GSN Updates: “Bible,” “Chefs” Get Premiere, “Pyramid” Seeks Audience Soon?
GSN has announced new information for their two newest endeavors into original programming, The American Bible Challenge and Beat the Chefs. Both shows will premiere Thursday, August 23rd. GSN plans on scheduling new episodes in a two-hour primetime block. Bible will air at 8 PM ET and Chefs will immediately follow it at 9 PM ET. According the press release, both of these are categorized as the ever popular “Shiny Floor Game,” meaning that they’re self-described as “contemporary studio based game shows.”
We already knew most everything about The American Bible Challenge. Teams of people who feel they have a grasp of knowledge on that piece of literature play to compete against other teams. The twist is that the money they play for isn’t pocketed, but rather goes to a charitable organization of their choice. Jeff Foxworthy is still the host in place. A host has also been set for the also hour-long Beat the Chefs - American Idol 2004 11th place contestant Matt Rogers. Although this sounds more “reality” than “shiny floor game” to me, the premise here is that amateur, everyday chefs will pit their recipes against similar ones created by professional chefs. A panel – yet to be announced – of experts will judge each creation and if the “regular” person does better, he/she will be the winner of some prize money. I’m cautiously optimistic about this one. It could potentially have enough crossover appeal that someone out of GSN’s hardcore fan base could tune in and enjoy it. Of the two, I’m wagering this will perform better than Bible.
Plus, we’ve got some information that nearly cements a pickup for GSN’s newest word game incarnation, The Pyramid. The website that offered tickets to the pilot for The Pyramid in June now has a message up that “tickets will become available in July.” Combine this with the recent re-sending of casting notices and I’d make another wager that we’ll hear more about the Mike Richards-hosted game very shortly.
So what do you think? Do you plan on tuning in for any of these? And if so, is it must-see for you or “I’ll DVR it and watch it on a rainy day?”
The Pyramid will be must-see for me…unless they just totally screw it up. Then I’ll stick with the 80s repeats.
I hope they do well too. But GSN seems to be trying its best not to screw up. It’s sticking closely to the established format, while spicing up the front game a bit, so it won’t be so boring on the way to the Winner’s Circle. The set, at least according to this blog, is simillar to the 80s set, which is what I really wanted out of any “Pyramid” remake, not the “Millionaire”-esque set of the Donny Osmond revival. The only big question mark is Mike Richards. I’m willing to give the guy the benefit of the doubt for now. All in all, it should make for a very exciting revival and something I’ll be filling my family’s DVR up with.
I dont think Beat the Chefs sounds that bad…reminds me of chopped…in that the emphasis is on the cooking and the competition…more LIKE a game show thank say the long term shows like MasterChef or Hells kitchen or a parody like Iron Chef (which in Japan was treated simiarally to Pro Wrestling than a true competition) I like the idea of a home cook’s dishes going against a professional chef…given that cooking shows themselves are blurred in this vein (Home cooks or teachers like Julia Child or Rachel Ray…Vs professional chefs like Tyler Florence, the Two Hot Tamales or Emeril) BUT I think the host was a poor choice…you need SOMEONE with SOME food knowledge so they can say more than “the kitchen smell’s Gooooddddd” it will depend on what chefs they can put up and if they will either a.Cream the home cooks or B.the chefs won’t be of top quality…BUT it’s a good idea…and I reckon if they cast right you’ll have some Good winners.
The Bible show I think will do better than people think…but that doesn’t mean much. I think hardcore Christians do turn to game shows for some safe haven (I’m sure Baggage, NG and Harvey Feud have chased these people away from GSN for a while) so i think the show has a market…and if it’s done right it can have some excitement, but I doubt it will…however Foxworthy (who is basically the modern day Bill Anderson) may save the show from being a total disaster…like Hindenberg instead of Chernoybl
Pyramid from the Pilot structure looks like a WINNER….the Host is my only concern…but I love the way the frontgame is managed better than the classic version and the set looks like a great homage…as long as good celebs can be attracted without breaking the bank…I’ll say it it may be the best GSN revival since whammy and may go into Lingo’s rare air as the best GSN original.
Matt Rogers, aside from singing like the drunkle at a wedding, actually has decent hosting chops. Of course his last show was the forgettable “There Goes the Neighborhood”. And yes the show sounds like every other cooking contest since Iron Chef, but I’m cautiously optimistic.
I’m interested in beat the chefs, largely because it’s a show I would like to compete on, but hopefully when they say Matt is hosting he’ll be joined by someone with culinary knowledge like say Bobby Flay, Curtis Stone or Cat Cora.
Bible, (I still can’t believe they’re going through with this). I’m concerned. it might be a decent show but Jeff Foxworthy seems like a bit of a gamble. Nothing he has ever done screams “christian” to me but maybe we’ll see a different side of him here.
and Pyramid: even if Mike Richards doesn’t end up being that great, the game is solid enough it might be able to carry a weak host. that seems to be the only concern here, and honestly, its a minor one. I wonder what they’ll do for theme music, I’d like to see the classic theme come back, I’d even be happy with a remix of it. just please don’t use some kind of random stock music like that disco/techno crap they used on the Osmond version.
Bible sounds like a show that would be better as an annual competition than a daily show. As for Beat the Chefs, I’m not sure if a cooking show would fit on GSN. (Yes, I did just say that.) Overall, I’ll be patiently waiting for “The Pyramid” and will pass on both of these for the time being.
From the clips I saw, Bible looks a bit dry. Also, I’m not a fan of all the money being won going to charity. Jeff may very well be the show’s saving grace, if he can inject some humor into it, like he did to 5th Grader.
I don’t think Beat the Chets is going to do well. In fact, it may possibly do worse than Bible. It’s like Chopped, and although it’s sort of a game in the sense that you’re competing in a cooking competition, it’s more suited for Food Network than for GSN.
The Pyramid is the most-hyped game show of the three. It’s a classic game show, in a game show format, with a cash prize reminiscent of an actual game show, on a Game Show Network. As long as GSN doesn’t turn it into the disaster that the revival of Lingo last year ended up being, it should do well with the fans. They’re going through with the series as a tribute to Dick Clark.
Although I’m surprised that the premieres of both Bible and Chefs are 1-hour long each. Neither of these shows sounds like they’re of the primetime type, and it sounds like there’s going to be a lot of dragging out, to fill the 1-hour time slot.
The Bible show might be too narrow of an audience, and since competing for money might put some Christians off, I’m guessing that’s why the money’s going to charity (and thus those who like to compete can have a “clear conscience” so to speak). I guess the two reasons it gets 8 pm is that (stereotypically?) the target audience might not be up as late/show this to their kids, and it’s Jeff Foxworthy, who from what I recall is a Christian. When he got roasted by his fellow comedians, most of the jokes were towards how clean his act was and therefore lines including how much they hated that he could be clean and a comedian. I agree that the third reason this show might work is Jeff Foxworthy, who actually has some talent in hosting (friend Bill Engvall had his struggles).
The cooking show I have no palate for (pun intended).
Pyramid, I definitely am looking forwards to (and Chad has kept the Pyramid show alive in Michigan–check his website/youtube). Even a mediocre host can do ok as long as he stays out of the way (unlike John Davidson) and doesn’t feel forced (sometimes, with Donny Osmond). As I said before, I would hope for the old 60 second clock, and I’ve come around to not needing a tournament but would like returning champtions if possible. However, none of that is important as long as they get celebrities (even c-list) who care and are competent. Here’s hoping it will finally have another long run.
Sorry, the paragraph breaks didn’t come through for whatever reason.
I don’t get GSN unless I pay another $7 per month, thanks a lot Cablevision! I really wanted to see how the new Pyramid compared to the classic epesodes. The other originals I can do without.
Sean, I’m in the same boat as you. I haven’t missed GSN all that much since Cablevision took it away, but I really want to see this new version. It sounds like it could be a huge hit.
I cringe every time I see a bible category on Jeopardy!. I can’t imagine sitting through 30 minutes of straight religion. I’m begging any “higher power” that this show is cancelled after a couple weeks. As far as “Beat the Chefs” is concerned… save it for Food Network.
Then try imagining sitting through 1 hour of it lol.
You know the old line, “nobody’s forcing you to watch.” If it gets good enough ratings, (I have my doubts, but we’ll see), they’ll keep running it. As someone said earlier, the people who watch Baggage aren’t likely going to watch a Bible show, nor the other way around. If they pull this off, it may say as much about Jeff Foxworthy as the audience.
I’ll say that Drew Carey would be the host of the Pyramid revival version of the show. I would like to see the balloons and confetti to drop down on the Winner’s Circle setting of the show followed by a bonus bells and whistles sound effect just like the sound heard on the game show The Price Is Right.
Sorry, but I don’t see Drew hosting Pyramid anytime soon. TPiR fits him very well.