Networks unveil more reality-based TV by Eric Kohanik
Source : Victoria Times Colonist
December 17, 2007
Step right up, ladies and gentlemen! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!
You are about to witness amazing feats of derring do! You will hear voices that will lift you high into the heavens! You will witness challenges of the mind and observe nerves of steel that will dazzle you and astound you!
It will be a bare-knuckled network battle -- a ratings fight to the finish.
Step right up! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!
Alas, the ongoing strike by Hollywood script writers is prompting American TV networks to scramble in all sorts of ways in order to come up with more and more non-scripted programming to fill up their schedules.
And, because they can't seem to come up with good ideas of their own, the American nets have simply turned to European ideas instead.
Canadian broadcasters, of course, are only too happy to suckle away at whatever American networks manage to conjure up -- no matter where those networks get their material.
In any case, the networks might as well all haul out carnival barkers and ring announcers to tub-thump their new shows. Because, tonight, we have two entries to get things started. And these two competition/game shows will go head-to-head for much of this week.
In the red corner, hailing from ABC and weighing in with high-stakes gambling and mind-taxing questions, we have a show that was inspired by a TV hit in France -- the one, the only: Duel!
A six-night competition that kicks off with a 90-minute premiere tonight, Duel is hosted by ESPN sports-radio personality Mike Greenberg. He brings together 24 contestants to compete for a pot of more than $1.5 million in a game show that combines the mental acuity of a trivia game with the competitive strategy -- and outright deception -- of a poker tournament.
There are even poker-style "chips" that contestants use to wager against each other as they answer questions. The chips are doled out, of course, by a couple of hot young "Chip Girls."
And, to add to the carnival atmosphere of it all, the contestants even have nicknames -- handles like the Lunch Lady, the Belly Dancer and, yes, the Alligator Wrestler.
8 p.m. ABC, CTV
Meanwhile, over in the blue corner, weighing in from NBC and hailing from an idea that was hatched in Scandinavia, it's none other than a new master of melodic matchups: Clash Of The Choirs!
A four-night musical competition that begins with a two-hour instalment tonight, Clash Of The Choirs recruits American music superstars Michael Bolton, Patti LaBelle, Nick Lachey, Kelly Rowland and Black Shelton to go back to their hometowns -- not to sing, but to assemble amateur choirs.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, choirs! And these choirs will amaze you! They will entertain you! They will dazzle you and they will uplift you. All in the hopes of getting you to vote for the winner. So, step right up! Hurry!
© Victoria Times Colonist
You are about to witness amazing feats of derring do! You will hear voices that will lift you high into the heavens! You will witness challenges of the mind and observe nerves of steel that will dazzle you and astound you!
It will be a bare-knuckled network battle -- a ratings fight to the finish.
Step right up! Hurry! Hurry! Hurry!
Alas, the ongoing strike by Hollywood script writers is prompting American TV networks to scramble in all sorts of ways in order to come up with more and more non-scripted programming to fill up their schedules.
And, because they can't seem to come up with good ideas of their own, the American nets have simply turned to European ideas instead.
Canadian broadcasters, of course, are only too happy to suckle away at whatever American networks manage to conjure up -- no matter where those networks get their material.
In any case, the networks might as well all haul out carnival barkers and ring announcers to tub-thump their new shows. Because, tonight, we have two entries to get things started. And these two competition/game shows will go head-to-head for much of this week.
In the red corner, hailing from ABC and weighing in with high-stakes gambling and mind-taxing questions, we have a show that was inspired by a TV hit in France -- the one, the only: Duel!
A six-night competition that kicks off with a 90-minute premiere tonight, Duel is hosted by ESPN sports-radio personality Mike Greenberg. He brings together 24 contestants to compete for a pot of more than $1.5 million in a game show that combines the mental acuity of a trivia game with the competitive strategy -- and outright deception -- of a poker tournament.
There are even poker-style "chips" that contestants use to wager against each other as they answer questions. The chips are doled out, of course, by a couple of hot young "Chip Girls."
And, to add to the carnival atmosphere of it all, the contestants even have nicknames -- handles like the Lunch Lady, the Belly Dancer and, yes, the Alligator Wrestler.
8 p.m. ABC, CTV
Meanwhile, over in the blue corner, weighing in from NBC and hailing from an idea that was hatched in Scandinavia, it's none other than a new master of melodic matchups: Clash Of The Choirs!
A four-night musical competition that begins with a two-hour instalment tonight, Clash Of The Choirs recruits American music superstars Michael Bolton, Patti LaBelle, Nick Lachey, Kelly Rowland and Black Shelton to go back to their hometowns -- not to sing, but to assemble amateur choirs.
Yes, ladies and gentlemen, choirs! And these choirs will amaze you! They will entertain you! They will dazzle you and they will uplift you. All in the hopes of getting you to vote for the winner. So, step right up! Hurry!
© Victoria Times Colonist
