Unrequited love

Most game show fans have a neglected favorite, a particular show they love but which never seems to get enough respect. The Rodney Dengerfield show, you might call it. Mine is GSN's remake of Chain Reaction, and I've blogged about it before.

In fact, I've made myself a bore on the GSN boards about the show, constantly begging the network to tape some more episodes. Even after barbaric rerun abuse Chain Reaction delivers good numbers for GSN. It's dirt-cheap, entertaining, popular...oh, I'm making myself a bore again.

So far GSN has left my love for the show unrequited with a new season. But I was happy to see a couple recent news items that mentioned Chain Reaction. This story from a Maryland news site profiles Jeff Amoros, a successful Jeopardy contestant who also won $7,500 on Chain Reaction. That's good money by GSN standards, and it shows that a contestant can succeed at both my favorite types of game shows, quizzers and word games.

The other item is an offbeat Movieline story about five actors who might play Twilight Zone's Rod Serling in the upcoming biopic. Number five on their list is, you guessed it, Dylan Lane. The story identifies him as the host of "Game Show Network’s fine, canceled revamp of the ’80s game Chain Reaction."

Yes, sadly the show was canceled. But it's still mighty fine.