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Gameshowmania Crosses Border into Canada

Winnipeg – At a recent gathering of Canadian television “executives”, it was announced that the concept of cash-grabbing game shows would be broadcasting its ugly head in Canada, too. The American shows Who wants to be a Millionaire, Greed, 21 and the newly announced Who would like to Marry a Multimillionaire have drawn unprecedented, yet unintelligent, audiences so the Canadian “execs” could not resist the temptation.

Unfortunately, Canadian television has a history of producing the lamest game shows. Definition, a Password rip-off, pitted ordinary Canadians, teamed with Canadian “celebrities”, against each other with the promise of a secondhand refrigerator if they were successful. On the other hand, Party Game pitted alleged Canadian entertainers against each other for the chance at winning nothing but our pity.

Undaunted, Canadian television will attempt to bring the game show out of ill repute and onto our primetime screens.

CBC has developed Who wants to own a Multimillion-Dollar Broadcasting System as a mid-winter replacement for Made in Canada. Currently, its Drop the Beat, is missing the beat and should be pulled before we start believing the Hip-Hop is something other than a rabbit’s mode of ambulation.

Not to be outdone, CTV, a.k.a. Baton Broadcasting, has already begun its own series of ads featuring its news anchors. In this series of spots, viewers get to go on the same trips that millionaires would, with their favourite CTV personality but, due to budget restrictions, the participants have to pay their own way.

At TSN, in what is probably the toughest of the new shows being pitched, participants try to Be a Millionaire Curler.

The fledgling CTV Sportsnet has decided to offer contestants a chance to earn their fortune at Hopscotch: The Single Malt Version.

Taking matters seriously, The Comedy Network is offering to pick up the syndication rights of any contestant that can develop a strong following in the comedy club-circuit and then leave the country to earn fame and fortune in Hollywood. Mistakenly announced as something new, The Comedy Network’s Go Down There to be a Millionaire will replace Mike Bullard when his nightly talk show goes off the air for the spring and summer, as usual.

Finally and barely worth mentioning, Canada’s Little Network That Could, Canwest Global, is, simply, going to simulcast the American shows and save money for its sister-network, Prime, which is known as The All-Reruns Network.

Primetime Hockey Network

Conservative TV Network

We know we CanWest

The All-Games Network