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We Americans love games. No matter how big or small we are all suckers for a little competition or the chance to win fabulous prizes or what’s behind door number 3. Everything from a harmless game of gin rummy to high stakes poker, we all seem to just love to play.
What got me thinking about games this week was a couple of things. First of all it was my son’s Alex’s 12th birthday on July 2nd, a date he shares with both his All Star Baseball Manager Terry Ruckle and his wife Jody. Of course those two are not turning 12. Terry is turning 40 and according to my wife, Jody is turning 25, so Happy Birthday to one and all.
Secondly, Alex decided, against my wishes, to request money for his birthday to get another video game console, the Nintendo Game Cube. Apparently his Playstation 1 & 2, and their combined 50+ games, were not supplying a sufficient amount of gaming challenges. It is either that or the fact that most of his friends, like Ryan and Adrian, have multiple consoles. Some of them having all of the big three, Playstation, Nintendo, and X Box. It’s kind of a 12-year-old boy’s version of keeping up with the Jones’. At this point I don’t care what the reason is, I’ve given up fighting this fight. It’s like they say, choose your battles wisely.
It’s always been easy for me to understand the allure that most kids find in these games. Long before I had kids, I had an Atari console and played it all the time. Given the current video game technology I’m surprised that kids ever stop playing them. When we, as parents, protest the long playing times, we really need to think about the last time we got together with our bridge group or went to Las Vegas. My guess is that there weren’t any time limits put on us there. Sure we may be the adults, and kids need rules, but if someone came up and told us in the middle of a hot hand of poker that we had to stop playing we would, as our kids do, scream bloody murder. We play games to enjoy ourselves and so do our kids. Playing video games seems like a great way to unwind.
And then there are TV game shows which have reached such a high popularity and cult status that they have their own network on cable, the aptly named The Game Show Network or GSN. I have to say that it must have some subliminal message in the background, because once you start watching it becomes addictive.
This is another phenomenon I am having a hard time understanding because of the programming that they have on. Unless you are interested in what the game show landscape was like in the 50’s through the 90’s, with a few new shows thrown in, I would think that this network would have folded long ago.
But there I sit watching Gene Rayburn on Match Game ‘74’ trying to explain to my kids who Richard Dawson and Charles Nelson Riley are and what they did that made them celebrities. Dawson is a lot easier than Riley, but if you want a challenge give it a try. If that’s too easy give Betty White and Fannie Flagg a shot. I guess my kids view it like a scientist seeing an ancient cave painting for the first time, because most of these “celebrities” aren’t even a blip on the radar anymore, or they have passed away.
Like I said, there are some new shows on GSN interspersed with the old favorites and some are pretty entertaining. Russian Roulette, Cram, Street Smarts, and Funny Money are a few but they pale in comparison to the granddaddy of all game shows, the one that all others are measured by, that unstoppable juggernaut, The Price is Right.
Mark Goodson and Bill Todman, the creators of this show were geniuses, at least from a commerce standpoint. They must be absolute gods to the people who advertise their products on TV. This show, with Bob Barker and his beauties, has been on the air longer than any other game show, 31 years and what that equates to is a 31-year commercial.
Think about it and how the game is structured. Just in case you haven’t had a chance in the past 31 years to see the show or you are one of those fools who thinks it’s cool not to watch TV, let me fill you in on the concept. You have a show that is based on pricing games. What you are pricing is generally what you are playing for. So the majority of each game is comprised of advertising those products via descriptions. After each game the show breaks for another commercial.
How Goodman and Todman ever sold this show is a miracle. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall during that pitch meeting. An even bigger miracle is that this show is so loved that it recently has been featured in prime time, has won 13 Emmy Awards, and shows no signs of stopping any time soon. I guess Bob Barker doesn’t believe in playing time limits either.
So as long as it isn’t interfering with schoolwork, chores, or baseball practice, think about Vegas and Barker’s Beauties before you go to pull the plug in the middle of your kids next round of Monkey Ball.
The Shrub Speaks: We're laying the groundwork for a national campaign -- a national campaign that I believe will result in a great victory in November 2002. -- Tampa, Florida, Jun. 30, 2003
BD’s response – This one speaks for itself.
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