美国国家公共电台 NPR TV Networks Bring Back Game Shows 'Battle Of The Network Stars,' 'The Gong Show'

 

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

There are things I know I should be paying attention to. And then...

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "BATTLE OF THE NETWORK STARS")

JOE TESSITORE: As Bronson Pinchot and Nolan Gould will take it home...

CORNISH: ...There's this.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "BATTLE OF THE NETWORK STARS")

TESSITORE: Swimming relay on the line.

CORNISH: I'm at my desk, looking at a clip of "Battle Of The Network Stars" on ABC, which I pretty much remember being on in the '70s and '80s. Clearly it's been brought back to life.

(SOUNDBITE OF TV SHOW, "BATTLE OF THE NETWORK STARS")

CARI CHAMPION: It was a very tight finish. How were you able to pull it off?

BRONSON PINCHOT: I didn't care anymore about living (laughter).

CORNISH: The thing is, there are a bunch more of these game shows that have been revamped this summer. There is "Match Game," "$100,000 Pyramid" and even "The Gong Show." I don't know why they're back, but you know who will - Linda Holmes and Glen Weldon. They're on our Pop Culture Happy Hour team. So I'm going to walk up to historic studio 44 and find out from them what's going on with these retro game shows.

LINDA HOLMES, BYLINE¹: (Laughter) Yeah, I don't know. I feel like the, like...

GLEN WELDON, BYLINE: Audie Cornish.

CORNISH: Hello.

HOLMES: Audie Cornish.

WELDON: Hey, how are you?

HOLMES: Welcome.

WELDON: Thanks for coming.

HOLMES: It's always good to see you.

CORNISH: I have so many questions for you all. All right, so maybe you guys can help explain to me what I just witnessed because it looked like Kim Fields or, like, Tootie from "The Facts Of life" and Bronson Pinchot (laughter)...

HOLMES: From "Perfect Strangers."

CORNISH: ...From "Perfect Strangers" - like, some '80s and '90s TV staples² were, like, in a swimming competition against young stars who I actually don't know very well.

HOLMES: The kid from "Modern Family" used to be the little kid, and now he's the awkward, tall teenager.

CORNISH: Sure, sure. But they had kayaks in a pool. And it was a competition show I didn't understand.

HOLMES: Oh, yeah, yeah.

CORNISH: So "Battle Of The Network Stars" used to be battle between networks.

HOLMES: Right, right. It used...

CORNISH: What was I watching?

HOLMES: It used to be CBS versus³ ABC versus NBC. But now that there's a million networks and they won't loan each other talent, they just do it as a general - most of them are retro people. So they'll do, like, TV kids versus TV sitcom⁵ stars. And mostly it's the old-timers on it.

CORNISH: Is that the default now? Like, with these other game shows, is there a lot of B, C and - I'll say it - D celebrities⁶ who are on these shows as contestants⁷?

HOLMES: Oh, yeah.

WELDON: Yeah, a natural end for "Battle Of The Network Stars." Certainly you miss the old-school. You miss Howard Cosell, the sinewy⁸, panther-like grace of Mr. Telly Savalas. You miss that.

(LAUGHTER)

WELDON: In its place, you get these C-list celebrities, new and old. But competition exposes character. So you could watch one of these C-list celebrities go onto "Fallon" and tell a canned anecdote⁹, or you could see them try and fail to dunk Mr. Joey Lawrence.

HOLMES: Yeah, or you could see Joey Lawrence miss 25 consecutive¹⁰ shots in basketball. And it's, like, he's angry but only ironically, but he's also really angry.

CORNISH: But he's also really...

WELDON: Yeah.

CORNISH: Yeah. You guys are making my goof-off-at-the-desk time sound really profound, and I really appreciate that (laughter).

HOLMES: Yeah. Glen can always explain to you how you can redeem¹¹ your desk time by finding how it reveals character.

CORNISH: But what about all the young people who have no idea that Bronson Pinchot was on "Perfect Strangers," you know, like, in the early '90s or whatever? Like, what do the networks get out of putting out these people?

HOLMES: I don't think that young, cool people...

(LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: ...Are the target audience of the revival¹² of "Battle Of The Network Stars."

CORNISH: Burn, burn.

HOLMES: I think that old, bored people like me are the target audience of "Battle Of The Network Stars." And I feel successfully targeted.

WELDON: And you know, it's people who are watching television in the summer. Who's that - families who are gathering¹³ around the television because it's - they're tired, and they're hot. And they've been vacationing with their family all day. And they want something that's a known quantity.

HOLMES: And also, it's social, right? These are things that you watch in groups or, at the very least, with the phony group that is Twitter because watching, let's say, "Battle Of The Network Stars" alone is kind of the drinking alone of television.

(LAUGHTER)

HOLMES: It might be a bad sign. So you want to be sharing your impressions of, did you catch that Lisa Whelchel doing the kayak...

WELDON: Yeah.

HOLMES: ...Because it's really fun.

WELDON: And something like the return of "The Gong Show" - it's never meant to be good. It's meant to be spectacle. And spectacle must be shared.

CORNISH: All right. So before I have to go back downstairs to the newsroom, are there two shows each of you could recommend?

HOLMES: I think we both are appreciators of "Battle Of The Network Stars."

WELDON: Absolutely.

HOLMES: So that would be one for sure.

WELDON: And definitely "Match Game," which is now hosted by Alec Baldwin. It used to be hosted by Gene⁴ Rayburn back in the day, back in the '70s. It was all very shag carpeting and boozy, where celebrities try to match their answers to regular schmoes. That has a certain basic appeal because the idea behind the show is that they are relaxed, and they're not on in a way that they would be if they were on a talk show.

HOLMES: Yeah.

CORNISH: OK, two solid picks.

HOLMES: Yeah.

CORNISH: (Laughter) Linda Holmes of NPR's Pop Culture Happy Hour, thanks so much.

HOLMES: Thanks, Audie.

CORNISH: Glen Weldon, thank you.

WELDON: Thank you.

(SOUNDBITE OF KEN BICHEL'S "MATCH GAME THEME")

1 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

2 staples   

n.（某国的）主要产品( staple的名词复数 )；钉书钉；U 形钉；主要部份v.用钉书钉钉住( staple的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The anvil onto which the staples are pressed was not assemble correctly. 订书机上的铁砧安装错位。 来自辞典例句
• I'm trying to make an analysis of the staples of his talk. 我在试行分析他的谈话的要旨。 来自辞典例句

3 versus   

prep.以…为对手，对；与…相比之下

参考例句：

• The big match tonight is England versus Spain.今晚的大赛是英格兰对西班牙。
• The most exciting game was Harvard versus Yale.最富紧张刺激的球赛是哈佛队对耶鲁队。

4 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

5 sitcom   

n.情景喜剧，（广播、电视的）系列幽默剧

参考例句：

• This sitcom is produced in cooperation with Hong Kong TV.这部连续剧是同香港电视台联合制作的。
• I heard that a new sitcom is coming out next season.我听说下一季会推出一个新的情境喜剧。

6 celebrities   

n.（尤指娱乐界的）名人( celebrity的名词复数 )；名流；名声；名誉

参考例句：

• He only invited A-list celebrities to his parties. 他只邀请头等名流参加他的聚会。
• a TV chat show full of B-list celebrities 由众多二流人物参加的电视访谈节目

7 contestants   

n.竞争者，参赛者( contestant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The competition attracted over 500 contestants representing 8 different countries. 这次比赛吸引了代表8个不同国家的500多名参赛者。
• Two candidates are emerging as contestants for the presidency. 两位候选人最终成为总统职位竞争者。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 sinewy   

adj.多腱的，强壮有力的

参考例句：

• When muscles are exercised often and properly,they keep the arms firm and sinewy.如果能经常正确地锻炼肌肉的话，双臂就会一直结实而强健。
• His hard hands and sinewy sunburned limbs told of labor and endurance.他粗糙的双手，被太阳哂得发黑的健壮四肢,均表明他十分辛勤，非常耐劳。

9 anecdote   

n.轶事，趣闻，短故事

参考例句：

• He departed from the text to tell an anecdote.他偏离课文讲起了一则轶事。
• It had never been more than a family anecdote.那不过是个家庭趣谈罢了。

10 consecutive   

adj.连续的，联贯的，始终一贯的

参考例句：

• It has rained for four consecutive days.已连续下了四天雨。
• The policy of our Party is consecutive.我党的政策始终如一。

11 redeem   

v.买回，赎回，挽回，恢复，履行（诺言等）

参考例句：

• He had no way to redeem his furniture out of pawn.他无法赎回典当的家具。
• The eyes redeem the face from ugliness.这双眼睛弥补了他其貌不扬之缺陷。

12 revival   

n.复兴，复苏，（精力、活力等的）重振

参考例句：

• The period saw a great revival in the wine trade.这一时期葡萄酒业出现了很大的复苏。
• He claimed the housing market was showing signs of a revival.他指出房地产市场正出现复苏的迹象。

13 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。