Mr. Boden and his originals

BuzzerBlog has posted a fond remembrance of Friend or Foe, one of the six-pack of GSN shows generally called the "Boden originals." The sixsome debuted in 2002-03 when Bob Boden was the programming veep at GSN. They're already acquiring that patina of nostalgic memory which seems so important for game shows to Internet posters.

In truth the six were a very mixed bag. I can't agree at all with Alex Davis' high opinion of Friend or Foe, which I thought was an irritating lie-fest with obnoxious contestants. I'll admit that Kennedy was the perfect host for the show, though her sardonic persona could get old fast, too. Wintuition was an earnest quizzer that did no great harm. But boredom kicked in early and often.

In the mid-range were Whammy and Cram. The first was a competent remake of Press Your Luck and it still gets time on the GSN schedule. But the show shared its predecessor's crucial problem: the gameplay was essentially pushing a button and seeing what happened. Michael Larson was the only guy who ever brought any real intelligence to the game.

Cram was my guilty pleasure, before GSN ran it into the ground in the second season. A cheesy combination of silly stunts and sillier questions, the show kept my attention for a half-hour, even if I felt stupider at the end than at the beginning. (I know, that's not a difficult feat for me.)

The gems, of course, were Lingo and Russian Roulette. Yeah, I'm a sucker for word games and quizzers. But these two were among the best ever in their categories. GSN improved greatly on the original Lingo with a quicker pace and terrific bonus round. And who could resist the exit gimmick on Russian Roulette? The losing contestants couldn't resist gravity, anyway.