What On Earth?-Column #5, October 2002

Well, THIS is the month where everyone shops for the ultimate holiday that brings a WHOLE NEW meaning to the phrase "Trick Or Treat": HALLOWEEN. From candy to costumes, everyone's getting in the spirit. But somewhat we are getting more TRICKS than TREATS than we bargained for. Let's start with the TRICKS.

At the start of the month, an unknown sniper has been snooping around the Washington, DC area, shooting people at random. So far, this guy has been shooting people like crazy, and he's not stopping, and the fact that he doesn't even care is starting to hit everyone by surprise, especially me. I am REALLY surprised at how something like this can happen in DC when security is REALLY tight after 9-11.

Now, we've also learned that Iraq and North Korea are releasing details of any nuclear and any other weapons of mass destruction they may or may not have. Iraq says that they have none, but does that seem to make anyone happy? No. North Korea, meanwhile, says they have some, and will work with the US to make sure that those weapons are gone from THEIR sight and OUR sight, too, because we want to avoid war with these two, and believe me, IT AIN'T EASY.

Speaking of war, it's been exactly ONE year since our war on terrorism began. We've toppled the Taliban, but we've still remnants of them, Al-Qaeda, and Osama Bin Laden to deal with. And believe me, it's NOT easy.

Now, for the TREATS. The World Series is in full swing. The playoff series goes like this: 8 teams play in the first round. This is then narrowed down to 4 teams, and then narrowed down to the final 2, who go on to play in the World Series. Those two teams would be the Anaheim Angels, and the San Francisco Giants, whose got Major League Baseball's NEW home run king, BARRY BONDS! He hit 73 home runs last year, breaking the record set by former St. Louis Cardinals slugger Mark McGwire, who hit 70. HE broke the record set by Roger Maris, who hit 61, by hitting 62. 70 was the NEW record, until Bonds came along.

Many people in the game show community are giving THEIR picks for the new shows. It's now to have my word on the following shows.

"Weakest Link" (Syndicated)-OK, here we are in Season #2. The double stakes round has been dropped, with each chain ending at $25,000 (other dollar amounts remain the same), for a grand prize of $100,000. Nothing else has changed.

"Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?" (Syndicated)-This version is hosted by Meredith Viera, a former "60 Minutes" correspondent and current co-host of "The View," which is being hosted by her, "20/20"'s Barbara Walters, Joy Behar, Star Jones, and Lisa Ling of Old Navy fame. Debbie Manteupoulos, one of the hosts left the show, and Ling took her place. Now back on topic. This show, like "Link," is 30 minutes long, and has eliminated the primetime version's Fastest Finger element (A question is shown with 4 answers, place all 4 in correct order in fastest time to win), which I like, because now, everyone gets a chance to play. Now if they could just bring back the phone game.

"Pyramid"-This game show classic, with 90% of the variations hosted by Dick Clark ($10K, $20K, $50K, New $25K, $100K), is back. Bill Cullen and John Davidson each hosted ONE of the variations (Cullen for $25K, Davidson for $100K). This revival is hosted by Donny Osmond, brother of Marie Osmond. Instead of 7 words in 30 seconds, it's now 6 words in 20 seconds. This version's bonus card is the "SUPER SIX," which like the "New $25K" and "$100K"'s "Mystery 7," awards a prize. But this one has NO mystery common bond. The tie-breaker is played the same way, "Things that begin with the letter (insert 2 letters of the alphabet here)." Now, in the Winner's Circle, on your first trip you go for $10,000. You STILL go for that if you fail on your first attempt. If you SUCCEED, though, you go for $15,000 more, which totals $25,000. ONLY winners of $25,000 will come back for the $100,000 tournament, which unlike the 80's version, does NOT have concern for how much time you've got left on the clock. And ONLY the celebs give the WC clues this time.

"Family Feud"-ANOTHER classic favorite makes its return for a 4th season, only this time with a new set, AND a new host. Louie Anderson, who hosted for the last 3 seasons, is gone, and in comes Richard Karn of Hillshire Farm and Home Improvement fame. The first 2 hosts were Richard Dawson (who hosted a 1994 revival that lasted one season), and Ray Combs. Now, the returning champ factor has returned. Something we saw in Versions 1 and 2 is back. The "play-pass" factor didn't return until 1999, Anderson's first season, and the revival's FIRST season. The only thing that STILL doesn't sit with ANYONE, especially me, is the scoring format: The first 3 rounds of single, the 4th and final, TRIPLE. Hello? Where are the DOUBLE rounds when you need them? I mean, Dawson's first version had 2 single rounds, 2 double rounds, and all subsequent rounds were TRIPLE. Combs had 2 single, 1 double, and all subsequent rounds were triple. Then later in the Combs versions, which carried over into Dawson's second version, 1 single, 1 double, and all subsequent rounds were triple. THOSE ARE MUCH BETTER, AS DID 300 POINTS TO WIN! Now, for Fast Money. The first 2 versions, Fast Money had 15 and 20 seconds on the clock, and $5,000 at stake. Combs then upped the stake to $10,000; which returned for the first 2 seasons of the Anderson version. But early in the Combs version, they had tbe "Bullseye" game. Each bank had $2500 to begin with. Each question was $500 more than the last. In the 1994 version, it was the "Bankroll" game. Same bank, but there was 3 questions, beginning with $500, and subsequent questions were worth $1,000 more, plus ONLY the first member of each family, which had 4 members in this case, answered. EACH of these amounts were doubled within the first few months. Now, all other versions had 5 members. Hmm, when will we get the chance to see 6 members?

"Hollywood Squares"-This is the 5th season for the show, and the FIRST without Whoopi Goldberg as the center square, and executive producer. John Moffitt and Pat Tourk Lee are ALSO out as executive producers, and in come Michael Levitt and Henry Winkler. We've seen various center squares, but we don't have a permanent one yet. Also, the contestants STAND instead of sit. A new bonus round is also up in the making, and is unlike that of the 1986 bonus round. In this bonus round, you see 9 keys to a car on your first day as champ, and a safe with $25,000 in cash your second, etc. But to get to each subsequent bonus prize, you have to win the bonus prizes BEFORE them. Now, you start off with 9 keys. You then have 30 seconds to answer as many questions about the stars, using the "agree-disagree" format. Each correct answer takes away a "bad" key. Each day you return as champ, if you haven't won that bonus prize, one key is taken away. As always, the more bad keys removed, the bigger the chance at winning. So far, so good.

OK, I will just end it right here. I'm sure many of you are wondering: Is the candy your children get really safe? Well, remember, ALWAYS, ALWAYS, ALWAYS check the wrappers. If you see any openings, EVEN IF THEY ARE SO SMALL to view under a microscope, GET RID OF IT! And you thought ALL candy was safe? WHAT ON EARTH!, or in John Stossel's words, GIVE ME A BREAK!

This is John Lee telling you to have a SAFE AND HAPPY HALLOWEEN, and no, I don't have any candy to give out, but I'll just give you my gratitude for reading this, and say, "Thank you for coming. Now GO HOME!"