new game show

I'm a traditionalist when it comes to game shows. I don't really like anything that's too bizarre or wanders too far from the studio audience/stage/host with a mic/play a game format. So I didn't really like the new GSN show 'Instant Recall,' even if there were a few things that I found amusing.

The concept: host Wink Martindale and his crew stage a phony set-up to con someone into playing a game. This first episode featured two people who thought they were at a "love seminar" and a guy who found himself at a party that turned into an intervention for a woman he'd never met before (Wink and the sexy model are in another room as the con unfolds). So yeah, this is 'Candid Camera' with a twist. When it's time to let the victims off the hook, Wink comes in, introduces himself, and they play the game, which is to see if the contestants can remember what just happened to them.

Because I love game shows, I'll give 'Minute To Win It' a shot when it premieres March 14, but I can already see something I hate about it: the damn lighting and music! It's the same suspenseful lighting used on 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire,' 'The Weakest Link,' and 'Deal Or No Deal,' and the same kind of set too. This show also seems to have over-the-top, bigger-than-life contestants (where did they come from, anyway?) and throws in smoke for good measure.

This clip is from a game called "Bite Me." Other games on the show have names like "This Blows," "The Nutstacker," "Hanky Panky," and "Don't Blow The Joker." Make of that what you will.

William Shatner is becoming the next Regis Philbin. He's everywhere!

Besides appearing on Boston Legal, many different commercials (Priceline, DirecTV, ads for attorneys) and writing books and having a web site, he's just signed to host a new game show for ABC titled Show Me The Money. The game will involve contestants answering trivia questions for a prize of $1 million.

Sigh. Hey, I like game shows, but I fear the success of Deal Or No Deal will push out scripted shows (or, on the flip side, good game shows will be so popular the networks will run them into the ground by having them on 2, 3, 4 times a week). And if they are going to have a game show, why use an already cliche line from some movie from the 90s?