One show and only one show

Been a while since I visited Matt Ottinger's Invision board. But when I stopped by yesterday, an interesting thread had begun. The topic: "If you could pick one show, and only one show that GSN has shown in the past that you would like to see return."

As you might expect on Matt's board, almost all the answers were oldies from the '70s, '80s, even earlier. Press Your Luck, The Joker's Wild, Now You See It, Password, Tic Tac Dough, etc. You get the idea. Matt's board is a redoubt of the older-is-better crowd among game show fans. That's a picture of Bill Cullen on the masthead, after all.

My pick is getting some age on it, too, but it doesn't go back quite that far. I tipped it off in my earlier post about a similar format from Israel. Yep, it's my long-lost love Russian Roulette.

The show combined tough questions, an interesting challenge format, a great exit gimmick, a super-competent host, and an enormously suspenseful bonus round. What's not to like? It sure beats Tic Tac Dough, anyway.

Sadly, GSN did try repeats of the show a few years ago and they bombed. GSN's audience has moved on. They're big fans of shows like Richard Karn's Family Feud. I can understand that. On Karn Feud a laughing Richard walks onto a brightly colored set. The contestants shake hands, treat each other with respect, and play a fun little game that doesn't require a postgraduate degree.

On Russian Roulette an unsmiling Mark Walberg appears on a dark, foreboding set. The contestants trade trash talk, challenge each other with hard questions, and whoop it up when their opponents fall through the floor.

So which show is more likely to appeal to GSN's grandmotherly audience? That's an easy question, Mark. But at least I can remember Russian Roulette fondly and check some of the videos at YouTube.