Guess it's the season of the game show newbie. I don't want to sound snobbish here. After all, Bill Cullen was once just a radio announcer before somebody figured he could host a game show or two, or twenty-three. We all gotta start somewhere.
Both Lauer and Ohno are comfortable in front of the camera. And they would probably do okay in the unscripted, off-the-cuff talk which a game show host has to dispense. In a close precedent for Lauer, Meredith Vieira migrated from Today to Millionaire successfully enough. At least she kept the show going for eleven seasons.
Ohno is probably the bigger risk. Jocks tend to look notoriously ill-at-east when dragged out of their sport. But it's been a while since he was really a jock, anyway, and his IMDb page even lists a credit on Hollywood Squares. So I'm guessing he will, at a minimum, prove competent on Minute. We should see later this year.
It seems that Carrie Ann Inaba's: hot cheerleader act, would work better on this show- than when she tried to bring that vibe to seroius quiz show 1 Vs. 100.
ReplyDeleteCarrie Ann tended to use the same cliches over and over again. Got to be irritating. GSN's 1 vs. 100 didn't perform very well, so I doubt the network will give her another chance any time soon.
ReplyDeleteYou forget who you're dealing with. Ohno may have the talent, but GSN can't develop it. You mention Inaba using the same cliches over and over. Don't GSN execs watch their shows? They've had two successful shows in Goldhill's tenure surrounded by one expensive failure after another. The Muppets, Drew Carey, Wendy Williams, Norm MacDonald ruining poker. Hidden Camera disasters, screwing up Lingo and Pyramid. Don't blame Ohno when they fail once more.
ReplyDeleteGSN is hardly failing right now. In fact, the ratings have been very strong lately, and Sony recently repurchased majority control in a transaction that valued the network at $1.4 billion. That's an odd definition of "failure" and "disaster."
ReplyDeleteAs for original production, that's a tough business for any network with many more failures than successes. But GSN has made shrewd acquisitions and is reaping the rewards. And to quibble a little, I don't think the network screwed up Lingo at all. I liked Engvall's version and it continues to get more than decent ratings in the afternoon, even after brutal rerun cycles.
Finally, GSN has opened up a valuable revenue stream with online gaming. All in all, Goldhill's tenure has been quite successful, thank you. That's why he's been there for nearly six years now. We'll have to wait and see how the new version of Minute To Win It performs, but the network is hardly on its last legs.
You love to argue with yourself. Everything I said is factual, and you respond with an entirely different topic. GSN has had two successful shows in Goldhill's tenure. Fact. You may have liked Lingo, but viewers as whole rejected it, which is why there were no additional season. The network is slightly more valuable than when Goldhill joined and the online additions may help GSN's profitablity, but they have nothing to do with television. The discussion here is about GSN's television programming. I'm sure there are others on the failure side, but successes have been limited to Baggage and the Bible Challenge. Hidden Agenda-Fail. Wink Martindale Hidden Camera-Fail. Lingo-Fail. Pyramid-Fail. Love Triangle-Fail. Muppets-Fail. Game Show Awards-Fail. Carney Wilson Loses Weight-Fail. Dismantling of Poker-Fail. 1 vs. 100-Fail. Cable network's succeed from original production, not re-runs. Otherwise they wouldn't waste their time creating and developing new shows. But when it comes to reruns, but the most expensive purchase in the network's history was its biggest failure of all-Dancing With the Stars. If you're going to respond and would like to have a discussion about this, address what I've said. GSN original programming has been a failure under Goldhill's watch.
ReplyDelete"You may have liked Lingo, but viewers as whole rejected it, which is why there were no additional season."
ReplyDeleteNot at all. You're ignoring the facts. In the latest published week, Engvall Lingo averaged 351K viewers, a terrific number for GSN in early afternoon, especially after a brutal rerun grind. The show fell victim to a general hiatus in GSN original production, but it has always produced good to very good viewer numbers.
"Cable network's succeed from original production, not re-runs."
Again, you're ignoring the facts. In the latest week GSN averaged 402K/309K viewers prime time/total day, terrific numbers by the network's historical standards. Ratings have generally been strong over the past several years. Much of that is due to shrewd acquisitions like Harvey Feud, 5th Grader, Minute To Win It and Deal or No Deal. There's a reason Goldhill is still around after nearly six years. He's gotten some very nice ratings for the cable network and some very good revenue from online gaming.
"GSN original programming has been a failure under Goldhill's watch."
You admit a couple successes yourself. Plus there's Newlywed Game and Catch 21, which you conveniently omit. Original production is always a crapshoot for any network, but Goldhill has produced decent success.
Has Goldhill had his failures? Sure he has. I've hardly been a blind admirer of GSN over his tenure. Read my blistering review of Family Trade if you don't believe me. But on the whole, Goldhill has performed well at the network. That's why his Sony bosses have kept him in place for so long.
If Goldhill was really the flop you pretend he is, he would have been fired long ago. Ask Michael Fleming and Jake Tauber, who actually did get fired from the network due to programming failures and financial losses.
I'll play moderator
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