@ The Buzzr: February 2019

Tuesday, February 26, 2019

The Price.....before the hoopla

tps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x4-MZcIWWgE

It's time to go......At The......

http://www.qwizx.com/gssfx/usa/mgbuzzer.wav

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMVwM6dogbg

...with the master of Everything buzz.....and auctioneer...Pierre Kelly!

Welcome to @ The Buzzr. Before 1972, we went back to a simpler place in time to see what the original version of an all-time favorite would look like. I'll tell you why when I return.

We wanted you to know if the MGHS came back to Buzzr and a lot of you agreed on it. We'll have another one after I tell you about.....The Oriignal PIR.

Here's how the original works. 4 players bid on the merchandise being presented by Don Pardo for narration.

A minimum bid was specified. After the opening bid, contestants bid on the item in turn with each successive bid a certain amount higher than the previous bid. A contestant could freeze his/her current bid instead of increasing it if he/she believed his/her bid was close enough to win. A later rule allowed contestants, on their opening bid only, to "underbid" the other bids, but this automatically froze their bid and prevented them from later increasing the original bid. Some rounds were designated as "one-bid" rounds, where only one round of bidding was held (this is the format used on the current version of The Price is Right); sometimes the minimum-bid and higher-bid threshold rules also were waived.

Other than in one-bid rounds, the bidding continued until a buzzer sounded, at which point each contestant who had not yet "frozen" was given one final bid. Bidding also ended when three of the contestants had frozen, at which point the fourth contestant was allowed one final bid, unless he/she already had the high bid. Cullen then read the actual retail price of the prize. The contestant whose bid was closest without going over the actual price won the item. If everyone overbid, the prize was not won; however, Cullen sometimes had the overbids erased and instructed players to give lower bids prior to reading the actual price (similar to what is done on the current CBS version and its syndicated spinoffs).

Frequently, a bell rang after the winner was revealed, indicating a bonus prize accompanied the item up for bids. While this was typically an additional prize, a bonus game often accompanied the prize (e.g. a tune-matching game, where a clip of a well-known song was played and the contestant matched it with a face for a cash bonus).

After a set number of rounds (four on the nighttime version, six on the daytime), the contestant who accumulated the highest value in cash and prizes became the champion and returned on the next show.

The new one retains the spirit of the original, but with a new flair, but that's on a future show. What I want to know is are you psyched for Cullen Price to come to Buzzr? 2 weeks will be your time limit for it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InjopuqU_d0

That my friends, is it. anything you question or comment goes to me on social media or email and we'll explain. We will see you all @ The.....................

http://www.qwizx.com/gssfx/usa/mgbuzzer.wav

Tuesday, February 12, 2019

Married.....with Blank

What if I told you that 2 game shows of all-time got together and had a baby? Hey, it could happen.....but see hwy after I return.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=InjopuqU_d0

We asked if you missed the Buzzr Twitch channel and you decided you didn't want to miss it. Hope it comes back soon, but for now, we get to this......

Throughout much of the 1970s, Match Game and The Hollywood Squares were among the most successful game shows on TV (as well as a steady source of employment for a slew of C-list celebrities). So back in 1983, when NBC decided to combine the two programs into one — called, what else, The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour — it seemed like a surefire winner. It wasn't: Despite the presence of original Match Game host Gene Rayburn (and Sha Na Na icon Jon "Bowzer" Bauman as host of the Squares half of the show), ratings were meh, prompting the Peacock to pull the plug after just one season. But amazingly, unlike so many vintage shows — even the flops — the nearly 200 produced episodes of Match Game-Hollywood Squares never found a second life in syndication or cable. And much to the chagrin of game show nerds, they've been completely absent from the airwaves for 35 years. That's finally about to change.

Vulture has learned that Buzzr, a digital broadcast network devoted to the game show genre, will resurrect original episodes The Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour later this month. The network (available for free via the network's website and over-the-air antenna, as well as on various cable systems, Samsung TVs, DISH, and the free Pluto TV and STIRR streaming platforms) will start with a four-hour mini-marathon of the show on Sunday, February 17. More episodes will follow, though not immediately. That's in part because the process of cleaning up and digitizing original master tapes from that era is time-intensive and not inexpensive.

"It takes four to five times the amount of time an episode lasts to get it prepared for air," Buzzr general manager Mark Deetjen tells Vulture. He says his team is working on preparing a bigger batch of episodes beyond these first four with the goal of adding MGHSH to the network's regular lineup later this year. Rather than wait until all the episodes were ready, "We really wanted to get something out as soon as possible," he says, citing intense lobbying from Buzzr viewers via the network's social media channels.

While MGHSH wasn't a massive hit, it's worth remembering that back in 1983, even a "failed" series airing on a major network like NBC regularly pulled in millions of viewers. A decent-sized chunk of that fan base is still alive and will no doubt welcome the chance to relive a show gone for more than three decades. But reviving MGHSH also lets Buzzr give its game show diehards more episodes of the very popular Match Game format (the '70s version runs multiple times each day, while ABC is now airing a revival in primetime) as well as some form of Hollywood Squares, reruns of which haven't been seen regularly in years. While Deetjen would likely be very open to the idea of airing the original Peter Marshall-hosted Squares, Buzzr parent company Fremantle doesn't own the rights to it (unlike most of the other games on the channel). "This is a way to slide in Hollywood Squares to our lineup," he says. "If you were to do a Mt. Rushmore of game shows, it and Match Game would both be on it."

Will you be watching it? I'll give you 2 weeks to decide.