WWTBAM returns to primetime

This is where all of the games are discussed.

Moderators: alietr, trainman, econgator, dhkendall

Post Reply
User avatar
earendel
Watches Jeopardy! Way Too Much
Posts: 767
Joined: Fri Jul 01, 2011 3:22 pm
Location: mired in the bureaucracy

WWTBAM returns to primetime

Post by earendel »

Starting April 6th, Jimmy Kimmel as host, with celebrity contestants. If that isn't interesting (and it doesn't really appeal to me - I'd prefer real people), there is an app that allows you to win money. It's available in the Apple app store and Google Play. It appears that it will be similar to HQ Trivia (which has returned from the dead, in case you hadn't heard), but will include lifelines. If you download the app, there is going to be a beta test tomorrow (Monday) at 3PM Eastern time.
"Elen sila lumenn omentielvo...A star shines on the hour of our meeting."
User avatar
econgator
Let's Go Mets!
Posts: 10673
Joined: Fri Jul 01, 2011 10:32 am

Re: WWTBAM returns to primetime

Post by econgator »

I have zero interest in celebrity shows. No chance I'll watch this.
User avatar
MarkBarrett
Watches Jeopardy! Way Too Much
Posts: 16471
Joined: Fri Jul 01, 2011 10:37 am
Location: San Francisco

Re: WWTBAM returns to primetime

Post by MarkBarrett »

Tomorrow's April 6th is a look back at the show and includes appearances from Regis and Meredith. It should be like the J! thing that aired before the GOAT. Wednesday the 8th is the first episode with celebs playing. No audience other than one celeb friend for a lifeline. In place of the ATA lifeline will be a chance to ask Jimmy for help.
gameshowfandanny
Watches Jeopardy! Way Too Much
Posts: 586
Joined: Thu Feb 06, 2020 5:09 pm

Re: WWTBAM returns to primetime

Post by gameshowfandanny »

Brad Rutter will be one of the experts according to BuzzerBlog, which lists all of the celebrities playing, their charities, and their experts if known.
User avatar
BrigadierSolo13
Double Double Machine
Posts: 646
Joined: Sat Dec 14, 2019 1:40 am

Re: WWTBAM returns to primetime

Post by BrigadierSolo13 »

Considering that I could not handle the slow pace and the obtuse questions of normal WWTBAM, I can't imagine throwing in celebrity contestants will improve on that at all.

I'll pass.
User avatar
Rackme32
Three-time Failer Of The Online Jeopardy! Test
Posts: 1039
Joined: Mon Jul 11, 2011 10:16 am

Re: WWTBAM returns to primetime

Post by Rackme32 »

Amazing, after all these years the WWTBAM people have STILL not learned. The huge appeal of the original with Regis was the idea that one could call in, get lucky on a short Fastest Finger audition, and be ON THE SHOW in just a few days, trying to earn big money! Excitement like this equaled huge ratings... IF it ain't broke don't fix it...

But nooo... they eventually altered the auditions to the more conventional lengthy tryout/interview multi-step process... And then they started up with all the silly celebrity versions...

Yeah, some of the celeb stuff worked for many viewers at first, but when the celebrities became the players on a way-too-high percentage of episodes, the novelty wore off for the viewers and they found other things to watch.
talkingaway
Watches Jeopardy! Way Too Much
Posts: 970
Joined: Tue Sep 24, 2019 11:59 am

Re: WWTBAM returns to primetime

Post by talkingaway »

MarkBarrett wrote: Sun Apr 05, 2020 9:45 pm Tomorrow's April 6th is a look back at the show and includes appearances from Regis and Meredith. It should be like the J! thing that aired before the GOAT. Wednesday the 8th is the first episode with celebs playing. No audience other than one celeb friend for a lifeline. In place of the ATA lifeline will be a chance to ask Jimmy for help.
No audience? That seems very strange, unless this was taped fairly recently - in that narrow window of time when they were doing "small groups, but keep your distance".

I agree with the general sentiment - the pace of the show is agonizingly slow, and I'm just not a "celebrity" person. I actually really do like pop culture, but I don't need to hear Eric Stonestreet and/or whoever the latest Bachelorette is talk about their lives and upcoming projects. I watch Colbert, but monologue only.

Back when WWTBAM was in syndie, I'd blast through an episode in about 5 minutes. But with my DVR getting perilously thin, I may stretch these out and see if I can stand Kimmel. He seems to have changed his shtick a little bit over the last 5 or so years. The whole "The Man Show" concept turned me off, but he seems to have changed.

I actually did the beta of the WWTBAM app on Saturday, I believe. It was 100% an HQ clone, just with WWTBAM branding. Lifelines were 50/50, Double Dip, and ATA - where you're locked into the most popular answer before ever seeing it. Hostess seemed bland, and constantly promoted the show. Only about 100 or so people played that night - I found out about the app literally about 30 minutes before the beta, and I have no idea how I stumbled upon it.
Johnblue
Watches Jeopardy! Way Too Much
Posts: 1626
Joined: Tue Mar 06, 2012 3:55 am

Re: WWTBAM returns to primetime

Post by Johnblue »

Ugh, I can’t stand Kimmel. And it’s not even regular people? I’ve set my DVR to record this but I’ll probably hate watch it.
Golf
Watches Jeopardy! Way Too Much
Posts: 2727
Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2013 12:27 pm

Re: WWTBAM returns to primetime

Post by Golf »

BrigadierSolo13 wrote: Sun Apr 05, 2020 10:13 pm Considering that I could not handle the slow pace and the obtuse questions of normal WWTBAM, I can't imagine throwing in celebrity contestants will improve on that at all.
Questions were certainly obtuse in the syndicated version, the Regis version had questions very similar to Jeopardy.

Rackme32 wrote: Sun Apr 05, 2020 11:07 pm Amazing, after all these years the WWTBAM people have STILL not learned. The huge appeal of the original with Regis was the idea that one could call in, get lucky on a short Fastest Finger audition, and be ON THE SHOW in just a few days, trying to earn big money! Excitement like this equaled huge ratings... IF it ain't broke don't fix it...

But nooo... they eventually altered the auditions to the more conventional lengthy tryout/interview multi-step process... And then they started up with all the silly celebrity versions...
Get lucky on the fastest finger question? While I'm sure some did, FF was definitely a skill part brain speed and part finger dexterity. It was awesome.

But I wholeheartedly agree they had the magic formula and ditched it solely because too many of the contestants were middle aged guys who wouldn't have been asked to star in The Bachelor.

I'll try it the first night but the celebrity aspect is going to suck.
User avatar
LucarioSnooperVixey
Carrying Letters and Lemons
Posts: 3513
Joined: Sun Jan 15, 2017 8:41 pm
Location: New Jersey

Re: WWTBAM returns to primetime

Post by LucarioSnooperVixey »

I saw that Anthony Anderson is one of the celebrities. He already won $250,000 on WWTBAM in 2011. I wonder how well he will do this time.
Douglas Squasoni
User avatar
MarkBarrett
Watches Jeopardy! Way Too Much
Posts: 16471
Joined: Fri Jul 01, 2011 10:37 am
Location: San Francisco

Re: WWTBAM returns to primetime

Post by MarkBarrett »

LucarioSnooperVixey wrote: Mon Apr 06, 2020 12:17 am I saw that Anthony Anderson is one of the celebrities. He already won $250,000 on WWTBAM in 2011. I wonder how well he will do this time.
In case anyone is curious about the rest of the celebrities (Most but not all of the charities and experts included):
Spoiler
Eric Stonestreet (actor, Modern Family; competing for Building Hope for Autism; Expert is Danny Zuker)
Will Forte (actor, Saturday Night Live; competing for The Pangea Network; Expert is Reb Forte)
Kaitlin Olson (actress, It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia; competing for Cystic Fibrosis Foundation)
Lauren Lapkus (actress and comedian, Orange is the New Black and Crashing; competing for Crohn’s and Colitis Foundation of America)
Nikki Glaser (comedian and host; competing for Rescue the Birds; Expert is Dr. Drew)
Ike Barinholtz (actor, The Mindy Project and Live in Front of a Studio Audience; competing for Hollygrove)
Dr. Phil (TV host, competing for When Georgia Smiled)
Catherine O’Hara (actress and comedian, Schitt’s Creek and SCTV, competing for Upward Bound House; Expert is Brad Rutter)
Anthony Anderson (actor and comedian, Black-ish; competing for the Anderson Family Foundation)
Jane Fonda (actress, Grace and Frankie; expert is Louis Virtel)
User avatar
trainman
Moderator Extraordinaire
Posts: 1599
Joined: Fri Jul 01, 2011 10:27 pm

Re: WWTBAM returns to primetime

Post by trainman »

talkingaway wrote: Sun Apr 05, 2020 11:23 pm No audience? That seems very strange, unless this was taped fairly recently - in that narrow window of time when they were doing "small groups, but keep your distance".
Correct, it was taped the weekend of March 14-15.

I had put my name in for audience tickets to one of the sessions, but was initially put on the ticket waitlist. On about the 11th, I got notified that I could now get actual tickets, but at that point I wasn't interested and didn't respond, so I'm not sure at exactly what point they decided they were going to tape the shows without an audience.
Bamaman
Also Receiving Votes
Posts: 12897
Joined: Sat Jul 02, 2011 1:39 pm

Re: WWTBAM returns to primetime

Post by Bamaman »

I have heard of three of the celebrities. It doesn’t bother me, but I suspect one of them is going to cause a freak out on social media.
User avatar
earendel
Watches Jeopardy! Way Too Much
Posts: 767
Joined: Fri Jul 01, 2011 3:22 pm
Location: mired in the bureaucracy

Re: WWTBAM returns to primetime

Post by earendel »

trainman wrote: Mon Apr 06, 2020 12:47 am
talkingaway wrote: Sun Apr 05, 2020 11:23 pm No audience? That seems very strange, unless this was taped fairly recently - in that narrow window of time when they were doing "small groups, but keep your distance".
Correct, it was taped the weekend of March 14-15.

I had put my name in for audience tickets to one of the sessions, but was initially put on the ticket waitlist. On about the 11th, I got notified that I could now get actual tickets, but at that point I wasn't interested and didn't respond, so I'm not sure at exactly what point they decided they were going to tape the shows without an audience.
The show sent email notices to those who had been in the Hot Seat during Regis's tenure (I got one) but even before the COVID-19 outbreak I couldn't have arranged to go, even if I had been interested in doing so.
"Elen sila lumenn omentielvo...A star shines on the hour of our meeting."
User avatar
triviawayne
Hoping I don’t drown in this contestant pool
Posts: 2677
Joined: Tue Feb 17, 2015 9:50 pm

Re: WWTBAM returns to primetime

Post by triviawayne »

This “should” be different from past celeb editions as in those they got help all the way to question ten from the other celebs.

I do have an expectation of softball questions most of the way through.
Total game show career losings = $171,522
Golf
Watches Jeopardy! Way Too Much
Posts: 2727
Joined: Thu Jan 10, 2013 12:27 pm

Re: WWTBAM returns to primetime

Post by Golf »

MarkBarrett wrote: Mon Apr 06, 2020 12:34 am
Spoiler
Jane Fonda (actress, Grace and Frankie; expert is Louis Virtel)
For $100, what is the capital of Vietnam? :evil: :evil: :evil:
User avatar
triviawayne
Hoping I don’t drown in this contestant pool
Posts: 2677
Joined: Tue Feb 17, 2015 9:50 pm

Re: WWTBAM returns to primetime

Post by triviawayne »

Golf wrote: Mon Apr 06, 2020 8:24 am
MarkBarrett wrote: Mon Apr 06, 2020 12:34 am
Spoiler
Jane Fonda (actress, Grace and Frankie; expert is Louis Virtel)
For $100, what is the capital of Vietnam? :evil: :evil: :evil:
Spoiler
Louis, can you help me here, I've never heard of this
Total game show career losings = $171,522
Bamaman
Also Receiving Votes
Posts: 12897
Joined: Sat Jul 02, 2011 1:39 pm

Re: WWTBAM returns to primetime

Post by Bamaman »

triviawayne wrote: Mon Apr 06, 2020 10:20 am
Golf wrote: Mon Apr 06, 2020 8:24 am
MarkBarrett wrote: Mon Apr 06, 2020 12:34 am
Spoiler
Jane Fonda (actress, Grace and Frankie; expert is Louis Virtel)
For $100, what is the capital of Vietnam? :evil: :evil: :evil:
Spoiler
Louis, can you help me here, I've never heard of this
Spoiler
Hanoi, Jane
talkingaway
Watches Jeopardy! Way Too Much
Posts: 970
Joined: Tue Sep 24, 2019 11:59 am

Re: WWTBAM returns to primetime

Post by talkingaway »

I'm 7/10 for being able to recite a major credit for the celebrities, so...I guess that's better than nothing in terms of "star power". But of the 10, I'd say you could only refer to maybe 2-4 of them in casual conversation without an appositive or some serious context....but maybe I'm just old.

Fairly standard fare - it's basically another game show in ABC's <TrebekVoice> genre </TrebekVoice> of celebrity-driven game show remakes. The only slight surprise is that only two of them are very obvious "ABC celebrities"...usually they cross-promote the heck out of their other shows.

I miss the Fastest Finger. Especially since I beat out about 600 parents and kids at Disney World to play a fake Millionaire game for a chance to win a cruise by just mashing the keypad for a 1 in 23 shot to get in the seat. The kids in the audience booted me out of the seat by giving me some bad advice on my ATA on the traditional 35th anniversary gift. I was 27 at the time, and single, so why would I care?
TenPoundHammer

Re: WWTBAM returns to primetime

Post by TenPoundHammer »

Why hasn't this zombie been defeated yet?
Post Reply