Been there, done that

Just watched the sneak peek of GSN's Pyramid. This blog entry's title probably gives you a good idea of my overall reaction. The show was so retro that I felt like I was watching an episode of Dick Clark's Pyramid with a new host and a glossier set.

Which is hardly terrible, of course. Pyramid is one of the all-time classics, and GSN was obviously afraid to tamper with the tried and true. The excruciating faithfulness to the old Clark format will make many classics fans happy. But I was left vaguely disappointed. If you're just going to do exactly the same old thing, why bother?

Still, everybody in the GSN version was competent and entertaining. Mike Richards, despite the grief he catches from some The Price is Right purists, did a fine job as the host. He cracked wise and even replayed the old Clark bit of offering perfect clues after a failed Winners Circle. But then everything was like the Clark version. Which has to be the first and last word on this GSN effort.

Meanwhile, I finally caught an episode of Beat the Chefs. I went into the experience with a lot of doubts, mainly because I hate to cook (but love to eat). Funny thing, I enjoyed the show. Sure, host Matt Rogers shouted too much, and the trash talk between the amateur cooks and the pro chefs got old immediately. But the show moved along briskly and even held the interest of anti-culinary moi.