Battle Of The Network Stars - General Discussion

[Ananayel]

Yes! I get pretty upset occasionally when I realize that despite all the retro programming going around, no one reruns this. The original was so deliciously ridiculous and cheesy.

[Rinaldo]

A while back, one of the ESPN channels was re-running episodes of the series -- but EDITED, keeping just the actual competition and cutting out an hour or half-hour's worth of all the cheesy in-between byplay. How could they not know that's the best part?

[Drogo]

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The Cops team of Erik Estrada, Larry Wilcox, Kelly Hu, Jodi Lyn O'Keefe, and Lorenzo Lamas take on the TV Sitcoms team of Todd Bridges, Leigh-Allyn Baker, Dave Foley, Willie Garson, and Jenna von Oy.

[jennifer6973]

It Was ESPN Classic and they usually played them on Monday Nights opposite DWTS.

[MarkHB]

I saw an ad for the show during Dancing with the Stars: it's going to air on Thursdays (possibly coupled with Boy Band), and it appears that it will feature different arbitrary categories of "stars" each week, rather than the networks competing against each other.

[SVNBob]

Ah.  So Battle of the "Network" "Stars".

But I guess that makes it make sense for an on-going series, rather than just a once or twice a year special.

[Ananayel]

Reality Blurred has the cast/teams announcement. 

[MarkHB]

On 5/27/2017 at 5:34 AM, SVNBob said:

Ah.  So Battle of the "Network" "Stars".

But I guess that makes it make sense for an on-going series, rather than just a once or twice a year special.

Plus, there are 5 broadcast networks now (not even counting MyNetworkTV or whatever that senseless source of harmful radiation is these days), and all the cable ones.

[Twilight Man]

On 6/16/2017 at 0:14 PM, Ananayel said:

Reality Blurred has the cast/teams announcement. 

 

On 6/16/2017 at 1:15 PM, MarkHB said:

Plus, there are 5 broadcast networks now (not even counting MyNetworkTV or whatever that senseless source of harmful radiation is these days), and all the cable ones.

Yes, the only "current" TV stars appear to be from ABC only, but we have an entire hodgepodge of former TV stars from all major networks and then some --

(Baywatch was "mostly" a syndication show, Lorenzo Lame Ass, star of "Renegade", also syndication).

We even have people who were on the original seasons way back when (of course Ferrigno, he's still almost as powerful as he was back then ---  you go, HULK!!!)

I'm looking forward to watching this regardless --- I loved the original ---  it was silly, campy, summer fun ---  and I think this will be too.

[MarkHB]

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The TV Sitcoms team of Bronson Pinchot, Tom Arnold, Dave Coulier, AJ Michalka, and Tracy Gold take on the TV Kids team of Joey Lawrence, Corbin Bleu, Nolan Gould, Lisa Whelchel, and Kim Fields.

[Twilight Man]

"[Someone’s] putting the microphone on me and saying, ‘Here, you’ve got to pull up your shirt. We’ll run this up your six pack.’ My wife says, ‘You mean his keg?"

"The words ‘basketball’ and ‘Charlene Tilton’ have never been used in a sentence together and never will be again."

"I had very good memories of [the show] and I have a trophy, from when I won in 1980."

 

Yahoo TV talks to  Larry Wilcox, Charlene Tilton, Jimmie Walker, and Donna Mills as they return to do "Battle".

There are spoilers (like you really care that much; this isn't Game Of Thrones).

[mtlchick]

Can we really call it "Battle of the Network Stars" when it's more of "Friendly Competition Between Corporate Siblings?" 

[jhlipton]

On the old show, they were fighting for their network; here their fighting for... what exactly.  So rigging the results to make it "exciting"?  Why not.

Blech.

[jhlipton]

On 4/11/2014 at 10:05 PM, Kromm said:

Don't make teams based on networks anymore.  Simply grab TV stars from all channels and arrange them onto 3 or 4 equally numbered teams.

Looks like they went with you suggestion.  Looks like they went with top names, but from shows no longer running (some by a long while!), except for Nolan and Dave.

[Rinaldo]

It was one thing for one network team to find that it was stronger than another in the original version. It's quiet another to have someone in their 50s racing against a specimen like Corbin Bleu. Where's the (even silly) sport in that?

[jhlipton]

It's even worse to have the younger "star" throw an event (as Bleu did with the Dunk Tank on camera and Lawrence assuredly with the Basketball did off).  One thing that was odd was that they had one star of a currently running show (Nolan) and hardly showed him at all.

[Racj82]

AJ is on the Goldbergs. I don't know if she will return because she's going off to college on the show. But, she's a regular on Goldberg's.

 

It's harmless summertime fluff. I'm not worried about what they are playing for or the fairness. 

It's also 1000 times better than the reality stars version of this bravo did years ago. 

Also, Tom Arnold needs help.

Edited June 30, 2017 by Racj82

[MarkHB]

I did like that they started with Jim McKay's old Wide World of Sports opening... with, of course, the original Agony of Defeat ski jumper.  And showing Lisa and Kim from 1984 was quite amusing.  I'm going to be interested in seeing if anyone brings the fire the way Gabe Kaplan and Bob Conrad did.

[scorpio1031]

Can we please see clips of Mark Harmon from the original show wearing his speedo?  We do have a new generation of fans here.

[penbrat]

I think this show will be fun.  Just what I like to watch in the summer:  cheesy, campy with a bit of nostalgia mixed.   Loved Kim and Lisa's friendship that has endured through the years and I appreciated their efforts and enthusiasm.   Tom Arnold looks way rough.

[mtlchick]

For a summertime show where ABC becomes the network of reboot game shows, I didn't mind it.  I was too young for the first go around, but I found the original episode on Youtube and THAT was intense.  Who knew that Mr Kotter could bring it sports wise?  (I know he's a competitive poker player.) And I appreciate the retro yellow blazers. 

Edited June 30, 2017 by mtlchick

[MarkHB]

8 hours ago, scorpio1031 said:

Can we please see clips of Mark Harmon from the original show wearing his speedo?  We do have a new generation of fans here.

And for the rest of the house, Charlene Tilton in the dunk tank in an unlined swimsuit.  The things you could see in prime time in the Seventies....

[mortonsalt]

10 hours ago, MarkHB said:

I did like that they started with Jim McKay's old Wide World of Sports opening... with, of course, the original Agony of Defeat ski jumper.  And showing Lisa and Kim from 1984 was quite amusing.  I'm going to be interested in seeing if anyone brings the fire the way Gabe Kaplan and Bob Conrad did.

 

2 hours ago, penbrat said:

I think this show will be fun.  Just what I like to watch in the summer:  cheesy, campy with a bit of nostalgia mixed.   Loved Kim and Lisa's friendship that has endured through the years and I appreciated their efforts and enthusiasm.   Tom Arnold looks way rough.

 

1 hour ago, mtlchick said:

For a summertime show where ABC becomes the network of reboot game shows, I didn't mind it.  I was too young for the first go around, but I found the original episode on Youtube and THAT was intense.  Who knew that Mr Kotter could bring it sports wise?  (I know he's a competitive poker player.) And I appreciate the retro yellow blazers. 

Yes, I loved the nods to the old version, and it was a perfect show for the summer. However, like others I don't understand why it was rigged. That was so bizarre. It would have made more sense to have the teams more balanced instead of putting the two of the young guys and Joey Lawrence on the same team and the blue team only having one young person on it. 

Also I agree Tom Arnold looked really rough. Now I keep wondering if he still has that much power in Hollywood that in order to be on the show that his demands were that his team would look like the underdogs but that with his help in the final challenge, they would come from behind and win and that he must not get dunked otherwise he would walk.

[Rinaldo]

30 minutes ago, icemiser69 said:

They were airing the original episodes on ESPN Classic a few years back.  I think much of the drama between Conrad and Kaplan was fake.

Unfortunately the ESPN Classic airings were abridged from 2 hours to 1 or 1.5. And what they cut out was the between-events byplay, which was usually the memorable parts (especially visually, see below).

And yes, of course all that animosity was part of the play-acting for the show.

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I think the vast majority, if not all, of the women's swimsuits back in the original series were unlined.

Not just the women's! I learned a great deal about Marc Singer and Brian Kerwin in those events.

[MortysCleaningLady]

The blazers and the lady sportscaster's matching polo shirt were my favorite part of the episode.

 

And as others mentioned, kudos to Lisa Whelchel (Blaire) and Kim Fields (Tootie) for participating 35 + years later.   Tracy Gold has aged really well -- she looks primed for a Hallmark or Lifetime movie.

[Twilight Man]

3 hours ago, MarkHB said:

And for the rest of the house, Charlene Tilton in the dunk tank in an unlined swimsuit.  The things you could see in prime time in the Seventies....

 

2 hours ago, icemiser69 said:

She wasn't the only one.  I think the vast majority, if not all, of the women's swimsuits back in the original series were unlined.

Lynda Carter, Catherine Bach,  Erin Gray,  Cheryl Ladd, Heather Locklear ..........

13 hours ago, Racj82 said:

It's harmless summertime fluff. ..........  It's also 1000 times better than the reality stars version of this bravo did years ago. 

**sarcasm** Everybody  **incredible sarcasm**  really  wanted to see Joe Schmo, Joe Millionaire, and Average Joe play Simon Sez.

[jhlipton]

7 hours ago, penbrat said:

Tom Arnold looks way rough.

He looked like he had a wide, red, but not deep scratch on his forehead when he got there that had mostly healed by the end.

2 hours ago, Twilight Man said:

Lynda Carter, Catherine Bach,  Erin Gray,  Cheryl Ladd, Heather Locklear .........

Thanks for these -- especially Catherine Bach!

Edited June 30, 2017 by jhlipton

[jumper sage]

I agree that the teams were very uneven.  It was a silly show and I don't think I will watch again.

[Wandering Snark]

File this one under "there's another teevee viewing hour I'll never get back"... this was, in a word, terrible. The age ranges were rediculous and the events were a joke, sometimes literally. The production value was just above something shot in someone's back yard. It never seemed like an "event" or a "competition" the later I think being since they were playing for... nothing.

[J-Man]

How are AJ Michalka and Tracey Gold not "TV Kids?" They both play or played kids on their respective shows. It made things quite confusing trying to remember who was on which team and what their claims to fame were. (And of course Corbin BLEU being on the RED team was kind of ironic.)

It was interesting that in the introductions, Joey introduced himself by mentioning ONLY "Melissa and Joey," a show on which he did NOT play a "TV kid," but didn't say a word about "Blossom." The hosts did mention it later on, but to me it was a notable, obvious omission on his part.

[mtlchick]

7 hours ago, J-Man said:

 

It was interesting that in the introductions, Joey introduced himself by mentioning ONLY "Melissa and Joey," a show on which he did NOT play a "TV kid," but didn't say a word about "Blossom." The hosts did mention it later on, but to me it was a notable, obvious omission on his part.

My guess he was encouraged to say what ABC/Disney affiliated show he was from that was more recent.  He's best known for Blossom which was on NBC along with a few other sitcoms on other competing or defunct networks.  

[Kromm]

They may have the vintage blazers, but I'm not sure this team really gets what made the original version of this so great. The original has very light production and a sense of fun. This? Not so much. 

At the very least they need better announcers. Nobody else can be Howard Cossell, but heck, I'd take someone fun like Bob Uecker  if he's not too old or dead. Or even Bob Costas. Some sports Bob or the other. 

Edited July 2, 2017 by Kromm

[Wandering Snark]

What I fear is that THIS is the episode they chose to put on first... so I guess it was the best one from those they shot and... yeah. If it can actually go down from here? Scary.

[scorpio1031]

In the 70's, you had television actors who were just fine being television actors.  They did shows like this, movies of the week, game shows, etc.  They may have appeared in a feature film, but they remember their television roots.

Then, you had tv actors who wanted to be movie stars.  A tv show was a stepping stone and they seemed kind of embarrassed by it.  You didn't see them on game shows or anything to promote their network.  Once their contract was done or the show cancelled, they did feature films and that was it.  Television was now beneath them.  BOTNS?  Oh please, how dare you ask me?

And now, you have your tv stars who are darn happy to be tv stars.  They have a steady paycheck, summers off to do a movie if they so choose and they are just promoting their shows and their networks.  I think those are the ones who are more than happy to do a show like this - yes, some for the paycheck and some for fun and a paycheck.

[MarkHB]

12 hours ago, Kromm said:

I'd take someone fun like Bob Uecker  if he's not too old or dead.

I don't know if he would have been up for making the trip to Pepperdine (incidentally, that's where the originals were filmed), but he's still very much alive... 

[tribeca]

It is fun to see Lisa and Kim again.   It was a little interesting that Kim talked about not wanting to appear on TV in a bathing suit.  Would have thought that would have came from Tracey.   

Felt really bad for AJ in the boat race.  That would totally be something I would do LOL. 

[seacliffsal]

I would like to see more even ability teams.  Also, there are people who just are not fun  to watch (Tom Arnold).  I didn't like the "team captains/coaches" as it would be more appropriate to have someone from a similar category coach the team like in the original series.  The original captains got into "team rivalry" and kept the competition alive as they were invested in their teams.  

[Kromm]

One thing which I thought about a bit is that a big loss here is based on the small size of the teams. A lot of the fun of the original was the summer camp/corporate BBQ atmosphere of the original, which is totally lost with such small teams.

[newyawk]

5 hours ago, Kromm said:

One thing which I thought about a bit is that a big loss here is based on the small size of the teams. A lot of the fun of the original was the summer camp/corporate BBQ atmosphere of the original, which is totally lost with such small teams.

Yeah, I noticed that there also are no crowds, no friends or fans or even family or coworkers/professional associates there cheering for the competitors. I seem to remember  on the original series, there were crowds, and it was very convivial and made the experience a lot more energized and fun to watch. The lack of people/onlookers makes it seem a little bleak.  I mean, the producers could even go to 1iota and recruit people to come out and watch the events.  They wouldn't have to be paid. 

On 7/1/2017 at 7:29 AM, mtlchick said:

My guess he was encouraged to say what ABC/Disney affiliated show he was from that was more recent.  He's best known for Blossom which was on NBC along with a few other sitcoms on other competing or defunct networks.  

But Kim and Lisa are from Facts of Life, an NBC show, and they mentioned it.

[Wandering Snark]

25 minutes ago, newyawk said:

The lack of people/onlookers makes it seem a little bleak.

Yeah I guess that was a big part of it feeling like someone was filming this on their iPhone... it had no LIVE feel and as previosuly mentioned that they were playing for nothing so it never mattered who won or lost. Speaking of, the "here's 15 seconds of a competition that even WE thought was too boring to show" like archery etc. only detracted from the show/competition. Horrible.

[Rinaldo]

7 hours ago, Wandering Snark said:

it had no LIVE feel

This was exacerbated by the cutaways to "excerpts from earlier today" which @Wandering Snark goes on to mention. What meaning does "earlier today" even have, when it's all recorded and none of it's truly live? The result is to make it feel even less immediate and involving than the rest. It loses the whole feeling of pushing on from one physical challenge to the next, which is already minimal with such small teams. And yes, with no onlookers in attendance.

[mtlchick]

14 hours ago, Kromm said:

One thing which I thought about a bit is that a big loss here is based on the small size of the teams. A lot of the fun of the original was the summer camp/corporate BBQ atmosphere of the original, which is totally lost with such small teams.

Quote

But Kim and Lisa are from Facts of Life, an NBC show, and they mentioned it.

That is true.  Though I think they were more there for the "hey, they were on the first one OVER 30 YEARS AGO! AIN'T THAT A KICK!" (And unless I missed it, no mention of Lisa on Survivor.)

 

As for what Kromm said, I feel that's more of the reality that TV has become so fragmented.  Back then, you had the Big 3 Networks.  Now it's The Big 4, The Netlet (CW), cable networks, streaming networks, etc.  Networks are not going to give up their TV talent that easily to compete on someone else's show.  USA Today alluded to this. https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2017/06/27/abc-battle-of-the-network-stars-reality-competition/103143742/ 

[newyawk]

Quote

3 hours ago, mtlchick said:

.  Networks are not going to give up their TV talent that easily to compete on someone else's show.  USA Today alluded to this. https://www.usatoday.com/story/life/tv/2017/06/27/abc-battle-of-the-network-stars-reality-competition/103143742/ 

 

I disagree..they do it all the time on the late night talk shows. I think I've seen Hollywood Game Night and Celebrity Family Feud have people from other networks on their shows as well.

[MarkHB]

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The Variety team of Joanna Krupa, Nick Lachey, Vanessa Lachey, Gilles Marini, and Jack Osbourne take on the TV Sex Symbols team of Keegan Allen, Traci Bingham, Rosa Blasi, Brant Daugherty, and Galen Gering.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[Johnny Dollar]

Joey Lawrence's lack of even a minimum amount of physical coordination, let alone athletic ability, was very entertaining. 

Tom Arnold looked like he escaped from sleep away rehab. 

If the tug of war is going to count for so many more points than the other events, then the other events are worthless. 

I don't think Tracy Gold spoke one word on camera. 

Blair/Lisa was definitely the MVP. 

[Rinaldo]

1 hour ago, Johnny Dollar said:

If the tug of war is going to count for so many more points than the other events, then the other events are worthless. 

You got it. They've always managed it so that the tug-of-war would decide everything. Or as Howard Cosell would say, "It all... comes down... to This."

I mean, the whole thing could be called "worthless," if one chooses, except for whatever entertainment it provides. That's the part they need to step up.

For instance, I know we're past the era when speedos would be a possibility for the men. But at least don't swim with your top on, Nolan Gould. Don't you know your obligations?

[Mr. Sparkle]

On the sex symbols team, I have only heard of Traci Bingham because she was on The Surreal Life. She's incredible shape for 49. <cough>

Edited July 7, 2017 by Superclam

[newyawk]

The ratings are tumbling for this show.  Reports say ratings are down almost 30% from the week before.

 

I love the concept, and the original show, but something I thought was not that big of an issue is actually bothering me quite a bit..the lack of onlookers, and how few people there are.  It's like these people are competing in a vacuum, and it's very weird and low-energy.  The difference in show energy and excitement was acutely highlighted when they showed an old clip from the first series, where there were tons of fans present. 

[jhlipton]

It doesn't help when the sexiest woman (and the only one to show off her "sexiness"... Mmmmmm!) was Mrs Lachey on Team Variety.  Seriously, all the guys with their tops off and neither of the women in anything remotely similar?  Sexism!

Otherwise -- a boring mess.

[seacliffsal]

Yea, they need to not only always have the competitors name shown when someone is the focus, but a brief descriptor of who the person is.  The teams are very disjointed as they all are from different shows, etc., so there's no real comraderie.  Also, (I mentioned this last week) the "coaches" don't have any connection with their teams.  I think fans would have attended had they been invited, but this just seems very haphazard-tried to produce it as cheaply as possible.