HOLLYWOOD JUNKET sent two of its hosts to the filming of ABC’s new dance show called “Dance Machine”, filmed at CBS Studios during the Writer’s Strike earlier this year. Watch their video reviews below.
Also, check out video interviews of some of the audience members who were at the live tapings at: www.HollywoodJunket.com
Steve’s Review:
Arjuna’s Review:
Tags: ABC, Dance Machine, Jason Kennedy Posted in
Some set photos from the new “Gong Show”. Sorry about the out-of-focus shots, but this show was difficult to capture good photos.
Photo of the New “Gong” with celebrity judges underneath.
Comedy Central has revived “The Gong Show”. Funny, I thought NBC had already done that with “America’s Got Talent”. Anyway, the new version is hosted by stand-up comedian, Dave Attell (”Insomniac with Dave Attell”), who has a wise cracking, and vulgar type humor. Good for the show, but still lacking a Chuck Barris, charisma quality. He opened the very first show by wearing a wig, then throwing it onto the stage.
Hollywood Junket attended four of the show tapings. There are three celebrity judges on the show at a time which the show switches-out. Typically, the show keeps the same three judges for two show tapings. Celebrity jugdes include: Steve Schirripa (”The Sopranos”), Brian Posehn (”Sarah Silverman Program”), Andy Dick (”Less Than Perfect”), Triumph The Insult Dog , (the puppet dog from “Conan O’Brien”), Ron White (”Blue Collar Tour”), Jim Norton (”Lucky Louie”), and J.B. Smoove (”Saturday Night Live”). Andy Dick made a tribute to Chuck Barris by wearing a fedora hat.
The theme music has been updated to one that sounds similar to “Girls Behaving Badly”. The set is a modern version of the old one. There is still a live band. Stage curtains have been replaced with Chinese-style sliding doors. The curtains remain only in the show’s logo. The judges sit on the opposite side of the band. The physical set itself consists of tiles in a bronze/copper texture, blue lights, and a padded surface around the judges and the gong.
New “Gong Show” stage set-up above.
This new Gong Show holds its own with some outlandish acts. To name a few: A young woman turned herself into a human slinky by hula hooping a number of different colored hoops, a yo yo routine, a man juggled fire while being upside down, two young women tempted the judges for a high score by stripping provocatively, a band playing ladders and buckets acoustically, a woman swallows a balloon, another women gets swallowed by a balloon, and of course, if wouldn’t be the Gong Show without a few obese half naked people, and a drag queen here and there.
The show is a bit more raunchy than the first one, but not by much. There are two Gong Show girls that have rock-n-roll/biker look. None of which were required to dance on stage in a bikini as in the original. Also, while Chuck Barris would be seen occasionally with a drink in his hand on stage, Dave Attell smokes (”American Spirit”) regularly on stage.
So far, no regular acts like the original version had that I enjoyed so much as a kid, like “Gene Gene, the Dancing Machine”, and “The Unknown Comic”. Another thing missing is the infamous giant hook, or cane that would pull unwanted talent off of the stage. The host immediately enters the stage once contestants are “gonged”. Contestants earn scores between 1-500. One act was too short to get gonged, but earned scores of -1. Once scores are tallied-up , a “ring-side” girl walks out onto the stage holding-up a final score card for each contestant that doesn’t get “gonged.” The show is a half-hour long and typically showcased 9-10 acts. The show throws-in a couple of over-the-top guests that serve as pure comic-relief. They are the ones that get the doors (curtains), shut on them before they can even perform.
Top winnings - a “Gong Show” belt, and $600 cash. And of course, bragging rights. Losers walk away with a “Gong Show” T-Shirt with the show logo on the front, and the words “I was Gonged, but not forgotten” on the back. Also, a few contestants were given Teddy Bears.
Word on the Set: Show producer, Adam Sandler, was seen just a couple of feet from the stage before the beginning of taping of the first show. No other spotting’s were reported throughout the rest of show filmings.
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HOLLYWOOD JUNKET host attended the recent pilot taping of “Match Game” shot for TBS. Watch the video of her review below.
Tags: Andrew Daly, Match Game, Niecy Nash, Norm MacDonald, Sarah Silverman, Super Dave Osborne, TBS Posted in
Recently wrapped as of yesterday, GSN just may have a new original hit game show on their hands. We’ll know better once it airs starting July 21st! The show is called “Catch 21″. HOLLYWOOD JUNKET was on the set for two full weeks of taping, and a sure sign is, crew members could be seen and heard playing along. The last time I witnessed such an event on a game show was during the first pilot of “Deal or No Deal”.
The show is very low budget and has a nostalgic 1980’s game show look and feel to it.
Actor, Alfonso Ribeiro makes a great host on “Catch 21″.
THE HOSTS:
“Catch 21″ is hosted by ex-”Fresh Prince of Bel-Air” co-star Alfonso Ribeiro who is a great host for this show. He has great energy, and just as much fun as the game show itself. His co-host is equally well casted, Mikki Padilla who fits the Las Vegas show-girl/dealer perfectly.
In between takes. Mikki Padilla (far right) deals cards behind her podium.
RULES OF THE GAME:
About the game. It’s simple enough, yet addicting. Three contestants are pitted against each other in this Black Jack style game. The object of the game is to reach a hand that is 21 or as close to that as possible without going over and keeping the highest number among the contestants. Each contestant is dealt a card as their starting number. After that, current pop-culture trivia questions are asked by Ribeiro, and the player who buzzes in first with the correct answer, gets dealt a card by Mikki. They can choose to either keep the card or pass it to another player in an attempt to “bust” them which is what happens when a player reaches a number over 21, as a result, they lose that round. A contestant can keep playing the game in hopes of reaching a score of 21, or they can choose to “freeze” which holds their cards at a number close to 21 and keeps them on hold for the rest of that round. The other two contestants keep playing until one of them gets a 21 or a higher number than the one frozen. If one of them reaches a number higher than the one frozen, without going over 21, they win the round. There are never any ties in “Catch 21″. Players with same scores must continue to answer questions and draw cards until one of them either “busts” or reaches 21.
Contestants on “Catch 21″. Game show viewers will also see Vivicca (far right) on an upcoming daytime episode of “Deal or No Deal”.
Once two players reach an over 21 score and “bust”, the third player automatically wins that round. If a number is passed to a contestant from another contestant in which, for example” occurs in a score of 18 or 19, that player can not “freeze” his or her score until they have control of the board (or basically, they need to answer a trivia question correctly). If a contestant buzzes-in and answers a question incorrectly, they loose their turn and may not answer again until the next question is asked. Players have multiple choice answers of three from each question. Once two players buzz-in with two wrong answers, the game moves on to the next question. The third player does not get to answer the obvious correct answer by default.
HOW THE GAME IS PLAYED:
The show consists of four rounds, moves fast and is a quality packed half-hour. The player with the lowest score at the end of the second round is out-of-the game for good. Two players play the third round. The contestant who wins the third round, goes on to play the final round where he/she has the chance to win up to $25,000. The bad news is, it’s very difficult, almost impossible to win the $25,000. The contestant plays three hands in the final round. They must achieve a 21 on each hand in order to win the $25,000. The contestant has the option of stopping at any point. If they stop after “catching 21 once” they win $1000; stop after “catching 21 twice” they win “$5000 (total of $6000). But, if at any time they bust one hand, they loose all of their earnings up to that point, except for their winnings during the previous rounds. Most players stop after the first 21, some after the second. Out of all of the 41 shows shot for GSN, only two players were able to catch 21 all the way across during the final round.
For each previous round the contestant won, they are given Catch 21 “power chips” that they may use to pass on an unfavorable hand.
BEHIND THE SCENES:
At the beginning of each show, host Alfonso Ribeiro announces that the cards have been shuffled and cut before the show start. Now, this is true. The cards are in plain view of audience members, and the Standards and Practices (S.P.) worker is clearly visible shuffling and cutting the cards. After the final cutting of the cards, half of them are placed in the podium for Mikki to deal, and the other half is taken off stage with Standards and Practices where they are placed upon a table and remain until after the third round. Before the final round starts, the S.P. worker shuffles and cuts the cards once again at the dealer’s podium.
The advantages of shuffling and cutting cards before the start of show are, saves valuable air time, but also, if someone wanted to shuffle a favorable or dis-favorable hand before the final round, that would be plausible. Even with Standards and Practices present, one other person (whom I will not identify) was seen shuffling and moving some cards around.
An official from Standards and Practices shuffles and cuts the cards before the game begins.
A mishap occurred during the start of one of the games. Mikki dealt one of the players a 7 card. Producers shouted “hold”. The cards were handled. When filming picked-up again, the same player was dealt an Ace card, then the next player was dealt the 7 card. No one ever questioned it, or made any comments to what had occurred. I think no one understood why the order of the cards made a difference.
Because the game was new, there were instances where when a tie occurred for the first time, or when a question or answer was worded a certain way, the producers and Standards and Practices had to stop the show and discuss the rules of the game. By the last week of filming, it was smooth sailing all the way. The show wrapped Saturday, June 14th at KCET studios in Hollywood. After the final episode was shot, hosts and executive producers spent a half hour playing the show themselves and having fun.
Padilla, Ribeiro and the show’s executive producer went on to play two rounds of the game after the shows final episode of filming wrapped on Saturday.
ONLINE:
For viewers who are sure to become faithful addicts, they’ll be able to play “Catch 21″ at home online at GSN.com. No mention if prizes or money is available to win.
Some of the contestants on the show were flown-in to Los Angeles to play the game by winning the trip on GSN.com.
Tags: Alfonso Ribeiro, Black Jack, Catch 21, GSN, Mikki Padilla Posted in
The “Family Feud” will be airing a night-time version with celebrity families, hosted by “Today” show weatherman, Al Roker, according to news reported by “BuzzerBlog” starting June 24th on NBC. HOLLYWOOD JUNKET was on set and witnessed some of the celebrities viewers at home will see playing one of America’s longest-running game show.
First of all, Al Roker is a terrific, and bubbly game show host. He is genuinely his upbeat and cheerful self when the cameras are rolling, but more important, when the cameras are not rolling. He jokingly apologized to audiences seated facing his backside, for the unflattering view.
First and foremost, the format of the celebrity edition of “Family Feud” is slightly different. Four families play in one show taping. The two winning families from both games go up against each other. The family that wins that game, goes on to the final showcase showdown where they have a chance to win $50,000 for their chosen charity.
In one episode, American Choppers competes against the Christopher Knight (a.k.a. Peter Brady) family which included his wife, Adrianne Curry (first “Top Model” winner), her mother , and her best friend, along with Knight’s brother. Knight joked with American Chopper Patriarch, Paul Teutul Sr., who is easily identifiable by his big mustache. Knight wore a fake black mustache and mocked Teutul while playing against him in the head-to-head question. Tuetul’s family included two sons and two shop employees.
Other families we saw battling against each other were: Ed McMahon family vs. Tiki Barber family; Deion Sanders family vs. Kardashian family; and Corbin Bernsen family vs. Margaret Cho family.
Above: Ed McMahon (far right) gets makeup for the next round!
Aside from being the host of “Star Search”, he’s most famous for being Johnny Carson’s (of the “Tonight Show”) cheerful sidekick, Ed McMahon was greeted by Al Roker who said, “we’ve hear a lot on the news. Are you okay?” McMahon responded with a simple, “yes”. McMahon was wearing a neck brace and was helped onto to the stage by his son and wife. His family included his wife, grand daughter, and son. They competed against former NFL Giants star, and correspondent for NBC News’ “Today” Tiki Barber and family that included wife Candy, mother and children. Some humorous responses from McMahon’s side (they were 100% serious) to surveyed questions that one would only hear from people who live in Los Angeles, were: “liposuction” for what men do when they notice they have gained stomach fat, and “credit card” for something a husband wouldn’t want to see in his wife’s hand while she’s angry at him. In their defense, that last one could really do some serious damage!
As it was announced on the show, the only athlete to play in both a Super Bowl and a World Series, Deion Sanders competed with wife, Pilar, son, Deion Jr., daughter Deiondra, and his mother. If the names are not egotistical enough, the charity they played for was “Sanders Clause Foundation”, Deion’s own charity. Deion showed Pilar much affection after each of her correct answers, which by the way, were most of them. Their opponents were the Kardashian family that consisted of, Kim, step-father and former Olympics Gold winner Bruce Jenner, mother, and two sisters. One of the Producers of “Family Feud” was overheard asking if there would be a correction made when the announcer introduced Jenner’s children as his “step children”. They said “no”.
Above: Bruce Jenner plays the ‘Feud with his wife (in blue) and step children, including Kim Kardashian to his right.
Former “L.A. Law” and “How Much is Enough” game show host, Corbin Bernsen family vs. Margaret Cho (comedian) family. Corbin competed with wife and actress, Amanda Pays and three of their sons while their fourth and youngest son watched on the sidelines in the audience. Their opponents were Margaret Cho who brought her mother, father, stylist, and Assistant to battle. She wore bright red tights. Her father had the audience laughing when he made an example out of Roker to a response of a question regarding rudeness. I guess we know who Margaret gets her humor from!
“Celebrity Family Feud” was originally to be aired starting July 1st, but has been moved up to June 24th.
Word of the set is: an updated version of “The Gong Show” starts taping next weekend.
Tags: Adrianne Curry, Al Roker, American Choppers, Bruce Jenner, Celebrity Family Feud, Christopher Knight, Corbin Bernsen, Deion Sanders, Ed McMahon, Kin Kardashian, Margaret Cho, Paul Teutul, Tiki Barber Posted in
