2015 Game Show Turdament -- Play-In Matches

Man, these are hard.

Match 1: C'mon, George wasn't as bad as everyone makes him out to be. Wayne's great, and the show is definitely built around him and his talents, which is why I think he's a great fit for the show. I just wish the audience would learn to shut up every now and again.

It's close, but I think I'm gonna have to go Deal 7, Link 4.

Match 2: Abstain. Haven't seen either one.

Match 3: Abstain. Haven't seen Lie Detectors.

Match 4: Oy vey. Fanservice central, I see...but that said, at least Dog Eat Dog had a different vibe that was easier to stomach than that of Strip Poker.

8-3 in favor of Dog Eat Dog.

I'm not sure if this is good or bad news, but I can only successfully vote in one of these matches...

Match 1: These are probably the two best shows of the eight in the play-in matches. Unfortunately, one of them has to proceed further in the turdament. I've complained about some of Brady Deal's faults from Day One (such as the one-player Big Deal round), but on the balance it does its job without being glaringly bad. Gray's Weakest Link, while not nearly as bad as some may make it out to be, definitely suffers from Syndication Syndrome in its budget - and George, while solid, just doesn't have Anne Robinson's acerbity. My vote... Brady Deal finds 8 points behind the curtain; with 3 votes, Gray is the Weakest Link in this match.

Match 2: I'm aware of Identity, but I don't think I ever saw it (if I did, no more than one episode which I don't remember). Shopper's Casino I have watched, and dear Lord was it terrible. So I must abstain from voting reluctantly, but if I had to vote, I would go 9-2 in favor of Identity.

Match 3: Likewise, I've seen Where in Time (and have some fond memories of it, it wasn't terrible), but don't have GSN access in order to see Lie Detectors. So again I have to abstain, but my shiggles vote is 8-3 in favor of Where in Time is Carmen Sandiego.

Match 4: Pretty much anyone who's watched GSN has probably seen Dog Eat Dog, as they have reran it so far into the ground that it's gone straight to China. Strip Poker, on the other hand, I know by name and reputation only. For the third time I must abstain, with the just-for-fun vote going 6-5 in favor of Dog Eat Dog.

Let's Make A Deal (Brady) vs. Weakest Link (Gray):
* I liked the syndicated Link, as George's quips had more snark and less "bite" to 'em than Anne's did; the lower budget was a necessity of the five-a-week syndication format, and I didn't think it was cheap.
* Deal, though, has fallen down greatly in the past 25 years (the last IMO good version ending at the start of 1991). When multiple contestants can break out into a supposedly-impromptu song-and-dance with Wayne, it's hard to suspect something isn't kinda hinky. Add the fact that Monty Hall's washed his hands of it because they refuse to listen to his suggestions, and you've got a festering turd. 10-1 in favor of George Gray.

Identity vs. Shopper's Casino:
* While Identity suffered from way too much padding and drawn-out reveals, it still had a solid format (as some have noted over the years, it would've been better if all the identities were guaranteed to be played with the last few done for multipliers, shifting the focus to fun rather than OMGHALFAMILLIONBUX).
* Shopper's Casino, on the other hand, is an inexcusable turd with zero redeeming factors; there's a reason it was spoken of in hushed tones for the better part of 20 years. 11-0 in favor of Identity.

Lie Detectors vs. Where in Time Is Carmen Sandiego?:
* Time may have been inferior to World, but at least they still tried to strive for quality (plus, in one episode they had the World Chief appear on the ship and ask where Greg and Rockapella were). And even then, World wasn't quite dead since a French-Canadian version aired for a few years before being replaced by a French-Canadian Time in '98.
* Lie Detectors, on the other hand...I tried watching an episode, and while the format's okay there's not much else to write home about. 10-1 in favor of Lynne Thigpen.

Dog Eat Dog vs. Strip Poker: I'll make this quick -- the former was at least a half-decent stunt-based show, whereas the latter couldn't even show nudity due to its timeslot (not that they got to censor much of anything since all the players wore multiple layers of underwear and such). If you want nudity, go find Everything Goes instead; it's got a better game format, too. 9-2 in favor of Dog Eat Dog.

...I had to explain?

You are correct.  Pikachu732001 simply put four votes, but didn't explain which ones were the good shows and which ones were the bad shows.  StrangerCoug's vote counted because he at least indicated that LMAD was the better show.

Not really tough picks for me, but then again...

* Bingo America had an okay format for Season 1, but Patrick's hosting ruined it. By comparison, Davidson Squares (what with its plethora of gimmicks despite a self-contained format) looks like a masterpiece. 8-3 in favor of Squares.
* The second matchup is no contest because TNPIR '94 was the first version I watched, and I've had a soft spot for it ever since J.M. Vargas sent me three episodes long ago. LAA still had a good format, but the host and cheapness did it in. 9-2 in favor of Doug Davidson and friends.
* Third matchup...ho boy. Tried watching the first episode of McGrath's Lyrics when his run was on Netflix, and I was bored to tears. Bauman's Squares may have been flawed, but it actually started out with decent questions (and even a few open-ended ones) and could be good if you were in the right mood. 10-1 in favor of the Hour.
* Finally...I liked Paul Rodriguez's run as host, if only because an episode from later in the season turned up online a while back that showed that he did improve as host and stopped making it about himself. Carnie Wilson...yeah, no, that was just painful; the fact GSN had Bob Eubanks fill in for her twice (one had Carnie and her family playing, while the other was a really fun Game Show Hosts special with Wink Martindale, Peter Marshall, and Monty Hall) and still didn't have him replace her after Unstapled became one of the network's biggest disasters says volumes on what they look for in hosts. 9-2 in favor of the Rodriguez era.

Hey, I can actually vote more than one match this time!

Match 5: This is another match where both shows do have their flaws, but neither is going to be in real competition for the chumpionship. Patrick Duffy was no Barker or even a Eubanks, but he didn't make any abysmal errors that I recall from the show. BINGO America itself was solid enough for what it was and where it was (namely, on GSN). Davidson Squares, I haven't had as much experience with, but I've seen a few episodes and it was... just sort of there, lacking the flair of Marshall's version or the unrestrained zaniness of Bergeron's. Duffy's BINGO America cards 7 points and the five-square win over Davidson's Squares, which gets blocked for 4.

Match 6: I've never had a Scripps station in my area, so I must officially abstain from voting on this match, due to lack of knowledge of Let's Ask America. Unofficially, after reviewing the video, it looks like a decent format, though it's drawn out in spots and the host is... overly caffeinated. Davidson Price is a show I've had a bit of a soft spot for - while it's not the same as traditional Price (with no one-bids and a one-player Showcase), it's a remix that's still very enjoyable to watch. So my just-for-fun vote would have been Davidson Price 7, Bellamy Let's Ask America 4.

Match 7: Don't Forget The Lyrics, again, was solid enough for what it was, a syndicated show that's basically karaoke with a broken machine. Mark McGrath wasn't impressive, but he did a serviceable job and kept things going. The MG-HS Hour, on the other hand, was a total trainwreck. The theme song is awesome, and I credit Gene Rayburn for keeping the Match Game segment together, but the fusion of the two game formats just implodes almost immediately. Done properly, it could have been great, but it falls flat in so many ways. McGrath Don't Forget The Lyrics remembers 8 points, while the Match Game-Hollywood Squares Hour stumbles its way to 3.

Match 8: I was not even aware that Paul Rodriguez Newlywed Game was a thing, so again I must formally abstain from voting. Off the record, I will say that the first immediate bad sign here was Rodriguez's name being placed in the title - I don't think I have EVER seen that before in an American game show (though UK/Aussie shows have done it as a sign of respect to their stars on occasion - see Bruce's Price is Right). It shows in the video, as Rodriguez turns the Newlywed Game into "his show" in the worst possible way, always having to get the last word in with a dubiously witty one-liner. Carnie Wilson's version, on the other hand, was done fairly well for a GSN show. While Wilson was not at all the best pick that could have been made, she is certainly no Paul Rodriguez, and the show's flavor is solid if unspectacular. My unofficial vote here would be Carnie Wilson 9, Paul Rodriguez 2.