Great white north

Readers of this blog know that I usually focus on U.S. game shows.

Expanding to other countries is tricky because the news on the English Internet tends to come disproportionately from, you guessed it, the Anglosphere. So if I really wanted to cover game shows around the world, I'd have to wear out Google Translate as I rambled though a couple hundred different languages.

Which is something I'd rather not do. But I'll break my usual rule for a bit of news about Game TV, the closest thing to GSN in Canada. This is an oddball network that runs an astonishing mix of real and trash sports, old and new game shows, reality TV, movies, and pretty much anything else they feel like running.

An idea of the variety of their programming comes from the screenshot, which is the new header for their Facebook site. You might notice Mr. Harvey, who will bring Celebrity Family Feud to the network in prime time, beginning October 12. Game TV is obviously over the moon about the acquisition. They're giving Steve a plum time slot and massive exposure as one of the literal faces of the network.

Which brings me to the possible U.S. relevance of the news. How long before Fremantle also leases Celebrity Family Feud to GSN? My guess is, not that long.

In much less important news, at least in the real world, Game TV will also pick up the old Peter Tomarken chestnut Wipeout (no relation to the ABC stuntfest). Needless to say but I'll say it anyway, this oldie won't get anywhere close to prime time. A funny comment from the Facebook page... 

The online game show community is more excited about the 30 year old show Wipeout, not well remembered outside the online game show community (though a computer game of it came out in 1989 and it ran on USA for two years after its less than one season run), coming to GameTV than Steve Harvey Feud.

Which shows how out of touch with the real world the "online game show community" can be. But you probably knew that already.

Also, I just noticed that Anthony Anderson's To Tell the Truth comes to Game TV on October 9. Now that Fremantle seems to be in a leasing mood for all their summer Sunday shows, I expect them to turn up on GSN pretty soon. Or even Buzzr. Hey, the diginet already has Celebrity Name Game, just like Game TV.

UNRELATED HOUSEKEEPING UPDATE: Due to a lot of trolls and trash, I've now limited comments to people with Google accounts. (It's free and easy to set up an account with Google.) Too much spam and nonsense were coming in, and I've got better things to do than take out all the garbage. Sorry if this new policy inconveniences some serious commenters. But a Google account should not be a barrier to anybody who wants to post substantive comments, including criticism of me.