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COVER STORY ARCHIVES Analysis: Drew Carey as host of The Price Is Right Bob Barker on his career 2007 Jeopardy! college champ Cliff Galiher Tribute to Tom Poston More Tributes to Tom Poston Part 1 with Art James GSN executive Kevin Belinkoff on Lingo Kitty Angel of GSN's Cat-Minster $250,000 WWTBAM winner Jeff Jones 2007 Jeopardy! teen champ David Walter Country singer Julie Roberts, Wheel of Fortune Michael Davies, executive producer, WWTBAM Leigh Hampton, executive producer, WWTBAM $100,000 WWTBAM winner Molly Ball Barry Lander of 1 vs. 100 Michele Falco, Player of the Year Scott St. John, Executive of the Year Richard Hayes of All About Faces Ira Skutch, producer of Match Game Natalie Hlavenka of Wheel of Fortune Show Me the Money executive producer Mike Nichols Miguel Ferrer of Celebrity Jeopardy! Tribute to Bud Collyer Geoff Edwards of Treasure Hunt and Jackpot Bob Harris, author of "Prisoner of Trebekistan" Johnny Gilbert, Jeopardy! announcer Bob Goen of That's the Question Ken Jennings, author of "Brainiac" Howie Mandel of Deal or No Deal Pilar Laster of Deal or No Deal Claudia Jordan of Deal or No Deal $1.86 million WWTBAM winner Ed Toutant Network TV's top winner Dr. Kevin Olmstead Kathy Garver of Family Affair Tribute to Mike Douglas Burton Richardson of Family Feud Dylan Lane of Chain Reaction Pat Kiernan of World Series of Pop Culture Author Wesley Hyatt on Emmy-winning game shows Laird MacIntosh of Treasure Hunters Teresa Strasser of How to Get the Guy Ricki Lake of Game Show Marathon Michael Falk, Jeopardy! 2006 Tournament of Champions Winner Is Survivor Slipping? Vanna White of Wheel of Fortune Bob Juch of Millionaire Sheetal Shetty of Deal or No Deal Wink Martindale Did Richard Karn Get the Shaft on Family Feud? Bob Boden, Laura Chambers on Peter Tomarken Bil Dwyer of I've Got a Secret Don Knotts: a TV Legend Leaves Us Robert Purdum: $132,000 Wheel Winner Adam Wade of Musical Chairs Michael Davies: His New Sony Deal Nipsey & Adam: They Were the Pioneers Peter Marshall: 40th anniverary of Hollywood Squares 2005 Player of the Year: Brad Rutter Lin Bolen Betty White Jeopardy! college champion Nico Martinez Deal or No Deal's Scott St. John Harry Friedman, Wheel and Jeopardy! executive producer |
 ELITE EIGHT SET: IT'S OGI'S NIGHT, LEGLER ELIMINATES FRANK SPANGENBERG Ogi Ogas, a half-millionaire from the syndicated Who Wants to Be a Millionaire, swept all four falls from TV's only quiz show female millionaire Nancy Christy in the evening's opener. In the nightcap, a battle of two lieutenants----one formerly from the Navy and a still-existing NYPD officer----saw former quiz show cash king David Legler of Twenty One defeat Jeopardy! favorite Frank Spangenberg. Timing and failure to develop a rhythm in answering specific material against the clock doomed Christy. She was 5-for-8 in the opening round but dwelled a long time on a question in which she ultimately passed. The well-focused Ogas nailed six straight after an opening miss and took a 16.23-second lead. Christy stumbled in the math round, missing five in a row after nailing her first two. She tried no switches, finishing 3-for-8 while Ogas again was content to let his opponent tap out. He was 4-for-4 and added nearly 40 seconds to his total for a commanding 55.87-second advantage. The word round, which figured to be the English teacher's advantage, was not, largely because of the clock pressure. Christy passed twice and missed one before nailing a correct answer, costing her 33 seconds. Ogas had to do little work and went into the finale with an edge of nearly a minute and a half, virtually insurmountable. The graduate student coasted to victory. Christy had to use eight clock-eating passes in the game to only one for Ogas. Keys to Ogi's victory: Virtually as he stated during the halftime interview, Ogas largely watched as Christy struggled to find a rhythm against the clock. He was also a bit modest. Ogas was intensely focused on taking his questions one at a time and once he developed such a significant lead in the seconds, he could afford to play strategy. Both were Millionaire players, so the edge was not unbalanced in prior game show experience. What we are seeing unfold is if a player takes extensive time before passing on a question, that clock is shrinking and the mind games start affecting a contestant's ability to concentrate. Despite those woes, Nancy surprised some people with a contemporary pop culture answer of "milkshake" (remember, she is still teaching eighth graders every day). Nancy's inability to make up ground in the word round, which she figured to be her strong suit, was her undoing. The issue of the "pass" needs to be an individual stat revealed in graphics. To a large degree, extensive passes may be as big a factor in the game as outright misses because players appear to be using up far more time before making that decision, or opting to use a switch.  In the second half, Spangenberg took an extensive amount of time in passing four times in the opening round against Legler and only nailed one of the five questions he tried. Just as with Thom McKee the previous evening, Spangenberg faced contemporary pop culture questions out of his era. Legler had an easy 3-for-4 to take an early 41-second lead.The math round was played on almost even terms. Each man was 4-for-5 but Spangenberg passed twice to Legler's one. The former $1.765 million winner added another three seconds to his total. The word round went to Spangenberg, who scored on all six questions he tried. He used two switches and passed once. The New Yorker added 6.25 seconds to his final round time. However, Legler prevailed with a strong 6-for-7 in the finale. Spangenberg was 8-for-10 but, trailing by 38 seconds, could not make up the deficit. Keys to David's victory: Three big factors, as we see it: we've seen Legler continue to participate in the Game Show Congress trivia competitions and the continued experience, we believe, is significant. Spangenberg is a walking encyclopedia, no doubt, but in this game, you have to call up the information faster than in any other TV competition. Further, as Thom McKee found, contestants in their late 40s or early 50s are going to be at a disadvantage because this show's pop culture questions will largely appeal to the 25-40 age bracket. The second factor for Legler: getting out to a major early lead and then basically trading cards in the math and word rounds. Frank needed to make up at least 20 seconds, instead of six, in the third head-to-head to have any opportunity to stay in the game. However, the number of passes is still an overlooked category here. Using up a half-minute with four early passes may have been more of a fatal flaw for Spangenberg than any other element of the game. Advice to future players: if the question appears hopeless, pass quickly, don't wait seven to eight seconds.With the Elite Eight field set, next weekend's quarterfinals send Ogas into what may be a better-than-expected challenge of top-seeded Brad Rutter (Jeopardy!). Legler faces the formidable Leszek Pawlowicz, who eliminated Millionaire favorite Ed Toutant last week.  PHYLLIS.....IT SUREISN'T......RAHIM; CARPENTER UPENDS McKEE ON GRAND SLAM When Lorenzo Music wrote the theme to the '70s sitcom Phyllis, which depicted the ineptitude of former Mary Tyler Moore Show character Phyllis Lindstrom, he definitely did not have Phyllis Harris in mind. Saturday night, Harris----in her seventh game show competition----easily took the measure of seventh-seeded former Twenty One millionaire Rahim Oberholzer to advance to next week's quarterfinals on GSN's Grand Slam. In the nightcap, a disastrous word round cost Tic Tac Dough legend Thom McKee a slim lead and, ultimately, his first-round match against Who Wants to Be a Millionaire's original $1 million winner (November 1999) John Carpenter. Harris vs. Oberholzer: Harris, 47, a Las Vegas-area mortgage lender, swept the first three falls. She overcame a shaky first round (in which she passed four times, despite winning) to dominate the math round and pile up a 42.86 second lead over Oberholzer in the against-the-dual clock game.  FOR GRAND SLAM SHOWDOWNS Next weekend, eight more challengers----representing decades from the '70s to the current day----vie for the final four quarterfinal slots (7 p.m., Saturday and Sunday, EDT/PDT). TVgameshows.net, which has not seen any advance copies of the tournament, offers predictions for the four showdowns: Dave Legler vs. Frank Spangenberg: Just as was the case with Ed Toutant vs. Pawlowicz Sunday night, this is one of those matchups which, because of seeding based on cash winnings, would probably have been better later in the tournament. Spangenberg was a dominant Jeopardy! player before the money was doubled and was the only player to top $100,000 in a single week in the syndicated era under the original dollar values. He went deep into the series' Ultimate Tournament of Champions in 2005.For this week's Cover Story interview with executive producer Davies, follow the link below.   Miss Francis' gowns by Bonwit Teller © Copyright 2007 TVgameshows.net. All Rights Reserved. |
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McKee vs. Carpenter: In the second half of the doubleheader, the 39-year-old Carpenter and 2006 Game Show Congress Contestant Legend McKee traded blowouts. McKee passed on four questions off the top, costing him nearly 41 seconds. Carpenter easily won with a 31.5 second advantage.
Nancy Christy vs. Ogi Ogas: An interesting showdown of two Meredith Vieira-era WWTBAM megawinners (Christy, TV's only female quiz millionaire, and Ogas a $500,000 champ). Ogi had deja vu from a Jeopardy! Daily Double failure which kept him from pulling the trigger on his $1 million question (to which he knew the answer). Nancy coolly went through her final six questions without a Lifeline and is one of the most well-read players in the entire tournament.
John Carpenter vs. Thom McKee: A classic matchup of two different decades and two different game show formats. Carpenter has been out of the quiz show picture (save a return appearance in the abortive Millionaire Champions Classic in 2000) since his win as the first WWTBAM millionaire in November 1999. McKee, likewise, has never tried another quiz after his record-setting Tic Tac Dough performance of 43 victories over 46 games ($312,700 in winnings).
Phyllis Harris vs. Rahim Oberholzer: Oberholzer, NBC's first-ever millionaire on Twenty One in 2000, is another one who has shied away from another try at the quiz circuit since his seven-figure victory. Harris, on the other hand, may be one of the most competitive people in the entire tournament. Never give Phyllis an inch in any type of trivia or quiz competition because she can carve you up.