'Millionaire,' 'Weakest Link' gone but not forgotten

By Mike Hughes
Gannett News Service

Three years ago, while most networks were in their August hibernation, ABC found a sudden surprise.

Anne Robinson of NBC's "The Weakest Link" achieved fame in America with her line, "You are the weakest link, goodbye." The show will soon end its summer run on NBC, but may return in a series of specials. Gannett News Service

ABC has yanked "Millionaire" from its summer schedule and "The Weakest Link" will soon expire on its original network, NBC.

"It was greed that killed them," says Bob Boden who, ironically, had some brief success producing a competitor called "Greed." Still, there are aftershocks.

Look around TV and you'll see the results of that game-show comeback.

"Millionaire" will return this fall as a half-hour daily show that will be syndicated to individual stations, on a non-network basis.

"I think it's better at a half-hour," says producer Michael Davies. "Going to hours might have been what hurt it, even more than running it too often."

"Weakest Link," meanwhile, will finish its summer run on NBC. In the show's final weeks there, host Anne Robinson is facing Elvis impersonators, members of a large family, celebrity look-alikes and more. Meanwhile, "Weakest Link" also has reruns on Pax TV.

And it's already in non-network syndication with 315 new half-hours hosted by George Gray, who retains Robinson's attitude, if not her wardrobe.

"I look lousy in a black leather dress," he jokes.

Neither show will have a regular network spot next season but both may return as specials. Meanwhile, more quiz shows are available. In syndication, "Jeopardy" and "Wheel of Fortune" still rule. This fall, "Pyramid" will be revived with Donny Osmond as host. "Family Feud" will switch to Richard Karn ("Home Improvement") as host. "Hollywood Squares" will start alternating center squares (Whoopi Goldberg is leaving), but Tom Bergeron remains as host.

"The guy is so charming and clever," says producer Michael Levitt, "but he never gets in someone's way."

And on cable, game shows have their own channel. The Game Show Network started in December 1992, when TV games had hit bottom. It now reaches 46 million homes.

Boden took over as programming vice president a year ago and added new shows alongside the reruns. That includes "Whammy," "Friend or Foe" and "Russian Roulette," complete with losers plunging through the floor.

The newcomer is "Lingo," weekdays beginning tomorrow. (For all of these programs, the stations run and rerun episodes throughout the week. Check your local listings.) Contestants scramble for the right five-letter word; "it's addictive," Boden says.

His other shows have youthful hosts. Mark Wahlberg ("Roulette,") Todd Newton ("Whammy") and the mono-named Kennedy ("Foe").

"Lingo," however, has a veteran.

"Chuck Woolery came to us and asked if he could host a show," Boden says. "My answer was, 'Anything you want.' "

So Woolery heads "Lingo," which was created in America, died quickly, then became a hit for 12 years in Holland. Now it's being imported; many current game shows originated in England.

"This is amazing," Gray says. "We stole half their country 200 years ago. (Now) we're taking their shows."

Gray had been in England to work on "Junkyard Wars," when he saw the British version of "Weakest Link," with Robinson hosting and heaping abuse on the losers. "(It) was this little obscure show," Gray says. "I thought I had discovered this jewel."

Other Americans had noticed it, too. When "Millionaire" (a British transplant) scored, other shows were sought; at the peak, "Weakest Link" had two weekly hours on NBC and "Millionaire" had four on ABC.

" 'Millionaire' got overexposed," Boden says. "They got obsessed with stunts. I'm sure ABC didn't want to kill 'Millionaire.' It was the bankroll; to destroy a show like that is wasteful."

Davies tends to agree. There were too many celebrity editions, he says. The show strayed too far from the sheer drama of an ordinary person with everything at stake.

For the new syndicated version to be hosted by Meredith Vieira he'll skip the "fastest finger" method of choosing contestants and deciding who gets into the hot seat. Instead, his people have traveled the country, choosing players.

"We want a real cross-section not just the people you usually see," Davies says.

Boden agrees with dumping a show's frills.

"Simple is best," he says.

It always has been. "A lot of great shows have come from core concerns," Boden says. " 'How much does that cost? What does he do for a living? What's his secret?' "