By Scott Manville
Former Development Executive for Merv Griffin Entertainment
�I�ll take TV Trivia for one-thousand,
Alex!�
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In
our industry that flies or dies by its turbulent
nature, I�d be hard pressed to find any TV studio or
producer who wouldn�t want a successful game show
format in syndication. It�s what made my former
boss, the late great Merv Griffin
uber-wealthy and able to parlay that success into a
multitude of other creative pursuits. Being in the
middle of development at his company gave me an
understanding of the core and creative fundamentals
that makes game shows entertaining to watch. While
today�s formats are filled with gimmicks to keep low
attention span viewers engaged, to create a hit we
must be rooted in the fundamentals that cause game
shows to resonate with viewers.
Merv Griffin delivered two of the most successful game shows in history, Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy. The inspiration for each of those hits came from an organic experience� A real world proof of concept, if you will. Merv had four newspapers delivered to him every morning just so he could dive into four different crossword puzzles, completing them to perfection before breakfast. That was his inspiration for Wheel of Fortune. The Quiz Show scandals of the �50�s was the inspiration for Jeopardy. However, if you thought he created the concept for Jeopardy, you would be wrong (cue annoying buzzer, and big red X).
On a flight back from New York discussing the quiz scandals with his then wife Julann, she asked him �What if we just went ahead and gave them the answer, and they had to guess the question?�. Back and forth they played the simple yet stimulating game for the rest of the flight. Within days they sold the idea to CBS in the room. While you may think the simpler landscape of TV programming back then made it easy for that type of breakthrough, think again. It was a three-network universe, which meant limited space on the programming slate, and a highly insulated industry.
Today, there�s never been greater opportunity for game show formats on both the creative and business end of the process. With cable nets like Game Show Network, and the rest of our thousand network universe feeding niche demographic branded programming, the landscape of game shows today is like a giant playground of format experiments with something for everyone. When asked what makes a great game show format, Game Show Network�s EVP Current Programming, Amy Introcaso-Davis advised, �Play-along is key, and rooting value is also critical. You have to be able to root for someone to win. The contestant is the audience�s way into the game�. She also shared a bit of advice for the new format creator, �Be clear about the audience you think you can attract with your show, and make sure it�s right for the network you�re pitching.�
So what are we missing in game shows today? The tight, simple, and clever format that feeds a subtle obsession by viewers who want to play along. �Who Wants To Be A Millionaire� did that with spectacular success, but the tide has gone out�and it�s been long enough that we should soon expect a tsunami of a format to come rolling in. The re-launch of classic game shows like Match Game, $100k Pyramid, and Celebrity Family Feud, proves how powerful traditional formats are with family demographics, and this is what the next hit game show producer needs to deliver; simple, yet clever, and often humorous fun for both the viewers and contestants. When the reality TV boom morphed with game show development, it forced us to rethink the fundamentals and �Break the fourth wall� to connect with viewers. That meant�break the three podiums.
Executive Producer, Phil Gurin (�Shark Tank,� �Weakest Link�) shared his take on the genre; �The best executives are the ones who take the initial risk on the style of a format, and then when it works, it seems to set the pace. Reality TV has influenced game shows, but it�s truly the other way around. Every reality competition show is a game show, and every one of them can be traced back to some original influence during the past 75 years�.
At the TV Writers Vault, the game show concepts being pitched that find the most activity from producers scouting have marketable titles, with a hook that makes the gameplay clever. But the ones that find deals typically have a bit of drama woven into the format. During a pitch meeting I had with Roy Bank (Executive Producer, �Are You Smarter Than a Fifth Grader�) he professed that �game shows are no longer just about the game�they�re about drama.�
It�s not just circle-takes-the-square�It�s about story, and moments- people experiencing choices and ultimatums that drive emotions on a personal level. It doesn�t mean they�re mean-spirited, it only means that the different facets in the format are derived from, or key on, a facet of the contestant�s life or persona. A contestant facing an ultimatum always creates drama. A prize that is personalized brings more emotion than cash. A question that hits on a personal subject or issue evokes more emotion than unrelated trivia. Contestants cast for irony may deliver more amusement than contestants cast for their knowledge. Creating a game show format woven with similar emotional-threads, along with the flexibility of today�s reality-based elements brought into play, the opportunity to create hit formats has never been greater�IF we don�t lose sight of the simplicity of play needed to hook an audience for the long haul.
Merv lived with endless curiosity. His knowledge of obscure facts and anecdotes relating to pop culture, history and language would have won him more than a few Jeopardy Championships. Make that same curiosity a part of your daily routine, and you may tap into an organic inspiration for the next hit game show.
If you�re willing to face the jeopardy of pitching, you just might find yourself in a wheel of good fortune!
- Scott
Today and Yesterday- Game shows
have been the staple of syndicated television for
decades. "Jeopardy" and "Wheel of Fortune" have
taken the #1 and #2 ratings spots in all of
syndication for almost as long. The reason? Simple
yet clever and stimulating formats that viewers can play
along with. In recent years we've seen "Who Wants to
be a Millionaire" and "Deal or No Deal" bring
the game show back to prime time, and "Reality TV"
break down format barriers, opening up viewer acceptance to hybrid (combined)
formats of programming. Reality shows with game
elements, game shows with reality-based elements,
and so on. How does this benefit the
creator/producer? It allows us to get away from the
traditional in-studio "three podium" format and use
an endless variety of elements to create what can be
classified as a game show.
The difference between "game" and "reality":
With overlapping elements of both genres, the
Creator can find it difficult to decide a definitive
category of genre for a show created. The best
approach is to consider the producer or development
executive and network perspective. If the format of
a show is episodic (resolves itself in one episode)
and has contestants playing against each other with
game elements, it is a Game show. If a format is
episodic or takes place over an evolving story-arc
involving real life elements it is best to
categorize it as a reality show, even if it involves
contestants competing within the show using game
elements. "Survivor" has game elements, but it is a
reality show. "Fear Factor" has reality-based
elements, but it is truly a game show.
What makes a great Game Show?
Today's game shows are very different in format from
their counterparts of early television, but one
thing still holds true- Dramatic tension. A good
producer know how to create decisive moments of
tension and drama within the format of any show, and
this is most important for today's game shows,
especially in a market that is keying on scouting
for the next prime time hit. Those moments of drama
always teeter on a CHOICE the contestant must make,
and not always just on getting the right answer.
In "Who wants to be a Millionaire", anticipation is
created with a panel of contestants who square off
in the "fastest finger" competition to see who will
take the hot seat for a shot at a million dollars.
This doesn't just happen in the beginning of the
show, but multiple times throughout. Each contestant
who gets into the hot seat then faces a ladder of
increasingly difficult questions, each worth an
increased amount of cash winnings. He is given three
"life lines" of help that he may use at any point
during the game. So the choices that he faces during
the increased difficulty of questions on way to the
million are; what life-line does he or she use and
when, and are they confident enough in their answer
to risk almost all the money they've won in order to
garner the even larger money that temps. So you can
also see the "greed factor" at play within the game.
From a viewers perspective, there is nothing more
fun than knowing the answer that could win you a
half-million dollars while watching the contestant
see-saw between the right answer and the wrong
answer. Viewer involvement keeps the channel from
being changed.
From a network programmers perspective, every beat
of the show is filled with dramatic tension, and you
may also notice that just about every other moment
of dramatic tension is interrupted by a commercial
break. For a prime time game show, that means big ad
revenues for the Network. As a creator, write your
format as a drama with critical moments of risk and
ultimatums. We're looking for emotional and dramatic
content, and when the stakes are high, and personal,
a great game format will deliver that.
Creating beyond barriers- It is
impossible to deny that anything is not derivative
of things we've experienced before, in life, or in
watching the boob-tube. If you want to be a
break-through creator of any television format it is
important to make a conscious effort at letting go
of pre-programmed instincts that have been engrained
in us by having seen dozens and dozens of shows over
so many years that tell us "this is what a game show
is". Stamp your own passport and say to yourself
"no, THIS is what a game show is." Let go of
traditional ideas and invent new ways of bringing
entertaining games to an audience. Study what is
happening now, and look for patterns or
breakthroughs in social appetite. And when is gets
down to it, be able to simplify the idea so that it
could be sold in a few sentence pitch, and if
expanded have elements and a hook that make it
unique.
Read our interview with
CBS Studios International Executive, Paul Gilbert,
as he touches on the current state and trends in
game shows.