View Full Version : Of these short lived celebrity-contestant game shows


rezny717
09-17-2011, 08:58 PM
"Baffle","Double Talk",Whew!".and "The Magnificent Marble Machine",which changed format (due to low ratings)and became ALL celebrity contestants,which did you like better ?-1)The celebrity-contestant format,or 2)The ALL celebrity contestant format? My choice?Definitely format 1.How about the rest of you?Feel free to post.

megamanj2004
09-18-2011, 02:21 AM
Double Talk, while it became Celebrity DT late in its run, the show was still the same for the most part.

Also Bullseye became an all-contestants show when it became "Celebrity Bullseye" midway through its 2nd season.

And Hot Potato also went the celebrity route as well by becoming "Celebrity Hot Potato" in its last few months in its short run as well, except it was played w/ two celebs on each team and 1 civvie player on each team and they eliminated the 7-Straight Jackpot.

The ABC Password (1971-75) also went the all-celebrity route in November 1974-February 1975 when it became "Password All-Stars" and the ratings on that show declined due to viewer complaints and by the time they went back to regular old Password, albeit w/ a new Qualifying Round, increased scoring system to 50 points (instead of 25), the Double Option (carried over from the All-Stars format) and a new 3-step, Big Money Lightning Round, it was too little, too late to save the ABC Password.

And also the short-lived 1979-80 version of Beat the Clock w/ Monty Hall also became an all-celebrity edition from midway through its run until it was canned in February of 1980.

It depends on how you incorporate the all-celebrity and/or celebrity editions into the regular formats.

1)The celebrity-contestant format,or 2)The ALL celebrity contestant format? My choice?

1). The celeb-civvie format is definitely the most flexible of both formats and can be successful if the gameplay of the show is durable and executed properly. Many shows to use this successfully were Password, Hollywood Squares, Match Game, The various Pyramids, and of course Goodson-Todman's trio of panel shows such as What's my Line?, To Tell the Truth and I've Got a Secret.

2). The all-celebrity contestant format only works if: A) the format is very engaging to both the celebrities and to the viewing audience (in studio and home audience) and B) it only works for certain shows and too many special celebrity shows on regular civvie shows can create an overabundance and cause waning viewer interest.

Which is my, IMO the only game shows that truly successfully used the all-celebrity formats are Tattletales and Sports Challenge.