.
Jason:  Don't want Bob or PETA after us.
Chico:  That's the last thing we need. Gordon, you're up. Rock me.
Gordon: Roll that Beautiful Brain Footage.

(Doug: Live, local, and latebreaking... From the four corners of the globe to your frontal lobe, this is WLTI Brainvision News, and now here's Gordon Pepper... and Chico Alexander)

Chico: First up?

Anyone for Poker After Dark? NBC hopes so, as they slate a late night poker tournament starting January 2nd.

Chico:  Who's hosting?
Gordon: Shana Hiatt. Meow.
Chico:  Oh baby.
Jason:  Purrrrrrrrrrrrrr
Chico:  I'm catchin' the vapors.
Jason:  (fans myself)
Chico:  Okay, next up...Match Game is so cool...
Jason:  HOW COOL IS IT?

Match Game is so damn cool that BCI is releasing the best moments of the series onto four DVDs in November.   You have Gene, Charles, and Brett on the cover, so expect wall to wall 7x.

Jason:  Which is on my Amazon Wish List BTW.
Chico:  Mine too.
Gordon: Me three. There are so many great moments that I wonder what will make it on the set
Chico:  I'm on bated breath.
Gordon: Would you be happier with 3 or 4 full episodes that are deemed 'Tbe Best', or 2 hours of 'Best Moments' Snippets?
Jason:  Hmmmmm.
Chico:  Let's see.. four DVDs... three or four hours a disc... I'd take 12 hours of liquid cool
Jason:  More details to come.
Chico:  Speaking of toxic liquids...
Gordon: We don't have Britney Spears in this week's Haterade, but we will be getting musical...

If you just got national exposure, you don't want to be missing your first national tour. Yet that's just what happened to Magni and Storm Large, as they get 'fired' from the tour of the already plagued Rock Star Supernova. So Haterade for both of them.

Chico:  The show or the band? Because you know, the band is also called Rockstar Supernova.
Gordon: Right now, Supernova is a great way to talk about what's going to happen to the tour - a spontaneous combustion of suck.
Jason:  I hear the Dyson sucking sound now.
Chico:  See what happens when you don't include Zayra Alvarez? Man thinking about it... I need to get Fully Loaded.
Jason:  (HIC)
Chico:  This week, it's juegos en la red... and a little thing for the Idol fan in all of us. It's a Fully Loaded Doubleshot!
Gordon: Wheeeee
Jason:  Shot #1?

First up, Telemundo is set to add a web portal for its gamer "Vas o No Vas", which premiered last week. Of course, you may know "VoNV" as the Hispanic version  of...

Chico:  Deal...
Jason:  or No Deal.
Chico:  Right. The webportal should be up at telemundoeventos.com/vonv/
Gordon: By The Way, it shows up on Sunday at 9pm with Hector Sandarti.
Chico:  These are Hispanic Americans, playing for American cashroo. Banquera... Mas sexy...Guau.
Jason:  Oh yea.
Chico:  ... Shot #2...

If you're a fan of American Idol, but don't want to bother with that whole "get past the producers" thing, then Konami has the contest for you, as they look for "American Virtual Idol" with "Karaoke Revolution: American Idol".

Jason:  For PS2 I think?
Chico:  For PS2, yep. The prize? A trip to LA and tickets to an AI taping.
Jason:  Nice.
Gordon: The tour already started this weekend in the NYC area. So Jason...you can't win.
Jason:  I couldn't win if I tried. I can't sing.
Chico:  Neither can you, Gordon. =p Me, I'm up for another six-hour trip to the A. :)
Gordon: I DARE you to try out, Chico
Chico:  Get me the gas money, and it's on =p. I won't be on your ho-dometer... but I figure this will be close.
Gordon: Deal. I want pictures
Jason:  (dances)
Chico:  Dude... I WAS KIDDING! I... WAS... JOKING!
Gordon: Nope. You agreed to it. Jason is my witness. Ain't that right, Jay?
Jason:  Yup. I saw it.
Chico:  (plays "Area Codes") Anyway, I have a ho-sighting before you go into your main list of mentionables...
Gordon: Ok
Chico:  Kellie Pickler was in town Friday.
Gordon: Ooooohhh...What was she Pickling?
Jason:  CD Signing or Concert?
Chico:  She was signing a pair of "Red High Heels" for charity.
Jason:  For her new album which should be out soon.
Chico:  She swung by en route to the Bank of America 500, which was
yesterday. I got pictures of that.
Gordon: I want pics of you at the Karaoke Idol Tour
Chico:  Jay, tell Gordon I can't do it =p
Gordon: Well, Jay?
Jason:  Uh uh. You have been stuck.
Chico:  Yeah, stuck on a day that I have to go to work... freak =p
Gordon: While Chico figures out how he can wuss out, we'll look in this week's Ho-domoeter...

Carrie Ann Inaba dates a finalist from Season 1 of So You Think You Can Dance, while ex-dancer Paula Abdul gets to be the 'Woman of the Year' Meanwhile, Donald Trump launches 'Trump Vodka', Magnus Magnusson from Mastermind is dealing with cancer (get better soon!), and Will Kirby gets to be on The Young and The Restless. Randy Jackson signs on for more shows with FOX, and Ruta Lee gets a Star on the Hollywood Hall of Fame. Raj from the Apprentice decides to run for office - and does a power play on the news.

Chico:  This was in Louisiana?
Jason:  Texas. He is running in Pennsylvania. In a display to show that the border between Mexico and The U.S. is not guarded well enough, he rode an elephant and had a mariachi band play for 90 minutes and no one showed up. He got some border crossers arrested on the border between Mexico and Texas.
Chico:  That's called a power social. He just might win that race on that... but he won't be Ho'a the Week.
Gordon: Nope. Nothing has any shot against a...Baby Ho!
Jason:  Baby ho?
Gordon: Trease Alynett Baker, daughter of Jonathan Baker and Victoria Fuller, is the ho of the week. It's their first. We love baby hoes here.
Jason:  Send them the onesie. Pimp cups for a baby...not cool.
Gordon: What about a pimp bib?
Jason:  that works.
Chico:  or how about the pajamas... with the feet on them.
Gordon: There you go. a Pimp bib and Pajamas set
Chico:  Okay, last one... time to Go Global.

Amitabh Bachchan is honored by the French for his work in contributing to Indian culture, while his KBC (Indian Millionaire) is renewed for five more years. The question is.. will medical problems keep Big B from hosting?

Chico:  Because, you know, the show tapes on the UK set.
Jason:  Dont know.
Gordon: I hope he'll be able to do it.
Chico:  Should be interesting to watch. We'll follow as best we can. That's Brainvision. Shut'er down.
Gordon: Boooooop
Jason:  The animals are hungry...they did good work.
Chico:  Meanwhile, Gordon gets to doctor up game show casts, but first, if you haven't seen this segment, it's new to you. We bring back and oldie but a goodie after this. This is WLTI, doing to game show news what Aaron Sorkin did for walking and talking.

(Brainvision has been brought to you by the UFGSM (Unions For Game Show Mobs). Because face it. Even Villians need to eat, too. )

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