Skirting Around The Issue

I still remember the day in September 2008 when it was announced that Eoin Colfer would be writing a new Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy book. My initial reaction, naturally, is that they were crazy.

In some ways, of course, they still are. Yet the more I think about it, the more I realize it actually was inevitable. We're lucky it's happening now and in a manner approved by the various parties involved with the radio show and first five books, rather than the copyright expiring and someone publishing The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy And Zombies. Let's face it, if you're a Douglas Adams fan, you're looking forward to this. If nothing else, it will give you something to talk about.

I must admit that I have not read Artemis Fowl or anything else by Eoin Colfer, but still, I wonder why he was picked. The decision was apparently made by Douglas Adams' widow Jane Belson; according to some reports, she did it by no other criteria than that her daughter (yes, with Douglas) was a fan. I sort of get the feeling the first person they asked was J.K. Rowling (a woman I seriously doubt is going to write another word for the rest of her life, let alone a sequel to a book by someone else). If you haven't already figured it out, I know exactly who I would have picked, but considering that Daniel Pinkwater is barely known in America, let alone Britain, it's a highly unlikely choice.

Nonetheless, I sent Daniel Pinkwater a message via a form on his website, asking why on Earth he didn't get picked for this job. His answer is at www.pinkwater.com/pzone/forum.php (the post is dated December 19, 2008). I won't waste space repeating it here, but suffice to say that I should have realized he would have given an answer like that before I asked the question.

I'll be placing my order on Amazon UK for the new Last Chance To See book on Thursday.

Aaron

Shouldn't It Be Called The Audreid?

We have the first glimpse at the release date of Daniel Pinkwater's upcoming novel Adventures Of A Cat Whiskered Girl - it comes out in "Spring 2010." Okay. This new book is narrated by Big Audrey, a character introduced in The Yggyssey, the sequel to The Neddiad. Do you get the post title now?

If you're inclined to reading books online, this book will actually be serialized starting tomorrow (August 31). I'd rather wait for the physical book than read one chapter a week on my computer screen, but if that's your cup of tea, it's at www.pinkwater.com.

I'll have more about Daniel Pinkwater tomorrow.

Aaron

Previews And Predictions

With Labor Day less than two weeks away, let's take another look at the fall lineup of five-day-a-week shows.

September 4 - Final episodes of Merv Griffin's Crosswords and Trivial Pursuit: America Plays

September 7 (Labor Day) - Season premieres of Millionaire, Family Feud (with a revised format), and Deal Or No Deal (now taped in Connecticut)

September 14 - Season premieres of Wheel Of Fortune and Jeopardy

September 21 - Five-day-a-week premiere of Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader?; season premiere of The Price Is Right; The Price Is Right reruns replace Guiding Light

October 5 - Let's Make A Deal returns, replacing The Price Is Right rerun slot

So, what do I think about all this? What are the chances of these shows surviving? I'll tell you what I think. Right now, we have eight five-day-a-week shows. I'm starting to wonder if by September 2010, that number will be down to four.

Think about it. Wheel Of Fortune and Jeopardy certainly aren't going anywhere, and while I seriously believe that The Price Is Right needs a rest, I'm pretty sure I'm the only one. Those three (the gold standards) are fine. Family Feud - let's face it, the revised format with the returning Bullseye round was a stroke of genius on Fremantle's part. It allows them to advertise a $30,000 jackpot without ever having to give it away. That show probably isn't going anywhere either.

Then comes Millionaire. A few days ago, I would have said Millionaire would be just fine. However, the news has come out that in November, Millionaire will have a Tournament Of Champions that, while not guaranteeing a $1,000,000 payoff to the winner, will make it much more likely. If they have to do that, it means they're as desperate as Deal Or No Deal...a show that seems to be waning itself, as the move to Connecticut proves. Considering that Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader? was a hit in primetime for about a month, I somehow can't see it lasting five days a week. As for Let's Make A Deal, I'm an obsessed game show fan, so I know about the history of this show and its many successful runs with Monty Hall, but I have this vision of "the average viewer" watching the show and saying "What's this? The joint offspring of Deal Or No Deal and The Price Is Right, hosted by Wayne Brady?"

That's what I think. I could be totally wrong. For all I know, Let's Make A Deal could lead to a rush of new network daytime game shows - but if Deal Or No Deal and Let's Make A Deal are canceled around the same time, I get dibs on the headline "Done Deal...Both Of Them."

Aaron

See It Sooner

A few notes relating to the upcoming return of Douglas Adams' Last Chance To See. The television show, featuring Mark Carwardine and Stephen Fry, will premiere on September 6 at 8PM on BBC2 and run for six episodes.

In addition, the release date of the new book by Mark and Stephen and has been pulled quite a bit earlier - it now comes out September 3, as opposed to October 1.

I'm not too worried about Last Chance To See, but the new Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy book - by Artemis Fowl creator Eoin Colfer - comes out October 11. We all know they're doing this for the money, and the sad part is, I'm going to buy the book, so it worked!

Needless to say, I'll have my reviews of these books...eventually. I'm going to save them for a trip I'm taking in October, so...November?

Aaron

I'm Back!

I'm back from my trip and am ready to give Sunday's Millionaire results, as well as a hodgepodge of other game show stuff. The results:

Contestant 1 - Jim Robinson
Miss $100,000 question, win $25,000


Contestant 2 - Ken Basin
Miss $1,000,000 question, win $25,000


Celebrity - Regis Philbin
Correct Answer - after many, many hints from Meredith Vieira, who, as it turns out, was there to host, not to play. Meredith also revealed that the nine contestants who didn't reach the hot seat on night eleven would get the first nine slots on the upcoming season of the daytime show.

As I've said, I've pretty much exhausted what I can say about Millionaire, and unfortunately even a $1,000,000 question can't change that. As a result, here is a hodgepodge of unrelated game show stuff:

• Trivial Pursuit: America Plays will air its final episode on September 4. I actually thought this was a pretty good show and that Christopher Knight did a good job, but I may have been the only one.
• Two years after being heavily promoted as the dying legacy of the creator of Wheel Of Fortune, Merv Griffin's Crosswords will air its final episode on the same day. Not a moment too soon, in my opinion.
• I can't get 100% confirmation on the fall schedules for syndicated shows in my area; different TV listings sites are disagreeing. I may possibly have to wait until September 8 to see the new season of Family Feud, as my local station may be showing PGA Tour golf on Labor Day.
• This isn't 100% confirmed yet either, but it appears that Bob Barker will be...guest hosting WWE Raw on September 7. Is he really that desperate to stay in the public eye?
  

Hopefully all these things will be confirmed soon.

See you when they are,

Aaron

I Guess That's Why They Call It I Guess That's Why They Call It The News

First, the really important news: I Guess That's Why They Call It The News is available as part of the BBC Radio 4 Friday Night Comedy Podcast.

Moving on...

I first heard of I Guess That's Why They Call It The News several months ago. The description of the upcoming show read something like "Fred MacAulay hosts as two teams of two play silly games about the week's news." My reaction: "So it's just The News Quiz."

I was wrong. The News Quiz, while a great show, consists of little more as a format than the host reading a question about a news story and that question starting the panelists off on several minutes of discussion\ranting about that story. I Guess That's Why They Call It The News, on the other hand, consists of what I suppose are best described as "news improv games" - but even that description seems not quite right. Most of the games played on the first show seem like they came straight out of I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue and were adapted only slightly to fit the week's news. One round began with Fred reading a piece of news about standardized testing, but this merely led into a silly parody of exams featuring "an actual question from an A-level exam from the year 2000BCE: Ugh. Is the answer A. Ugh, B. Ugh, C. Ugh or D. Ugh." Another one began with the news that Oxford Airport will soon be changing its name to London Oxford Airport, leading to a round of "Misleading Place Names" that was straight out of I'm Sorry I Haven't A Clue. "Mumbai. You can't buy a mother there."

A few rounds were more intriguing - perhaps the best being a game of "Good News, Bad News" in which the panelists have one minute to explain, for example, why train fares coming down is bad news. Probably the round that sounds strangest when described is one where the panelists had to convince Americans to introduce something similar to Britain's NHS, and do so while eating plates full of biscuits. Unfortunately, it wasn't quite as funny as that description makes it sound.

The panelists on the first show were Laurence Howarth, Sarah Kendell, Gordon Southern and Milton Jones. Milton Jones was the only one I had heard of, but they're all good talents, as was Fred MacAulay once you get past his thick Scottish accent. One thing that certainly hadn't changed: scoring was purely arbitrary and random. The show ended with the two teams tied, 29 - 29. In short, this is barely topical and hardly original, but it's entertaining and serves what's clearly its sole purpose - filling a few weeks until The News Quiz comes back. If we ever hear from this show after September 24, I'll be amazed.

This will be my last post until I come back from my trip on Thursday, August 27. I will, hopefully, post tomorrow's Millionaire results that day.

Aaron

There Goes My Mind

The "super special guest" for night eleven of Millionaire has come out - it is indeed Meredith Vieira. Why NBC allowed this we'll never know (she's on Today, Millionaire's on ABC.)

My review of I Guess That's Why They Call It The News will be up tonight.

Aaron