) I guess the next on will be Poland then...
Post by blackloch on Mar 17, 2013 14:41:32 GMT -5
This might seem like a bit of a long post, its just something that I actually find quite interesting... Before 1998, the big game shows of the world were mostly American it seems. Speaking from a British perspective, the big shows of the 90s were stuff like Bruce's Price is Right, Family Fortunes (or Feud), Wheel of Fortune the $64,000 question, etc. Even stuff like Catchphrase was originally decended from American stuff (only laster 13 weeks in the US, yet 16 years in its original form in the UK...). Before that, you had shows like Blankety Blank (Match Game), What's My Line and Call My Bluff becoming successful shows in the UK after coming from America. Really, only the serious quizzes which were designed to test knowledge more than give away prizes were designed and made in the UK, with everything else coming from the States.
However, then Millionaire happened, and really since then nothing from America has really sold around the world. Greed was mildly successful internationally, but nothing like the wildfire that WWTBAM became worldwide. Everything else that became as big internationally came from somewhere else in the world (Deal was Dutch, I think, £1,000,000 Drop became somewhat successful and is British), and also more domestic formats began to be created. In the UK, of the major shows, Countdown was originally French, Deal sorta, kinda Dutch (its sort of become its own thing in Britain), but mostly everything else (Millionaire, the Chase, Pointless etc) is British and it is these that are beginning to sell, or have sold, around the world. The only thing from America that could be considered internationally successful was 5th Grader, and that fizzled out after a few years rather than last.
I'm interested in why you guys think this has happened. I think its because by the 90s, the major American producers simply weren't making anything new (the networks dropped daytime, and syndication was dead outside of Wheel of Fortune or Jeopardy), so there was nothing for other countries to buy in. Also, people were getting bored of the formulaic style and wanted something different, which emerged with millionaire and other big money shows that went back to the more straight style that fell away after the scandals of the 1950s. Rather than having questions based around some gimmick (as even shows like Jeopardy do), questions were simply based on how much you knew, and the show was presented very straight.
I dunno if its just me that finds sad stuff like this interesting, but I just was wondering what you guys thought of this general area - why has American networks/production companies really stopped making new shows and have started buying a lot more international formats in?
However, then Millionaire happened, and really since then nothing from America has really sold around the world. Greed was mildly successful internationally, but nothing like the wildfire that WWTBAM became worldwide. Everything else that became as big internationally came from somewhere else in the world (Deal was Dutch, I think, £1,000,000 Drop became somewhat successful and is British), and also more domestic formats began to be created. In the UK, of the major shows, Countdown was originally French, Deal sorta, kinda Dutch (its sort of become its own thing in Britain), but mostly everything else (Millionaire, the Chase, Pointless etc) is British and it is these that are beginning to sell, or have sold, around the world. The only thing from America that could be considered internationally successful was 5th Grader, and that fizzled out after a few years rather than last.
I'm interested in why you guys think this has happened. I think its because by the 90s, the major American producers simply weren't making anything new (the networks dropped daytime, and syndication was dead outside of Wheel of Fortune or Jeopardy), so there was nothing for other countries to buy in. Also, people were getting bored of the formulaic style and wanted something different, which emerged with millionaire and other big money shows that went back to the more straight style that fell away after the scandals of the 1950s. Rather than having questions based around some gimmick (as even shows like Jeopardy do), questions were simply based on how much you knew, and the show was presented very straight.
I dunno if its just me that finds sad stuff like this interesting, but I just was wondering what you guys thought of this general area - why has American networks/production companies really stopped making new shows and have started buying a lot more international formats in?
