The Chase

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oduguy22
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The Chase

Post by oduguy22 »

I have a question concerning a pretty awesome trivia show. I'm sure that many of you have seen and some have been on. Its about The Chase, and honestly its gotten a bad deal in my opinion. To start off on GSN, which is a great channel, I love it, but it would never reach the type of audience it could reach if it was on FOX or a major channel network. Why is this? And despite that it was still quite successful on GSN. The show has an easy to follow concept, great host in Brooke Burns and she compliments the Beast so well. it also has great visual effects and the music is fantastic, and there is so much drama you could sense it. Its also a really quality game show like how Millionaire used to be. This is a game show that was built for primetime and would remain successful, so why did the show get cancelled last year, and does anyone know if there is a chance that this show can be revived on a major network. I feel its a solid concept that most viewers can get behind if they knew about it. I would really like to start a petition to get this show revived back in America again. Its so strong in the UK and has branched out to other countries as well. Im sure the Beast would definitely take it up again. its just a great concept id hate to see wasted.
Last edited by oduguy22 on Sun Mar 19, 2017 10:38 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: The Chase

Post by MarkBarrett »

You can do a search on this board of "chase beast" to find several previous threads about the show. Brooke Burns was a good host. Brooke Burke on The Celebrity Apprentice is a different story. GSN quickly made a decision for a second season of Divided, so who knows what goes on in their decision making.

Could The Chase work as a prime time major network show? Talk to the suits at ABC as they have been going game show crazy lately and there will be more coming this summer. The Wall on NBC did well enough to get an order for new episodes.

GSN's budget may not have liked the Beast letting teams win too many times and that cost alone could have been enough to make the axe fly.
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Re: The Chase

Post by econgator »

It's starting up again weekdays at 4. I'm guessing it's just repeats, but ...?

I don't think they have officially cancelled it yet.
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Re: The Chase

Post by triviawayne »

Sorry, but it has been cancelled. That doesn't mean they won't ever make new ones, but at this time there are no plans for new episodes.

Compared to other shows on the network, the ratings of the show skewed older than GSN would like, so that would likely be the biggest reason it is gone.

I'm sure every network would love a show that rarely if ever pays out winnings to contestants, but most of America would not be happy to watch that, so don't expect to see another version any time soon.

Just because we love it, doesn't mean everyone would and therefore it would be great and should be done by some network.

There are a few things going on, and that is why you are seeing more game shows on network prime time schedules again.

1. Launching a new show is expensive and most shows don't stick around for a full season, let alone several seasons. Networks love to grind four or more seasons out of a show because that is where the money is for syndication and DVD sales. They can pilot and even put on the air several game shows for the cost of a single regular show.

2. Not only are we at a time where the natural cycle of popular shows has game shows due to come around again, but the current national mood lends itself to the feel good shows. The Wall is an excellent example.

Side note: I'm so glad the wall is doing great, it is showing life changing prize money can be paid almost every week and there is still a profitable show. I'm sure this will lead to some budgets getting bigger and open the door for a primetime return of Millionaire.

3. All it takes is for one show to do well, and the rest of copy-cat Hollywood will follow. Family Feud toppled Judge Judy in syndication, and even though that's a bull-shart victory, the H-wood execs don't see it that way. That led the way for FF to come to primetime, and allow for the return of Match Game and Pyramid. With those being successful, we got the Wall and more are coming. Yes the episodes of the Wall were already done, but remember, NBC was gun-shy of putting the show on the air until AFTER the success of the others; and those episodes were filmed in 2015!
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Re: The Chase

Post by MDCSWildcats86 »

MarkBarrett wrote: Sun Mar 19, 2017 5:35 pm You can do a search on this board of "chase beast" to find several previous threads about the show. Brooke Burns was a good host. Brooke Burke on The Celebrity Apprentice is a different story. GSN quickly made a decision for a second season of Divided, so who knows what goes on in their decision making.

Could The Chase work as a prime time major network show? Talk to the suits at ABC as they have been going game show crazy lately and there will be more coming this summer. The Wall on NBC did well enough to get an order for new episodes.

GSN's budget may not have liked the Beast letting teams win too many times and that cost alone could have been enough to make the axe fly.

I found the pacing horrible (can we not take commercial breaks mid-question, please!?!?!?!?!?!?) and DID NOT like them stopping the clock in bonus round when "The Beast" got a wrong answer (it should have been automatic, a la SotC).
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Re: The Chase

Post by AndyTheQuizzer »

MDCSWildcats86 wrote: Sun Mar 19, 2017 9:25 pm I found the pacing horrible (can we not take commercial breaks mid-question, please!?!?!?!?!?!?) and DID NOT like them stopping the clock in bonus round when "The Beast" got a wrong answer (it should have been automatic, a la SotC).
Both of these things happen on the UK version.
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Re: The Chase

Post by IronNeck »

I thought the show was okay, but certainly nothing special.

As others have mentioned, the main problem is how brutally slow it is. There are about as many trivia questions in an hour of The Chase as there are in 30 minutes of Jeopardy. Way too many pauses and interruptions throughout, and not enough trivia game.

Aside from that huge flaw, it's fine. Mark Labbett is an amusing, likable chaser. Brooke Burns is a decent host, and I'm still laughing that someone confused her with Brooke Burke. Too many life stories about the contestants, which adds to the pacing problem.

Would this do well in primetime? None of us can predict the future, but my guess would be a "no". 500 Questions was better-paced and had a more interesting format in my view, but was cancelled after just 12 episodes.
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Re: The Chase

Post by QuizGeek75 »

I honestly thought the American version was okay, but not as great as the original version. I do have some gripes about it, like too many dirty questions in one episode. I know Bradley Walsh has a case of the giggles once in a while since it airs on a daily basis and it is not everyday you see naughty questions pop up to make him laugh. Having Mark as the only chaser was another problem I had because it was just too much beauty versus Beast and I thought $5,000 was just too much to offer for each question in the cash builder for Game Show Network's budget. I still blame Brooke Burns for letting Andrew O'Keefe call Mark "Beasty" on the Australian version. :P Didn't FOX do a pilot with Brad Rutter as a chaser? I know Bradley hosted both of those pilot episodes, including Mark's episode as the chaser. If The Chase were to be brought back, whether it airs on a major network, I'd suggest a daily version of it by awarding $1,000 in the cash builder and have local Americans as chasers like Ken or Brad in the roster. I also didn't like the music package as it sounded rather odd. I'm all for having a female game show host and I thought Brooke was an interesting choice, although I think Meredith Vieira would have been a better choice since she hosted a quiz show for about 10 years. I admit that it wasn't my favorite international adaptation of Britain's most popular quiz show, but it's better than China's version.
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Re: The Chase

Post by triviawayne »

IronNeck wrote: Sun Mar 19, 2017 10:09 pm I thought the show was okay, but certainly nothing special.

As others have mentioned, the main problem is how brutally slow it is. There are about as many trivia questions in an hour of The Chase as there are in 30 minutes of Jeopardy. Way too many pauses and interruptions throughout, and not enough trivia game.

Aside from that huge flaw, it's fine. Mark Labbett is an amusing, likable chaser. Brooke Burns is a decent host, and I'm still laughing that someone confused her with Brooke Burke. Too many life stories about the contestants, which adds to the pacing problem.

Would this do well in primetime? None of us can predict the future, but my guess would be a "no". 500 Questions was better-paced and had a more interesting format in my view, but was cancelled after just 12 episodes.
I think you need to do a recount of how many questions per episode we saw in 500 Questions vs the Chase if you're going to mention pacing.

The Chase also had way more questions per episode than most prime time games these days.

Eta: if you think Jeopardy is the gold standard of pacing, keep in mind those last 9 minutes of airtime gives us only one question.
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Re: The Chase

Post by MDCSWildcats86 »

triviawayne wrote: Sun Mar 19, 2017 11:28 pm

I think you need to do a recount of how many questions per episode we saw in 500 Questions vs the Chase if you're going to mention pacing.

The Chase also had way more questions per episode than most prime time games these days.

Eta: if you think Jeopardy is the gold standard of pacing, keep in mind those last 9 minutes of airtime gives us only one question.

But the first 20 usually have high 50+ Q's to make up for that.
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Re: The Chase

Post by MDCSWildcats86 »

OntarioQuizzer wrote: Sun Mar 19, 2017 9:41 pm

Both of these things happen on the UK version.

They should have remained there.
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Re: The Chase

Post by dhkendall »

IronNeck wrote: Sun Mar 19, 2017 10:09 pm As others have mentioned, the main problem is how brutally slow it is. There are about as many trivia questions in an hour of The Chase as there are in 30 minutes of Jeopardy.
That still seems like a better track record than 500 Questions, weren't they averaging something like 40 questions per hour? (Also, its officially cancelled? I notice I still have it set to record in my PVR when/if it returns but maybe I can delete it now.)
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Re: The Chase

Post by MDCSWildcats86 »

Never saw 500Q.

Did they do commercials in between question resolves, too?
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Re: The Chase

Post by oduguy22 »

QuizGeek75 wrote: Sun Mar 19, 2017 10:45 pm I honestly thought the American version was okay, but not as great as the original version. I do have some gripes about it, like too many dirty questions in one episode. I know Bradley Walsh has a case of the giggles once in a while since it airs on a daily basis and it is not everyday you see naughty questions pop up to make him laugh. Having Mark as the only chaser was another problem I had because it was just too much beauty versus Beast and I thought $5,000 was just too much to offer for each question in the cash builder for Game Show Network's budget. I still blame Brooke Burns for letting Andrew O'Keefe call Mark "Beasty" on the Australian version. :P Didn't FOX do a pilot with Brad Rutter as a chaser? I know Bradley hosted both of those pilot episodes, including Mark's episode as the chaser. If The Chase were to be brought back, whether it airs on a major network, I'd suggest a daily version of it by awarding $1,000 in the cash builder and have local Americans as chasers like Ken or Brad in the roster. I also didn't like the music package as it sounded rather odd. I'm all for having a female game show host and I thought Brooke was an interesting choice, although I think Meredith Vieira would have been a better choice since she hosted a quiz show for about 10 years. I admit that it wasn't my favorite international adaptation of Britain's most popular quiz show, but it's better than China's version.
Yea i agree about the too many dirty questions in a single episode, it became an overused trope. That would be a great idea to bring in Ken and Brad to be chasers as well. I had no idea they piloted for FOX.
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Re: The Chase

Post by IronNeck »

triviawayne wrote: Sun Mar 19, 2017 11:28 pm
IronNeck wrote: Sun Mar 19, 2017 10:09 pm I thought the show was okay, but certainly nothing special.

As others have mentioned, the main problem is how brutally slow it is. There are about as many trivia questions in an hour of The Chase as there are in 30 minutes of Jeopardy. Way too many pauses and interruptions throughout, and not enough trivia game.

Aside from that huge flaw, it's fine. Mark Labbett is an amusing, likable chaser. Brooke Burns is a decent host, and I'm still laughing that someone confused her with Brooke Burke. Too many life stories about the contestants, which adds to the pacing problem.

Would this do well in primetime? None of us can predict the future, but my guess would be a "no". 500 Questions was better-paced and had a more interesting format in my view, but was cancelled after just 12 episodes.
I think you need to do a recount of how many questions per episode we saw in 500 Questions vs the Chase if you're going to mention pacing.
It's not solely a matter of questions per episode. Yes, 500 Questions also suffers from pacing problems, but it has longer questions where one has to list off a series of answers or is given 10 seconds, as opposed to the 90 seconds on The Chase punctuated by nothing.

You're missing the main point, though. Which is that The Chase's bad pacing severely detracts from it as a show. Clearly, this isn't an unusual opinion, either.
triviawayne wrote:
Eta: if you think Jeopardy is the gold standard of pacing, keep in mind those last 9 minutes of airtime gives us only one question.
And yet, Jeopardy still manages to have as many questions in half the time. Were you trying to bolster my argument?

Incidentally, that's not bad pacing; watch Jeopardy closely for 20 minutes, then chill out for 5 minutes eating something, talking to people, checking something online, etc. and then watch for another minute to see the end result.
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Re: The Chase

Post by triviawayne »

IronNeck wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2017 1:48 am
triviawayne wrote: Sun Mar 19, 2017 11:28 pm
IronNeck wrote: Sun Mar 19, 2017 10:09 pm I thought the show was okay, but certainly nothing special.

As others have mentioned, the main problem is how brutally slow it is. There are about as many trivia questions in an hour of The Chase as there are in 30 minutes of Jeopardy. Way too many pauses and interruptions throughout, and not enough trivia game.

Aside from that huge flaw, it's fine. Mark Labbett is an amusing, likable chaser. Brooke Burns is a decent host, and I'm still laughing that someone confused her with Brooke Burke. Too many life stories about the contestants, which adds to the pacing problem.

Would this do well in primetime? None of us can predict the future, but my guess would be a "no". 500 Questions was better-paced and had a more interesting format in my view, but was cancelled after just 12 episodes.
I think you need to do a recount of how many questions per episode we saw in 500 Questions vs the Chase if you're going to mention pacing.
It's not solely a matter of questions per episode. Yes, 500 Questions also suffers from pacing problems, but it has longer questions where one has to list off a series of answers or is given 10 seconds, as opposed to the 90 seconds on The Chase punctuated by nothing.

You're missing the main point, though. Which is that The Chase's bad pacing severely detracts from it as a show. Clearly, this isn't an unusual opinion, either.
triviawayne wrote:
Eta: if you think Jeopardy is the gold standard of pacing, keep in mind those last 9 minutes of airtime gives us only one question.
And yet, Jeopardy still manages to have as many questions in half the time. Were you trying to bolster my argument?

Incidentally, that's not bad pacing; watch Jeopardy closely for 20 minutes, then chill out for 5 minutes eating something, talking to people, checking something online, etc. and then watch for another minute to see the end result.
1. Your argument regarding pacing said how much better 500 Questions is compared to The Chase, yet there are fewer questions per hour. That was your main point, I didn't miss anything there.

1a. Multiple answers does not equal multiple questions.

2. Not bolstering your argument at all, just showing how in 30% of Jeopardy, the pace slows to that of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader (notice how I didn't say there was poor pacing the other 70% of the show?).

2a. Just because Jeopardy offers 61 questions per episode, doesn't mean they get there every episode.

3. Not every show, in fact there would be very few shows, has ever had as much question content as Jeopardy. If question content is the only thing that matters, then you will surely be disappointed in almost all other shows.

Every show will have different characteristics and dynamics. There was this one show that many viewers said had really poor pacing when it debuted in 1999, but I think it did just fine--opinions vary. That little show was named Who Wants to be a Millionaire.

I guess total question count per minute does not equal success.
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Re: The Chase

Post by IronNeck »

triviawayne wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2017 7:36 am
1. Your argument regarding pacing said how much better 500 Questions is compared to The Chase, yet there are fewer questions per hour. That was your main point, I didn't miss anything there.

1a. Multiple answers does not equal multiple questions.

2. Not bolstering your argument at all, just showing how in 30% of Jeopardy, the pace slows to that of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader (notice how I didn't say there was poor pacing the other 70% of the show?).

2a. Just because Jeopardy offers 61 questions per episode, doesn't mean they get there every episode.

3. Not every show, in fact there would be very few shows, has ever had as much question content as Jeopardy. If question content is the only thing that matters, then you will surely be disappointed in almost all other shows.

Every show will have different characteristics and dynamics. There was this one show that many viewers said had really poor pacing when it debuted in 1999, but I think it did just fine--opinions vary. That little show was named Who Wants to be a Millionaire.

I guess total question count per minute does not equal success.
I don't even know what you're arguing anymore. Or for what purpose. It's a strange blend of "The Chase doesn't have pacing issues because other shows have pacing problems, too!" and "If The Chase has pacing problems, it doesn't matter at all!".

Clearly, The Chase has brutally slow pacing for many people, judging by both the responses here as well as the fact that the US version was canceled on freaking GSN of all networks.

On a general note, I think that most trivia shows should stick to a half hour format. Unless there is a unique and compelling argument for doing so, an hour is simply too long.

Amusingly, I think The Chase could actually be edited down to that length, too.
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Re: The Chase

Post by harrumph »

I tape The Chase and fast forward through the slow sections.
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Re: The Chase

Post by triviawayne »

IronNeck wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2017 8:56 am
triviawayne wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2017 7:36 am
1. Your argument regarding pacing said how much better 500 Questions is compared to The Chase, yet there are fewer questions per hour. That was your main point, I didn't miss anything there.

1a. Multiple answers does not equal multiple questions.

2. Not bolstering your argument at all, just showing how in 30% of Jeopardy, the pace slows to that of Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader (notice how I didn't say there was poor pacing the other 70% of the show?).

2a. Just because Jeopardy offers 61 questions per episode, doesn't mean they get there every episode.

3. Not every show, in fact there would be very few shows, has ever had as much question content as Jeopardy. If question content is the only thing that matters, then you will surely be disappointed in almost all other shows.

Every show will have different characteristics and dynamics. There was this one show that many viewers said had really poor pacing when it debuted in 1999, but I think it did just fine--opinions vary. That little show was named Who Wants to be a Millionaire.

I guess total question count per minute does not equal success.
I don't even know what you're arguing anymore. Or for what purpose. It's a strange blend of "The Chase doesn't have pacing issues because other shows have pacing problems, too!" and "If The Chase has pacing problems, it doesn't matter at all!".

Clearly, The Chase has brutally slow pacing for many people, judging by both the responses here as well as the fact that the US version was canceled on freaking GSN of all networks.

On a general note, I think that most trivia shows should stick to a half hour format. Unless there is a unique and compelling argument for doing so, an hour is simply too long.

Amusingly, I think The Chase could actually be edited down to that length, too.
1. I never said The Chase did or did not have pacing issues. You're the one who said The Chase has pacing issues, then chose to use 500 Questions as an example of a show with better pacing. I only pointed out how flawed that example is as The Chase has more questions per episode.

2. "Clearly, The Chase has brutally slow pacing for many people, judging by...the responses here"--sorry, not enough of a sample size to determine the overall public opinion on this

2a. "...as well as the fact that the US version was canceled on freaking GSN of all networks"--most shows are eventually canceled by GSN and every other network. All things must end eventually.

Of about 60 original game shows produced by GSN, the only one with more seasons than the chase would be Baggage (although all signs point to Idiot Test getting more seasons), so once again, your "proof" proves nothing.

3. Wanting trivia shows stick to a half-hour format is not our decision. Network executives currently prefer one hour shows, so this is what we're going to continue to see until the trend changes.

While I used to prefer to see trivia shows remain a half hour, because of continued commercial creep, I no longer prefer that. Even Jeopardy is having a difficult time of being a half hour show with the amount of commercials these days which you can see with the editing and more often seeing unfinished boards.

Thirty years ago, there were about 7.5 minutes of commercials per hour of prime time television. Now there are 15 minutes of commercials. Cable and daytime TV has about 20 minutes of commercials--do you see the problem now?

Could The Chase be edited down to a half hour? Sure, but a NFL game could also be edited down to 15 minutes--which might actually make me want to watch a game once in a while; but guess what--not gonna happen.
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Re: The Chase

Post by IronNeck »

harrumph wrote: Mon Mar 20, 2017 11:50 am I tape The Chase and fast forward through the slow sections.
Smart man. I wish it was on demand so I could do that, too.
triviawayne wrote:2. "Clearly, The Chase has brutally slow pacing for many people, judging by...the responses here"--sorry, not enough of a sample size to determine the overall public opinion on this

2a. "...as well as the fact that the US version was canceled on freaking GSN of all networks"--most shows are eventually canceled by GSN and every other network. All things must end eventually.

Of about 60 original game shows produced by GSN, the only one with more seasons than the chase would be Baggage (although all signs point to Idiot Test getting more seasons), so once again, your "proof" proves nothing.
The Chase was unsuccessful. That most other shows on GSN are too is irrelevant. Clearly, The Chase didn't connect with audiences enough.

One element (in my view, the main one) of this is the poor pacing. You can try to deny, hand-wave, and rationalize this away as much as you like, but it won't change reality no matter how much you would like it to. Sorry.
triviawayne wrote: 3. Wanting trivia shows stick to a half-hour format is not our decision. Network executives currently prefer one hour shows, so this is what we're going to continue to see until the trend changes.
Except this is completely wrong, since the vast majority of game/trivia shows still stick to a half-hour format.
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