Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2020/01/21/edited-down-to-only-content-t.html
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That’s great. I cut a similar project, removing all the talking from an episode of Colombo (starring Leonard Nimoy!). It’s called Dumb Colombo. https://vimeo.com/54250448
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Edited down to the essentials, this episode of The Price is Right is only 11 minutes long
False advertising, methinks, since absolutely nothing about that annoying squeal fest is essential. Harrumph!
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Definitely par for the course for game shows. It’s worth going to a taping sometime. The ones I’ve been to shoot a week of episodes in a single afternoon. There’s maybe 5 minutes of actual content per half-hour of air time. The rest is crowd shots, commercial breaks, clapping interludes, voiceovers, recaps, canned previews, etc. When you see it being made, it’s remarkable for how little content there really is (and by extension how profitable these shows must be).
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Eleven minutes of actual content in an hour of Battle Bots might set a new high-water mark.
I have a buddy that attended a taping of The Price is Right. He said the crowd seating area looks a lot smaller in person. He came home empty-handed but the friend he was with won the Showcase Showdown.
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Thanks, that was fun.
That Columbo, he’s no dumbo! 
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CoDumbo, if you will. Interesting.
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Friendly but ultimately pointless banter is the primary reason for TV hosts to exist. Otherwise the job could be outsourced to an AI.
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Yah, the shows I’ve been to, the experience was similar- everything is way way smaller than you expect. Just a small soundstage with a handful of bleachers on one side and an insane amount of complicated lighting.
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I think you could take a 2 hour American Idol type show cut out all the bs and have a nice little 15 minute music show.
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But then how would we know how to react to the talent if we didn’t have constant cutaways to a judge, an audience member, then a judge again, then to those people watching from backstage, then to a judge again, etc etc ad nauseam?
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404-Bot should never have been given that job anyway.
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this is why Jeopardy is the only gameshow that matters.
sure, there’s maybe 10 minutes of ads, but that’s a given, unfortunately. the show intro and the interview segment are comparatively lightning quick versus other shows. the rest of the show, short as that may be, is packed with with the fastest gameplay on tv. if Wheel of Fortune moved that quickly, there’d be like 30 puzzles per game.
eta: this is exactly why Alex was recommending a sportscaster as his replacement. your normal, jocular gameshow host can’t keep up with the pace.
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I would like to see some of those “History” Channel shows edited down to just the facts, like that annoying “Oak Island” show where it takes them a half hour to tell us they found a brass button that “might” be from the 18th century.
(I don’t usually watch TV, but if someone is watching I find I get sucked into that show and hate myself for it.)
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Ever since his run I’ve thought Austin Rogers would make a good host.
This is why I like British panel quiz shows. Winning doesn’t matter and the content is funny.
Also the one actual game show I really like is Only Connect (at least when the sequences are not captains of cricket teams/hosts of bbc radio shows). Also much liking for University Challenge which I pay attention to when the wife is watching.
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You will either love or hate Pointless.
It plays the opposite way to Family Feud/Fortunes, the more obscure your answer the less you score. That’s pretty much it, with some vaguely witty pinning banter from the hosts.
Total Marmite telly.
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It doesn’t show up on youtube like the others. I do watch it when I get chance. I usually see the celebrity episodes.
Mock The Week, Have I Got News For You, QI, and 8 Out Of 10 Cats Does Countdown are the most watched ones.
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