Guilding Light replacement?

[bellcurve]

What's so interesting about this discussion(and I think AllMyShadows can back me up on this) is that these soap fans who are so adamant about not "seeing their soaps replaced" are completely unaware of how huge and loyal the game show following is. Probably just as loyal as we are to our soaps. Go to BuzzerBlog or Golden-Road.net.

A new gameshow is viable not only because it is a cheaper produced show than a soap. But a gameshow(retread or otherwise) brings in a loyal fanbase and builds a self contained story each installment. And networks or production companies can make millions from marketing it domestically and internationally. Talking board games, t-shirts, slot machines, etc. and since a gameshow board game potentially has broader appeal than, say, a CSI game, the odds are better that the game will be purchased by someone who doesn't watch the show. And I am not saying soaps don't have the same appeal. But I just don't think it's fair to pooh-pooh the gameshow as some sort of crap, mindless hour or half-hour. About a talkshow, fine. Have it your way. But gameshows and their fans are just as fierce and as loyal as your average soap fan.

And also, I want to take this time to say that adding a new soap(as much as I would want one on the air) would be useless right now. These same soap fans and journalists that don't want the genre to die are the same ones who refuse to acknowledge anything remotely new or different and have done so at the expense of the genre. Even if those new concepts were horribly written and performed, they were better than probably anything that GL could have churned out since its switch to student produced television. Soaps need to come back stronger and better than ever. They need a second wind, like Millionaire was to Game Shows, and the way Sex and the City(a show I absolutely hate) redefined the sitcom.

But anyway, to answer the question: It's a pipe dream, but I would have loved for them to revive Wheel of Fortune in a fun, shopping package. Double run. I'd love to see anything Todd Newton hosted on CBS. Pyramid, Let's Make a Deal. Anything but "The Dating Game." Zzzzzzzzz. Give Americans going through the recession a reason to want to visit Television City or Studio City so they can win that car or truck or kitchenette they've always wanted. Do tons of ridiculous product placement. If you're reviving Pyramid, make certain categories sponsored by companies.

[All My Shadows]

Word on everything here.

It's just a natural fact that game shows have more appeal to the casual viewer. How many people (young people, especially) can you go up to and say "Did you see Guiding Light yesterday?" without getting some kind of "Nooo, I don't watch soaps lol" response? Ask them about Jeopardy or Wheel of Fortune or The Price is Right, and it'd be a different response. I always love (or loved...screw Carey, I ain't watching his show) when the Contestants Row on TPIR is a cross-section of the show's fanbase. The first contestant is an overweight housewife, next to a frat boy, next to a sailor with the Armed Forces, next to a little old lady. Somehow, that show appeals to just about any demographic you can come up with. Soaps do too, but nowhere near as much as game shows, and more often than not, soaps someone's "guilty pleasure." To hell with that. If you like it, you shouldn't feel "guilty" about it.

I always did like Newlywed more than Dating. I never really got the "game" aspect of Dating...I mean, I guess the three bachelors/bachelorettes are competing for the date, but it's not like you need skill or anything. It's a classic and I love it, but Newlywed is more my style. I've wondered how a daytime version of Million Dollar Password would do. I don't think Regis would be up to hosting a daily half-hour game show, so maybe Newton could take over (or someone else with game show experience...Jeff Probst, perhaps?). I'm just really, really giddy about the prospect of game shows coming back to network daytime. If CBS can make this happen, it would make GL's cancellation just a little bit easier for me.

[jfung79]

If game shows are so much more popular than soaps, why are The Price is Right's ratings plummeting too?

My answer is that nothing should replace GL. CBS should just give up on the hour. Nothing will do better for them than GL so don't even try. Give it to the affiliates. On the other hand, hey, if they want to waste money on a replacement, sure, I'm very happy with CBS losing money.

Some form of reality TV thing (and I mean in the Big Brother or Survivor or American Idol sense, or even something like The Surreal Life or The Real World -- not a game show or talk show) would probably do best. I think the interactivity (voting) and serial nature of reality shows would keep people invested and actually go out of their way to watch something in the daytime rather than just casually watch if they are home as would be the case with a game show or talk show. But CBS would probably want to use anything that was actually a good reality TV idea at night instead of during the day, and I think that makes sense.

[JackPeyton]

a good talk show?

a fun game show?

those would be my choice options.

[bellcurve]

That has EVERYTHING to do with a ) the numbers for daytime as a whole dropping and b ) picking the sh!teously incompetent Drew Carey as host. Two years on a veteran game show and still, no Emmy nomination for game show or host? Crappy ratings? Something should tell you it's not the game itself.

Plus, Wheel and Jeopardy! have lost viewers in syndication, but they are still strong performers in a very bad market for television. Millionaire has lost some viewers, but low power stations and independent stations prefer having a game show on their lineup if they can get it for cheap. And who can blame them?!

And "Deal or no Deal" may not be a runaway hit in syndication, but it's numbers are solid and far better than other game show entries since Millionaire's arrival(i.e. Temptation, Trivial Pursuit, etc).

But I have a feeling you knew all this. You just wanted to throw that in to stir the pot.

Psh. Anything would do better than GL. Maybe not from a ratings standpoint, but most assuredly from an aesthetic one. It's sad when the CBS Newsbreak has better production values than the show that precedes it.

Affiliates are struggling during the recession too. There are less and less syndicated programming options. Several shows that were supposed to be a "lock" for first-run syndication next year had to be scrapped or postponed to 2010, one of those being the McGraw/CBS Paramount produced, "T.D. Jakes."

Adding a game show in the mix while Bloom figures out what she wants to do with her lineup isn't at all a bad idea. She may decide to add another soap into the fray if the new game shows bomb. Wasn't there a period between "Search for Tomorrow" and "Generations" where NBC filled that half hour with a game show? Also, when "Santa Barbara" was cancelled, many NBC affiliates opted to program that hour themselves, but some of them aired NBC's talk show option, "The Other Side," which IIRC was some sort of paranormal talk show. NBC never officially gave up that hour to the affiliates until "Sunset Beach" was canned in 1999.

[Ann_SS]

I like game shows. Pyramid is one of my faves so I would watch it if I was home. Court shows are also one of my guilty pleasures.

[juniorz1]

How about Mama's Family reruns?

[baller]

How about the ABC syndicated Aisha Tyler talk show?

[CSF]

I think it would be a good move if CBS was able to produce two really good 30 minute game shows to replace Guiding Light.

After a year of it's success, I think it would also be good if CBS was able to come up with a new and more cutting edge soap to replace ATWT if indeed ATWT does end in 2010. But, I think the new soap should be placed in GL's former time period and the game shows are moved to ATWT's 2pm EST time period as a lead in for the new soap. Hopefully, that would cause for not only the game shows to continue to be successful, but also for the new soap as well. Therefore, it would in a sense, breathe new life into daytime. The soap doesn't have to be a full hour, it could be two, 30 minute soaps. If it's two 30 minute soaps, one could air at 2:30 and another at 3:30 and both have a game show as a lead-in and lead-out.

[Khan]

I'd like to see a revival of "Press Your Luck" and "Match Game".

[jfung79]

No, I didn't know all that, because I have no interest in game shows. Thanks for the informative post. I don't understand how it supports your position, however, that game shows would do well if game show entries since Millionaire's arrival have not. Drew Carey was a good host on Power of Ten, that's probably why he was picked for The Price Is Right.

"I have a feeling you just threw that in there to stir the pot", lol.

Sounds like they should just air infomercials!

Another possibility, by the way, I think should be considered is some kind of kids programming, although 2pm is a teeny bit too early for that.

[jfung79]

Oooh, revive "The Judge." That might be the best idea.

[Soapsuds]

Ditto!!

[DAMfan]

GL viewers will not watch a game show and most of the viewers record GL and some watch the show 10 PM or midnight or later don't think anyone would record a game show to watch it at midnight - the GL fan gathering for Oct. is already sold out - keep the Light on!!!

[juniorz1]

The last revival of "Match Game" pretty much sucked so I wouldn't hedge my bets on that one. And GSN already has a "Press Your Luck" revival called "Whammy!".