Is anyone watching Duel? [Text View]

LoadStar

12-19-2007, 09:03 PM

I like it a lot. I don't mind Mike as the host at all, I think he's doing a rather good job. I think it's interesting enough for an all week show, but think it could overstay it's welcome after that point. If they had kept every night at 90 minutes, I'm not sure I could make it through the entire week.

I actually liked tonight's game better... there was no useless time filler like having the contestants repeat exactly what was on the screen during the contestant selection phase, for instance.

The only time I really got annoyed was on tonight's show where they had the belly dancer as the contestant. She was obnoxious to no end.

IndyJones1023

12-19-2007, 09:05 PM

I find the host's repetitiveness...uh, repeatitive.

LoadStar

12-19-2007, 09:16 PM

I find the host's repetitiveness...uh, repeatitive.

It was much worse on the first two days, but it wasn't so bad today. And I think a little of that goes with the territory of being a game show host, there's not a whole lot of variation on what they say.

IndyJones1023

12-19-2007, 09:20 PM

Why can he only refer to contestants by their occupation?

jrm01

12-19-2007, 10:08 PM

Didn't anyone else have problems with the show running over on Monday and Tuesday and Tivo not catching the end of it?

After reading a few other posts I just realized that Mon & Tue were 90 minutes long and I only got 60 minutes. Don't know if my guide was wrong, or I had conflicts that caused clipping.

mattack

12-19-2007, 10:32 PM

Didn't anyone else have problems with the show running over on Monday and Tuesday and Tivo not catching the end of it?

Not directly related, but I hope they started tonight's episode with the answer to the question last night..

It sure *seemed* like he was going to a regular break at the end of last night's show, but the credits showed, and they didn't even refer to the answer to the current question being on the next show.

TiVo'Brien

12-20-2007, 08:10 AM

I gotta laugh at the MC getting all tense and saying, "Quiet please audience" when all the audience is doing is giggling. :p Like they're going to giggle the answer in secret giggle code.

cheesesteak

12-20-2007, 08:42 AM

When does Mike Greenberg go home? He's on Mike & Mike from 6-10 am, then does a Sports Center.

flyers088

12-20-2007, 09:13 AM

When does Mike Greenberg go home? He's on Mike & Mike from 6-10 am, then does a Sports Center.

Weren't these shows taped a couple of weeks ago? I though Mike was out of the morning show for a couple of days a few weeks ago to tape. They had the guest co host of the day to with Golic.

MitchO

12-20-2007, 09:19 AM

I'm annoyed by the number of times I can answer the question with one chip and neither of the contestants do.

"Vermin .. Vermicelli! Sound it out!" :rolleyes:

scooterboy

12-20-2007, 09:37 AM

I'm annoyed by the number of times I can answer the question with one chip and neither of the contestants do.

"Vermin .. Vermicelli! Sound it out!" :rolleyes:

Vermin is not worms. Vermi is worms. I was yelling at the blond last night for the same reason!

MitchO

12-20-2007, 09:50 AM

Vermin is not worms. Vermi is worms. I was yelling at the blond last night for the same reason!

Yes, I know, I indicated "eye rolling guy" because her "logic" just .. wasn't.

I said "Vermicelli" (and "West Virginia") before the choices were up. I also didn't understand the logic on the choices for the Gulf Coast + Pacific Ocean question (the one who went low possibly didn't count Alaska and Hawaii?), and because of my job, can easily rattle off the states that start with M or N, so I knew there would be more than the choices one person made on the two state question.

WinBear

12-20-2007, 10:02 AM

MikeMar

12-20-2007, 10:36 AM

I've known several of the odder ones like we're 8 light minutes from the sun. Some of the Duel Math is a little tricky, like they counted the Coast Guard among the branches of the armed forces. I thought of that, but probably would have bet on the numbers with and without the coast guard. As for the Pacific + Gulf coast, having learned from 2 previous questions, I would automatically included Alaska and Hawaii.

Maggie (who's dad was in the Navy for his career) REALLY thought coast guard didn't count and had to look it up and wondered when it changed. But in this show, we both would have hedged our bets and covered the one w/ and the one w/o it, so you can't complain too much.

If that question was on Millionaire, I would be ripped if I lost.

Funny article

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/16/AR2007121601895.html

The guy looks like he has never left his house :D

They talked about this article briefly on Mike and Mike this morning

dirtypacman

12-20-2007, 10:53 AM

I hated it - wasted about 1/2 hour or more on it this week and will not be back for thirds.

MikeMar

12-20-2007, 10:58 AM

I think this show would be great if they had pretty hard question, smart people, and it was kinda like Jeopardy but with this format.

Be cool to see 2 really smart people battling it out w/ the presses and hedging their bets on really hard questions.

TonyTheTiger

12-20-2007, 11:10 AM

I love gameshows and will watch them all, but this is like watching molasses creep along a gentle slope! Perfect for a DVR so I can jump between questions and watch the whole thing in 10 minutes!

jrinck

12-20-2007, 11:46 AM

It kinda sucks. They host is not good at all. I mean, it could be interesting, but not "all week event" interesting. Maybe with a better host it could be fun.

Thoughts?

The Certified Neurotic tends to agree with the Fugitive.

;)

timr_42

12-20-2007, 12:04 PM

Didn't know it was on until last night. I Tivo'ed the show but have not watched it yet.

windracer

12-20-2007, 12:59 PM

My wife had it on while I was cleaning the aquarium filter last night. I didn't really like it.

"Screen up please." "Screen down please."

Einselen

12-20-2007, 01:02 PM

"Screen up please." "Screen down please."

I am waiting for that mechanism to break since it keeps going up and down so much. What would they do then? Have the cue card boys hold up cue cards with the questions on it and thus making the divider? :D

MikeMar

12-20-2007, 01:02 PM

Bai Shen

12-20-2007, 01:03 PM

Maggie (who's dad was in the Navy for his career) REALLY thought coast guard didn't count and had to look it up and wondered when it changed.

AFAIK, the CG has always been dual hatted. In peace, they're part of Transportation, but in war, they're part of the military.

BTW, what the heck is Duel?

Einselen

12-20-2007, 01:11 PM

well since it's all already filmed, I think that it wasn't a problem :D

Or maybe it was and maybe I should spoilerize what I wrote :p If it broke though I am sure they would stop filming it and fix it then of course continue and edit out the whole it breaking.

Also a question, since this is pre-filmed do we know if this was recorded in a batch and each "new day" the contestants changed their clothes or was it filmed over multiple days, possibly even the 6 that they are airing it in.

Also as far as the show goes I like it. It is something new and different and lets me shut off my brain. There ain't much else on TV currently so it is nice filler. I do wish though if they had to do filler they would just show some classic game shows such as INSERT DENOMINATION HERE Pyramid, Press Your Luck and Let's Make a Deal are a few classics I remember. Like I said classics, not the newer revised crap from the 90s-Present.

MasterOfPuppets

12-20-2007, 01:45 PM

I saw it for the first time and liked it.

I enjoyed watching the belly dancer jiggle around.

It's almost like I just wrote this exact same stuff elsewhere. :p

It's always amusing to me to come into these threads for new game shows and seeing people rambling on about...damn, I'm SOOOO much smarter than these people!

It's tee hee funny.

dthmj

12-20-2007, 03:26 PM

Funny article

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/12/16/AR2007121601895.html

The guy looks like he has never left his house :D

They talked about this article briefly on Mike and Mike this morning

I could not read that article... Does the guy know you can have more than one sentence in a paragraph? Or was that the point? If he was making fun of something with that style of writing it was lost on me as I couldn't get past it.

That Don Guy

12-20-2007, 03:45 PM

I am waiting for that mechanism to break since it keeps going up and down so much. What would they do then? Have the cue card boys hold up cue cards with the questions on it and thus making the divider? :DSince the divider also has video screens on each side of it with the question and four answers, they would stop taping until somebody fixed it.

I wouldn't be a bit surprised if the "mechanism" is somebody underneath the table moving it up and down manually.

What I don't get is, how do they decide the ranking of contestants who are tied in both wins and money? On the first two shows, it appeared to be whoever got the result first, but last night, one contestant (and notice the ranking board is the only place where contestants' last names are referenced) moved from fourth to third after losing.

-- Don

windracer

12-20-2007, 03:45 PM

AFAIK, the CG has always been dual hatted.

Shouldn't that be duel-hatted? :cool:

Bai Shen

12-20-2007, 04:12 PM

Shouldn't that be duel-hatted? :cool:

Amusingly enough, that's actually what I originally typed. Then I went back and fixed it. :)

JLucPicard

12-20-2007, 04:37 PM

Another game show that could REALLY improve by eliminating the dramatic pause BS. Nothing dramatic about it. In fact, it should be renamed "annoying-as-all-get-out and not-fooling-anybody" pause.

I'm only half way or so through the second episode, and it seems the pauses are being used less, hope if that's the case that the trend continues. I was liking it when they did about four questions at the start of the show without pulling that crapola, but I guess they decided to keep doing it after all.

steve614

12-20-2007, 04:42 PM

Yeah, if this show at least had the pace of Millionaire, it would be bearable.

jrinck

12-20-2007, 05:08 PM

Another game show that could REALLY improve by eliminating the dramatic pause BS. Nothing dramatic about it. In fact, it should be renamed "annoying-as-all-get-out and not-fooling-anybody" pause.

When this gets recorded tonight I'm gonna calculate the Questions Per Minute, or QPM. The strength of any trivia based game show can be determined by it's QPM. High QPM and it will become a show with some potential for longevity. A low QPM can be a short term hit, but long term failure. From watching just last night, the QPM is not low, but not as high as I think it could be.

"Millionaire" had a horribly low QPM and I burned out on it quickly. I watch these show to be challenged, and time not asking questions is wasted time.

"1 vs 100" had a good concept that got me interested, but the QPM on that show was too low for my liking.

"Jeopardy" is the king of all trivia shows because they ask questions! There's some small down time getting to know the contestants, but at least you know that the odds are good that you're gonna get through two-full boards and a final question, which means LOTS OF QUESTIONS!

And look how long Jeopardy has been on the air. Coincidence? I think not!

windracer

12-20-2007, 05:13 PM

My next post ...

... is coming up after this.

:p

MikeMar

12-20-2007, 05:13 PM

My next post ...

... is coming up after this.

:p

skipped, ok where is it?

windracer

12-20-2007, 05:16 PM

And we're back ...

:D

scooterboy

12-20-2007, 05:18 PM

My next post ...

... is coming up after this.

:p

You forgot to add "you're watching TCF".

jmenjes

12-20-2007, 07:45 PM

For those curious about how many questions have been asked on the previous 3 eps...

Monday: 90 minutes, 14 questions
Tuesday: 90 minutes, 17 questions
Wednesday, 60 minutes, 16 questions.

jrinck

12-20-2007, 08:11 PM

For those curious about how many questions have been asked on the previous 3 eps...

Monday: 90 minutes, 14 questions
Tuesday: 90 minutes, 17 questions
Wednesday, 60 minutes, 16 questions.

Wow, that's really low. Jeopardy has 61 questions in 30 minutes.

I don't predict a long run for Duel.

MikeMar

12-20-2007, 08:25 PM

Wow, that's really low. Jeopardy has 61 questions in 30 minutes.

I don't predict a long run for Duel.

well that's good, cause as of now it's slated for 6 days total :D

vman41

12-20-2007, 08:32 PM

Wow, that's really low. Jeopardy has 61 questions in 30 minutes.

Up to 61 questions, sometimes they don't finish the board. I don't think total play time for the first 2 rounds adds up to 15 minutes - I do a lot of skips through commercials and 'meet the players' chat.

windracer

12-20-2007, 08:39 PM

You forgot to add "you're watching TCF".
LOL. I should have thought of that. :up:

jmenjes

12-20-2007, 09:02 PM

And 15 questions in tonight's show.

TIVO_GUY_HERE

12-20-2007, 10:18 PM

Wow, I don't think I would of needed more than 1 chip for 90% of the questions tonight. But I would I gotten the Judge Judy one wrong. She makes 30 mill a year ?

mattack

12-20-2007, 11:02 PM

I wouldn't be a bit surprised if the "mechanism" is somebody underneath the table moving it up and down manually.

I think it is. I was paying attention on one of the eps for this very reason, and it seemed 'wobbly' like a person was doing it, not a machine.

Mikeyis4dcats

12-23-2007, 07:58 PM

I've enjoyed it more than most recent prime time gameshows. I actually think the host is well-suited for it. He's not all goofy like some of the others. It harkens back to game shows of old.

MikeMar

12-24-2007, 08:48 AM

It's amazing how many contestants just put down FOUR chips for like every question!

Do you think the kinda push people towards betting all four a lot??

MasterOfPuppets

12-24-2007, 10:26 AM

It's amazing how many contestants just put down FOUR chips for like every question!

Do you think the kinda push people towards betting all four a lot??

The pressure of being "pressed", the lights, cameras...the fact that you're playing for $1.7M.
It's a lot different than playing from the chair at home in your underwear.
When the big sound effect goes off and Greeny tells you to hurry up, it's a lot of pressure and at that point, it's better to be safe than sorry.

Jebberwocky!

12-24-2007, 10:36 AM

found it boring and not that interesting. Some of the questions were hard though.

MikeMar

12-24-2007, 11:03 AM

The pressure of being "pressed", the lights, cameras...the fact that you're playing for $1.7M.
It's a lot different than playing from the chair at home in your underwear.
When the big sound effect goes off and Greeny tells you to hurry up, it's a lot of pressure and at that point, it's better to be safe than sorry.

Hey! I watch this NAKED damnit!

Yeah the pressure is different.

johnperkins21

12-24-2007, 03:58 PM

I'd probably watch a lot more of these game shows if they'd just stop with the dramatic pauses and talking to the contestants. I tried to watch this, but they don't seem to realize that the ONLY interesting part is the question/answer. I understand that they need to give away as little money as possible so they add filler, but too much filler and nobody will want to watch.

The dramatic pauses right before commercials are the most irritating television moments ever. Whoever invented it should be kicked in the nuts every 15 minutes for the rest of his life.

MikeMar

12-24-2007, 10:53 PM

johnperkins21

12-25-2007, 12:48 AM

I don't mind them, as most people here, I use a tivo/dvr so I just fast forward until I hit a question :D

Agreed, but if you're only getting 10 minutes worth of interesting material from a 1 hour show, is it worth recording? And constantly fast forwarding through a show just makes me feel like I shouldn't have recorded it in the first place. Or, if they'd just eliminate most of the blather, we wouldn't have to constantly ff through the show and it'd be exponentially more watchable, increasing their ratings.

They have to keep blathering on so they limit the amount of prize money they give away. If they'd just lower the amount of prize money, as I don't think the top possible prize is really a draw to any TV viewer that has a high enough IQ to have a job so that they can afford to support their advertisers, they wouldn't need to keep the number of winners down so much. Plus, if I'm not constantly ff'ing through their show, I might be able to watch it live occasionally if I flip through the channels and see it on. How many viewers are they missing out on because it's impossible to watch live? My wife and I caught this live as we were flipping through the channels, but couldn't stand to watch more than one commercial break.