ABC's Fun and Games: The Future
This is part two of the series on ABC's Fun and Games brand. In this article we will look at how ABC's Fun and Games show look for the future and how the coronavirus pandemic has affected them.
Update: Kids Say The Dardnest Things has officially been cancelled, and Don't airs Thursdays at 9/8c
Update: Kids Say The Dardnest Things has officially been cancelled, and Don't airs Thursdays at 9/8c
ABC has a ton of game shows. More than any other network and they air most of the them in the summer. That's a lot. But it has worked. However, the Fun and Games brand may expand into the Fall 2020 season thanks to the coronavirus.
Because of the virus, three of ABC's summer game shows: The $100,000 Pyramid, Card Sharks, and Supermarket Sweep have all been unable to tape their current shows. While two of these three shows can easily tape without an audience, it's possible that all three might not get a chance to tape in time to air a full season over the summer. Thus, ABC COULD hold them for the Fall.
Each summer, ABC has used Sundays as the main Fun and Games day and there's reason to believe that continue right into Sundays this Fall. With Shark Tank looking more and more likely to stay on Fridays, and the ratings for Kids Say the Darnedest Things being mediocre, ABC could use those two hours to air one of these three shows should they not air over the summer. There's no guarantee of that, but I have a had time believing ABC will hold all three of those shows til Summer 2021 if they can't get them on this summer.
Card Sharks is the one show that would look and feel vastly different without the audience. The set is designed that the audience is almost immersed into the show and a huge part of what you seen on your TVs. In the other two shows, the audience is rarely seen and you can easily "simulate" clapping and other reactions. It's reasonable to believe that ABC could be able to tape shows without audiences sometime this summer, but when remains to be the question. Even if they are able to tape in June, would ABC really have it ready by July and even double air episodes to get the whole season in? Who knows.
Either way, it's likely these shows are held for the Fall if they aren't taped by the end of May. There is one hole in the ABC summer schedule. That's Thursdays at 8pm (once Holey Moley moves to 7pm after Millionaire ends). My guess is this spot is being HELD for one of the three untaped shows. If none of those shows are able to tape, then Don't, ABC's physical comedy game show that gives contestants a chance to win $100,000 using the rule of DON'T, could fill that spot. The show was commissioned and taped way back in the end of 2019 and ABC has been sitting on it since with no mention of it since then.
That leaves ABC with 10 game shows! 10! That's a lot to air, considering most have aired in the summer. So here's a breakdown of each and my predictions on its future.
Because of the virus, three of ABC's summer game shows: The $100,000 Pyramid, Card Sharks, and Supermarket Sweep have all been unable to tape their current shows. While two of these three shows can easily tape without an audience, it's possible that all three might not get a chance to tape in time to air a full season over the summer. Thus, ABC COULD hold them for the Fall.
Each summer, ABC has used Sundays as the main Fun and Games day and there's reason to believe that continue right into Sundays this Fall. With Shark Tank looking more and more likely to stay on Fridays, and the ratings for Kids Say the Darnedest Things being mediocre, ABC could use those two hours to air one of these three shows should they not air over the summer. There's no guarantee of that, but I have a had time believing ABC will hold all three of those shows til Summer 2021 if they can't get them on this summer.
Card Sharks is the one show that would look and feel vastly different without the audience. The set is designed that the audience is almost immersed into the show and a huge part of what you seen on your TVs. In the other two shows, the audience is rarely seen and you can easily "simulate" clapping and other reactions. It's reasonable to believe that ABC could be able to tape shows without audiences sometime this summer, but when remains to be the question. Even if they are able to tape in June, would ABC really have it ready by July and even double air episodes to get the whole season in? Who knows.
Either way, it's likely these shows are held for the Fall if they aren't taped by the end of May. There is one hole in the ABC summer schedule. That's Thursdays at 8pm (once Holey Moley moves to 7pm after Millionaire ends). My guess is this spot is being HELD for one of the three untaped shows. If none of those shows are able to tape, then Don't, ABC's physical comedy game show that gives contestants a chance to win $100,000 using the rule of DON'T, could fill that spot. The show was commissioned and taped way back in the end of 2019 and ABC has been sitting on it since with no mention of it since then.
That leaves ABC with 10 game shows! 10! That's a lot to air, considering most have aired in the summer. So here's a breakdown of each and my predictions on its future.
- Celebrity Family Feud: The oldest and most popular game show in the brand. This celebrity take on the classic Steve Harvey hosted word game has been a staple on Sundays every summer. Ratings have been consistent and even recent repeats have done really well. ABC usually pegs some solid celebrities, typically ones from other ABC shows. Barring a massive fall in the ratings, this show will be back again in Summer 2021.
- The $100,000 Pyramid: Another solid ratings performer on ABC, typically airing after Feud. Again, ABC gets some solid celebrities. It's aired 50 episodes over the last five years and was set for a return this summer. While it is on hold due to the virus, there's little doubt it will go back into production once it's safe to do so.
- Match Game: The Alec Badwin hosted reboot has always struggled in the ratings compared to some of its other shows. ABC has moved this show around a lot, airing it over the summer, as well as in the winter sometimes as well. While the show has aired 54 episodes over the first four seasons, it appears the show may be on life support. The episodes airing this summer are ones left over from last summer. The show has not taped or casted since then. The show does typically go back into production sometime over the summer. If it's not able to this summer, this season could be the last.
- To Tell the Truth: Another one of the shows that ABC has moved around a lot. It has gone through a few small changes over the seasons and last taped sometime last year. There's been no casting and production info and could be on the chopping block.
- Press Your Luck: The highly success reboot that was reformatted to fit the hour window including an all new bonus round. The show streamlined the bonus round for season two and added a few new squares to the board. Assuming it keeps the same success, it should have a long life on ABC.
- Card Sharks: Struggled to catch on last year despite the success of its predecessors. A somewhat stale host, it needs a some format tweaks in order to really catch on and bring it back to success. While possible ABC could just move on from it if it can't tape for a while, I still think its unlikely that ABC doesn't give it at least a second shot.
- Holey Moley: Widely successful last summer, ABC changed up the format to a "returning champs" format this season. Expanded to 13 episodes, it's poised for a long life, especially since it adds elements from ABCs former successful summer hit, Wipeout.
- Who Wants to be a Millionaire: While it returned because of the 20th anniversary of the show, I think it's obvious that ABC was using it to test the waters. If the celebrity run proves successful (and it did well last Wednesday), we could see much more of it with regular civilian contestants. ABC can continue to use it as event style programming! Update: Millionaire has officially been renewed for another season.
- Supermarket Sweep: While production is on hold currently, this is also poised to be widely successful. Building off the success of the repeats on Fremantle's Buzzr TV, there is little info about the new version besides Leslie Jones as host. Update: Supermarket Sweep is now casting for the revival.
- Don't; A physical comedy game show that ABC announced at the end of last summer. It's taped and ready to go, but there's been little word about it since. It likely will find a home this summer on ABC, but ABC may have already given up on it.
Comments
Post a Comment