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Sound Off For Tuesday, July 1, 2003
Whatever happened to the genre of
kid's game shows?
Written by Julia Zion, Norristown,
PA
As you all probably know, I am a game show freak. I
mean, only a game show freak would still think Bob Barker is sexy at the
ripe old age of 70 something. uh...achem...anyways...my point is...I've
been a game show fan for years, starting with The Price is Right and
moving on to Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. I also was a big fan of all
the kids game shows of the day. There were Double Dare, the grandfather
of the genre, and Fun House to bring the slop into our lives. Then there
were the less sloppy, and more challenging Make the Grade and Think
Fast. Then there was a children's clone of American Gladiators called
Guts. One of my favorite gameshows was the mid-90's Where in the World
is Carmen Sandiego, based on the computer game of the same name. That
game turned into Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego for one year, but did
not survive. The last real attempt at kids game shows was late in the
90's when Sony tried Wheel 2000 and Jep!, both kid's clones of Wheel of
Fortune and Jeopardy! respectively, and Double Dare 2000, which did not
get enough of a chance. Now, even with the big resurgence of game shows,
and even a game show themed network, we see no kids game shows. Why is
this? Did Double Dare 2000 not catch on because the format just ran its
course? Are cartoons the only thing interresting to kids now? Does some
Japanese toy maker have to come up with a game show to tie into Pokemon
or Dragonball Z to get kids watching? I hope I can find a few answers
and even get you thinking about this topic.
Marc Summers (who currently hosts Wintuition on Game Show Network plus
Unwrapped and the upcoming Trivia Unwrapped on Food Network) made a name
for himself with Double Dare, the game show that spawned the genre.
Double dare survived about 8 years straight on Nickelodeon in first run,
with a short stint on Saturday Nights on FOX as Family Double Dare, the
format that eventually replaced the two kid teams of original and Super
Sloppy Double Dare. It ran in reruns for years until Nick decided to
stage a revival, Double Dare 2000, which was very faithful to the Family
Double Dare format, but lasted all of six months. Now all versions rerun
on Nickelodeon Games and Sports (Nick GaS). All of Nickelodeon's old
gameshows air on that network. Nickelodeon, in the early 90's, started
making a name for themselves with cartoons. Shows such as Ren and Stimpy
(Now airing, in a made for adult eyes only version, on the New TNN) and
Rugrats (now having aired for 11 years in first run) made the network
what it is today. Nickelodeon has stopped producing gameshows all
together. Why would Nickelodeon completely demolish the genre it created
15 years ago?
It's a fact of the TV business that if you want to cater to kids, you
have to follow Nickelodeon's lead, and follow their lead the game show
world has done. When Double Dare 2000 was taken off the schedule, so was
every other kids game show. PBS replaced Carmen Sandiego with a new
version of the late 70's kids show Zoom. Game Show Network decided to do
away with their kids game shows. Sony stopped production of Jep! and
Wheel 2000. Nickelodeon sropped production on all gameshows, and the
game show world has not been the same since. Even with the current game
show boom, not even Disney has come out with its own kids version of
Millionaire or any sloppy shows on Nickelodeon. There is a pseudo
gameshow that runs throughout the afternoon programming on Nick called
Slime Time Live, but it's really not a game show in the sense I'm
thinking.
In this day and age, do cartoons make more money than game shows? The
answer is an enthusiastic YES! Why produce a game show that is really
low cost that you can only really make more money on in reruns when you
can produce cartoons that have rerun AND video/DVD sales opportunities
plus toys? Well, I do remember in the mid-80's a book called the "Double
Dare Book" that had some behind the scenes stuff, but mostly had ways to
reproduce some of the stunts and had a way to produyce your own obstical
course. I loved that book. It came with a few special tools and balls
and stuff to recreate the physical challenges. I think it actually had
questions too. There was a Fun House computer game (which I have on my
computer now). I think that's it. Now, cartoons have much more money
making opportunities in merchandising, and nowadays, that's what runs
the kids TV game. Cartoons from Rugrats to Robotech to the New Teenage
Mutant Ninja Turtles to Dragonball Z run the world and all have
merchandising to follow. Gameshows have much less opportunities for
merchandising. Yes, you can have board games, but it's not that easy to
make a board game out of Double Dare or Guts. Money rules all. That's
the bottom line about TV and anything, really. Nickelodeon and PBS can
make more money out of Telletubbies and Rocket Power through video, and
merchandising, so that's what they air.
But, another question comes to mind. Why doesn't even Game Show Network
have any kids game shows? I dare say that through this game show boom,
not even one of them has been for kids. They have all been mean spirited
and sexually driven, not even closely suitable for kids. Shows like
Survivor and Weakest Link all vote people off to find a winner. Some of
the reasons given by the contestants for voting them off are, "I don't
like her shirt," or "he laugh just pisses me off." Those are not lessons
to teach to a kid. When Game Show Network began producing their current
slate of new programminbg, starting with Whammy!, they decided not to
target one demographic, such as kids or rock and roll buffs (Rock & Roll
Jeopardy!). They have tried to produce game shows that really target
everyone. There are a few that are not suitable for kids, such as Friend
or Foe or even Cram, to an extent. Whammy, however, is one that has a
young following, and now airs at a kid friendly time in primetime. My
thoughts still come back to Saturday mornings, where they do nothing
special to gain the interest of kids. Maybe they tried and were
unsuccessful. I have only had GSN since April 2002, so I do not know if
they tried before hand. But, I think it all comes back to Nickelodeon.
If game shows are something they have decided to ignore at this point,
kids are something that GSN will ignore. Sad, but true.
So, what did we learn? It all comes down to Nickelodeon and what they
want to do. There are very few childrens programs that do not follow
what Nickelodeon does. Those four shows are Lizzie McGuire, Telletubbies,
Barney, and the Wuggles. They're all live action, and buck the trend at
Nick. It is very hard to ignore the fact that Cartoon Network, Disney
and Nickelodeon have eroded away the network Saturday morning lineups to
the point that CBS now repurposes Nick programming, NBC gets programming
produced specifically for NBC by Discovery Kids, and ABC repurposes
programming from Disney Channel. The only remaining kids game show,
hosted by Fun House's own J.D. Roth, is Endurance, a Survivor-like show.
But, that is not what I mean when I talk about kids game shows in the
narrower sense. I consider something in studio to be a game show.
Anyways...I'll say it one last time. If Nickelodeon is successful with
one more game show, look for GSN and the major networks to jump on the
ball again, and we'll see kids versions of Millionaire and Whammy!, or
even Lingo. I cannot wait for that day.
Any comments? Please? Write us. I won't bite! ;-)
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