I was a fortunate soul who got the chance to appear on a nationally distributed game show at a young age, which was even then the fulfillment of a lifelong dream. The fact that I won the grand prize on a show that just happened to be on one the rare network shows of the era that preserved its library has afforded me the recognition–and dare I even say adulation–of strangers I’ve never met in person but fanbois of the genre nonetheless. And, of course, thanks to the Internet, anyone new who comes along can easily how I hopped my way to relative financial stability with a mere mouseclick.
But as I am very quickly reminded by those of somewhat younger generations with similar aspirations, it was a LOT easier then for someone like moi to even get such an opportunity. The year I appeared there were more than a dozen daily shows in production in Los Angeles alone, not to mention a handful of weekly syndicated series, and that had only recently declined from a peak where no less than 26 were simultaneously seeking contestants–mostly folks who lived in the area who would respond to classified display ads. These days, the daily total has dipped to less than ten, they tend to gang tape shorter seasons in clusters and thanks to Zoom and some people’s unlimited travel budgets you wind up competing against pretty much the entire country for such a chance. And if you’re a tad more seasoned than some aspirational producers might desire you can pretty much write off your chance to be case on any more visible show.
Fortunately for two such gentlemen a show like 25 WORDS OR LESS still exists. Chuck Donegan and Art Kurtz were billed as “trivia friends” when they appeared as a team this past week, but that’s a polite euphamism for what I know they really are. Like me, they’re game show nuts, and their online presences confirm it. Chuck regularly posts videos of obscure episodes from long-forgotten series procured from YouTube and some personal collections where any thought of a copyright violation are typically dismissed. Art regularly comments on any such posting anywhere–including many of my musings–and has a bit of a resume of his own. He’s appeared as a contestant on the syndicated WHO WANTS TO BE MILLIONAIRE a couple of decades ago and an “at homie” during LET’S MAKE A DEAL’s COVID-impacted season where their physical studio audience pool was limited to roughly a dozen socially distanced possibilities and the producers still wanted to have some sort of variety. For Donegan, it’s his first chance in the spotlight after more than a quarter-centuryy of trying. To the best of my knowledge, neither of this New York City-area residents has yet made to the Los Angeles or Atlanta areas where the few shows still shooting in America now tape–at least not since I’ve known them.
So when 25 WORDS announced it was taking advantage of an even favorable tax break from the state of New Jersey to relocate its upcoming season from Georgia it was a VERY big deal for them–literally bringing to mountain to Mohammed, so to speak. We’ve mused about the show and its champion, FOX executive Stephen Brown, before; and since it’s a clever clue-giving word game it’s a show I occasionally tune in to myself. It’s also the sole surviving spoke of the block we saluted Stephen on three falls ago and, frankly, going into season eight needed a shot in the arm for its station lineup to even care a little bit about it. Brown’s fertile mind realized that there are enough curious souls who have never set foot in a control room, or even a studio, who might be intrigued to see how the process unfolded. After some experimentation last season with the XUMO play platform they coordinated their taping cluster for the upcoming season to align with the schedules of 17 ambitious station partners, including 11 FOX-owned stations that include New York, Los Angeles and Chicago. Four of each tape day’s six-seven episodes have been live-streamed since the beginning of May in the 12 noon and 5 PM ET hours; depending on time slot and time zone two of the four have replaced the usual repeats from last year’s production cycle over the air.
Moreover, they’ve incorporated real-time interactivity that have injected virtual betting and live-tweeting that have become staples of live sports productions into these shows, adding a unique layer of connectivity and immediacy. They are also fortunate in having a host, Meredith Vieira, who is not only experienced with game shows having hosted both 25 WORDS and several season of MILLIONAIRE (including Art’s appearance) but with still more experience in live televison via THE TODAY SHOW and THE VIEW. Its director, Manny Rodriguez, was also a veteran of local news production when Brown and his team were housed at KTTV and he opportunistically seized the chance to move into their world so successfully that he has traveled with the show ever since. It’s experience like that has made Brown’s gambit a possibility; seeing it unfold seamlessly was a wonderful reminder to the overproduced and OTF-obsessed competitors out there that, yes, it’s still possible to produce live daily game shows, just like they used to be even before folks like Donegan, Kurtz and I were being baby-sat by the genre.
We actually laugh collectively at how excited CBS was when it touted what it claims was a groundbreaking event during their upfront presentations last month and the naive Brittany Sims of TV LINE fell hook, line and sinker for their ignorance:
It’s a program 54 years in the making! The Price Is Right will air its first-ever live episode in December… But, now for the first time, fans will get to the contestants’ wild reactions, wins, losses, and more, live. The game show will transform television’s longest-running game show into a must-watch holiday primetime television event…This high-stakes, must‑watch primetime Christmas television event unfolds in real time, raising the pressure with every passing second. Viewers will be taken behind the scenes as the production team races to keep the show on track. They will have to reset games, transform the stage, and beat the clock all before the game show returns from commercial break.
Foolish child. Clearly she’s unaware of the fact that THE PRICE IS RIGHT had a nine-year life as a staple of morning network lineups airing live from New York’s Colonial Theatre–something she could have discovered as easily as Donegan and Kurtz regularly do via YouTube. If you were as clueless as Sims you can immediately correct that right now. I’m also pretty darn sure she has no clue what 25 WORDS OR LESS is up to lately, either.
Oh, you want to know how our heroes did? Well, we do have two of their episodes that aired in the lunchtime ET window on Thursday for you to thrill to. We know they were introduced as returning champions and as you’ll see they managed to beat their respective opponents. The afternoon PT version I recorded sadly did not feature them. We know they won some decent prizes, including a Mexican vacation. But because Mr. Brown is wisely looking to withhold as much as possible from the rest of the world who didn’t rearrange their deck chairs to accommodate this live schedule so as to improve the chances for a season nine, and because Mr. Kurtz is a remarkably respectful soul, I simply do not know whether or not they extended their winning streak or what their final total was. For that, you’ll have to tune in in in the fall.
And isn’t that what it’s all about anyway? Keeping the dream alive as long as possible? That’s certainly been my mantra. Now we can all look to Chuck and Art for further inspiration.
Until next time…
P.S.: Final word count : 1321.