Regarding the Card Sharks pilot...it's certainly better than what ended up airing in 2001, but there are some issues.
First, the positives: The set, while smaller, looks better than the one used on the series. There is some symmetry and balance to it, and it has a Las Vegas/casino feel to it.
Pat Bullard, while known for being one of the worst hosts we've ever seen, is tolerable here. He isn't terribly hammy or sleazy, and he did not use his infamous "because I'm a nice guy!" when he explained how a contestant could change the first card on each line in the Money Cards. He also moved the game along reasonably well. However, he was a bit cocky in the pitchfilm that followed the pilot.
It was neat to hear Burton Richardson announce. I wish we heard more of him in the pilot.
I liked how they tried to use a variety of card games (blackjack and acey-deucey/high-low), rather than just sticking with acey-deucey/high-low for the entire show. This adds some variety and gives some strategy in each of the show's acts. The final round of the main game has the classic format of Card Sharks, even if they use the pre-taped segments to determine the control of the cards.
The shark mascot was interesting-especially when they used it to munch on the lost cards in the second round.
Now, here are the downsides:
The theme song started with a Jaws-esque tension, before transitioning to the main theme. However, the main theme sounds very generic, in my opinion. I had hoped for something more Vegas-like.
The whole game feels like Candid Camera or Street Smarts featuring Card Sharks. Maybe they felt having the survey, audience poll, or educated guess questions would have made the game drag or feel too tedious, but these pre-taped segments don't engender much in the way of contestant interaction, and they take away attention from the main game.
It was interesting to have the contestants change their cards once after every draw, rather than the initial one. Making the game more like true blackjack would have given the contestants the chance to employ much more thought and strategy-contestants would be more apt to pass cards to their opponent if they felt they were at risk of busting.
While the version that made it to air had the fatal flaw of having a contestant win by doing nothing-their opponent made the wrong call on the last card and lost, this version at least tries to avoid that in the second round by making control of the cards dependent on guessing the outcome of a pre-taped segment, and each line of cards is worth increasing amounts of money, giving contestants ample opportunities to build up their score.
The Money Cards have problems. Instead of securing the contestant's main game winnings, the show divides them into the rows, which are arranged in a three-level pyramid. There exists the possibility of a contestant losing it all on the Major Wager by wagering everything and making the wrong call, leaving an unsatisfying conclusion for the show. Maybe the uneven amount of cards was used to help the budget or make it easier for contestants to reach the final level, but there wasn't anything wrong with have to turn over three cards on the first two lines before they have to make their final bet.
Overall, this had potential. Perhaps reinstating the survey/audience poll/educated guess questions, or making the questions more like those on High Rollers or Gambit-true or false/yes or no/multiple choice would have made for a more solid game, and it would have opened up interaction with the contestants more. Also, securing the contestant's main game winnings and restructure the Money Cards so the champion does not end the show with nothing would have been desirable. Everything else was pretty fine for what they were going for.
