Card Sharks 2001 - Your thoughts

[imhomerjay]

I rather enjoyed the O'Hurley To Tell the Truth.

[urbanpreppie0004]

I can't believe I'm doing this, but...

I'm going to defend card sharks 2001.

Is it a great game? No. Did it have squandered potential? Yes. Bullard deserved better. As did tami Anderson. The set was nice. The theme was nice. The payout potential was pretty good too.

Everything about the format has been stated above though. What they should have done? Two contestants, survey questions, change of cards with clip chips,money cards stays the same.

But here's the defense: remember back then everything- programming, movies, and more had to have an "edge" to get put on the air.  Every show that came out for those few years had to have a "millennium or edgy" change. Feud dropped the Whitmans sampler look (and early promo images for andersons version showed it may have gone for an updated look originally) and tried to "speed up" the game with the four rounds rule. Match game and LMAD went crass,but it wasn't needed. Pyramid went technologically sleek and tried to speed up the game. TTTT started off like the original but changed to a springer-lite, rowdy form in season 2. PYL went dark (honestly this is probably the best of the updated shows from that era) and added the double whammys. Back then I don't think a shot by shot, classic remake of card sharks, or other game shows would have even sold. (Note: I wonder what the Gordon Elliot LMAD was going for- the few images out made it look rather....classy).

It didn't seem like the lessons were learned until around 2007 or so, when temptation flopped. LMAD came back later very similar to the original,but less with shopping games and more comedy bits that actually works. Price stuck to its roots post host change and didn't do an American idol style revamp. Pyramid put out several pilots that looked like the good updates to the 80s version, we got a cable version that was decent update to the show (and IMHO should have lasted longer-but I'm gladly didn't) and a current version that is one of the best shows In years; Match game came back slightly dirtier and a Little too polished, but probably the best update since the 70s; Feud went through a period that did more callbacks to its past with ohurley, but kept many classic elements in its syndicated run and celebrity seasons...even the jokers wild is a pretty classic show in its own right!

If card sharks were brought back now, I bet it would be done right.

[WilliamPorygon]

To keep this post at a reasonable length, I'll only mention the positive things I have to say about CS 2001:

- "Major Wager" is a better term than "Big Bet" for the final, must-bet-at-least-half-the-bank turn in the Money Cards.

...That's all.

[someguy23475]

Bad set, bad theme, bad host, bad format, just plain bad. It actually got an OK time slot in my market, 12 noon if memory serves. I don’t believe it was ever sent to late nights like Match Game 98 was a few years prior.

[Alfonzo]

Bad set, bad theme, bad host, bad format, just plain bad. It actually got an OK time slot in my market, 12 noon if memory serves. I don’t believe it was ever sent to late nights like Match Game 98 was a few years prior.

You're from Buffalo, right? Card Sharks was shown in our market at 8:30AM  on WNYO, Channel 49.

[imhomerjay]

That’s about as good as a graveyard slot, honestly. A WB affiliate with a weak history...that’s not going to do well regardless of the program.

[Alfonzo]

You're right about that, imhomerjay. I pretty much knew that when I saw what time it was aired...and my thoughts were confirmed when I saw the finished product! 

[someguy23475]

No, Metro Detroit.

[imhomerjay]

You're right about that, imhomerjay. I pretty much knew that when I saw what time it was aired...and my thoughts were confirmed when I saw the finished product!

In Philly, I think the call letters were WGTW for the station that carried it (along with O'Hurley's To Tell the Truth, and previously the Eubanks Newlywed Game that succeeded the Gary Kroeger season & Chuck Woolery's take on the Dating Game). Might has well not aired at all. There was no such thing as a good time slot on that station. I give credit to owners who tried their best, but it was little more than a dumping ground for shows that defined bottom of the barrel.

[Alfonzo]

We had another station like that in Buffalo called WNGS Channel 67 that was based out of Springville, NY. They picked up Match Game '98 after our local Fox affiliate decided against airing it at its scheduled time of 5:30 in the morning! Instead, WNGS aired an hour block of Match Game at 3PM, followed by 100% at 4...an absolute snoozefest that only aired in seven markets!






 

[bigblue999]

Here in NYC, Card Sharks 2001 aired on WWOR on Channel 9 (UPN at the time, now MyNetwork9) at 11:00 am, pitting CS and Hurley's To Tell the Truth against Price. Major mismatch there. Here's proof:

[pannoni1]

WRLH (Richmond, VA) had a decent timeslot also: 12:30 PM, right after Feud, while in Washington DC, WUSA graveyarded it at 2 in the morning. Interestingly, WRC in 1990 also graveyarded another ill-fated revival: Patrick Watne's TTD, airing it also at 2 AM. I never saw this version until I heard about it on Game Show Garbage earlier this decade, and I could see why it didn't last. Even MG '98 was more true to the original!

Speaking of which, GSN at the time had classic Card Sharks at 11:00 Eastern/8 Pacific weekday mornings, as weel as 3:00 and 4:30 eastern during weekday afternoons.

[Reloaden]

I enjoyed O'Hurley To Tell the Truth and Anderson Feud i remember a few early episodes he was awkward. The show was a lot fresh and had better question writing then what we have today.


I don't care for the current To Tell The Truth with Anthony Anderson.