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BUZZR TV: Classic Game Shows


Milz
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(edited)

My husband noticed that our local Fox affiliate added this new digital channel. It's supposed to launch tonight (June 1) according to what I've googled. http://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2015/06/01/monty-hall-wayne-brady-talk-classic-game-shows-as-new-format-buzzr-tv-launches/28175837/

 

Anyhow, I loved the Richard Dawson Family Feuds and Love Connection (no indication that LC will air on this channel, but one can hope....). Other game shows I liked as a kid were The Gong Show and To Tell The Truth (one can hope these will be on this channel too.)

Edited by Milz
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I'm glad I'm not alone!  I was flipping through channels this afternoon and found this!

 

I can't tell you how insanely happy that Tattletales is on the schedule and some of the black-and-white panel shows are on! Sadly the later are being used from 2AM, likely EST/EDT.

 

It's perfect for summer background noise or time-wasting. You get actual Monty Hall ( and I say that as a fan of Wayne Brady, but Monty was first.) 

 

I hope Bill Cullen-era The Price is Right is on or will be shown. I saw an actual house as a prize to be won!

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Whoa! I was up early packing lunches for the kids and Mr. Milz . I saw an episode of I've Got A Secret. Lucille Ball was the guest. And she had to portray different emotions while the answering the panel's questions. The panel had to figure out her "secret". And she stumped the panel. But her range of acting these emotions (excitement, sad, dignified, etc.) was great.

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(edited)

The Let's Make A Deal pilot was amazing to watch! No Jay Stewart and folks dressed nicely, like they were going somewhere nice. I missed the name of the lady, but I don't think she was Carol Merrill. Still? Shares of U. S. Steel, a Triumph sports car, a ton of watermelon, a sequined child's scooter and bologna? It was jaw-dropping in the best time capsule way.  There was also a series of interstitials with Monty Hall and Wayne Brady swapping shop talk!   Besides hexagons, I believe the 7s were also all about the plaids. Just... so much plaid.  ( The cars!  Even the sedans were under $10k! )

 

Child's Play   is interesting; it could be updated even. Kids describing/defining words that the adult contestants have to guess. I didn't like that the stage is area around the contestants is black, but I guess that was so the video could be more easily seen.<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child"data-ipb="nomediaparse"s_play_(game_show)"=""data-cke-saved-href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Child">

 

I am a night owl, so the Buzzr After Dark, or whatever, is fun to watch. It also hooks Mr. Actionmage, so sometimes I get company! (The hat trick of I've Got A Secret, What's My Line and To Tell The Truth.)  In an episode of To Tell The Truth I saw this weekend, Tony Curtis was supposed to be the Mystery Guest, but a Midwestern paper spoiled the surprise!  Some folks just can't let others have fun. *g* Mr. Curtis showed up and had, essentially, a 'hi/bye', but the show decided to not go through with the segment.

 

I'm getting ready to catch the late airings of Monster House and Monster Garage; I enjoyed the shows for a bit before Mr. James fell out of being The Tattooed Person America's Most Comfortable Watching.

 

edited for clarity, I hope.

Edited by Actionmage
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I vaguely remember Child's Play, but I didn't watch it regularly when it was on tv.  I also remember Blockbuster too, but didn't regularly watch it.

 

However, I do not remember Press Your Luck or Body Language at all.

 

I would love it if they got Hollywood Squares, Love Connection$10,000 Pyramid and Name That Tune

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Ah, Press Your Luck, still best remembered by many for the "scandal" of the contestant who apparently memorized the board pattern and walked away with a mint. (And apparently lost all of said money and ended up dying relatively young. I believe his name was Michael Larson.) I liked Peter Tomarken and read somewhere he was rejected when trying out to host the short-lived (and inferior, IMO!) revival version, Whammy!, on GSN.

 

Sad that he died as he did (a plane crash along with his wife in 2006).

 

Alas, I don't get this subchannel, so I can't watch any of these shows.  :-(

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(edited)

Press Your Luck was my favorite game show in the 1980s, along with the ever-great Pyramid shows. When Peter Tomarken died, there was a nice tribute to him on WGN radio here in Chicago, because the radio show's co-host (Judy from the Kathy & Judy show, for any fellow Chicagoans who listened to them) had actually dated him back in high school.

 

I love watching the old What's My Line? episodes, because they are such a wonderful depiction of the mid-20th century New York City nightlife--nightclubs with actual big-name performers, Broadway shows being big news, everyone being dressed to the nines, and the wonderfully plummy accent of the host (that's an accent that was so prevalent in the first half of the 1900s but has really died out since). The not-so-nice artifacts of the times are also very visible, with stereotypes, both racial and gender, being key to confusing the panel on the jobs, as well as a nasty habit of the panel mocking anyone of a larger size.

Edited by Sharpie66
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Press Your Luck was my favorite game show in the 1980s, along with the ever-great Pyramid shows. When Peter Tomarken died, there was a nice tribute to him on WGN radio here in Chicago, because the radio show's co-host (Judy from the Kathy & Judy show, for any fellow Chicagoans who listened to them) had actually dated him back in high school.

 

I love watching the old What's My Line? episodes, because they are such a wonderful depiction of the mid-20th century New York City nightlife--nightclubs with actual big-name performers, Broadway shows being big news, everyone being dressed to the nines, and the wonderfully plummy accent of the host (that's an accent that was so prevalent in the first half of the 1900s but has really died out since). The not-so-nice artifacts of the times are also very visible, with stereotypes, both racial and gender, being key to confusing the panel on the jobs, as well as a nasty habit of the panel mocking anyone of a larger size.

 

Wow. I never knew of the Press Your Luck gossip.

 

What I am noticing is that people "dressed up" (business attire as opposed to shorts, t shirts, )  for game shows in the '50s.

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Even in the 1970s, we dressed up when we went to the city (Chicago) for any family outing. I grew up in Joliet, which is 60 miles southwest of the city, and just going to Chicago was a big thing. My parents made it a point to take us there fairly regularly (at least 5 or 6 times a year), usually to the museums or a play, and we always wore something fancier than jeans or our daily school attire. If it was a play, we were in dresses or skirts, and my brother was in a nice pair of pants and a shirt, if not a suit. The only time we didn't dress up was if we were just going to the beach to swim in Lake Michigan (if it was warm enough, that is!).

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Found this last night - just in time for Match Game!  It was 1978 version and had to be one of those 'recorded late in the day sessions' as they were all pretty 'loosely goosy' (Richard snatching the card from Gene, and well - Brett and Charles were at more than their usual snarking level).  Even the camera people were in on it.  When Gene stepped up on the contestant podium 'because the light was better', the camera person kept the view at the normal level so we were seeing just waist level and his hand on the mike. 

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The Match Game episode I remember the most was the one where a very young Kirstie Alley was a contestant. I don't think that "aspiring actress" was mentioned as her profession. I just stumbled across it when watching Game Show Network one day a few years ago, and it was a bit of a surprise since I hadn't heard that she was on the show before she became successful.

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Can I just say how jealous I am of y'all because I don't get this channel?

 

Me, too. According to their website, BUZZR is only available in AZ, CA, DC, FL, GA, IL, MI, MN, NJ/NY, PA, SC/NC, and TX.

 

Their Facebook page says:

Did you, a friend, or family member appear on Family Feud, Let's Make a Deal, Match Game, Tattletales, Press Your Luck, Body Language or Card Sharks? Give us the name, the show, the date and any other info you have and we will try to find the footage to post here!
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I'm loving BUZZR. I really like I've Got a Secret and What's My Line. My only complaint is these and To Tell The Truth are on early in the morning, when I should be watching the news for the weather and traffic reports.

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I've come to the sad conclusion that in today's era of social media, there's no way What's My Line, I've Got a Secret, To Tell the Truth would make it . :-(

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(edited)

 

 

but the short-lived ones -- the cheesier, the better. We had Penn Jillette hosting Identity, Bob Saget hosting 1 vs 100, Kevin Pollak hosting Million Dollar Money Drop, Guy Fieri hosting Minute to Win It, Mike Greenberg hosting Duel, and Jimmy Kimmel hosting Set for Life.

 

 

Anyone who remembers some of these gets bonus points from me. One I came with that you left off was William Shatner hosting Show Me the Money.

Edited by GaryE
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I am surprised at just how much of an ass Gene Rayburn could be.  A charming ass, but an ass nonetheless.

 

I understand ragging on folks who give blatantly dumb answers, but there have been many times Gene's  pronounced church for a contestant's answer and they get at least one celebrity to match them, if not more. Brett, bless her, would at least stand up for the ladies sometimes. 

 

Gene also un-coolly dissed one female hairdresser's hair to her face and one clothing design student's outfit to her face. When Richard came to her defense, Gene said the outfit was "too distracting" for him. ::rme::  Brett went after him for the gal's hair ( which I thought was a good version of the Farrah look) and Gene walked that back a little.  I saw him, though, show off a young woman's peasant blouse and tri-color skirt today after she said she was a clothing designer. I guess a blonde with more covered up was more acceptable to Gene than a darker haired gal in spaghetti straps?

 

Still, I just fall in love with Brett Somers, Charles Nelson "Chuck" Reilly, Fannie Flagg and Betty White all over again.  Ethel Merman and Mary Wicks were fun to see too. Eva Gabor was hit or miss, but there was something uneasy about watching her interact with Gene.

 

I accept Gene's un-PCness and era-appropriate sexism as of it's day, though I'm grumpy in hindsight. Still, the show can still make me and my hubby laugh really hard and we still try to come up with fun answers for the era and then for now.

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I get the same version of grumpiness sometimes when watching What's My Line. Yes, it's part and parcel of the 1950s setting, but seeing them get all mocking of a person of size or completely shocked when a person of color has a professional job just gets me gritting my teeth.

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IIRC, Comcast in Chicago is going to be getting this channel on July 30.

 

Glad to hear it, since I get Buzzr on my TV with a converter box, but not on my one with cable/satellite only.

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(edited)

It's so weird to me that Charles Nelson Reilly sits there smoking a pipe on tv.

And Richard Dawson smoked cigarettes. Just in case anyone thought Mad Men was fiction.

 

I'm happy this network has its own thread. I've posted a few comments under the MeTV section. I love the old repeats of TattleTales, and find myself Googling afterwards to see who is still alive, who is still married, etc.

Edited by ennui
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(edited)

I've come to the sad conclusion that in today's era of social media, there's no way What's My Line, I've Got a Secret, To Tell the Truth would make it . :-(

 

I never thought about that, but you may be right.

"What's My Line" is among my al time favorites. Along with "Jeopardy" and older gems including "Beat the "Clock," "Concentration" and a Tom Kennedy show called "Split Second."

 

I'm sure there are others but those immediately come to mind. Oh yes an "$10,000 Pyramid." But I HATED the most times there was on smart and one dumb celebrity. So you knew that when the contestant moved over to be with the dumb one...that the person would have bust their ass to win, because G-d knows the celebrity was dumb as rocks, and would be a hinderance instead of a help.  

 

Because of that I've always tended to like shows where whether I win or lose depends on what I myself know or do. I don't need a dumb celeb being the reason I lose.

 

 

And thanks (arrrgggh) :):) for the "What's My Line" mentions...I went to YouTube and watched HOURS of the shows mystery (celebrity) guests scenes. I was almost late for work! The way the panel asked questions, how good they were at guessing who it was.....I only saw TWO they missed (out of the dozens I saw). There were more to see, I just didn't have time.

Edited by selhars
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I was never a fan of Let's Make a Deal, but one night there was nothing else on and now I'm addicted. I don't remember Monty Hall being so snarky! And my heart stops every time they give away a Pontiac. I see those cars at car shows, and they are worth more than their original sticker price (and they were kind of pricey in those days, too, considering wages, etc.). Tonight was a Pontiac Firebird, and I think I may have whimpered.

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I sometimes watch classic LMAD on YouTube, and one thing that strikes me is that when cars were given away,, the show paid the tax and license. Nowadays, you're on your own.

I don't think it's as great as it sounds ... it would be added to the value of your winnings, and taxed by the IRS.

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I guess someone else noticed all the classic cars given away on LMAD because now there's a commercial featuring several of them.

 

Just random, but I received a solicitation for a charity giveaway -- two Corvettes plus $50,000 cash for taxes. It's staggering to think the taxes could be that high.

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Mr. Milz pointed this out the other day but the prize money was a lot of money for when those shows aired. The $50 prize on What's My Line in the 1950s is equivalent to about $1000 today.  If your family won $1000 on Family Feud in 1979, that's the the equivalent of $3 000 to $4000 today.

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Mr. Milz pointed this out the other day but the prize money was a lot of money for when those shows aired. The $50 prize on What's My Line in the 1950s is equivalent to about $1000 today.  If your family won $1000 on Family Feud in 1979, that's the the equivalent of $3 000 to $4000 today.

Oh, agreed! No argument here. I remember my first job paid less than $3/hour, so yes, $50 was a lot of money.

And winning a $5000 car would have been a BIG DEAL, taxes or not.

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I don't know if y'all have heard of the Monty Hall Problem (aka as the Monty Hall Paradox on Mythbusters, when they demonstrated it). Basically, the problem shows how, when Monty would have the contestant chose one of the three curtains/doors/whatever, he would show the contestant one of the other two doors that doesn't have the big prize behind it, and then ask them if they wanted to change their mind. Invariably, they would stick with the original choice, and then the big reveal would show that, by a big margin, they should have changed their choice. It's all about probability as well as human psychology, which the Mythbusters show very well.

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I am hoping we get this channel down here in MS eventually because reading about it reminds me of the way GSN was years ago. It's sad to see what GSN has turned into though. I don't get to see the shows I'd like to in the mornings much on there and they don't air many of the shows I want to watch anymore either. I admit to occasionally getting sucked into the multiple episodes of Steve Harvey's FF. *Big Sigh*

Buzzr has actual variety it seems. Either people at GSN are making some stupid decisions or they lost the rights to air a lot of the shows they used to.

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