NOW HERE COMES THE BIG (BUT NOT NECESSARILY BAD) GAMEPLAY TWISTS: ![]() Speed Round prize: $250ģrd CR: $300 for every word guessed correctly. Speed Round prize: $150Ģnd CR: $200 for every word guessed correctly. The monetary amounts for the first three ‘Chain Reaction’ games are:ġst CR: $100 for every word guessed correctly. If the team doesn’t guess the Speed Round correctly the opposing teams gets one chance to steal it and its pre-assigned total. During this Speed Round the top and bottom words are revealed and the first letters of the middle words are revealed. Completing the seven-letter chain reaction allows the team to go for the Speed Round where they have ten seconds to guess the two words in the middle of a four-word chain reaction. If they guess the right word they win the amount of money assigned to that round. If the player fails to give the correct word control passes to the other team. Players from each team (in their respective turns) can choose to go above or below a word on the board and see the next letter. Two teams (team red and team blue) of three contestants (all civilians) take turns guessing words (seven in this version) that are related to one another. GAMEPLAY: The core of ‘Chain Reaction’s’ gameplay remains virtually unchanged. Occasionally the director cut to a jib overhead shot of the set or a CU of Tim Vincent, but for most of the game the CG letters from the Chain Reaction share equal billing with the teams of contestants trying to solve them. Through most of the length of all three games I watched the screen was split three ways: half of the screen (the right side) was filled with the ongoing Chain Reaction, while the left side was split between two shots of the red and blue teams or a medium/CU shot of the contestant whose turn it is to guess the correct word. Throw in lights on a blue canvas that bathes the camera-left side of the set in red and the camera-right side in blue, and voala! Like Lingo the real action is on the TV screen via computer-generated graphics though, not the set. Now, in-between these two, add a similar-looking podium with a vertical purple (!) neon light/lightsaber for the host to stand behind. Imagine two gigantic ice blocks the size of a Family Feud podium for the three-member teams to stand behind, each with a single horizontal neon tube in the middle that looks like a frozen Star Wars lightsaber. SET: considering it was thrown together at the last minute and shoved into a tiny corner of Sony’s gigantic (and coooooold!) studio the set’s minimalism actually worked to the game’s advantage. He didn't know who the host was though, but a production assistant told me it was the Cullen version. After the tapings were over I asked Tim if he saw old 'Chain Reaction' shows for research and he said yes, he had seen a couple. There were lots of tape stoppages (normal for a gameshow pilot) but Tim got a couple of solid adlibs involving the new blindfold end game (‘Basic Instinct 2’) and consolation of the losing team (group hug!). That’s Tim in a nutshell, and even though he lacks gameshow hosting experience these ‘Chain Reaction’ pilots showed the man has camera presence and potential when (or if?) he detaches himself from the teleprompter. Imagine Distraction host Jimmy Carr a few inches taller, a few pounds lighter and with his naughty comments toned down to a minimum (but not completely absent). HOST: The host of the ‘Chain Reaction’ pilots was Tim Vincent from Access Hollywood. Too bad there were only a handful of audience members left (including relatives from some of the contestants) but that only left more pizza and sodas for the audience members that stayed ‘till the end. This last pilot was by far the best of the three shows taped since contestants, technical staff and host had gotten over their initial jitters/kinks and delivered a nail-bitter competition. The first two pilots were taped with two three-player teams, and the last pilot featured the winning teams from the first two shows going at it. The reason for the lengthy taping schedule (besides the usual stoppage of tape for technical or other reasons) was that three pilots were taped on the same day. LONG HOURS: Taping started at 2:30PM and wrapped around 7:45PM. ![]() If properly handled and promoted though, this could be the GSN equivalent of the second coming of Lingo. ![]() Please remember that the following are (a) impressions from a TV show still in development that could substantially change in its final form, and that (b) there’s still no guarantee the show will make it to air. I also got to meet a few fellow board members (you know who you are!). I attended the taping of GSN’s Chain Reaction pilot (or should I say ‘pilots’) this afternoon at Sony Studios in New York City.
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