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Paying homage to shows such as "Pardon the Interruption", "Around the Horn", "The Best Damn Sports Show Period", "Best Week Ever", and "The Soup", We Love to Interrupt is a weekly raw, frank, red-blooded, two-fisted, full-bodied look into the world of game shows. Comments are always welcomed here!

Hosted by Chico Alexander and Gordon Pepper, and featuring the editors/contributors to GSNN


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Web design by Jason Elliott. Logo by Chico Alexander. 

December 8, 2004

Chico: From somewhere in America. The old-school edition of WLTI... is on.
Gordon: We're kicking it on the East Coast / West Coast trip... From the East Coast - Gordon Pepper and Chico Alexander
Chico: Both with you on this beautiful Saturday morning.. and you know something.. Jeopardy! just ain't the same anymore... We'll get to that later, but first, the intros of semi-regs and other assorted guests.
Gordon: From the West Coast - Robert Seidelman, Joe Van Ginkel and OUR VERY SPECIAL guest Tim Hsieh.
Rob: You know I would freestyle, but I wouldn't want to embarrass myself.
Tim: Glad to be here. When Jeff Suchard was on in the past, I suggested that next time he bring some Ritalin for the crew. I hope I have enough for everyone.
Chico: No need. I'm chill enough as it is =p
Gordon: and then there's....where would you consider yourself to be, Ryan?
Ryan: Yeah, lets go with the North, eh?
Chico: And then there's Ryan Vickers from the North.
Gordon: The Great White North bring the snow - and the smack down.
Ryan: We don't have snow! Yet.
Gordon: Would you believe the West Coast got the first snowfall?
Rob: Yeah.
Ryan: Really?
Chico: Wha? No snow in NC, but it's mighty cold.
Gordon: It's already snowed in California - and many people think that it would have snowed in California before Ken Jennings lost, but.... he did.
Rob: Ah, so hell does freeze over.
Chico: And Bob Dylan does an interview with 60 Minutes. I'd say so.
Ryan: Next you're going to tell me Thom McKee's not on Tic Tac Dough anymore!
Gordon: Well, I knew Tic Tac Dough had to be still playing somewhere.
Ryan: Maybe in France? Le tic et le tac fait le dough?
Gordon: What do you think about Jennings and his legacy?
Ryan: I'm thinking that's going to be hard to match, for starters.
Chico: He changed up the game, but not in the way that everyone's clamoring for their own Ken Jennings. So in the grand scheme of things, it was probably another smart guy with another great run. If this was the 50s, I'd say, hey, the guy cheated.
Rob: Ken did what Thom McKee did, completely change the landscape and made a classic game show make front page news again.
Ryan: I'm actually getting sick of hearing accusations of him "throwing" the last game or it being rigged!
Chico: I've heard some stuff, and it all just sounds like paranoid nonsense, really.
Ryan: But you're right, it's hip to be a game show junkie again. We're going to roll in the dough, guys!  Imagine though if he would have lost on something like "What is 1949?"... no tax return preparation then.
Tim: Ken was clearly getting tired the last few days. The one thing that made a little suspicious is the thought that the show schedule coincided to end with Sweeps, and the next show had December 1 as a category.
Gordon: I don’t think he would throw away a continual cash stream. Why would he throw the game?
Ryan: I don't think he threw it either... but that's just some peoples' thinking.
Rob: At least he gets that 1.3 million back thanks to his new talent contract.
Chico: And free taxes for life.
Rob: 182 calendar days he was champion.
Chico: That's exactly half the year. Well... Almost.
Ryan: And all Weird Al needs to do know is bring back that old song and call it "Ken lost on Jeopardy, baby!"
Gordon: I don't think he did it intentionally. Is Jennings the best trivia player ever?
Rob: Honestly, no.
Chico: I don't think so...
Gordon: Who is?
Ryan: You know we could discuss if Jennings is the best trivia player ever, but I think it's more of the fact that he's one of the best players that J! has ever seen.
Rob: it's a toss-up between Thom McKee and I'm gonna go out on a limb and say someone who was more courageous than Ken, Blockbuster's John Hatten.
Chico: I'll see your John Hatten and raise you a pair of Blockbusters - Pat & Liz McCarthy.
Think of the two as "the female team version of John Hatten"
Ryan: Excellent. I'll take the "W", Chico.
Rob: I may get laughed at also, but my honorable mention goes to Thomas Van Dyke and Stan Newman. Stan Newman was the over $124,000+ winner on Challengers and Thomas Van Dyke was on The Joker's Wild - 1990 and won over $55,000. I’m waiting for GSN to repeat his 2nd reign of terror.
Gordon: TJW '90 isn't a real show. Newman was a great player and I'd rank him up there with the best.
Ryan: It really depends... different shows show different skill sets, don't they?
Chico: But going back to my original question, it's cool to be a quiz show junkie... but is it cool to be a quiz show?
Gordon: As long as you aren't TJW '90, it's cool to be a quiz show
Rob: Geez I'm probably the only one who liked The Joker's Wild 90.
Ryan: I think it's now a hard time to be a quiz show... a lot of expectations now want to see consistency... we could easily get into a returning champions' discussion.
Tim: ESPN Trivial Pursuit obviously didn't make the cut.
Gordon: Uh....no. What an awful show that was.
Rob: That would need its own big board for reasons why it didn't make the cut
Ryan: There's never really been a good format for Trivial Pursuit, has there?
Rob: Nope. Not even Wink 'Winker' Martindale could have saved that show.
Chico: Well, this one was pretty good, but I don't think enough people warmed to it.
Gordon: I liked the version with Wink Martindale.
Joe: So did I.
Gordon: The ESPN version lacked direct competition and no prizes. Why compete on a show where if you win, you win nothing and you get dethroned if you don't complete the bonus round?
Tim: It certainly had flaws, but without hockey to fill a number of hours, I'm surprised ESPN didn't pick it up for more shows. The budget wasn't that big for the show.
Ryan: You don't have to remind the Canadian on the panel about the lack of hockey!
Gordon: Too many flaws, not enough ratings.
Rob: I woulda preferred more Poker Tournaments.
Chico: It's good for what it was. It could've been better, but it was good for what it was.
Joe: I'm with Rob.
Chico: I liked it because it was different.
Tim: I liked it because I was in the contestant pool.
Gordon: Different isn't necessarily good. Speaking of different trivia shows, and Tim being in contestant pools, On The Cover was on last night.
Ryan: Yes, let's talk about On the Cover!
Rob: Okay, one of the decent shows from Pax.
Gordon: On TV's own inadvertent battle of the high money champions, we have Tim Hsieh (Million dollar winner on It's Your Chance of a Lifetime) Vs. Catherine Rahm ($500,000 winner in Winning Lines and $100,000+ winner in $ale of the Century).
Chico: We had a Catherine Rahm, we had a Tim Hsieh, and we had an Andy Martinez Jr. Guess which one shouldn't've had a hope in hell?
Ryan: Ooh! Ooh! Andy?
Rob: Catherine Rahm.
Joe: ROFL
Tim: I learned about On The Cover from craigslist.org, auditioned in May, but didn't get the call for the show until after they had (thankfully) retooled it after the first 2 shows had obvious problems.
Chico: It seemed like everyone learned about On The Cover through Craigslist.org.
Ryan: Apparently I must sign up to this craigslist.org... :-)
Tim: Catherine and I were among 20 contestants they called for a taping day of 6 shows. I did not know Catherine other than be reputation, but we chatted for a little bit before we got to the green room.
Ryan: Was it an enjoyable day, Tim?
Tim: After 5 shows were taped, Catherine, Andy and myself were left (plus one alternate). At that point we "outted" each other to Andy that we had been on shows before. He was clearly intimidated.
Chico: Yeah, clearly. So much that he kind of pinned you to the wall at the end of the On the Cover round.
Gordon: Do you think that Andy's hyper jumping in was because you told him all that info?
Tim: Andy knew that he had to ring in quickly, especially after I dominated round 2. I think he was just employing proper strategy.
Rob: Was Mark L. Walberg fun to hang out with on the show?
Tim: The show's staff were very nice, Mark is a fun host on screen and off.
Ryan: Cool.
Joe: Mark L. rules.
Rob: Who do you plan to take with you to that Roseland Ranch trip.
Ryan: Catherine Rahm? lol.
Chico: I've been there. It's not that bad a place.
Gordon: Well, Tim, apparently, you have some volunteers for that extra ticket. Of course, I think you should probably give your wife first dibs.
Rob: nah, I have to start school in 2 days, so I have no time.
Tim: I declined the prize. I checked out the place's website, and asked someone who lives in the area about it. My wife and I decided that it was not our cup of tea. Plus, I don't need an additional 1099 tax form if it's not for a trip overseas (as some other contestants have won).
Joe: Awwww.
Chico: Could've been worse.. Could've been some lame CD
Gordon: So what did you get instead? Did you win anything?
Tim: I got nothing except another show to add to my resume. No set of Time-Life CDs. No local trip that is given to contestants who miss the final cover.
Chico: Now that's love right there.
Gordon: So you went on the show and won nothing? Why bother going on the show if it's going to cost you eligibility for other shows?
Tim: I had the chance to win a trip overseas. It was "randomly determined" which shows were awarded which trips. Besides, I don't have any other shows that I'm aware that I would want to try to be a contestant.
Gordon: So when you heard the prize that was announced - and you realized that since it wasn't on overseas trip, you weren't going to accept it, what went through your mind?
Ryan: I'm guessing you're like most of us... prizes second, experience first?
Tim: I was thinking "do I really want to win this, or see if the local trip is more attractive". But I have my pride, so I went for the win. I actually didn't realize it was Angelina Jolie until the last second.
Chico: Well, my brother got it from the lips.
Joe: lol
Gordon: Did you win anything for winning the game, I mean.
Tim: I received lunch at Glendale Studios. That's it.
Ryan: Did you take them to town for that? I had a grilled cheese at the Sony Studios Commissary...
Tim: They brought in stuff for the contestants and crew. I wisely chose the brownie dessert instead of the "Mystery Pudding" which no one could identify, but everyone agreed was absolutely vile.
Joe: ROFL
Chico: Never go with the mystery pudding.
Rob: just a disaster waiting to happen
Ryan: Was the "mystery pudding" worth any prizes though?
Gordon: Maybe on Fear Factor
Joe: Never go with the mystery anything...unless it's the Mystery 7.
Gordon: How surprised were you that Catherine didn't put up more of a challenge?
Tim: Since we had been there for about 7 hours prior to taping our show, everyone was getting tired. Catherine was feeling some of those effects. Plus, she had tasted the mystery pudding.
Rob: Ah, that's why she ended up in 3rd place.
Chico: It'll get you every time.
Gordon: Catherine Rahm - The tragedy of the poisoned pudding.
Ryan: Not even Mystery money or pick again?
Gordon: Mystery Pudding or Vomit Again.
Chico: And speaking of tragedies... You notice that George Gray hasn't had one decent gig since Weakest Link? I'd Do Anything notwithstanding, of course.
Gordon: I don't understand it. He is an excellent host - but he has gotten stunk is some clunker of shows.
Ryan: You mean Todd TV wasn't a hit?
Chico: I was shocked, too.
Gordon: The problem was that they needed to change it to Chico TV - or Tim TV - or ANYONE who wasn't as much of a whining brat as Todd, the person who tormented our sets for 7 weeks..
Rob: Do we include Extreme Gong to his list of clunkers of show?
Chico: Yes we do... it's time to go to the five stages of George Gray.. And you know what we need for that...
Rob: As Jack Narz would say, let's bring up, the big board.
Gordon: Let's go to the board.
Chico: Points to the Seidelman and to the Pepper.
Tim: Denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance?
Chico: Good starting point, yeah. Points to Tim.
Joe: Indeed.
Gordon: That could be George's reactions when he saw the shows he was going to host.
Joe: So what constitutes "denial" then? Extreme Crap?
Rob: Denial that he ever done Extreme Gong.
Chico: First: denial. We first saw George in Extreme Gong... Which many fans denied. If not flat-out "didn't accept".
Ryan: And then EG took a shot at the fan (-atics).
Joe: Which, as George himself said on the first show, "suuuuuuuuuuuucked."
Chico: You deny your audience, you set yourself up for failure.
Rob: 1800-(^_^)-7(^_^) call that number to make them go away.
Gordon: The performing acts or the show?
Rob: Can I say both?
Chico: It's a common law.
Joe: Common law? More like law of nature.
Rob: and only 50 cents per call.
Joe: ROFL
Chico: 50 cents for a 1-800 number? Someone got cheated out of 50 cents :-)
Joe: They later made it a 900, IIRC
Gordon: I think he'd also like to deny that he was in the movie classic 'Robot Holocaust'
Chico: Second, anger. Anyway, obviously he had to vent about Gong's failure, so he did Junkyard Wars, which wasn't that bad. The US version, that is.
Ryan: Agreed.
Rob: I liked it.
Joe: Never saw it. I'm sure I'd have like it if I did.
Gordon: On to the third stage. What sort of bargaining are we talking about?
Chico: The bargaining that got him what would be his magnum opus... The Weakest Link.
Ryan: His raison d'etre.
Joe: WHOOOOO! I actually saw him host that show in person. That was the day I met Randy West, too.
Rob: Yeah George Gray at his Wise-ass finest
Chico: Favorite line: "Who's waiting for some British woman to start asking them questions?"
Joe: Indeed.
Ryan: Brilliant!
Joe: Who think George was better on that show than Anne Robinson?
Rob: Here.
Gordon: Agreed.
Chico: Yup.
Tim: Same.
Ryan: He was good in a different way.
Chico: He was the bully that picked on your in school.. which is basically our version of the feared schoolmarm.
Gordon: George was a perfect fit for the show. Unfortunately, all good things must come to an end. After the show ended, he must have been so depressed that he wen.t on a binge of bad shows
Chico: Greek Games... check.
Rob: Todd TV...Check
Chico: $25M Hoax... check
Joe: Todd TV? Was that with Todd Newton?
Gordon: We could only wish.
Joe: :-D
Rob: Exactly.
Gordon: That was with Todd Santos, who showed us that not everybody deserves their 15 minutes of fame.
Chico: We had lost all hope in George... and perhaps humanity as a whole…but then came stage 5. Acceptance.
Joe: I'd Do Anything.
Rob: Perfect title for a George Gray show.
Joe: ROFL
Chico: Yep. You are a game show host who loves to act like a wise ass. Perfect fit, I'd say.
Rob: I like that show.
Chico: Me too.
Gordon: Hopefully, that will turn the corner for him as he can go back to the valley of good game shows.
Rob: Don't watch it regularly, but it's good.
Chico: We can hope... Well, it's time for a break. When we return, more fun with Tim as we go old-school for Accuracy or Idiocy...
Ryan: Ooh! I work at an old school.
Gordon: And then we all put on our best poker faces on... as we take a class - in acting.
Ryan: I teach acting too :-)
Gordon: Well, there you go.
Chico: This is the We Love to Interrupt program. Anyone tell you any different, they're telling you dead wrong. See you soon!

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