Other stuff

You wouldn't know it from the Google news cache, but a few other things are happening in the game show world besides Watson the super gizmo. My first item doesn't even concern our little genre. But it affects what used to be a game show network.

GSN's non-game, non-competition, non-traditional, non-everything comedy show with Drew Carey has been delayed until April 11. Maybe the improv players didn't generate enough funny, so they have to tape some more material. The show will get the 8:00 PM and 11:00 PM timeslots. Look for even more slots throughout the day as GSN bets the house on Drew and company. And GSN viewers only have to sit through two more months of pre-debut promos!

Poor Discovery mistimed their new Cash Cab seasons with Ben Bailey and Beth Melewski. The debuts have been sadly lost in the endless Jeopardy hype about Watson. But TV Squad did take time to interview the rubber-faced Mr. Bailey. They even quizzed Ben about Valentine's Day. He missed two questions, which means he's still in the cab. He also sounded a lot more relaxed about his association with the show. In the past he sometimes seemed a little testy because people only knew him as a game show host and not as a stand-up comic.

Wheel of Fortune is running a "teen team" week. I caught the first episode last night and watched a couple seventeen-year-olds walk away with fifty grand. Hey, it's ten times what Watson won last night. A San Mateo site has put up a cheerful story about the lucky duo.

Pat Sajak hit the five grand wedge on the final spin - as he always tries to do - and the kids copped eighteen thousand in the round to score a come-from-behind win. Then they solved the bonus puzzle for another thirty large. The money will go for college, they say. If I were that young and wealthy, I'd spend a lot of the loot on beer. That's where most of my money went in college.