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Post by S_SweepFan3 on Mar 18, 2021 13:00:32 GMT -5
So I just got done reading an entry from Casey Abell's blog (yeah I know, I read something from his site; trust me, I feel guilty and dirty for doing that) and in it, he talked about how people feel about celebs being contestants on game shows like Who Wants To Be A Millionaire and Wheel Of Fortune. From what I've read in that blog and in the comments of his previous blog entry since he mentioned it, people seem to dissent the idea of celebs being contestants and they prefer civvies playing the games. They also seem to think that celebs being contestants lower the ratings for a game show. To be fair to Casey, he did a good job debunking that theory with proof.
How do I feel about this? I'm a little mixed. On one hand, I do prefer seeing games played with non-celeb contestants. Something about it feels more genuine if that makes any sense. The interactions between civvies and the host feel more real and not as forced whereas with celebs, you kind of know what to expect. It's more predictable. On the other hand, that's not to say all celebrity contestants are bad. They still provide good enough entertainment and games remain mostly unchanged for the most part. Sometimes celeb contestants can be a breath of fresh air and provide a lot of laughs.
My biggest problems with celebs being contestants are that because they're celebrities, there are times where they're the main focus of the show. The main reason why I watch game shows is to see games being played. If a contestant - whether it be a celeb or a regular contestant - takes focus away from the game or is annoying, I get annoyed. Just a few weeks ago on The Price Is Right, there was a civvie that would say "Woo!" almost every second (even if they lost) and it was really annoying. So celebs aren't completely terrible and civvies aren't completely perfect like some people think.
Another problem I have with celebs is that sometimes they get special treatment. I think it was last year in an episode of Millionaire where a celeb (I forgot her name) quickly said "final answer" to something, her guess on screen was lit up to indicate a locked in answer, but she quickly and loudly said she didn't mean to do that and begged for her answer to be changed. After the show came back from commercial, she was allowed to change her answer and she ended up getting it right. You think a non-celeb player would've been given that luxury? I don't think so. I get that these are celebrities, but it's honestly not fair to civvies. Judging should be fair and equal to everyone. If you screw up on a game show (especially one like Millionaire), that's your fault.
So yeah, I don't think celeb contestants are the kiss of death for game shows. However, I can understand why people prefer regular contestants over celebs. Heck, I'm one of them, but I think some people do go a little overboard on celeb contestants being the worst thing for game shows. They do have their benefits. At the end of the day, it comes down to personal preference.
What is your opinion on this subject? I'm curious to know what you guys think.
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Post by Mandoli on Mar 20, 2021 20:47:26 GMT -5
My two cents: I think celebrities on game shows is okay. Hear me out on this.
You bring up Wheel of Fortune, which had a celebrity version in primetime this year. Now, I don't watch Wheel as is, because of personal preference. But if I were to, I would know that the celebrity version is its own separate entity. It's not part of the season's rotation. (I mean, I was probably working most nights anyways when the show was on, so that's probably why I didn't tune in.) As long as it doesn't take away from the civilian episode rotation, I don't see a problem with it.
Also, I like to see a show have a little fun. I mean, hell... If Jeopardy could do it many times, why not other shows? I don't see people complaining about higher personalities playing an answer/question game with the audience laughing after every other response. I would love to see Jeopardy with a primetime celebrity version with (maybe) Mike Richards host. If they can have a rotating celebrity host before it's probably obvious that Ken Jennings will be the permanent host, why not have them playing the game?
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Post by palmer7 on May 18, 2021 22:37:39 GMT -5
Leonard Stone was a contestant on Wheel in 2000. Apparently, being out of the limelight for a few decades makes you a civilian again.
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Post by jman8606 on May 24, 2021 19:49:40 GMT -5
Walter Egan was on Scrabble and Catch Phrase in the 80s.
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Post by aaaa on May 24, 2021 20:18:56 GMT -5
Walter Egan was on Scrabble and Catch Phrase in the 80s. And won four games of Catch Phrase. Walter Egan is a singer-songwriter best known for 1978's Magnet and Steel, which was mentioned when he appeared on Scrabble, as CHarlie Tuna remembered the song. |
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Post by jman8606 on Jun 19, 2021 20:52:07 GMT -5
70s singer-songwriter Andrew Gold who had hits with "Lonely Boy" and "Thank you for being a friend" The latter notable for being the theme song to "The Golden Girls" was a xi test and on Family Feud with his family in 1991.
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Post by jman8606 on Jun 19, 2021 20:54:21 GMT -5
Walter Egan I believe was also on Jeopardy!
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Post by aaaa on Jun 20, 2021 4:43:11 GMT -5
70s singer-songwriter Andrew Gold who had hits with "Lonely Boy" and "Thank you for being a friend" The latter notable for being the theme song to "The Golden Girls" was a xi test and on Family Feud with his family in 1991. Andrew Gold did both the CBS and syndicated runs of Combs Feud, he also appeared with his wife on the short-lived Summer 1992 relationship show Bedroom Buddies. |
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Post by aaaa on Jun 20, 2021 4:45:13 GMT -5
Mike Levine of the Canadian rock band Triumph was on Wheel on 12/24/1996 and won $3500, but didn't win the game.
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Post by Mandoli on Oct 6, 2021 22:19:58 GMT -5
I just noticed two things:
1. This topic turned into celebrities on game shows, when the thread was supposed to be a conversation starter and your opinion. I thought we were trying to discuss this, not mention something that's already in a thread of its own.
2. Jesus Christ, my hot take turned sour. (Mike Richards hosting anything now is not happening.)
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Post by rewindium on Mar 25, 2023 4:43:21 GMT -5
I think this qualifies as celebrities competing as contestants: The New Liar's Club once had an episode late in the run where the celebrity panel switched sides with the civilians explaining the strange objects. The winning celebrity then opened a random envelope that had the name of the civilian that got the grand prize. Celebrities were "Dyn-o-mite!" Jimmie Walker, Shannon Tweed, Pete Barbutti and Real People's John Barbour
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Post by CardSharksFan8689 on Mar 25, 2023 10:39:36 GMT -5
Renae Jacobs, the voice actress best known for her role as April O'Neil on the 1987-1996 "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" cartoon series, was a contestant on the daytime edition of "Sale of the Century" in Winter 1985.
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Post by ARM103090 on Mar 25, 2023 20:09:18 GMT -5
She was also The Lady of the Maze in the JD Roth season of Masters of the Maze. Renae Jacobs, the voice actress best known for her role as April O'Neil on the 1987-1996 "Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles" cartoon series, was a contestant on the daytime edition of "Sale of the Century" in Winter 1985.
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Post by Mandoli on Mar 27, 2023 9:43:34 GMT -5
Still relevant two years later... 1. This topic turned into celebrities on game shows, when the thread was supposed to be a conversation starter and your opinion. I thought we were trying to discuss this, not mention something that's already in a thread of its own. |
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Post by Rtist 4merly known as Chachi on Apr 12, 2023 0:54:04 GMT -5
I thought this forum, where I'm still a newbie, would have more discussion on the topic than it has. Disappointing.
As a rule, I don't mind celebrities on game shows when they're partners to civilians. Password, Pyramid, Celebrity Name Game. You didn't need them to play the game, you could have had teams of civilians, but having celebs made each week different and, typically, enjoyable. Or in the case of CNG, each episode.
When you force celebrity partnerships into a game that is played without them, it does little for me. Snoop Dog, a guy I have no appreciation for, playing along on TPIR? No thanks. And as mentioned in this thread, celebs think they have to perform while on the show. No thanks. I don't go out of my way to watch any celebrity infusion to TPIR, daytime or prime time, but what I've seen of them does nothing for me.
If you're an NBA fan and you get to team up with your favorite player on WOF, that's really cool. It does nothing for me as the viewer. What little I read in online chatter, nobody was too dazzled by the WWE infusion to WOF recently. I saw the first night and wasn't entertained, so I made a point not to turn it on the rest of that week.
Celebrity editions of regular game shows? Not always great, but not always awful. When Jep use to have a celeb tourney during the syndie episodes, the folks they brought in had some fun, but they wanted to do well and were playing for charity, so it was important for them to compete and dazzle the audience. I have not watched one episode of the prime time celebrity parade. It felt like too much. Three rounds over a period of weeks? I'll stick with the daytime show. The prime time show doesn't take away from watching civilians play, it's an add on, so go for it, I guess. But I didn't mind a basic celeb tourney in the syndie strip back in the day.
Family Feud isn't that great of a game to me, in any of its incarnations, so celeb editions on the syndie show, or separate in prime time, it matters not. I don't watch it. I will note that in the Dawson days, when I was a youngster, Feud held more appeal. It's too slow and painful to watch today, although Dawson is usually good for a chuckle during most shows. I watched some of those prime time specials ABC did back in Dawson's day, and seeing a YouTube video of one now is entertaining, purely for the nostalgia. Be it casts of old TV shows competing, like Gilligan's Island and Batman, or manufactured teams of emcees battling it out. That Hollywood Walk of Fame week was rather lackluster.
Game show hosts doing battle on Scrabble? Highly entertaining. On Perry Card Sharks? OK. They dragged it out too long.
Celebs playing the games weren't all bad back in the day. Nowadays you see it only when it's a prime time show of its own, and somehow it's not the same.
I watched a few minutes of Fallon's Password last summer. Ish. It's like watching celebs playing word games while drunk at a party in the Hollywood hills. Not interested. It's not a show about the game. As noted in this discussion, the game is what we're interested in, not which celeb can put on the biggest show.
I saw the opening minutes of Fallon's Name That Tune bastardization. Again, it looks like a home party game on a sound stage. The premise was entertaining, but the four celeb contestants were either drunk or told to act like it, and make sure the audience knows each of them are the stars that stir the drinks. If that's what the 3M prime time viewers want, more power to them.
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