WWTBAM Bored

My opinion is that the last 2 BAM hosts really show how great Regis and Meredith were. The new hosts detract from the game. The show is starting to seem cheesy and I wonder if it will be renewed next year.

I'm getting to the point where I question whether I want to watch the show anymore, and it really breaks my heart to be thinking that.

"You may know me from my other show, Brooklyn 9-9." Damn, but I've love to poll the audience with that question, one of the choices being: I don't have an f'ing clue who you are.

I feel the same way as Marley does. I miss the subtlety the first two hosts showed. Cedric the show seemed to be more about him than the contestant. Terry so far wants to highlight the contestant, but he does not come off as natural to me.

I'm getting to the point where I question whether I want to watch the show anymore, and it really breaks my heart to be thinking that.

"You may know me from my other show, Brooklyn 9-9." Damn, but I've love to poll the audience with that question, one of the choices being: I don't have an f'ing clue who you are.

I agree with both comments. I don't our beloved BAM to end as a cheesefest. Plus no one cares about the host as much as Terry thinks we do. The contestant is the main reason we watch. Even Alex keeps it about the contestants.

What turns me off more is the budget saving measures of the question writing. Some questions are just unanswerable by even the best trivia players, in my opinion.

Thanks to the double run of shows I've seen six week's worth of episodes. To me Terry comes out at the opening like a mad man wrestler who just escaped from the asylum. "Yeah, it's the weekend I'm free! I got away!" Terry's outfits have me imagining all heads turning if someone showed up at church dressed like that.

Upon letting contestants know they are correct or revealing the money amount I think Terry is still overdoing it. The excitement level does not match the moment.

When a contestant is wrong and loses the bank Terry comes across as more sincere in his disappointment than Cedric did.

I fast forward past a lot of the chit chat and concentrate on the questions and answers. The show is tolerable at the 12 minute level. I cannot fathom watching live and making it a full tortuous 30 minutes.

I used to watch Everybody Hates Chris. If someone would have told me back then that the dad would one day host WWTBAM I would have thought they were nuts. Perhaps the host next season will be Michael K. Williams? AKA Omar Little from The Wire/Chalky White from Boardwalk Empire?

It was reported on other game show websites that the early ratings for Terry was about the same as Cedric. Celebrity Name Game, with a bigger known name and arguably better host in Craig Ferguson, had ratings less than a 1 nationally for its debut week. This is despite being from the same syndicator that syndicates Steve Harvey Feud and being a companion piece to Feud in some cities.

I hate the way he comes on the show and am quite tired of his ceaseless promotion of his other show. He does seem to spend more time talking with the contestants than Cedric did, but his pseudo-excitement every time a dollar amount is revealed is wearing thin. I guess TPTB are trying for the "Family Feud" crowd rather than the "J!" crowd.

Here is my opinion. Terry is almost too nice a guy to host. I get the feeling that maybe he invests himself almost too much in his contestants fates and loses a lot of what makes Terry Terry. At this point he's almost a caricature.

I taped my show in late August. He was SO awesome and lowkey during the commercial breaks. I just think he's nervous (in fact they told us in the green room that he'd be nervous and just to go along with it) and wants the best for everyone and it's a tough part to play when you're supposed to be that character everyone knows (Brooklyn 9-9 and Old Spice) while still being yourself and caring for the people you meet and wanting them to do well. From what I was told, Terry spends a lot of time getting to know people before they come be on the show. He watches the videos and gets to know their stories, but the stories they want you to tell change frequently and that can wreak havoc. I had my producer call me out of the green room at least 3 times to tell me they were going to change the story they wanted me to play up and when I got on the show it was something totally different than what we'd discussed. Terry is a great actor and a great guy but I don't think this is his thing and it comes off as forced

Terry is a little overenthusiastic. I wonder if he will stop promoting his other show as the season progresses. He also tries to tell jokes related to the questions, like Cedric did. I thought this was a game show, not a comedy routine.

The questions seem to range from gettable with a bit of knowledge (like the $100K one on Tuesday, which I knew cold) to really obscure (the one about the floats in the Macy's parade-I had no clue on that one). I think they want to give a big prize away, but they don't seem to find the right kind of contestant who could do it.

I wonder what will happen when they air Kid Week. That should be interesting.

Kazoo65 wrote:Terry is a little overenthusiastic. I wonder if he will stop promoting his other show as the season progresses. He also tries to tell jokes related to the questions, like Cedric did. I thought this was a game show, not a comedy routine.

Terry is way too enthusiastic. Really, does he have to shout LET'S PLAY MILLIONAIRE! every single time? You're not announcing a boxing match, Terry.

Well, he hasn't done it every time. When he started the carryover segment for Daniel Lefevre, he actually used an adult, inside voice. It calmed my nerves for a short while, until TPTB introduced that jarring "Walking Away" noise when Daniel took his $100K.

Kazoo65 wrote:The questions seem to range from gettable with a bit of knowledge (like the $100K one on Tuesday, which I knew cold) to really obscure (the one about the floats in the Macy's parade-I had no clue on that one). I think they want to give a big prize away, but they don't seem to find the right kind of contestant who could do it.

I think they're getting just the results they want, thanks to the randomized stacks, with most contestants walking away with moderate amounts, no matter how many or how few questions they answer, and with upper tier questions being seen very, very rarely. There are almost always obscure WWOQs to burn the JTQ in the first tier, and the Plus Ones (generally family members, given the cost and impracticalities of inviting anyone else to a taping) haven't been particularly helpful. Certainly no more helpful than a second JTQ would be, for the purpose of reaching the upper tier.

Kazoo65 wrote:I wonder what will happen when they air Kid Week. That should be interesting.

They've had several different sets of APs since they tried the parent-child teams, so they've probably lost all institutional memory about those. But from what I recall of them, the feedback was that the kids took it pretty hard when they failed to get to the million, and that, in turn, made the APs uncomfortable. Will it be any different, when the kids are playing on their own? (As I recall, it was always the parents who had to say "final answer". Assuming the parents are not interfering from the sidelines, these new episodes will put far more pressure on the kids.)

My Daughter, her grandma and hubby tried out for family BAM. They all had to pass the test to audition. Of course it was in Michigan.

geoffil wrote:My Daughter, her grandma and hubby tried out for family BAM. They all had to pass the test to audition. Of course it was in Michigan.

They could've asked kbhirsch to take the test for them...

lb13

I guess I'm alone in liking Cedric & Crews better than Meredith; her very successful way of faking people out when they got the question right but making them think they were wrong really put me off. It was terrific acting I'm sure, but crap on the show. Neither Regis, Cedric nor Crews prolonged/prolong the contestant's pain. And all were/are very enthusiastic when the contestant gets something right. Yeah, there are things that grate, like Crews saying "that's the way to use a plus1" just about every time someone uses their plus1, but I'd bet his saying that is the show's idea, not his. Talk up their new lifeline & all.

And I'd guess Crews no longer has to worry about those Old Spice ads making him such a sex symbol he can't be thought of in another light.

Meredith did it to me and when we went to a commercial break, she profusely apologized and said she was sorry, but the producers made her do it. It seemed very genuine to me and I went from being so sad to elation and my expression says it all.

geoffil says:

Meredith did it to me and when we went to a commercial break, she profusely apologized and said she was sorry, but the producers made her do it. It seemed very genuine to me and I went from being so sad to elation and my expression says it all.

This is interesting to hear about. Her apology. Nice to know. But she was so blanking good at the fake-out. The producers had to know how badly that can throw someone off their game. I'd say that's why they had her do it.


Whereas when Crews does his "now, you thought out the reasons, you went with your gut" whatever, all slow, supposedly a form of the fake-out, he always next tells the contestant they were right. If they've watched the show at all, they have to know not to worry when he does that. And at least he looks sympathetic to them while doing it, whereas Meredith just looked smug; I'm glad to know it was acting. When someone is wrong, Crews looks equally sympathetic as in his attempted fake-out, but he tells them very quickly.

geoffil wrote:Meredith did it to me and when we went to a commercial break, she profusely apologized and said she was sorry, but the producers made her do it. It seemed very genuine to me and I went from being so sad to elation and my expression says it all.

That's no excuse, for any of the hosts.

MarleysGh0st wrote:

geoffil wrote:Meredith did it to me and when we went to a commercial break, she profusely apologized and said she was sorry, but the producers made her do it. It seemed very genuine to me and I went from being so sad to elation and my expression says it all.

That's no excuse, for any of the hosts.

Damn, do you blatantly defy your boss too?

lb13

I was going to make a comparison...something about following orders...but I didn't want to Godwin the thread.

feederofthefish wrote:Here is my opinion. Terry is almost too nice a guy to host. I get the feeling that maybe he invests himself almost too much in his contestants fates and loses a lot of what makes Terry Terry. At this point he's almost a caricature.

I taped my show in late August. He was SO awesome and lowkey during the commercial breaks. I just think he's nervous (in fact they told us in the green room that he'd be nervous and just to go along with it) and wants the best for everyone and it's a tough part to play when you're supposed to be that character everyone knows (Brooklyn 9-9 and Old Spice) while still being yourself and caring for the people you meet and wanting them to do well. From what I was told, Terry spends a lot of time getting to know people before they come be on the show. He watches the videos and gets to know their stories, but the stories they want you to tell change frequently and that can wreak havoc. I had my producer call me out of the green room at least 3 times to tell me they were going to change the story they wanted me to play up and when I got on the show it was something totally different than what we'd discussed. Terry is a great actor and a great guy but I don't think this is his thing and it comes off as forced

I agree with almost all of this. I didn't get the impression he was forcing enthusiasm at all, though he's definitely more low-key during the commercial breaks. We had a really nice chat about homeschooling during my first break. Then again, I taped the first week of taping in June, and he may have to act more enthusiastic than he's feeling at this point in the season.

He isn't mentioning Brooklyn Nine-Nine anymore, either.

We haven't watched enough to form an opinion.

Channel 6 (ABC affiliate in Philadelphia) changed the schedule.

It used to be that the noon news used to run for a half-hour, followed by WWTBAM and The Chew. We would watch the news and WWTBAM.

NOW, the noon news runs for an hour, followed by The Chew, then WWTBAM (followed by a Jeopardy rerun).

I keep forgetting that it's on. I am usually back working by the time it comes on.

mellytu74 wrote:We haven't watched enough to form an opinion.

Channel 6 (ABC affiliate in Philadelphia) changed the schedule.

It used to be that the noon news used to run for a half-hour, followed by WWTBAM and The Chew. We would watch the news and WWTBAM.

NOW, the noon news runs for an hour, followed by The Chew, then WWTBAM (followed by a Jeopardy rerun).

I keep forgetting that it's on. I am usually back working by the time it comes on.

6ABC shuffled its schedule when Katie was cancelled. It will have to reshuffle next year, to make room for Tyra Banks's new talk show:

DISNEY-ABC ANNOUNCES ABC OWNED STATION GROUP AS LAUNCH PARTNER FOR UPCOMING SYNDICATED DAYTIME TALKER “THE F·A·B” (Working Title) WITH TYRA BANKS

So hopefully you'll be able to watch Millionaire again.

He struck me as being genuinely nice and sincere, both onstage and backstage.

franktangredi wrote:He struck me as being genuinely nice and sincere, both onstage and backstage.

I've never doubted that, though I'm not sure that makes him the best host for this show. I hope your trip to the studio was productive. There were some special theme week episodes shot over the weekend that may boost interest here when they are broadcast.