Blockbusters

This was a good show when it was on, and the concept of the game was very original. And they couldn't have picked a better host for this show than game show great Bill Cullen. It's also one of those shows you wish you could bring back, and if it ever did come back on, I think Richard Karn (Al on "Home Improvement" & current host of "Family Feud") would be a good host.

The best thing about Blockbusters was Bill Cullen. It's gratifying to see the maturity and confidence he had gained since his early The Price Is Right work for which he is better known. He's funny, witty, self-effacing, and just a pleasure to spend some time with. Overcoming polio, Cullen for me is the best of the game host emcees, far better than more celebrated figures like...well, you know. The other great thing about the show was the difficulty of the questions. What other game show will ask contestants for the name of Moss Hart's autobiography? So far as the two versus one dynamic, it's interesting but it doesn't always work. Sometimes only one of the couple is up to the challenge, sometimes dramatically so, which is embarrassing for everyone. Still, the concept is promising and can work well. The show disappoints when either the solo player or both of the couple don't have the intellectual firepower to compete.

I remember Blockbusters, one of the few quiz shows from Mark Goodson that debuted in 1980. It was a show that pitted a solo player against a family pair to prove that "two heads are better than one." It was a simple game that the home audience could play along and even better, Bill Cullen as host. He added a lot to the show and added plenty of humor to the game.

But NBC put Blockbusters into a time slot that was held by one of the disastrous attempts for something different in daytime, a talk show starring David Letterman. After four months of lousy ratings, it was canceled and replaced in the first half hour by a revival of Gambit that was taped in Las Vegas. The Wink Martindale-hosted show, leading into Blockbusters had to rebuild the time slot which suffered from not only low ratings but diminishing clearances by affiliates who opted syndicated talk shows such as the popular Phil Donahue Show.

Other than clearance problems and rebuilding a fallen time slot, Blockbusters was a show that people could learn something and the question structure in the main game was a lot like another Bill Cullen game show that aired on NBC, Winning Streak.

It's actually a game of skill, thought, race, blocking, etc.!!!!!

"Blockbusters" was the game show that ran on NBC in the early 80s. The set looked like we were in a huge honeybee colony. The object of this game is like what a mole does digging across the dirt: we, being a solo player vs. a family team (two people), had to answer word questions. Solo is red; family is white. The least red can get is four, while the least white can get is five. Questions can range from easy to hard, like this memorable moment:

Host (he had a hearing problem, BTW): What "E" does the doctor look at with his stethoscope?

Leland (in white): Ear?

Host: Nope; the ear!

Leland: That's what I said!!!!!

Host: Oh! I thought you said "liver." Because, liver would be correct if the stethoscope was long enough; "Ear" is right...etc.

The winning team after two rounds goes on to play for $5000!!!!! The host, with a push of a button, brings forth the podium. This is more challenging; there are multiple words or phrases for the answer, and 60 seconds is needed. Here's another funny moment:

Host: What "MB" is a play about a Salvation Army girl?

Contestant: Myra Breckinridge?

Host: Nope!

After that, it was just funny!!!!!

Anyways, GSN plays this every day at 9 or 9:30 in the morning. Watch this for these and more funny moments on "Blockbusters!!!!!"

10 stars

First off, I must say that this is a fun game show. Also, since I'm 24, I haven't seen every episode. However, I do know the show very well. Every time I've watched it, I've had a lot of fun playing along and watching. Despite the fact that it's finished its run, this makes me long to be a contestant. The thing I like most about it are the questions. Even though I don't know that many answers, I still have fun playing along. I hope the Game Show Network keeps it on so I can keep playing along and watching. If that happens, I will be really happy. Before I wrap this up, I'd like to say that I'll always remember this show in my memory forever. Now, in conclusion, I hope that you catch it one day before it goes off the air for good.