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Mike Reynolds
Looking to expand the confines of the genre's traditional format, Game Show Network will debut this spring with two series that break from old conventions.
The service, owned by Sony Pictures Entertainment has ordered 67 episodes of Burt Luddin's Love Buffet, a series that features scripted elements wrapped around real game show play, and 65 episodes of Throut and Neck, which is being billed as the first real-time animated-action game on U.S. TV.
"What we're trying to do is break the old game show molds in developing shows. You have to remember that game shows have been around since the mid-20th century. They started on radio and then Mark Goodson migrated the format to TV in the Fifties. They haven't really changed that much over the years,' said Jake Tauber, SVP-programming at the channel. "We're looking to bring the genre into the 21st century through interactive components and by adding innovative new shows that will complement our great library product."
Tauber describes Burt Luddin's Love Buffet, which will be stripped Monday-Friday, beginning April 5, following an April Fools' Day premiere, as "sitcom meets real game show," with "the drama of host Luddin's life leaking into the show." Tauber said story lines, which will be completed within weekly arcs, center on the host, portrayed by actor John Cervenka, being sued for sexual harassment by a former prize girl, and his battles with a sleazy local advertiser and sycophantic producer, among other comedic occurrences. Meanwhile three real couples try to win real prizes by guessing each others' answers to racy and intimate questions.
Additionally, real-life hosts will spoof their own game show personas. Wink Martindale will make a cameo in the season opener.
Tauber calls Throut and Neck, which bows at 10 p.m. (ET) May 3, "the ultimate arcade game" controlled by two at-home players using their telephone keypads. These two unruly beasts are unknowingly thrust into SheepHeaven, a mind-numbing world of cute and adorable sheep. The monsters' goal: to see which one can defeat the most sheep and return home. The show, which will be stripped Monday-Friday, uses technology created by Interactive Television Entertainment, which originally developed the animated beasts in Copenhagen, Denmark, before the program made its debut on MTV Brazil last year.
Looking ahead, Tauber said Game Show Network has a number of other shows in various stages of the development pipeline. One new entry will be remake of the short-lived Chuck Barris production Three's A Crowd, a most politically incorrect show that matched a man, his wife and his secretary. Although he wouldn't specify about the new combinations, Tauber did say the new show wouldn't be limited to the aforementioned groupings in promising "some interesting threesomes."
He also said that the channel is working on some interactive projects showcasing Las Vegas-style game play."
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