Game Shows

We're getting very near the end in the inaugural season of Big Brother Canada, and there are only four houseguests left in the game. While either Talla or Gary will be leaving the house on Wednesday, it's still a good time to predict who will win the entire game.

The final eviction will of course boil down to who gets the final Head of Household. So basically you need to consider who has the best chances of winning that, and then who he or she would take with him or her to the end. Finally, you have to consider who would get the most jury votes in order to win.

So, with everything considered, who do you think has the best chance at winning the game? And, in the comments, let me know if you think the show will get a second season. Did you enjoy this one? What would you do differently next season (should there be one)?

Summer game shows are always a good idea - they give the networks some light-hearted and relatively inexpensive new programming, and viewers don't have to invest a lot of brain power into watching them. Lighter is better in the summertime! NBC is serving up two new game shows this summer - The Winner Is and Hollywood Game Night.

Hollywood Game Night is hosted by Jane Lynch, and features regular civilian contestants hob-nobbing and playing games with celebrities. The atmosphere of the show is claimed to be like that of a cocktail party, which could really pan out to be an entertaining hour. While NBC hasn't officially told us who the celebs are, Deadline mentions several names who have signed on so far including:

• Amy Poehler
• Matthew Perry
• Jason Bateman
• Kristin Bell
• Dax Sheppard
• Maya Rudolph
• Fred Armisen
• Minnie Driver
• Kal Penn
• Martin Short
• Ellie Kemper
• Kristen Chenoweth
• Cheryl Hines
• Molly Shannon
• Max Greenfield

And there are still more celebs from various entertainment genres expected to sign up. As you can see, these stars are a little more A-list than many other celebrity game shows.

Of course one of two contestants in each episode will win some money, but let's face it, we'll all be tuning in to see the celebrities, what games they're playing, and how everyone interacts with one another. It's a great lineup so far and I'm really looking forward to this show.

Hollywood Game Night premieres on July 11th 2013, at 10pm Eastern.

Photo courtesy NBC

NBC has added two new game shows to their summer lineup. One of them is a new singing competition called The Winner Is, hosted by Nick Lachey. Lachey previously hosted The Sing Off, and has appeared on several game shows in various roles, including The Price is Right and Are You Smarter Than a 5th Grader?

The Winner Is pits contestants against each other in several rounds, with a 101-person audience panel judging their performances. These contestants are not professional singers. After each round, one person moves on and the other is eliminated, culminating in a final head-to-head round in which the winner can walk away with a million dollars.

Of course there's a catch to make things interesting -- after each round, but before the results are given, the contestants are offered money to walk away. These offers start at $10,000 in the first round and go up to $50,000 in the third round. Contestants must decide whether to have confidence that they won the battle and take a chance on sticking around, or take the bribe money and walk.

The Winner Is will premiere on NBC on July 11th 2013, at 9pm Eastern time.

Earlier this month GSN's upfront presentation was delivered, highlighting their new shows both confirmed and in development. While we already knew about the two confirmed shows (their own versions of Minute to Win It and The Chase), there were also several new shows that are currently under consideration.

As we all know, the shows in development sometimes never see the light of day, and often this can be a good thing. Still, GSN has some interesting concepts that may play out well. There are a couple of dating shows, two family game shows, and only one docu-reality offering (which is a good thing, since we all know how poorly reality shows and "non game show" offerings have fared on the network).

You can check out the concepts at the link above, then let me know what you think. Of the six new offerings, which one do you think would be the most promising for GSN to actually air? Which one(s) would you tune in to watch on a regular basis? The poll is open, and so are the comments!

The About.com Readers' Choice Awards have had another successful year, and 2013 has brought us an interesting and very worthy set of winners in the Game Show categories! Our congratulations go out to all of the winners, and our thanks to all of you who nominated and voted. These awards are all about readers and fans, and you've made some excellent choices once again.

The winners of the 2013 Readers' Choice Awards are listed in detail here, but the quick version is...

• Winner for Best Game Show: Tie! Family Feud and Jeopardy!
• Winner for Best Game Show Host: Steve Harvey
• Winner for Best Game Show Announcer: Jonathan Mangum
• Winner for Best Game Show Fan Site: Game Show Newsnet
• Winner for Best Game for Facebook or Mobile: You Don't Know Jack for Facebook

A couple of things I'd like to comment on -- first, yay for Family Feud, taking Best Game Show and Best Host! Also, this is the second year in a row that you chose Jeopardy! as your favorite, and that makes me happy. Game Show Newsnet has won in its category every single year that we've been doing the awards - huge props to them!

You can learn more about the awards and find the winners in all the other categories at the main About.com Readers' Choice Awards site. And if you're one of the winners, please feel free to scoop the logo for your own use!

Thanks again to all who participated!

The rumours appear to have been true: the new host of Who Wants to Be a Millionaire is Cedric the Entertainer, according to the show's website. Cedric will replace Meredith Vieira starting next season.

While I'm not altogether surprised by this move, what does surprise me is that there was really very little speculation or rumor about anyone else being in the running to take over hosting duties. This particular choice was predictable, however. Millionaire has struggled with ratings lately, and in seeing what Steve Harvey has done for Family Feud, it's pretty clear that there are high hopes that Cedric will be able to do the same thing here.

Cedric the Entertainer did a great job with the NBC prime time game It's Worth What? but that format was quite different than Who Wants to Be a Millionaire and Meredith Vieira leaves big shoes to fill. Still, I'll wait and see how things go before making any sort of judgement call here -- mostly because I remember the "But she's not Regis!" reaction to the announcement that Meredith would be taking over the daytime version of the show.

Photo courtesy Valleycrest Productions Ltd.

Well, GSN is moving right along with their version of Minute to Win It! Today they announced that the show has a host, and he's none other than skating champ and Dancing with the Stars winner Apolo Anton Ohno.

Ohno's a bit of a surprise really, since I know a lot of people were expecting someone with game show experience. In the official press release he seems excited though: "From speed skating to dancing, it's only fitting that I selected a show with wild and creative challenges for my inaugural hosting role. Bring it!"

Personally I was hoping to see Marco Antonio Regil taking the reins, but it'll be interesting to see what Ohno brings to the table. He's definitely high energy, which this gig requires, and he's got tentative ties to GSN through the reruns of Dancing With the Stars. As far as I can tell this choice is completely hit or miss. Let's hope for a hit.

Minute to Win It will return this summer with original episodes on GSN

We mentioned a while back that GSN was bringing Minute to Win It back with new, original episodes. Now, if you're interested in being on the show, casting is open.

Before you apply, keep in mind that this will not be the exact same Minute to Win It that you watched on NBC with Guy Fieri hosting. We don't know the exact format yet. What you can count on is that there will be familiar games being played on the show -- and even some new ones. So, if you decide to apply, it makes sense to practice as many of the games as you can.

You can fill out an online application at the GSN website, and remember that the game is played in partners now, so you'll be applying for two. Photos will also be required, and make sure you read all of the rules and regulations.

Now get those applications in, and start practicing the games! Here are a few to start with:

• Supercoin
• Ready Spaghetti
• Nice Build
• Marbles Grande
• Iron Board Man

Voting in the Readers' Choice Awards is underway, so let's take a closer look at one of the categories and the finalists.

The five game shows that have been chosen as finalists in the Best Game Show category were all well-represented during the nomination phase. They are:

• Family Feud
• Jeopardy!
• The Price is Right
• Wheel of Fortune
• Who Wants to Be a Millionaire

Read More...

Canada finally has its own version of Big Brother, and it's about time I say! Big Brother Canada debuted last night, introducing us to fifteen houseguests. Arisa Cox, who appeared in The Lofters way back when, is the host.

While it's probably too soon to pass judgement on the show itself (and certainly most of the houseguests), the house itself is pretty impressive. The only thing I can't quite figure out is the lack of beds - are they trying to get showmances going as soon as possible by forcing these folks to double up?

We've already had our first Head of Household, though it wasn't via any sort of competition but rather dumb luck. (And did anyone else roll their eyes at the goofy voice of "Big Brother" on the phone and in the DR?) We've also seen the first Power of Veto comp, which looks like it could have been taken straight out of the CBS playbook. Tonight will be the Veto ceremony and the first live eviction, and we're in for nine more weeks of comps, alliances, backstabbing, and all the rest.

Did you tune in, and if so, what did you think?

Photo courtesy Shaw Media