TV ratings: CBS repeats as Monday's champ - Teen Choice Awards ...

Amazing to see CW still hyping Gossip Girl when it's clear the show has been dead for a while and its carcass is stinking up the already miasmic air of "the" CW...

Aaron R

"Miasmic," huh? That's pretty thick for the CW.

:P

Rena Moretti

Aaron R wrote:

"Miasmic," huh? That's pretty thick for the CW.
:P

You make a good point.:)

Dan

Charlotte, NC

I knew the Who Wants to Be a Millionaire ratings would surge upward. ABC should definitely consider plans for renewing this as a replacement series or a recurring summer series if Regis is interested. He's a great host and the game is as fun as ever, but I prefer the old format without the timed answers.

Aaron R

Again, renewing it and putting it on the regular schedule would be beyond stupid, as it nearly killed the show during its first run. It did kill the primetime game show genre, as all the other programs that were on at the same time suffered from the overexposure (The Weakest Link, Greed, to name a couple). Having it on as a series of specials is perfectly fine, such as around the winter holidays and during parts of the summer. But putting it on in primetime would do it in just as it did ten years ago. Supersaturation does not work, and it took the previous near downfall of Who Wants To Be a Millionaire to drive that point home.

I do agree, though, that the timed format is beyond annoying. Folks like me who do terribly on tests to begin with do even worse when there is a time limit involved. Plus, it doesn't allow for those of us who have a lot of things floating around in our heads that don't always swim to the surface of the lake in our minds after only fifteen seconds.:P

OCGirl

Aaron R wrote:

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I do agree, though, that the timed format is beyond annoying. Folks like me who do terribly on tests to begin with do even worse when there is a time limit involved. Plus, it doesn't allow for those of us who have a lot of things floating around in our heads that don't always swim to the surface of the lake in our minds after only fifteen seconds.:P

you're having that problem, too? it seems every year i get older (esp in the last couple years), my recall gets slower. i used to be quick as hell, but now sometimes i seem to need processing time and then the answer spits out. so it's just because the computer is getting too full and thus processing slower? i guess that's a lot better than just thinking the computer is wearing out! incidentally, i have heard (quick) recall is a skill that you can practice.

btw, as to the stated topic, i also think Millionaire will die as a regular series.

Eric

Lake Station, IN

I don't think Millionaire would do badly as a regular series - but only if, as others have stated, ABC didn't air it every night of the week like they seemed to do in the 1999-2001 era. If it was just a once-a-week show, on a family night like Sunday, I think it would have the potential to be moderately successful.

Rena Moretti

Aaron R wrote:

Again, renewing it and putting it on the regular schedule would be beyond stupid, as it nearly killed the show during its first run. It did kill the primetime game show genre, as all the other programs that were on at the same time suffered from the overexposure (The Weakest Link, Greed, to name a couple). Having it on as a series of specials is perfectly fine, such as around the winter holidays and during parts of the summer. But putting it on in primetime would do it in just as it did ten years ago. Supersaturation does not work, and it took the previous near downfall of Who Wants To Be a Millionaire to drive that point home.
I do agree, though, that the timed format is beyond annoying. Folks like me who do terribly on tests to begin with do even worse when there is a time limit involved. Plus, it doesn't allow for those of us who have a lot of things floating around in our heads that don't always swim to the surface of the lake in our minds after only fifteen seconds.:P

TV network executives seem to have forgotten how to produce Specials that are really special.

Millionaire is an example of a show that if handled properly would have endured a lot longer with really high ratings.

But of course, when your only thought is how to spin the next quarterly numbers, you tend to kill the goose quickly...:(

I've never been a fan of that show, but timed answers seems to be the antithesis of what it used to be about: generating suspense.

Aaron R

Personally, I think the timer was put in because Regis Philbin has the patience of a three-year-old standing in the candy aisle of the local drug store, with all the best stuff on the shelves out of his reach. I've never been a fan of his anyway, because it's hard to tell the difference between his schtick and when he's really pissed off. His lack of patience during the show's first run was one of several reasons I stopped watching it (the other main one being the *spouting off several vile curses in a variety of languages, including Basque*, bedamned celebrity editions, which to me are the same as dietary chocolate).

Adding on to OCGirl's comment...it's hard to have a lake for a memory when you also can't swim (and I can't).:P

OCGirl

i'm also not much of a Regis fan, and anyway i think he's the kind of celebrity who's much better in small doses. he's already on his morning show every weekday, so how much more of the twit can the viewing public take? i do agree with others that if they kept the show more like a "special event" they could've gotten a lot more mileage out of it. as it stands now, it just feels spoiled (past its expiration date). and yeah, the celebrity editions are the worst (but i don't watch any of them).

and to Aaron R,(figuratively speaking) i'm sure you swim much better than you think you can.(but maybe you mean you literally can't swim?) so then just start first with doggy-paddling.:)

Aaron R

No, I literally can't swim. I have crooked legs (and a crooked mind, but that's another story), and I am unable to do the things necessary to even perform a simple dog-paddle. Considering my ancestry is Irish and northern German, it's probably best that I never go back to the old homelands. Not by boat, anyway.:P

As for WWTBAM, I'm hoping that ABC sticks to its guns and will NOT bring it back again for awhile in primetime. It's outlasted other game shows of its time, but I doubt I'm the only one who wishes they'd put this particular horse back out to pasture where it belongs.

OCGirl

oh so i guess forget the doggy-paddling then. yes, maybe best to avoid the water. wow, Irish/German, that is my ex-husband's ancestry!(but i will say, it is a nice combo.) i'll have you know that i broke protocol (that i not disclose personal info on the internet) to tell you that. and i'll break it again to tell you that my ancestry is Italian(Sicilian)/French/Germa n/Polish/Portugese. My friend from England says i am more European than her. Certainly Euro-Mutt anyway.:)

hey you can always fly to the old homelands!(duh, i know you know that.) i've been to both, it's worth the trip.

as for WWTBAM, no, you aren't the only one who would be happy to see it put out to pasture.

OCGirl

over and out....

Rena Moretti

Aaron R wrote:

No, I literally can't swim. I have crooked legs (and a crooked mind, but that's another story), and I am unable to do the things necessary to even perform a simple dog-paddle. Considering my ancestry is Irish and northern German, it's probably best that I never go back to the old homelands. Not by boat, anyway.:P

Have ever watched, "There Was a Crooked Man".:) They had a song in it that would fit you well. ;)

Aaron R

As a matter of fact...

Seriously, one of my old, old, old screen names was CrookedMan13. It fits, what can I say?:D

Rena Moretti

Aaron R wrote:

As a matter of fact...
Seriously, one of my old, old, old screen names was CrookedMan13. It fits, what can I say?:D

There was a Crooked Man, who ran a crooked mile.:)

Aaron R

Me, run? More like walk with a limp really, really fast.:P

Rena Moretti